Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the planned timescale is for the abolition of Healthwatch England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The closure of Healthwatch England and the transfer of its functions will require primary legislation. The Dash review of patient safety across the health and care landscape, published in July 2025, recommends that the strategic functions of Healthwatch England are transferred into the new patient experience directorate of the Department. The timing of this is subject to the will of Parliament, and will happen when parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to maintain the collective patient voice function supported by Healthwatch England in the reformed NHS structures.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Dr Dash’s review of patient safety across the health and care landscape was published in July 2025. It recommended that the strategic functions of Healthwatch England are transferred into the new patient experience directorate of the Department. This new directorate will be responsible for overseeing the collection of more informed feedback from both patients and carers and significantly improving the complaints function across the National Health Service. It ensures that the NHS properly manages and learns from complaints.
The abolition of Healthwatch England, the transfer of its functions, and the changes to local Healthwatch will require primary legislation. The timing of this is subject to the will of Parliament and will happen when parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of treating post traumatic stress disorder in veterans with (a) medical cannabis and (b) MDMA assisted therapy.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise that the use of cannabis-based medicines and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapies, such as MDMA to treat mental illness, is gaining attention both within the medical and scientific communities as well as within the public more broadly. The licensing regime for controlled drugs allows legitimate medical research to take place with an appropriate licence and safeguards. A number of clinical studies are already being conducted, although no such substance has yet been licensed as safe and effective in the treatment of mental health conditions.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the National Institute for Health and Care Research supports the safe and scientifically sound conduct of clinical trials in this area and provides regulatory and scientific advice to companies at all stages of developing medicines. Any application for a marketing authorisation, otherwise known as a product licence, will be determined by the MHRA.
In line with the development of all medicines, as the evidence base grows and medicinal products are licensed, we will make sure that they are made available to patients, including through the National Health Service, if they are recommended by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) support people living with long covid, (b) retain the services provided by the long covid clinic and (c) develop systems of treatment and diagnosis to identify long covid.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has invested £314 million since the start of the pandemic to provide care and support for people with long COVID. This includes establishing specialist clinics throughout England to assess adults, children, and young people who are experiencing the long-term effects of COVID-19 infection. A further £86.7 million of funding was included in integrated care board (ICB) core allocations for 2024/25, and specific regional funding was also allocated for assurance and system support.
These services offer physical, cognitive, and psychological assessment, and, where appropriate, refer patients onto existing services for treatment and rehabilitation. More information can be found via the NHS website at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/post-covid-syndrome-long-covid/
The commissioning and service provision of long COVID services are the responsibility of local ICBs, which are allocated funding by NHS England to meet local needs and priorities and to improve outcomes.
Between 2019/20 and 2023/24, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research and the Medical Research Council, we have invested over £57 million on research into long COVID, with almost £40 million of this through two specific research calls on long COVID. The funded projects aim to improve our understanding of the diagnosis and underlying mechanisms of the disease and the effectiveness of both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies and interventions, as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of clinical care.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has had discussions with the University of Derby on the development of the drug Remdesivir for the treatment of long Covid.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are aware of the University of Derby’s study looking at the use of the drug Remdesivir for the treatment of long COVID, however officials have not discussed the study with the research team. The study is being managed by the University of Plymouth’s Peninsula Clinical Trials Unit. Since 2008, the Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, has funded clinical trials units in England to support developments in the design and delivery of efficient and innovative research. We will follow the progress of the study to understand the implications for policy and practice.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to ensure that non-mRNA covid vaccines are made available via the NHS to people unable to receive mRNA vaccines.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
All vaccines in the United Kingdom must be authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) before they can be placed on the United Kingdom’s market. The updated 2024/25 Novavax (Nuvaxovid) COVID-19 vaccine has not been authorised by the MHRA.
The COVID-19 chapter of the publication, Immunisation against infectious diseases, also known as the Green Book, details that there are very few individuals who cannot receive the COVID-19 vaccines approved in the UK. The Green Book Chapter 14a can be found on the GOV.UK website, at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-the-green-book-chapter-14a
Published advice recommends that anyone with a prior allergic reaction to COVID-19 vaccines should be seen by an expert allergist and, after a review of the individual’s risks and benefits of vaccination, where vaccination is indicated, they could then be vaccinated in hospital under clinical supervision. NHS England will continue to follow this clinical guidance and offer mRNA vaccination under expert supervision in a hospital setting. This advice can be found at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/vaccinations/COVID-19-vaccine/
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance NHS England has issued to hospital trusts to ensure appropriate monitoring of individuals entering and leaving hospital wards; and how many reported security incidents relating to unauthorised access to wards there have been in the last five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England provides no guidance to National Health Service trusts to ensure the appropriate monitoring of individuals entering and leaving hospital wards, and data is not collected on how many reported security incidents relating to unauthorised access to wards there have been in the last five years. NHS trusts formulate policy at a local level to determine the best security for their estate.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve (a) trust and (b) accountability on staff complaints in NHS organisations; and what steps he is taking to prevent (i) discrimination and (ii) bullying in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service staff should have the confidence to speak out and come forward if they have concerns. There is support in place for staff who wish to raise concerns, including a network of more than 1,200 local Freedom to Speak Up Guardians across healthcare in England, whose role it is to help and support NHS workers. In November 2024, the Department launched a consultation on options for regulating NHS managers, with the aim of improving leadership quality and accountability. This will help ensure that the NHS has strong and effective leadership in place, and that leaders and managers are held accountable for their practise.
Discrimination and bullying are unacceptable in any workplace and have no place in the NHS. All employers across the NHS should have robust policies in place on how these behaviours should be handled, and what support should be made available to staff.
In June 2023, NHS England published their Equality Diversity and Inclusion Improvement Plan, which set out a series of High Impact Actions, including the requirement for NHS organisations to review data by protected characteristics on bullying, harassment, discrimination, and violence, and to develop plans to improve staff experience. NHS England has also developed an NHS Civility and Respect programme to tackle bullying and harassment in the NHS, and to create a culture of civility and respect.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) engage healthcare professionals in the early diagnosis and treatment of facial palsy and (b) support patients in the days following a facial palsy diagnosis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The provision of care and management for people with facial palsy, also known as Bell’s palsy, is the responsibility of general practices, under local integrated care boards.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced a clinical knowledge summary on Bell’s palsy, last revised in February 2023, which provides primary care practitioners with a readily accessible summary of the current evidence base and practical advice on best practice for Bell’s palsy. This clinical knowledge summary is available on the NICE’s website, at the following link:
https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/bells-palsy/
Our 10-Year Health Plan will consider what actions are needed to improve patient access and reduce waiting times for patients, including those with facial or Bell’s palsy, by setting out a bold agenda to deliver on the big shifts needed, including the shift from the hospital to the community.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of including nanopore sequencing-based brain tumour methylome classification in the National Genomic Test Directory.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department funded the Cancer 2.0 initiative in 2021, delivered by Genomics England in close partnership with NHS England. The three-year programme demonstrated that nanopore sequencing-based brain tumour classification demonstrates significant promise for the National Genomic Test Directory. Full validation is required before full clinical implementation can be considered.
Other genomic testing for brain cancer is already included in the National Genomic Test Directory. This testing can be delivered using a range of technologies, including whole genome sequencing (WGS) or Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology, namely large cancer gene panels, to ensure that a patient receives the most appropriate genomic testing depending on their individual circumstances.
To date no application has been made to NHS England to evaluate nanopore sequencing-based brain tumour methylome classification. If an application were received, NHS England would assess the evidence in line with the Test Directory policy.