Asked by: Kevin McKenna (Labour - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
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 ensure that ambient voice technology used in the NHS captures structured, coded clinical data at the point of care rather than unstructured free-text notes; what criteria his Department uses to determine which suppliers are eligible for reimbursement under clinical AI scribing programmes; and whether AI scribing tools embedded within wider electronic patient record contracts are required to meet the same governance and registry standards as dedicated ambient voice technology suppliers listed on the NHS England Ambient Voice Technology Supplier Registry.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department, working with NHS England, is putting in place national support to help National Health Service organisations adopt and scale ambient voice technology (AVT) as appropriate for their respective areas, to help adopt AVT safely and consistently where there is evidence of benefit. NHS England will continue to work with systems, suppliers, and national partners to support adoption at pace where products meet the necessary standards for safety, effectiveness, interoperability, and value for money.
At present, NHS organisations are required to select AVT products from the NHS AVT Self-Certified Supplier Registry. This applies to standalone products or those natively integrated into Electronic Patient Record systems. In order to be allowed onto the registry, suppliers are required to evidence capabilities that show summarisation of output aligned to structured templates and configuration, including suggesting the relevant clinical codes.
While NHS England remains in the process of mobilising a wider programme to support the adoption of AVT, no decision has yet been taken on the eligibility criteria for participating organisations to receive funding, but we will provide further updates in due course.
Asked by: Kevin McKenna (Labour - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to establish a national deployment pathway for ambient voice technology, to move beyond repeated local pilots towards system-wide adoption across the NHS.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department, working with NHS England, is putting in place national support to help National Health Service organisations adopt and scale ambient voice technology (AVT) as appropriate for their respective areas, to help adopt AVT safely and consistently where there is evidence of benefit. NHS England will continue to work with systems, suppliers, and national partners to support adoption at pace where products meet the necessary standards for safety, effectiveness, interoperability, and value for money.
At present, NHS organisations are required to select AVT products from the NHS AVT Self-Certified Supplier Registry. This applies to standalone products or those natively integrated into Electronic Patient Record systems. In order to be allowed onto the registry, suppliers are required to evidence capabilities that show summarisation of output aligned to structured templates and configuration, including suggesting the relevant clinical codes.
While NHS England remains in the process of mobilising a wider programme to support the adoption of AVT, no decision has yet been taken on the eligibility criteria for participating organisations to receive funding, but we will provide further updates in due course.
Asked by: Kevin McKenna (Labour - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
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 ensure that NHS weight management services support long-term weight maintenance.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
Supporting people to achieve and maintain weight loss over the long term is a core principle of National Health Service weight management services. National, integrated care board, and local authority commissioned services combine behavioural support, healthier eating, physical activity, and relapse prevention to help people sustain weight loss and improve their long-term health.
Nationally commissioned services, such as the NHS Digital Weight Management Programme and the suite of Healthier You programmes, such as the NHS Behavioural Support for Obesity Prescribing, the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme, and the NHS Type 2 Diabetes Path to Remission, all place a strong emphasis on supporting long term weight maintenance. These services are designed not only to help people achieve and sustain weight loss and a healthy weight, but also to prevent, improve, or manage obesity related long-term conditions, including reducing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and supporting remission for those already living with the condition.
The NHS continues to evaluate and develop its weight management services to ensure they reflect the latest clinical evidence and support people to achieve sustainable improvements in their health and reduce future demand on NHS services.
Asked by: Kevin McKenna (Labour - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
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 publish data on the performance of local obesity services, including service coverage, waiting times, and patient outcomes split by age, gender, ethnicity and socio-economic status.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
NHS England has established the National Obesity Audit (NOA) to improve understanding of weight management services across England. The audit analyses data collected from hospitals, community settings, and general practices on weight management services and interventions commissioned, or funded, by local authorities and the National Health Service. The NOA currently publishes information on specialist weight management services and bariatric surgery and is continuing to work towards a comprehensive picture of obesity care, including service access, outcomes, and inequalities, to support service improvement and development.
Asked by: Kevin McKenna (Labour - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what safeguards his Department has put in place to protect patients being transported to hospital by private patient transport companies on behalf of local NHS integrated care boards.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Health and social care service providers that carry out a regulated activity in England must be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Providers of ambulance and other transport services usually need to register for the regulated activity ‘Transport services, triage and medical advice provided remotely’.
CQC registration for providers of ambulance and other transport services requires a stringent assessment of suitability to deliver safe and high quality care, and registered organisations have ongoing monitoring and assessments. The CQC can take enforcement action against providers that are carrying out regulated activity without registration.
Asked by: Kevin McKenna (Labour - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
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 ensure the timely approval of high-tariff drugs for use in (a) specialised commissioning and (b) repurposed treatments.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
To market a medicine in the United Kingdom, a company must secure a marketing authorisation or ‘licence’ from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. Newly-licensed medicines, including licence extensions for existing medicines, are appraised by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) which is the independent body responsible for developing evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service in England on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. NICE aims wherever possible to issue guidance on new medicines close to the time of licensing. The NHS in England is legally required to fund drugs recommended by NICE, usually within three months of final guidance.
NHS England may also develop a national clinical commissioning policy to confirm whether a specific treatment which has not been appraised by NICE should be routinely available to eligible patients in the NHS in England. A policy can only be developed if the medicine is used within prescribed specialised services, namely services for which NHS England is the accountable commissioner. NHS England develops clinical commissioning policies in line with published methods and eligibility criteria. National clinical policies are based on the available research evidence and may be subject to a process of funding prioritisation, depending on the cost of the treatment concerned. More information is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/methods-national-clinical-policies/
Asked by: Kevin McKenna (Labour - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the the approval process of (a) high tariff drugs (b) the use of Obinutuzumab in patients with lupus who have experienced severe infusion reactions with rituximab.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body that makes recommendations on whether new licensed medicines, including high cost medicines, should be routinely funded by the National Health Service in England, based on the evidence of their costs and benefits. The NICE aims, wherever possible, to publish guidance close to the time of licensing, and the NHS in England is required to fund NICE recommended medicines, normally within three months of final guidance.
The NICE is in the early stages of evaluating obinutuzumab with immunosuppressive therapies for treating lupus nephritis. Its independent committee will meet to consider the evidence on 10 December 2025, and the NICE currently expects to publish final guidance in March 2026. The evaluation is currently on track to be published within 90 days of marketing authorisation.
Asked by: Kevin McKenna (Labour - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on the Integrated National Transport Strategy.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
Ministers and senior officials from the Department of Health and Social Care and Department for Transport have a range of discussions about policy issues of interest to both Departments. We expect to work closely together to ensure that health can be appropriately considered within the Integrated National Transport Strategy as it develops.
Asked by: Kevin McKenna (Labour - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
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 of the potential impact of delivering universal fracture liaison services by 2030 on (a) patients and (b) the NHS; and what the annual cost to the public purse will be of delivering this.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The Government and NHS England support the clinical case for services which help to prevent fragility fractures and support the patients who sustain them. According to the Fracture Liaison Service Database 2022, at least 60 Trusts in England had access to a Fracture Liaison Service. This government is committed to ending the postcode lottery for access to these important preventative services, and the Department is working closely with NHS England to explore a range of options to provide better quality and access, including ways to best support local systems.
Costs and benefits will be assessed, as these options are considered, taking into consideration the evidence gathered from the 60 services already in operation in England.
Asked by: Kevin McKenna (Labour - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to shift care from hospitals into the community.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales
It is vital to move services from hospital to community. The Chancellor made funding available for 380,000 more talking therapies for patients and put in place a £26 million capital investment scheme for mental health crisis centres. A lot of work has been done, but there is a lot more still to do.