Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 1 May 2024 to Question 19413 on NHS: Expenditure, how much NHS England, clinical commissioning groups and integrated care boards spent in aggregate on (a) mental health services, (b) acute health services, (c) NHS community health services (d) social care services, (e) primary medical services, (f) specialised services, (g) NHS continuing healthcare, and all other recorded spending categories in each financial year since 2015-16; and how much those organisations plan to spend in aggregate in each of those areas in the 2025-26 financial year.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to release an impact assessment for changes to the NICE cost-effectiveness threshold.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no plans to publish an impact assessment or details of the modelling in relation to changes to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence cost-effectiveness threshold. Information included in the impact assessment is commercially sensitive.
The United Kingdom and United States’ pharmaceutical deal is a vital investment that builds on the strength of our National Health Service and world leading life sciences sector.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether lipoedema has a diagnostic code within NHS data systems; what steps he is taking to improve the collection of data on prevalence, diagnosis and outcomes for people with lipoedema; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of improved data collection on future commissioning and service planning.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
Lipoedema does not currently have a unique standalone diagnostic code within the National Health Service’s primary coding systems. In clinical practice, it is often recorded under broader World Health Organization International Classification of Diseases Tenth Revision categories relating to disorders of subcutaneous tissue or lymphatic disease.
NHS England is taking forward a wide programme of work to improve how data is recorded and coded across the health service by expanding the use of modern electronic patient record systems, strengthening national coding standards, and supporting staff to record information consistently and accurately. This includes better use of SNOMED CT in primary care, clearer guidance for hospitals, and investment in shared care records so that patient information is captured once and used safely across services. These improvements are helping to ensure that clinical data is more reliable, more complete, and better able to support high‑quality care, earlier diagnosis, and effective service planning.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what training and guidance is provided to GPs and other frontline clinicians on recognising and managing lipoedema; and whether he plans to review undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing professional development provision relating to that condition.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Doctors are responsible for maintaining their clinical knowledge, including on lipoedema, throughout their careers, and are responsible for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development.
All doctors registered in the United Kingdom are expected to meet the professional standards set out in the General Medical Council’s (GMC’s) Good Medical Practice. In 2012, the GMC introduced revalidation, which supports doctors in regularly reflecting on how they can develop or improve their practice, giving patients confidence that doctors are up to date with their practice, and promoting improved quality of care by driving improvements in clinical governance.
The training curricula for postgraduate trainee doctors are set by the relevant medical royal college and have to meet the standards set by the GMC. Whilst curricula do not necessarily highlight specific conditions for doctors to be aware of, they do emphasise the skills and approaches that a doctor must develop to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients.
Resources for frontline health professionals are available from a number of professional and patient organisations to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and management of patients presenting with lipoedema.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how lipoedema is classified within NICE guidance and NHS commissioning frameworks; and whether he plans to review the categorisation of lipoedema-related interventions to ensure they reflect clinical need.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Lipoedema services in England are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs), which are responsible for assessing the needs of their local populations and determining the most appropriate services to support people with long‑term conditions such as lipoedema.
There is no single national specification for lipoedema services. Instead, ICBs draw on a range of national guidance and best‑practice resources when designing care pathways. These include guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and best‑practice frameworks produced by bodies such as Wounds UK and the Royal College of General Practitioners. This helps ensure that services are safe, effective, and based on the best available evidence.
Most people with lipoedema are supported through primary and community care services, including assessment by local lymphoedema teams, compression therapy, advice on skin care and movement, and support with self‑management. These services aim to help people manage symptoms and maintain mobility and quality of life.
NICE classifies lipoedema within its interventional procedures guidance on the use of liposuction for chronic lipoedema, reference code HTG618, as a chronic, often painful, and progressive condition characterised by the abnormal, symmetrical accumulation of fat in the legs, hips, buttocks, and sometimes arms. In this guidance, NICE concluded that current evidence on both safety and effectiveness is limited and, therefore, recommends that liposuction should only be undertaken within the context of research or under rigorous governance arrangements. This guidance informs, but does not mandate, local commissioning decisions. NICE will review this guidance once the full results of the ongoing LIPLEG clinical trial are available, and will update its recommendations if new evidence supports doing so.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing funding for epilepsy research.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Knowsley on 6 January to Question 101055.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to request that NICE conduct an exceptional (expedited) partial review of the NICE Depression guideline (NG222) to consider the inclusion of intravenous racemic ketamine as an option for patients for whom electroconvulsive therapy is being considered.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has no plans to ask the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to conduct a review of the NICE guideline on the treatment and management of depression, reference code NG222.
NICE is an independent body and is responsible for taking decisions on whether its guidelines should be updated in light of new evidence and changes in clinical practice. NICE operates an active surveillance programme and when new evidence emerges, it proactively considers whether existing guidance should be reviewed and, if appropriate, updated. Decisions as to whether NICE will create new, or update existing, guidance are overseen by an integrated, cross-organisational prioritisation board. NICE has no current plans to review intravenous racemic ketamine in the context of the depression guideline.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will consider establishing a national clinical audit for people living with mesothelioma to understand a) the need for preventative measures and b) the scale of treatment needed.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Loughborough on 12 May 2025 to Question 46503.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will consider specific funding for mesothelioma nursing posts.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions about recruitment are a matter for individual National Health Service employers, who manage this at a local level to ensure they have the staff they need to deliver safe and effective care.
Funding provided to NHS trusts is not ringfenced for specific items such as staffing levels. Hospitals receive funding allocations which they can use at their discretion, based on local priorities.
The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure that the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made on the potential merits of statutory regulation of therapy titles.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Titles can only be protected for statutorily regulated professions. Some regulated professions include the term ‘therapist’ and as such have protected title status, for example Art therapist, Dental therapist, and Occupational therapist. Therapists in general are not a statutorily regulated profession in the United Kingdom. The Government has not made an assessment on the merits of protecting all therapy titles.
The Government is clear that the professions protected in law must be the right ones and that the level of regulatory oversight must be proportionate to the risks to the public.