Asked by: Luke Myer (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
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) ensure cleanliness in NHS hospitals to prevent infections and (b) address instances where contractors responsible for cleanliness fail to meet their obligations.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Hospitals are responsible for ensuring that third-party service providers (e.g., cleaning, catering, maintenance staff) adhere to infection prevention and control (IPC) standards. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) evaluates whether hospitals have effective oversight of subcontractors and whether their services meet regulatory cleanliness and safety standards. More information on these CQC inspections is available at the following link:
https://www.cqc.org.uk/what-we-do/how-we-do-our-job/our-infection-prevention-control-inspections
Guidance for the cleaning of healthcare environments is contained in the NHS England national IPC manual. The manual is mandatory for all healthcare staff delivering services within the National Health Service in England. This includes the safe management of the care environment, linen and blood and body fluid spillages, and more information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Luke Myer (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
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 help prevent NHS clinical staff from experiencing (a) verbal and (b) physical abuse at work.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government takes a zero-tolerance approach to any kind of abusive behaviour. All National Health Service staff, including those in clinical roles, should be able to care for patients without fear of verbal or physical abuse.
Individual employers are responsible for the health and safety of their staff and put in place many measures to do this including appropriate security, training and emotional support.
To support them, NHS England is leading work on violence prevention and reduction to provide better training and support for employers and their staff. In December 2024, NHS England published a refreshed Violence Prevention and Reduction Standard. The standard sets out guidance for trusts to help them identify risks, training requirements and crucially, what support must be made available to those staff affected.
Asked by: Luke Myer (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
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 impact of community pharmacy closures on patient access to NHS services in deprived areas.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that pharmacies are an integral part of the fabric of our communities, as an easily accessible front door to the National Health Service, staffed by highly trained and skilled healthcare professionals.
We are aware of the reduction in the number of pharmacies in recent years and recognise that pharmacy closures can impact on local communities. Despite closures in recent years, access to pharmacies continues to be better in the most deprived areas when compared with the least deprived. Local authorities are required to undertake a pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA) every three years to assess whether their population is adequately served and must keep these assessments under review. Integrated care boards give regard to the PNAs when reviewing applications from the new contractors. Contractors can also apply to open a new pharmacy to offer benefits to patients that were not foreseen by the PNA.
The Pharmacy Access Scheme provides additional funding to further support pharmacies where another pharmacy is more than 0.8 miles in the most deprived areas and more than one mile in other areas. Additionally, in rural areas where there is no pharmacy, general practitioners are permitted to dispense medicines. Patients can also choose to access medicines and pharmacy services through any of the nearly 400 NHS online pharmacies that are contractually required to deliver prescription medicines free of charge to patients.
Asked by: Luke Myer (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
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 engage with independent pharmacy owners to (a) address financial pressures and (b) prevent pharmacy closures.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that pharmacies are an integral part of the fabric of our communities, as an easily accessible ‘front door’ to the National Health Service, staffed by highly trained and skilled healthcare professionals.
The Government is committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and to better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists. To support these private contractors, NHS England is providing fully funded national training opportunities to help them deliver quality NHS services.
The Department and NHS England are working at pace with Community Pharmacy England to ensure that the funding we have available is used to support community pharmacy in the best way possible. Community Pharmacy England is recognised by the Government as the body that we consult on the community pharmacy contract and is formulated to represent the views of all pharmacy contractors including independent pharmacies.
Asked by: Luke Myer (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy that doctors (a) should have a mandatory duty to report suspected cases abuse and neglect and (b) should be given immunity from suit after reporting such cases.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Doctors have a professional duty, in accordance with the General Medical Council’s Good medical practice, to act promptly if they think that patient safety is or may be seriously compromised. This includes ensuring a patient is receiving basic care to meet their needs and ensuring there are adequate premises, equipment, resources, and policies. Doctors must also consider the needs and welfare of people who may be vulnerable and offer help if they have concerns that a patient, or someone close to them, may be at risk of abuse or neglect. If doctors have concerns that a colleague may not be fit to practise, or that patient safety may be put at risk, they must also take action, including reporting cases if necessary.
Failure to uphold and adhere to the principles within Good medical practice and the related guidance will put a professionals’ registration with the General Medical Council at risk. Doctors in leadership roles must create an environment where people can talk about concerns safely. The Government supports the right of staff working in the National Health Service to speak up, and has put in place measures to support staff to raise a concern, including legal protections for whistle-blowers. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has no current plans to introduce additional measures to protect doctors from being sued after reporting suspected cases of abuse and neglect.
Asked by: Luke Myer (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
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 ensure veterans in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency have access to adequate mental health support.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England commissions Op COURAGE, an integrated mental health and wellbeing service for veterans. Op COURAGE has received over 5,000 referrals since April 2024. In addition to these services, integrated care boards commission NHS Talking Therapies, which have received over 13,400 referrals over the same time period.
In the Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency, veterans can access National Health Service commissioned mental health services through their general practice (GP). Veterans can also contact Op COURAGE directly themselves, or a referral can be made on their behalf by a clinician or a family member. The service has been designed to support veterans from all areas, and is delivered from a range of locations, including NHS trusts, GPs, Poppy Shops, veteran hubs, and drop-in centres.
In England, the NHS has commissioned the veteran friendly GP accreditation programme to recognise and support practices in delivering the best possible care and treatment for patients who have served in the armed forces. This includes referrals to Op COURAGE, where it is appropriate to do so. As of January 2025, 99% of primary care networks had at least one accredited GP in their area.
Asked by: Luke Myer (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
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 adequacy of mental health services available to veterans.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England commissions Op COURAGE, an integrated mental health and wellbeing service for veterans. Op COURAGE has received over 5,000 referrals since April 2024. In addition to these services, integrated care boards commission NHS Talking Therapies, which have received over 13,400 referrals over the same time period.
In the Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency, veterans can access National Health Service commissioned mental health services through their general practice (GP). Veterans can also contact Op COURAGE directly themselves, or a referral can be made on their behalf by a clinician or a family member. The service has been designed to support veterans from all areas, and is delivered from a range of locations, including NHS trusts, GPs, Poppy Shops, veteran hubs, and drop-in centres.
In England, the NHS has commissioned the veteran friendly GP accreditation programme to recognise and support practices in delivering the best possible care and treatment for patients who have served in the armed forces. This includes referrals to Op COURAGE, where it is appropriate to do so. As of January 2025, 99% of primary care networks had at least one accredited GP in their area.
Asked by: Luke Myer (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of NHS England's Op COURAGE service in providing mental health support to veterans including the (a) accessibility of that service and (b) effectiveness of signposting to that service by GPs.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England commissions Op COURAGE, an integrated mental health and wellbeing service for veterans. Op COURAGE has received over 5,000 referrals since April 2024. In addition to these services, integrated care boards commission NHS Talking Therapies, which have received over 13,400 referrals over the same time period.
In the Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency, veterans can access National Health Service commissioned mental health services through their general practice (GP). Veterans can also contact Op COURAGE directly themselves, or a referral can be made on their behalf by a clinician or a family member. The service has been designed to support veterans from all areas, and is delivered from a range of locations, including NHS trusts, GPs, Poppy Shops, veteran hubs, and drop-in centres.
In England, the NHS has commissioned the veteran friendly GP accreditation programme to recognise and support practices in delivering the best possible care and treatment for patients who have served in the armed forces. This includes referrals to Op COURAGE, where it is appropriate to do so. As of January 2025, 99% of primary care networks had at least one accredited GP in their area.