Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
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 impact of workforce pressures on levels of (a) burnout and (b) staff attrition in maternity services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The health and wellbeing of all NHS staff is a top priority. NHS organisations have a responsibility to create supportive working environments for staff and to ensure they have the conditions they need to thrive, including access to high quality health and wellbeing support.
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will roll out Staff Treatment hubs to ensure all staff have access to high quality occupational health support, including for mental health. To further support this ambition, we will work with the Social Partnership Forum to introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment, covering issues such as access to healthy meals, support to work healthily and flexibly, and tackling violence, racism and sexual harassment in the workplace.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will include targets to improve diagnosis times for myeloma in the forthcoming National Cancer Plan for England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including blood cancers such as myeloma, as well as other unstageable cancers, as early and quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, in order to improve outcomes.
To tackle late diagnoses of blood cancers, the NHS is implementing non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. Blood cancers are one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.
We will get the NHS diagnosing blood cancer earlier and treating it faster, and we will support the NHS to increase capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment, including for magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners.
The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and ultimately drive up this country’s cancer survival rates.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will include targets to improve diagnosis times for myeloma in the National Cancer Plan for England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including blood cancers such as myeloma, as well as other unstageable cancers, as early and quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, in order to improve outcomes.
To tackle late diagnoses of blood cancers, the NHS is implementing non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. Blood cancers are one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.
We will get the NHS diagnosing blood cancer earlier and treating it faster, and we will support the NHS to increase capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment, including for magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners.
The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and ultimately drive up this country’s cancer survival rates.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of caring responsibilities on levels of social isolation among unpaid carers.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has launched an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. The commission will start a national conversation about what care and support working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers who provide vital care and support.
Local authorities have duties to support unpaid carers and are required to deliver sustainable, high-quality care and support services.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
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 end recruitment freezes in maternity services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 11 August 2025, the Government announced the Graduate Guarantee for nurses and midwives. The guarantee will ensure that there are enough positions for every newly qualified midwife in England. The package of measures will unlock thousands of jobs, ensuring thousands of new posts are easier to access by removing barriers for National Health Service trusts, creating opportunities for graduates and enabling a seamless transition from training to employment.
Vacant maternity support worker posts will be temporarily converted to Band 5 midwifery roles, backed by £8 million to create new opportunities specifically for newly qualified midwives and to further ease the recruitment strain.
These new measures aim to tackle graduates’ concerns about job availability and ensure the NHS has the right staff to provide the best possible care to patients everywhere.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide funding for newly qualified midwifery posts.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 11 August 2025, the Government announced the Graduate Guarantee for nurses and midwives. The guarantee will ensure that there are enough positions for every newly qualified midwife in England. The package of measures will unlock thousands of jobs, ensuring thousands of new posts are easier to access by removing barriers for National Health Service trusts, creating opportunities for graduates and enabling a seamless transition from training to employment.
Vacant maternity support worker posts will be temporarily converted to Band 5 midwifery roles, backed by £8 million to create new opportunities specifically for newly qualified midwives and to further ease the recruitment strain.
These new measures aim to tackle graduates’ concerns about job availability and ensure the NHS has the right staff to provide the best possible care to patients everywhere.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to update the existing regulations on composition, marketing and labelling of commercial infant and toddler foods.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Children’s early years provide an important foundation for their future health and strongly influence many aspects of wellbeing in later life.
The Government has published voluntary industry baby food guidelines as part of our comprehensive strategy to give children the best start in life. The guidelines challenge businesses to reduce the levels of salt and sugar in commercial baby food and drink products aimed at those aged up to 36 months. The guidelines also set out voluntary labelling actions for industry, in addition to reinforcing legislative requirements around labelling and health and nutrition claims. This will help to support parents and carers to make informed choices about what to feed their children.
Businesses have 18 months from the publication of these guidelines, therefore by February 2027, to deliver the required changes. We will monitor industry progress towards implementing the sugar, salt, and labelling guidelines.
It is vital that we maintain the highest standards for foods consumed by babies and infants, which is why we also have regulations in place that set nutritional, compositional, and labelling standards for commercial baby food. These ensure that commercial baby foods are suitable for infants and young children and require businesses to ensure labelling is clear and not misleading. The regulations also set labelling standards to ensure consumers have clear and accurate information about the products they buy.
The Best Start in Life health website has advice for parents and carers on successful weaning of infants to introduce healthy solid foods, and is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/
It has been updated to provide new advice on shop-bought baby food and healthy weaning practices. The update has been made in light of the increased availability and range of commercial baby food products, highlighting the need for clear and consistent advice for parents and carers.
We continue to keep these regulations under review to ensure that the composition of infant food and drinks reflects the latest scientific advice and dietary guidelines. The voluntary industry baby food guidelines should support improvements in this area.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
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 protect vulnerable people during periods of extreme heat.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency delivers the Adverse Weather and Health Plan (AWHP) and Weather-Health Alerting (WHA) System, which provides alerts for the public and public sector organisations to prepare for impacts of adverse weather, including heat.
Risks to health are communicated via the WHA system. Enhanced amber and red alerts are used to alert those at the greatest risk. The alerts have enhanced communications to support partner organisations and the public. Heat-health guidance and checklists are available for both health and social care professionals and the public on what action they should take.
The AWHP is designed to protect public health during extreme weather conditions. It emphasises preparedness, early warning systems, communication strategies, and targeted support for vulnerable populations. It aims to reduce illness, hospital admissions, and mortality through timely interventions, public awareness, and resilience-building measures.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
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 trends in the level of waiting times on children and young people seeking urgent mental health support.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that too many children and young people are not receiving the mental health care they need, and that waits for mental health services are far too long. We are determined to change that, as we recognise the importance of timely access to mental health support for children and the positive impact this can have on areas such as family life and educational outcomes.
Backed by an extra £688 million in Government funding this year, we are transforming mental health services, including hiring more staff and getting waiting lists down through our 10-Year Health Plan, so children can have the best possible start in life.
We will deliver on our commitment to get every child who needs it access to mental health support within school, and over the course of this year we will roll that support out to nearly a million extra children. Under Government plans, all pupils will have access to mental health support in school by 2029/30.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to introduce ring-fenced funding for hospice clinical services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications. The statutory guidance states that ICBs must work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of care services to meet the needs of their local populations, which can include hospice services being available within the ICB catchment area.
Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at the end of life and their loved ones.
Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services. The amount of funding each charitable hospice receives varies both within and between ICB areas. This will vary depending on demand in that ICB area, but will also be dependent on the totality and type of palliative and end of life care provision from both NHS and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each ICB area.
I have tasked officials to look at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all- age palliative and end of life care, included services provided by hospices, in line with the 10-Year Health Plan.