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 ring-fence funding to enable the mass procurement and delivery of NHS meningitis B vaccines to groups identified by clinical experts as being at increased risk.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions on eligibility for routine vaccination programmes are taken by the department on the basis of independent scientific advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
In 2015, following review of the epidemiology, disease burden, vaccine safety and efficacy, and cost-effectiveness analysis, the JCVI recommended that young infants should be routinely vaccinated against meningococcal B (MenB) with the aim of providing optimal protection as early as possible, as this age group had the highest disease incidence.
In response to the meningitis outbreak in Kent, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has asked the JCVI to review eligibility for MenB vaccination in older children and young adults. As ever, the Government will carefully consider JCVI advice.
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 publish an impact assessment of the proposed changes to NICE’s cost-effectiveness threshold in the context of a pharmaceutical agreement with the US.
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 Oxford West and Abingdon on 4 March to question 114047.
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 implement meningitis monitoring on university campuses.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is an expert scientific advisory committee that advises the Government on the eligibility for vaccination and immunisation programmes. The JCVI has been consulted on the immediate vaccine response to the outbreak and clinical effectiveness of potential future outbreak response vaccination strategies.
On the 17 March, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, also announced to the House of Commons that he would ask the JCVI to review eligibility for meningococcal B vaccination. The JCVI will conduct a full assessment of the cost-effectiveness of a routine adolescent meningococcal B vaccination programme and provide a complete and formal response to my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, as soon as practicable.
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 plans he has to support structured recruitment pathways for newly qualified paramedics entering the ambulance workforce.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No estimate has been made of the number of newly qualified paramedics unable to secure employment in National Health Service ambulance trusts.
Decisions on the employment of newly qualified paramedics are a matter for individual NHS trusts which manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are working closely with NHS England, employers, and educators to improve transition into the workforce.
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 estimate he has made of the number of newly qualified paramedics unable to secure employment in NHS ambulance trusts due to financial constraints on recruitment.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No estimate has been made of the number of newly qualified paramedics unable to secure employment in National Health Service ambulance trusts.
Decisions on the employment of newly qualified paramedics are a matter for individual NHS trusts which manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are working closely with NHS England, employers, and educators to improve transition into the workforce.
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 help ensure NHS ambulance trusts have sufficient funding to recruit newly qualified paramedics.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No estimate has been made of the number of newly qualified paramedics unable to secure employment in National Health Service ambulance trusts.
Decisions on the employment of newly qualified paramedics are a matter for individual NHS trusts which manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are working closely with NHS England, employers, and educators to improve transition into the workforce.
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 list the assessments his Department has made on the potential impact of the removal of the Resident Labour Market Test in 2020 on trends in the level of doctors.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made a specific assessment of the impact of the removal of the Resident Labour Market Test in 2020 on trends in the level of doctors.
The number of applications to foundation and speciality training has increased over recent years, both from people graduating from United Kingdom medical schools, or UK medical graduates, and from graduates of international medical schools, or international medical graduates.
For specialty training, the number of international medical graduates applying for places has significantly increased since 2020. Data from the General Medical Council (GMC) shows that the number of non-UK trained doctors applying for Core Training Year One and Specialty Training Year One places has increased from 5,326 in 2019 to 18,857 in 2024, a 254% increase. Over the same period the number of UK trained applicants increased from 8,836 to 11,319, a 28% increase.
Internationally trained doctors may also be seeking employment outside of medical specialty training posts and GMC data shows that the proportion of doctors taking up or returning to a GMC licence to practice who were trained outside of the UK was 57% in 2019 which has increased to 66% in 2024.
To tackle bottlenecks in medical training pathways, the government introduced The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill to Parliament on 13 January 2026. The bill delivers the Government’s commitment in the 10-Year Health Plan for England, published in July 2025, to prioritise UK medical graduates for foundation training, and to prioritise UK medical graduates and other doctors who have worked in the NHS for a significant period for specialty training.
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 reduce the time taken for kidney transplants for people with Polycystic Kidney Disease.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is the organisation responsible for organ donation services in the United Kingdom, including management of the NHS Organ Donor Register (ODR) and the transplant waiting list.
NHSBT is working to reduce the kidney transplant waiting list, including for patients with polycystic kidney disease, by promoting living donation and ODR registration, as well as taking action to increase donation consent rates. Current activity includes: high profile year-round campaigns including Living Donation Week, Organ Donation Week, and World Kidney Day, in partnership with a wide range of charities and community groups; year-round national and regional media and public relations, focusing particularly on the need for more Black and Asian organ donors to reduce current inequities in access to transplants; and funding Community Grants Programmes and partnering with trusted community organisations to support leaders with expertise in organ donation in delivering culturally and religiously sensitive messaging.
The Organ Donation Joint Working Group, formed jointly between NHSBT and the Department, recently published recommendations to improve organ donation consent rates, increase societal action for organ donation, and increase the pool of potential donors in its report published on 21 January 2026. The report is available at the following link:
https://nhsbtdbe.blob.core.windows.net/umbraco-assets-corp/38066/odjwg-report.pdf
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 research his Department is undertaking into the treatment of Polycystic Kidney Disease.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including polycystic kidney disease.
These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality. Welcoming applications on polycystic kidney disease to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.
Details of NIHR funding allocated to individual research awards are openly published and updated quarterly on the ‘Open Data’ site of the NIHR website, at the following link:
https://nihr.opendatasoft.com/explore/
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 potential impact of car parking charges in hospital car parks on access to healthcare.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is important that the National Health Service is as accessible as possible to those that need it most. That is why the NHS already provides free hospital car parking to those in greatest need. This includes disabled blue badge holders, frequent outpatient attenders, parents of children staying overnight and NHS staff working overnight.
More widely, all NHS trusts are expected to follow the published NHS Car Parking Guidance. This states that car parking charges, where they exist, should be reasonable for the area, with further information available at the following link: