Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to introduce a mandatory ID submission for people creating online accounts on anonymous websites.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has no plans to mandate the new digital ID for creating online accounts on anonymous websites. We will be consulting on other ways people might want to use this ID by the end of the year, such as when verifying their age for accessing certain websites - but there are no plans to make that mandatory.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to routinely monitor and report miscarriage rate trends; and what steps he has taken to reduce the rate of miscarriages.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The risk of miscarriage is estimated at 15%, or approximately 100,000-150,000 miscarriages per year in the United Kingdom. However, due to lack of data on the earliest losses, the true figure could be higher at approximately 250,000 a year.
An update to digital record standards on maternity means that the National Health Service is now able to record the pregnancy outcome for any woman, including miscarriage, where they have been in contact with NHS maternity services.
The Tommy’s Miscarriage Centre at Birmingham Women and Children’s Hospital has completed its pilot assessing the effectiveness of a graded model of sporadic or recurrent miscarriage care and is in the final stages of evaluating the study. Under the ‘Graded Model of Care’, women receive dedicated care from their first miscarriage. It includes bereavement support, health advice and risk assessment for women who wish to become pregnant again, screening for mental health support, and a clear pathway to manage congenital risks.
Research on the feasibility and affordability of this care is due to be published later this year. The Department has received headline positive early findings from Tommy’s and will continue to engage with Tommy’s through our planning for maternity and neonatal services.
We look forward to discussing the full findings of this important work with Tommy's in the coming weeks, and to consider what immediate and longer-term actions the Government can put in place that will help to transform care and deliver the outcomes and experience we want to see.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
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 implications for his policies of average (a) stillbirth and (b) neonatal mortality rates among (i) Black and Asian babies and (ii) babies born to mothers in the most deprived areas; and (b) what steps he is taking to help reduce maternal inequalities.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises that there are stark inequalities for women and babies, and that they should receive the high-quality care they deserve, regardless of their background, location or ethnicity.
A number of interventions specifically aimed at addressing maternal and neonatal inequalities are underway. These include the Perinatal Equity and Anti-Discrimination Programme, delivery of an inequalities dashboard and projects on removing racial bias from clinical education and embedding genetic risk equity. Additionally, all local areas have published Equity and Equality action plans to tackle inequalities for women and babies from ethnic minorities and those living in the most deprived areas.
An important aspect of both the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation and the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce announced in June, is to address inequalities in maternal and neonatal care and promote health equity in the delivery of those services.
We are putting in place immediate actions to improve safety across maternity and neonatal care, which includes the implementation of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle in all Trusts to reduce the rates of stillbirth, preterm birth and neonatal care.
NHS England is also introducing a Maternal Mortality Care Bundle to set clear standards across all services, and address the leading causes of maternal mortality. Women from Black and Asian backgrounds are more at risk of specific clinical conditions that are the leading causes of death. This bundle will target these conditions, and we expect a decline in deaths and harm.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to improve access to interpreters for pregnant women and their families who are receiving maternity and neonatal care; and whether he plans to introduce national guidance to ensure consistency of interpretation provision across all maternity and neonatal services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Community language translation and interpretation services are crucial for patient safety. The responsibility to commission these services sits with integrated care boards and National Health Service providers as they are better placed to make decisions about how they use their funding based on the needs of their local populations. Local commissioners are responsible for applying the highest quality standards possible.
To identify the most effective way to improve interpretation provision across all clinical services including maternity and neonatal care, NHS England has completed a strategic review, building on the recommendations of independent safety investigations.
In response, NHS England has developed a Framework for NHS action on Community Language Translation and Interpreting, to help improve interpretation services so that they meet the needs of communities and support equitable access, experience, and outcomes for all. A six-month period of engagement work ensured that issues relating to maternal and neonatal care were considered in the development of the Improvement Framework, which is available at the following link:
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that all police forces have mandatory training to support victims of online harassment and stalking.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
It is vital that the police and other frontline professionals have the right framework to follow when supporting victims of stalking, both online and offline. That is why the Government is legislating in the Crime and Policing Bill to introduce multi-agency statutory guidance on stalking and ‘Right to Know’ statutory guidance for the police to set out the process by which they should release identifying information about online stalking perpetrators to victims.
The Home Office has also allocated £13.1 million to launch the new National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls and Public Protection and their work includes enhancing the police response to stalking. Centralising policing expertise to tackle these crimes will drive national coordination, with the development of strengthened specialist training for officers across the country ensuring they offer consistent protection for victims.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 26 June 2025 to Question 60418 on medical testing, how much of the £600 million capital spending this year on diagnostics including funding all pathology networks will be allocated to (a) Lancashire Teaching Hospitals and (b) Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of the £1.65 billion for investment to improve National Health Service performance against constitutional standards in 2025/26, £600 million was allocated to diagnostics. Final allocation of this funding will be agreed via national panels upon receipt and review of business cases.
To date, the Department has approved £2,267,000 capital to Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust from this overall allocation.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that there are Parkinson's trained assessors for benefit assessments involving applicants with a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is committed to ensuring that individuals with Parkinson’s disease and other health conditions receive high-quality, objective, and accurate assessments. To uphold this commitment, DWP has established clear competency standards for health professionals (HPs), as outlined in its official guidance and regulatory framework.
DWP recognises the importance of ensuring HPs conducting assessments possess the necessary experience, skills, and training. To uphold this standard, DWP has established clear competency requirements, outlined in both guidance and regulations. Assessment suppliers must demonstrate that their HPs meet these standards before they are authorised to carry out assessments on behalf of the department.
DWP does not require HPs to be specialists in the specific medical conditions or impairments of the individuals they assess. Instead, the emphasis is on ensuring HPs are experts in disability analysis, focusing on how a person’s condition affects their daily life and functional abilities.
All HPs receive thorough training in disability analysis, which includes evaluating the impact of a wide range of health conditions on everyday activities. To support this, DWP provides suppliers with core training material and guidance on conditions such as Parkinson’s Disease. These contain clinical and functional information relevant to the condition and is quality assured to ensure its accuracy from both a clinical and policy perspective.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
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 implications for his policies of trends in the number of patients who have been referred by their GP for a possible Parkinson's diagnosis and are not seen by a neurologist or geriatrician within 18 weeks in line with NICE guidance.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise the importance of a timely diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease and remain committed to delivering the National Health Service constitutional standard for 92% of patients to wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment by March 2029, a standard which has not been met consistently since September 2015. This includes patients waiting for elective treatment on neurological pathways.
We are investing in additional capacity to deliver appointments to help bring lists and waiting times down. We provided additional investment in the Autumn Budget 2024 that has enabled us to fulfil our pledge to deliver over two million more elective care appointments early. More than double that number, 4.9 million more appointments, have now been delivered.
The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the specific productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the constitutional standard.
The Getting It Right First Time programme, which provides tailored regional and national support to providers, also has a neurology specific Further Faster workstream. This is a clinically led initiative supporting peer to peer learning and improvement. A neurology 'handbook' and checklist with benchmarked data and case studies has been published and there are regular neurology online sessions for clinical and operational leads.
The shifts outlined in our 10-Year Health Plan will free up hospital-based neurologists’ and geriatricians’ time by shifting care from hospitals to communities, utilising digital technology to reduce administrative burdens, and promoting prevention to reduce the onset and severity of neurological conditions that lead to hospital admissions. This includes expanding community-based services, employing artificial intelligence for productivity, developing integrated neighbourhood health teams, and investing in digital tools and data. These shifts will enable earlier identification and management of Parkinson's disease, allowing specialists to focus on complex cases and improve patient outcomes.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
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 to provide people with Parkinson's disease with a personal plan to allow (a) access to, (b) advice from and (c) treatment by a multidisciplinary team of (i) Parkinson’s nurses, (ii) physiotherapists, (iii) nutritionists, (iv) speech therapists and (v) other relevant health professionals.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our 10-Year Health Plan will ensure that people with complex needs are supported to be active participants in their own care. As part of this, 95% of people with complex needs or long-term conditions like Parkison’s disease will have an agreed personalised care plan by 2027. Care plans will be a feature of the developing Neighbourhood Health Service, which will provide integrated, accessible, and localised services that will focus on early detection and diagnosis, and comprehensive multidisciplinary care. By being community-based, the centres will reduce barriers to care and ongoing support and will empower patients to manage their condition more effectively.
From 2026, ‘Diagnosis Connect’ will ensure patients are referred directly to trusted charities and support organisations as soon as they are diagnosed. It will ensure that patients are provided with timely, personalised advice, information, and guidance to help them manage their condition, improve their control over it, and navigate the complex support systems they may face. The Department has already had conversations with Parkinson’s UK about its ‘Parkinson’s Connect’ programme and will continue to do so in the context of ‘Diagnosis Connect’.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will consider the potential merits of providing a leaflet to people diagnosed with Parkinson's disease with (a) information about the disease, (b) the relevant contact numbers for their (i) hospital and (ii) nurse and (c) local support groups available to them.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our 10-Year Health Plan will ensure that people with complex needs are supported to be active participants in their own care. As part of this, 95% of people with complex needs or long-term conditions like Parkison’s disease will have an agreed personalised care plan by 2027. Care plans will be a feature of the developing Neighbourhood Health Service, which will provide integrated, accessible, and localised services that will focus on early detection and diagnosis, and comprehensive multidisciplinary care. By being community-based, the centres will reduce barriers to care and ongoing support and will empower patients to manage their condition more effectively.
From 2026, ‘Diagnosis Connect’ will ensure patients are referred directly to trusted charities and support organisations as soon as they are diagnosed. It will ensure that patients are provided with timely, personalised advice, information, and guidance to help them manage their condition, improve their control over it, and navigate the complex support systems they may face. The Department has already had conversations with Parkinson’s UK about its ‘Parkinson’s Connect’ programme and will continue to do so in the context of ‘Diagnosis Connect’.