Asked by: Richard Quigley (Labour - Isle of Wight West)
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 effectiveness of NHS England’s Workforce Training and Education Directorate in planning and commissioning training for eating disorder services, particularly whole-team training for Children and Young People’s Eating Disorder teams; and what steps he is taking to improve communication with training providers.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
Employers in the health system are responsible for ensuring that their staff are trained to the required standards to deliver safe and effective care.
NHS England works collaboratively with education providers in commissioning education and training opportunities in response to service demand.
Clinical staff working both within children and young people’s mental health inpatient and community services are able to access Workforce Training and Education commissioned psychological interventions training. Training for eating disorders is provided as a core element of training delivered to children and young people mental health staff, and is threaded throughout the curricula, for example Inpatient Whole Team Training.
NHS England also works closely with training providers and internal and external stakeholders to support effective communication and continuous improvement.
Asked by: Richard Quigley (Labour - Isle of Wight West)
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 that people with adrenal insufficiency have timely access to appropriate emergency steroid treatment and (b) prevent avoidable adrenal crises when time‑critical medication is (i) unavailable and (ii) insufficient in the context of the discontinuation of hydrocortisone sodium phosphate.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed
The Department is aware of the discontinuation of hydrocortisone sodium phosphate 100 milligram/one millilitre solution for injection, and we continue to work with industry to find a longer-term solution.
Hydrocortisone sodium succinate 100 milligram powder and solvent for solution for injection vials remains available for patients. We have issued comprehensive management guidance to healthcare professionals on how to manage patients while supply is disrupted. The guidance highlighted the differences between the two hydrocortisone injections. It also included resources for patients and healthcare professionals on how to administer the alternative hydrocortisone injection.
We also understand that The Addison’s Self Help Group have also published information on this discontinuation to keep patients informed along with resources for patients on how to administer the alternative hydrocortisone.
Asked by: Richard Quigley (Labour - Isle of Wight West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance is available to (a) hospitals, (b) healthcare settings and (c) healthcare staff in (i) preventing and (ii) responding to incidents of patients going missing.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed
The Department does not hold a national figure for the number of people reported missing from hospitals or other healthcare settings in 2024/25 or in 2025/26.
Clear guidance is in place to support hospitals, other healthcare settings, and staff in preventing and responding to incidents where patients go missing. This includes the National Partnership Agreement: Right Care, Right Person, published in 2023, which sets out how health services, local authorities, and the police should work together to ensure people with mental health needs receive the right support from the right service. The agreement makes clear that patient safety must be protected and that inappropriate police involvement should be avoided, including in situations involving missing patients or people leaving healthcare settings before treatment is complete.
Further guidance published by NHS England supports local commissioners and providers to put practical arrangements in place. This covers steps to reduce the risk of patients leaving care unexpectedly, action to take when someone does leave, and arrangements to locate and safely return patients from mental health inpatient settings, including where individuals are detained under the Mental Health Act, was admitted under the Mental Capacity Act, or is in hospital voluntarily.
Asked by: Richard Quigley (Labour - Isle of Wight West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people were reported missing from (a) hospitals and (b) other healthcare settings in 2024/25 and so far in 2025/26.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed
The Department does not hold a national figure for the number of people reported missing from hospitals or other healthcare settings in 2024/25 or in 2025/26.
Clear guidance is in place to support hospitals, other healthcare settings, and staff in preventing and responding to incidents where patients go missing. This includes the National Partnership Agreement: Right Care, Right Person, published in 2023, which sets out how health services, local authorities, and the police should work together to ensure people with mental health needs receive the right support from the right service. The agreement makes clear that patient safety must be protected and that inappropriate police involvement should be avoided, including in situations involving missing patients or people leaving healthcare settings before treatment is complete.
Further guidance published by NHS England supports local commissioners and providers to put practical arrangements in place. This covers steps to reduce the risk of patients leaving care unexpectedly, action to take when someone does leave, and arrangements to locate and safely return patients from mental health inpatient settings, including where individuals are detained under the Mental Health Act, was admitted under the Mental Capacity Act, or is in hospital voluntarily.
Asked by: Richard Quigley (Labour - Isle of Wight West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timetable is for bringing the cancer travel fund for children and young people into effect.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The National Cancer Plan, published on 4 February 2026, sets out clear actions and timeframes for when commitments will be delivered within the next 10 years. The action to provide £10 million annually for children and young people’s cancer travel costs will be in effect by 2027.
Asked by: Richard Quigley (Labour - Isle of Wight West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding has been allocated to radiotherapy productivity through AI; and what steps he is taking to help ensure AI-based radiotherapy technologies are deployed across all radiotherapy centres in England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales
As set out in our National Cancer Plan, we want oncologists to use artificial intelligence (AI) to assist with radiotherapy treatment, for example through contouring during treatment planning, which will lead to better outcomes for patients. Local systems are able to spend money on introducing AI products to improve radiotherapy productivity.
NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time programme is leading a study on how to maximise the productivity of radiotherapy services. It is expected that this study will report later this year. We will consider and implement its recommendations as soon as it is published.
Asked by: Richard Quigley (Labour - Isle of Wight West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to reopen specialist dementia units.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales
The Government is committed to improving dementia care and is empowering local leaders with the autonomy they need to provide the best services to their local community, including those with dementia.
The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs) and may include specialist dementia units. We expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
We will deliver the first ever Frailty and Dementia Modern Service Framework to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, expected in 2026.
The Frailty and Dementia Modern Service Framework will seek to reduce unwarranted variation and narrow inequality for those living with dementia and will set national standards for dementia care and redirect National Health Service priorities to provide the best possible care and support.
Asked by: Richard Quigley (Labour - Isle of Wight West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Department is taking to ensure consistent and effective communication between hospital doctors, consultants, and the families of patients during inpatient care.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed
The Government is committed to putting patients first, including ensuring that people have the best possible experience of care. We recognise that poor communication can be a source of frustration and worry for patients and their families, particularly for inpatient care. It is therefore crucial that patients and families receive regular, consistent, and effective updates.
Martha’s Rule is a patient safety initiative to support the early detection of deterioration by ensuring the concerns of patients, families, carers, and staff are listened to and acted upon. It gives patients, their family members, and carers a right to request a rapid review if they’re worried that a patient’s condition is getting worse and their concerns are not being responded to.
Under the NHS Constitution, patients have the right to be involved in decisions about their health and care and must be given the information and support to enable this. Where appropriate this right includes family and carers. Hospitals also have a range of legal and regulatory duties, assured by the Care Quality Commission, to ensure consistent and effective communication, including the Duty of Candour, and the Accessible Information Standard, which requires bodies to identify, share, and meet people’s communication needs, and must adhere to national standards to improve communication within clinical teams.
Additionally, improving perioperative care is a key priority for the Government. Better communication between patients and healthcare teams is a key part of improved perioperative care. To improve and standardise the quality of perioperative services in England, Getting It Right First Time is collaborating with NHS England’s Digital Outpatient, Elective Recovery, and Elective Workforce Recovery teams to form the National Perioperative Care Programme.
The programme recognises that shared decision making, where a clinician collaborates and supports a patient and, if a patient wishes, a carer or someone close to them, to decide their treatment, should be embedded in all perioperative pathways, and should begin at the earliest opportunity when surgery is considered.
It is also recognised that local providers are best placed to decide how to embed and maintain perioperative care approaches into their organisations, to reflect local needs and circumstances.
Asked by: Richard Quigley (Labour - Isle of Wight West)
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 (a) to ensure consistent improvement in weekend care at St Mary’s Hospital on the Isle of Wight and (b) to help tackle weekend staffing shortages.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the responsibility of individual National Health Service trusts to ensure safe staffing levels in all settings and at all times, including over the weekend.
Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 sets out clear actions to deliver improvements in emergency department care this winter and to make services better every day. We are aiming for 78% of patients to be seen in four hours this year, meaning over 800,000 people will receive more timely care. The Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/urgent-and-emergency-care-plan-2025-26/
We are also investing nearly £450 million into same day and urgent care services, helping avoid unnecessary admissions to hospital and supporting faster diagnosis, treatment, and discharge for patients.
Through our upcoming workforce plan, we will make sure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.
Asked by: Richard Quigley (Labour - Isle of Wight West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he requires Integrated Care Boards to hold data on the number of patients provided with hospital transport, broken down by (a) treatment type and (b) mode of transport.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England requires integrated care boards to submit monthly data for the Non-Emergency Patient Transport Scheme (NEPTS). This includes the total number of NEPTS journeys, timeliness of journeys, and journeys covered by the Healthcare Travel Cost Scheme. The data is categorised by treatment types, namely Outpatient – Renal Dialysis, Outpatient – Other, Discharge, Hospital Transfer, and Other. However, the data is not further broken down by specific treatment type or by mode of transport.
Further information on the data collected for NEPTS is available at the following link: