Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what work has been done in collaboration with international experts to reach a consensus on whether full or partial removals are best for mesh-harmed women; and whether NICE is actively monitoring this situation and will update its guidance when consensus is reached.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made on commissioning a retrospective sample audit of the POP/SUI database to work out the risk percentage of mesh complication experienced by women.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many women have received full mesh removals since the setting up of the nine specialist removal centres in 2021, in comparison to partial removals.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many mesh removal surgeons are performing mesh removals since the setting up of the nine specialist removal centres in 2021.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether mesh removal surgeons receive an approved and accredited training course for removals.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate her Department has made of the (a) prevalence of respiratory disease and (b) number of emergency hospital admissions for respiratory conditions in Washington and Gateshead South constituency compared with national averages.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data is available for emergency finished admission episodes (FAEs) where there was a primary diagnosis of 'respiratory conditions’. The following table shows the number of FAEs where there was a primary diagnosis of 'respiratory conditions’ for Washington and Gateshead South and England, for activity in English National Health Service hospitals and English NHS-commissioned activity in the independent sector, for 2024/25 and provisionally for 2025/26:
| ||
Westminster Parliamentary Constituency of Residence | 2024/25 (August 2024 to March 2025) | 2025/26 (April 2025 to December 2025, provisional) |
Washington and Gateshead South | 1255 | 1000 |
England | 612,855 | 511,558 |
Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS England | ||
Available data on trends in respiratory conditions can be found on the Department’s Fingertips website. Data is not available by parliamentary constituency. Data is available at regional, county, unitary authority and integrated care board level and information for Gateshead is available at the following link:
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her Department’s timeline is for deciding on the second wave of Modern Service Frameworks; and whether respiratory conditions will be considered.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
For the time being, I refer the Hon. Member to the answer that she provided on 17 July in response to Question 17694, but I will ensure that she is updated when there is further progress to report.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
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 reasonable adjustments relating to (a) disabled and (b) vulnerable claimants' communication needs, including where written communications may be required in preference to telephone calls, are identified and adhered to.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department offers a wide range of reasonable adjustments for claimants, including production of communications in a range of different (or alternative) formats to ensure that information is presented in an accessible way that suits their needs. Alternative formats offered include Braille, large print, audio, coloured paper, and screen-readable formats such as word and web-accessible PDF.
Once a claimant’s communication need or reasonable adjustment requirement has been identified, it is recorded on the claimant's record in such a way that it is easily seen each time a member of staff looks at that record, helping to ensure ongoing engagement remains appropriate to the claimant's circumstances.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps HM Courts and Tribunals Service takes to ensure that reasonable adjustments and communication preferences are identified, recorded and adhered to throughout court and tribunal proceedings involving disabled and vulnerable users.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
HMCTS has a legal duty under the Equality Act 2010 to ensure all our users are treated with dignity and that we do not discriminate against people with protected characteristics. HMCTS will provide reasonable adjustments for court and tribunal users with disabilities.
We encourage court and tribunal users to contact us before a hearing to discuss any adjustments they may need. HMCTS staff should sensitively ask those needing reasonable adjustments what support they require in order to be able to provide such adjustments.
Information about how we provide reasonable adjustments is available on GOV.UK.
Users may ask for HMCTS leaflets, blank forms, and any documents relating to their case in an alternative format that meets their specific accessibility needs such as, Braille, audio, large print, Easy Read and other alternate formats.
Where a party to proceedings is identified as having additional communication needs, they or their legal representative may request the support of an intermediary. Intermediaries assess and advise on the specific communication requirements of a person and recommend reasonable adjustments to enable their participation in hearings.
We also have mandatory reasonable adjustments teaching for staff to help them understand what reasonable adjustments are and how they should be put in place to support disabled court and tribunal users.
Requests for reasonable adjustments may be recorded on our case management system which helps staff manage requests and track reasonable adjustments which have been provided.
HMCTS is improving how reasonable adjustments are requested and managed within digital services in the Civil, Family and Tribunals jurisdictions. This includes proactively asking service users for their support needs within their journey, and improvements to case management systems to make it easier for staff to manage and deliver the adjustments.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate her Department has made of the number of industrial electrification projects that are abandoned before they reach a formal grid connection application.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises that addressing barriers to electrification is critical to ensuring electrification is commercially viable and investable at scale.
We continue to engage with viable industrial electrification projects and understand that the grid connection process itself presents a barrier for some sites obtaining a formal grid connection.
Ofgem has initiated an end-to-end review, a comprehensive regulatory overhaul designed to improve the UK's electricity grid connections process. DESNZ continues to engage with Ofgem on the end-to-end as well as NESO on its Connections Reform work, to improve the grid connection process for industrial users.