Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the UK's 41st place in the Hologic Global Women’s Health Index, what steps his Department is taking to improve women's health.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health as we build a National Health Service fit for the future.
Our focus is on turning the commitments in the Women's Health Strategy into tangible action, such as providing emergency hormonal contraception free of charge at pharmacies on the NHS from October 2025, setting out how we will eliminate cervical cancer by 2040 through the new cervical cancer plan, and taking urgent action to tackle gynaecology waiting lists through the Elective Reform Plan.
The 10-Year Health Plan for England, published on 3 July, sets out the vision to distribute power to patients, including women, and to revitalise the NHS, making it fit for the future.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to take steps to increase awareness of the importance of pelvic floor strength for women before pregnancy to prevent post pregnancy incontinence.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Supporting women’s health before, during, and after pregnancy is a priority for the Government. The women’s health area on the National Health Service’s website brings together over 100 health topics for women seeking health information, including information and advice on planning for pregnancy, keeping well in pregnancy, and pelvic health.
NHS England has rolled out perinatal pelvic health services to support the prevention and identification of pelvic floor dysfunction, including incontinence, during pregnancy and post-birth. Additionally, NHS England the Royal College of General Practitioners have published guidance on the six to eight week postnatal check-up. This check-up provides personalised postnatal care for women’s physical and mental health, including a specific section on pelvic floor health.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to make eye tests mandatory for primary school children.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are currently no plans to make eye tests mandatory for primary school children. The UK National Screening Committee recommends vision screening in school for children aged four to five years old, to look for reduced vision in one or both eyes.
In addition to vision screening, free sight tests are widely available for children under 16 years old and under 19 years old in full time education. Free sight tests are also being made available for children and young people with special educational needs, attending special educational settings across England, where those settings choose to host a service.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
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 in the context of trends in the level of competition for training places in postgraduate medical training.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are aware that competition ratios for speciality training have grown in recent years, and that this is causing concern across the medical profession.
As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan published on 3 July, we will work across Government to prioritise United Kingdom medical graduates for foundation training, and to prioritise UK medical graduates and other doctors who have worked in the National Health Service for a significant period for specialty training.
We will also ensure that the number of medical specialty training places meets the demands of the NHS in the future. NHS England will work with stakeholders to ensure that any growth is sustainable and focused in the service areas where need is greatest.
We will publish a new 10 Year Workforce Plan later this year, to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and treat patients on time again.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
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 merits of including incontinence in medical training for all healthcare professionals.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made. The standard of training for healthcare professionals is the responsibility of the independent statutory regulatory bodies who set the outcome standards expected at undergraduate level and approve courses. Higher education institutions write and teach the curricula content that enables their students to meet the regulators’ outcome standards.
Whilst not all curricula may necessarily highlight a specific condition, they all nevertheless emphasise the skills and approaches a healthcare professional must develop in order to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients, including for incontinence.
Employers in the health system are responsible for ensuring that their staff are trained to the required standards to deliver safe and effective treatment for patients.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to increase funding for mental health services for children.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is investing an extra £688 million this year to transform mental health services, including support for children.
The 2025 Spending Review confirmed that we will fulfil our commitment to provide access to mental health support within schools in England by expanding mental health support teams to cover 100% of pupils by 2029/30. This expansion will ensure that up to 900,000 more children and young people will have access to support from trained education mental health practitioners in 2025/26.
Additionally, we are continuing to provide top-up funding of £7 million to the 24 Early Support Hubs to expand their services, and we are also taking part in an ongoing evaluation of these services in 2025/26. This new funding will enable the supported Early Support Hubs to deliver at least 10,000 additional mental health and wellbeing interventions, so that more children and young people are supported.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the 10-year health plan will include policies on (a) community equipment services and (b) the timely provision of community care equipment.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will deliver a National Health Service fit for the future, creating a truly modern health service designed to meet the changing needs of our changing population. Moving care from hospitals into the community and putting the building blocks in place to enable this to happen is at the heart of the 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether residential treatment for severe gambling addiction will (a) continue to be funded by his Department after commissioning for treatment services is moved to the NHS and (b) be funded through a statutory gambling levy.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In April 2025, the new statutory levy on gambling operators came into effect to fund the research, prevention and treatment of gambling-related harm. NHS England and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities continue to work closely together to develop their gambling programmes in their respective roles as treatment and prevention commissioner during this transition year.
NHS England continues to work at pace to take on commissioning responsibility for the full treatment pathway in England, from referral and triage through to aftercare. Evidence- based commissioning decisions will be made to ensure optimal treatment modalities.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has considered increasing the threshold from which people must pay for their own care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The capital limits and the social care allowance rates are reviewed annually and the rates for 2025/26 were published in the Local Authority Circular in February 2025.
We are launching an independent commission into adult social care later this month as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. It will lead a national conversation to build consensus on what adult social care should achieve, address systemic challenges comprehensively, and chart a clear path toward practical and impactful reform.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
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 increase the allied health professional workforce.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan, which will be published in summer 2025, will deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and will ensure that the National Health Service has the right people, including allied health professionals, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need, when they need it.