Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he is taking to make accessing and understanding support for unpaid carers clear and transparent a) nationally and b) locally.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the vital role of unpaid carers and is committed to ensuring they have the support they need. I chair a cross-Government ministerial group that meets regularly, made up of ministers from the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Business and Trade, and the Department for Education, to consider how we can provide unpaid carers with the recognition and support they deserve.
Work is underway to introduce a MyCarer section to the NHS App, allowing people to book appointments and communicate more easily with relevant clinical team members on behalf of those for whom they care. This will allow carers to seek guidance directly from health professionals, improving people’s experience, outcomes, and saving admin time for the health professionals and the carer.
Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities must provide a range of high-quality services for unpaid carers. The Better Care Fund supports initiatives such as short breaks and respite care, with local areas deciding how to use funding based on local need.
We have raised the Carer’s Allowance earnings limit from £151 to £196 per week, the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage and representing the largest cash increase ever.
Nationally, the Department of Health and Social Care, alongside NHS England and local authorities, continue to strengthen guidance to the care sector, and online resources to make support clear and accessible through its work. This includes information on financial help, health and wellbeing services, and respite care.
Locally, integrated care systems and local authorities continue to work towards improving their services. All these steps aim to help ensure unpaid carers can access the services they need efficiently, supporting both their wellbeing and essential caring role.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he is taking to support unpaid carers a) generally and b) specifically to remove barriers to accessing respite.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the vital role of unpaid carers and is committed to ensuring they have the support they need. I chair a cross-Government ministerial group that meets regularly, made up of ministers from the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Business and Trade, and the Department for Education, to consider how we can provide unpaid carers with the recognition and support they deserve.
Work is underway to introduce a MyCarer section to the NHS App, allowing people to book appointments and communicate more easily with relevant clinical team members on behalf of those for whom they care. This will allow carers to seek guidance directly from health professionals, improving people’s experience, outcomes, and saving admin time for the health professionals and the carer.
Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities must provide a range of high-quality services for unpaid carers. The Better Care Fund supports initiatives such as short breaks and respite care, with local areas deciding how to use funding based on local need.
We have raised the Carer’s Allowance earnings limit from £151 to £196 per week, the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage and representing the largest cash increase ever.
Nationally, the Department of Health and Social Care, alongside NHS England and local authorities, continue to strengthen guidance to the care sector, and online resources to make support clear and accessible through its work. This includes information on financial help, health and wellbeing services, and respite care.
Locally, integrated care systems and local authorities continue to work towards improving their services. All these steps aim to help ensure unpaid carers can access the services they need efficiently, supporting both their wellbeing and essential caring role.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) neurologists, (b) geriatricians and (c) nurses there are working in the NHS who have specialist training in Parkinson’s.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data on the number of neurologists or geriatricians with specialist training in Parkinson’s disease working in the National Health Service in England. National workforce datasets do not record condition‑specific sub‑specialisms, and responsibility for determining local specialist workforce configurations rests with individual employers and integrated care boards (ICBs).
As of December 2025, there were 2,002 full‑time equivalent doctors in neurology and 6,318 in geriatric medicine working in NHS trusts and other organisations in England. These specialties include clinicians who provide care to people with Parkinson’s.
The Department does not hold a central count of the number of specialist Parkinson’s nurses employed across the NHS in England. Workforce planning, including decisions about the number and type of specialist nurses needed locally, is the responsibility of individual employers and their ICBs, which are best placed to assess the needs of their populations.
We continue to work with NHS England through programmes like Getting It Right First Time to support improvements in access to specialist care. The Department has also established a United Kingdom‑wide Neuro Forum, which brings together governments, the NHS, the devolved administrations, and neurological alliances across the four nations to share best practice and address system-wide challenges, including workforce needs for conditions such as Parkinson’s.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
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 5 November 2025 to Question 86003, if his Department will commission a specific comparative review, in collaboration with the Medical Research Council, into the relative level of National Institute for Health and Care Research funding for research into myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome compared with other long-term conditions.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not intend to commission a specific comparative review into the relative level of National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) or Medical Research Council funding for research into myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), compared with other long-term conditions. We recognise that ME/CFS is an under-researched area, and we are committed to working with the ME/CFS community to identify and address barriers to research, with the ambition of supporting and funding more research and capacity-building programmes.
As outlined in the ME/CFS Final Delivery Plan, there has historically been a relatively low amount of biomedical research funded on ME/CFS, compared with disease burden. Our efforts are focussed on delivering the actions outlined in the ME/CFS Final Delivery Plan to support and increase research in this area. Since our answer to Question 86003, we have hosted a showcase on post‑acute infection conditions, bringing together people with lived experience, researchers, clinicians, and funders to stimulate further research. A summary of this showcase has been published on NIHR Open Research. We have also made progress with our new funding opportunity for development awards focussed on the feasibility of a phase 2 platform clinical trial. This would test multiple repurposed pharmaceutical interventions and/or non-pharmacological interventions for the treatment of post-viral conditions including ME/CFS. The committee will now consider the applications, and shortlisting decisions will be shared with the researchers in March.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
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 improve access to, and the effectiveness of, palliative and end of life care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England. The MSF will drive improvements in the services that patients and their families receive at the end of life and will enable integrated care boards (ICBs) to address challenges in access, quality, and sustainability through the delivery of high-quality, personalised care. This will be aligned with the ambitions set out in last year’s 10-Year Health Plan.
Through our MSF, we will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative care and end-of-life care services to ensure that services reduce variation in access and quality.
The MSF will put in place a clear and effective mechanism to deliver a fundamental improvement to the care provided. This will enable the adoption of evidence-based interventions that are proven to make a difference to patients and their families. Examples include earlier identification of need, care delivered closer to home by integrated generalist and specialist teams, and strengthened out-of-hours community health support, including dedicated telephone advice.
Last year’s Strategic Commissioning Framework and Medium-Term Planning Guidance for the National Health Service also make clear the expectations that ICBs should understand current and projected total service utilisation and costs for those at the end of life, creating an overall plan to more effectively meet these needs through neighbourhood health.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what processes are in place for families to seek remedial action against GPs who fail to correctly diagnose patients who shortly afterwards pass away.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
If a family wishes to make a formal complaint about services provided by a general practice, they should write to the practice manager. If the family is not comfortable raising a complaint directly, they can instead raise their concerns with their local National Health Service integrated care board, with NHS England or with their local Healthwatch, the independent consumer champion for health and social care. Further information about the NHS complaints procedure and Healthwatch can be found, respectively, at the following two links:
www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/about-the-nhs/how-to-complain-to-the-nhs
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
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 embed trauma-informed practice across the NHS, including in GP surgeries and refugee health clinics.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
Recognising that asylum seekers may require additional mental health support, including for trauma-related mental health issues, the Department works together with NHS England and the Home Office to provide additional guidance and support where required.
Examples of national and local interventions aimed at maintaining and improving the emotional wellbeing and mental health of individuals seeking asylum are available at the following link:
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to reduce reliance on digital consultations and ensure equitable access to in-person appointments, particularly for those with mental health conditions or language barriers.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service organisations must ensure that all patients have equitable access to care, and that decisions or policies do not unfairly disadvantage people or lead to an increase in inequalities. All NHS organisations are legally obliged to not discriminate against patients or staff.
This means that a non-digital solution should be available for those patients who cannot or do not wish to engage digitally, including those with mental health conditions or language barriers. These non-digital routes must be available for all services provided by NHS organisations.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
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 ensure equitable regional access to NICE-recommended digital cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia, including Sleepio.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is for local integrated care boards to decide whether treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy or digital solutions such as Sleepio should be offered to their local populations as a treatment for insomnia.
NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression offer low-intensity therapy which may include interventions around sleep hygiene. Individuals who are experiencing symptoms of anxiety and/or depression can be referred by their general practitioner, or can self-refer, to NHS Talking Therapies. People can also access helpful resources on sleep problems on the Every Mind Matters website at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/mental-health-issues/sleep/
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what procedures are in place to ensure that savings thresholds in relation to care costs are communicated to the public at both local and national level.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department undertakes an annual review of the capital limits and the social care allowances within the adult social care charging system.
The capital limits determine eligibility for means-tested local authority support with care costs, and the social care allowance rates set the statutory minimum income that individuals must retain after charging.
To communicate the rates for the upcoming financial year, 2026/27, the Department will publish a Local Authority Circular on the GOV.UK website, in early 2026. Local authorities should reflect these updates in their publicly available charging policies, ensuring consistent communication at both a local and national level.