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 help tackle the harm caused by sodium valproate to people in (a) England, (b) Warwickshire, and (c) Stratford-on-Avon.

Everyone who has been harmed from sodium valproate has our deepest sympathies.

The Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review, First Do No Harm, identified significant shortcomings in National Health Service care pathways for people harmed by sodium valproate, including fragmented services, limited diagnostic expertise, delays in diagnosis, and inequitable access to multidisciplinary care.

In response, NHS England has commissioned a Fetal Exposure to Medicines Services Pilot, being delivered by the NHS in Newcastle and Manchester. The pilot provides multidisciplinary diagnostic assessment and is informing the development of improved care pathways, better coordination of care, and reduced reliance on emergency care. Findings from the pilot will inform future decisions on the commissioning of services, subject to funding.

The Government is also carefully considering the Patient Safety Commissioner’s recommendations made in the Hughes Report, which includes proposed approaches to redress for those harmed by sodium valproate. I recently met the Patient Safety Commissioner to provide an update on the ongoing health initiatives led by the Department regarding sodium valproate and pelvic mesh, and agreed to providing an update on her report recommendations in due course.