Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps have been taken to ensure the safety of (a) NHS staff and (b) patients within NHS services in Slough constituency.

Everyone working in the National Health Service has a fundamental right to be safe at work. Individual employers are responsible for the health and safety of their staff, and they put in place measures, including security, training, and emotional support, for staff affected by violence.

In April 2025, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, announced that the Social Partnership Forum’s recommendations on tackling and reducing violence, part of the 2023 Agenda for Change pay deal, had been accepted in full. This includes measures to improve data and reporting, strengthen risk assessment, and improve training and support for victims. These have been bolstered by the introduction of a new set of staff standards, including one that focuses specifically on tackling violence, as set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.

The Government is prioritising patient safety and a learning culture in the NHS. The changes we are making as part of the 10-Year Health Plan and Dr Penny Dash’s report on the patient safety landscape will improve quality and safety by clarifying where responsibility and accountability sit at all levels of the system. We also plan to develop a new, updated NHS Patient Safety Strategy later in 2026 to continue our focus on improving patient safety.