Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on (a) F-gases in inhalers and (b) the switching of patients with (i) asthma and (ii) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to a lower-carbon inhaler.

There have been no specific discussions. The National Health Service remains committed to reducing the carbon impact of inhalers. As part of all inhaler prescriptions, structured medication reviews and asthma reviews, consideration should be given to moving patients to lower carbon options, where it is clinically appropriate to do so.

NHS England has worked with key partners, industry representatives, patient groups, and clinicians to develop a package of guidance and resources to support improved respiratory disease management and shared decision-making on inhaler choice. This includes both patient and clinician focused resources which includes but is not limited to, Asthma+Lung UK resources co-developed with NHS England on inhaler choice to support patients, NHS England case studies and videos to support systems and providers, and resources from the Royal College of General Practitioners and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to support clinicians.