Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention of 27 March 2025 in the debate on Hughes Report: First Anniversary, Official Report, column 472WH, if he will publish (a) her letter and (b) the response from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety, Women's Health and Mental Health.

Following the debate on Hughes Report: First Anniversary, I met and put on record my discussion with the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Patient Safety, Women's Health and Mental Health (Baroness Merron), who confirmed that the Government is carefully considering the work by the Patient Safety Commissioner and her Report, which set out options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh. The Department does not plan to publish the letter, and it did not require a response from Baroness Merron. This is a complex issue involving input from different government departments. The Government will provide a further update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s Report.