Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing financial compensation to people harmed by sodium valproate by using the same compensation process as for thalidomide survivors.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department’s consideration of the Hughes Report’s recommendations for redress for those harmed by sodium valproate will include comparison with the compensation process for thalidomide survivors. However, this is a complex, cross-Government policy area involving multiple organisations. This work requires coordinated input from several departments, and we will provide a further update in due course.
I met with the Patient Safety Commissioner in December 2025, to discuss progress following the Hughes Report and made clear that the Department’s expectation of continued, proactive engagement with the Patient Safety Commissioner and key stakeholders.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Wirral (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for Care on 5 February (HC27717), whether the undertaking in the Budget of 3 March 2021 of a lifetime funding commitment for thalidomide survivors still applies.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to meeting the health needs of people affected by thalidomide, known as Thalidomiders, and to ensuring that they can live with dignity and have access the support they need.
The Thalidomide Health Grant exists to meet the health and wellbeing needs, both present and future, of Thalidomiders living in England. This funding helps Thalidomiders to maintain control over their own health and enables them to personalise the way their health and care needs are met, maintain independence, and minimise any further deterioration in their health.
We will provide an update on funding arrangements beyond 2027 in due course.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of commissioning a formal review into the historical handling of (a) thalidomide and (b) the long-term support provided to people affected by thalidomide.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Thalidomide Health Grant exists to meet the health and wellbeing needs, present and future, of thalidomide survivors living in England.
In 2023, the Department put in place a new four-year grant agreement with the Thalidomide Trust, to administer the grant of approximately £40 million over four years. The agreement was made in recognition of the complex and highly specialised needs of people affected by thalidomide in England, particularly as they approach old age. The funding helps beneficiaries to maintain control over their own health, enabling them to personalise the way their health and care needs are met, maintain independence, and minimise any further deterioration in their health.
To understand how well the current grant agreement operates, the Department has commissioned an independent evaluation of the Thalidomide Health Grant through the National Institute for Health and Care Research. The evaluation began in October 2024 and aims to understand the health and care needs of people affected by thalidomide, particularly as they age, what funded resources produce the most tangible benefits to this group, how best to distribute financial support to them, and the extent to which their needs are met by the current grant.
This independent, external research will help us to ensure that the Government supports the needs of people affected by thalidomide as they age. Funding beyond the current grant agreement will be subject to the outcome of future spending reviews.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has considered (a) alternative and (b) long-term funding models for supporting people affected by thalidomide after the current health grant period has ended.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Thalidomide Health Grant exists to meet the health and wellbeing needs, present and future, of thalidomide survivors living in England.
In 2023, the Department put in place a new four-year grant agreement with the Thalidomide Trust, to administer the grant of approximately £40 million over four years. The agreement was made in recognition of the complex and highly specialised needs of people affected by thalidomide in England, particularly as they approach old age. The funding helps beneficiaries to maintain control over their own health, enabling them to personalise the way their health and care needs are met, maintain independence, and minimise any further deterioration in their health.
To understand how well the current grant agreement operates, the Department has commissioned an independent evaluation of the Thalidomide Health Grant through the National Institute for Health and Care Research. The evaluation began in October 2024 and aims to understand the health and care needs of people affected by thalidomide, particularly as they age, what funded resources produce the most tangible benefits to this group, how best to distribute financial support to them, and the extent to which their needs are met by the current grant.
This independent, external research will help us to ensure that the Government supports the needs of people affected by thalidomide as they age. Funding beyond the current grant agreement will be subject to the outcome of future spending reviews.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the Thalidomide Health Grant in meeting the health and care needs of survivors as they age.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Thalidomide Health Grant exists to meet the health and wellbeing needs, present and future, of thalidomide survivors living in England.
In 2023, the Department put in place a new four-year grant agreement with the Thalidomide Trust, to administer the grant of approximately £40 million over four years. The agreement was made in recognition of the complex and highly specialised needs of people affected by thalidomide in England, particularly as they approach old age. The funding helps beneficiaries to maintain control over their own health, enabling them to personalise the way their health and care needs are met, maintain independence, and minimise any further deterioration in their health.
To understand how well the current grant agreement operates, the Department has commissioned an independent evaluation of the Thalidomide Health Grant through the National Institute for Health and Care Research. The evaluation began in October 2024 and aims to understand the health and care needs of people affected by thalidomide, particularly as they age, what funded resources produce the most tangible benefits to this group, how best to distribute financial support to them, and the extent to which their needs are met by the current grant.
This independent, external research will help us to ensure that the Government supports the needs of people affected by thalidomide as they age. Funding beyond the current grant agreement will be subject to the outcome of future spending reviews.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to ensure that thalidomide survivors have effective representation in negotiations with Diageo on long-term (a) assistance and (b) compensation.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is a Deed of Covenant agreed between Diageo plc and the Thalidomide Trust, which is subject to periodic review by both parties, with beneficiary representatives involved in the process. The Department has no role in these periodic reviews.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support he provides for the (a) health and (b) wellbeing needs of thalidomide survivors.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Thalidomide Health Grant is awarded to meet the health and wellbeing needs, present and future, of thalidomide survivors living in England.
In 2023, the Department put in place a new four-year grant agreement with the Thalidomide Trust, to administer the grant of approximately £40 million. The grant was made in recognition of the complex and highly specialised needs of people affected by thalidomide in England, particularly as they approach old age. The funding helps beneficiaries of the Thalidomide Trust to maintain control over their own health, enabling them to personalise the way their health and care needs are met, maintain independence, and minimise any further deterioration in their health.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to take steps to implement recommendations in the report by the APPG on Hormone Pregnancy Test entitled Bitter Pill: Primodos - the forgotten thalidomide, published on 27 February 2024.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
We remain hugely sympathetic to the families who believe that they have suffered because of using Hormone Pregnancy Tests (HPTs). In 2017 an independent Expert Working Group (EWG) conducted a comprehensive review of the available scientific evidence and concluded that the data did not support a causal association between the use of HPTs, such as Primodos, and adverse pregnancy outcomes. This remains the Government’s position. The Government has committed to reviewing any new evidence related to HPTs and a possible causal association with adverse pregnancy outcomes.
On the recently published recommendations of the HPT All-Party Parliamentary Group, we have no plans to set up an independent review to examine the findings of the EWG. In the interests of transparency, all evidence collected and papers considered by the EWG were published in 2018, along with full minutes of its discussions. Details of conflicts of interests and how these were managed were also published. The Government is reviewing Professor Danielsson’s publication to consider if it presents any new evidence or analyses not already considered by the EWG on HPTs, and will be seeking independent expert advice from the Commission on Human Medicines in due course.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester Withington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her Department’s policies of the report by the APPG on Hormone Pregnancy Test entitled Bitter Pill: Primodos - the forgotten thalidomide, published on 27 February 2024.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
We remain hugely sympathetic to the families who believe that they have suffered due to the use of Hormone Pregnancy Tests (HPTs). In 2017 an independent Expert Working Group conducted a comprehensive review of the available scientific evidence, and concluded that the data did not support a causal association between the use of HPTs, such as Primodos, and adverse pregnancy outcomes. This remains the Government’s position. The Government has committed to reviewing any new evidence related to HPTs, and a possible causal association with adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester Withington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will implement the recommendations in the report by the APPG on Hormone Pregnancy Test entitled Bitter Pill: Primodos - the forgotten thalidomide, published on 27 February 2024.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
We remain hugely sympathetic to the families who believe that they have suffered due to the use of Hormone Pregnancy Tests (HPTs). In 2017 an independent Expert Working Group conducted a comprehensive review of the available scientific evidence, and concluded that the data did not support a causal association between the use of HPTs, such as Primodos, and adverse pregnancy outcomes. This remains the Government’s position. The Government has committed to reviewing any new evidence related to HPTs, and a possible causal association with adverse pregnancy outcomes.