Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department will publish the data on the number of patients treated in (a) corridors and (b) other inappropriate spaces.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to tackling the unacceptable practice of corridor care in our National Health Service. Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan, published in June, set out the steps that we are taking, including the commitment to publish data on the prevalence of corridor care.
NHS England has been working with trusts since 2024 to put in place new reporting arrangements related to the use of temporary escalation spaces, to drive improvement. This information will be published following a review of data quality, and we will consider how this data could be published on a regular basis.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department will publish regular data on patients treated in (a) corridors and (b) other inappropriate spaces.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to tackling the unacceptable practice of corridor care in our National Health Service. Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan, published in June, set out the steps that we are taking, including the commitment to publish data on the prevalence of corridor care.
NHS England has been working with trusts since 2024 to put in place new reporting arrangements related to the use of temporary escalation spaces, to drive improvement. This information will be published following a review of data quality, and we will consider how this data could be published on a regular basis.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made on procuring more locally produced foods for schools, prisons, and hospitals.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is currently assessing the food that the public sector currently buys, specifically its provenance and the standards it conforms to. In due course, this will enable us to determine the extent to which public sector settings are serving food from local producers and what more can be done.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of (a) tableware and (b) crockery used in (a) his Department, (b) Integrated Care Boards, (c) hospitals and (d) NHS England Offices is made by a British manufacturer.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to supporting British businesses and ensuring they have the best chance to win public contracts.
The new Procurement Act creates a simpler and more transparent system that will support British businesses bidding for work.
The Act also allows contracting authorities to set standards that recognise the quality and standard of UK businesses and products.
Alongside this, the National Procurement Policy Statement encourages contracting authorities to consider this government’s Industrial strategy and the sectors vital to our economic growth.
The tableware and crockery used in the Department is provided by our catering supplier. They do not record where the crockery was made and are unable to advise what proportion was manufactured in Britain. Some of the crockery was manufactured in the UK.
Integrated care boards, hospitals, and NHS England do not hold this information and it could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
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 impact of the current care funding framework on people with dementia who want to remain at home.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Adult social care is part of our vision for a Neighbourhood Health Service that shifts care from hospitals to communities, with more personalised, proactive, and joined-up health and care services that help people stay independent for as long as possible.
We are empowering people and giving them more choice and control over their care, for instance by promoting greater use of direct payments. We are also expanding care options to boost independent living at home through an additional £172 million for the Disabled Facilities Grant over two years, enabling approximately 15,600 extra home adaptations, and are introducing care technology standards to help people choose the right support.
This year's Spending Review allows for an increase of over £4 billion of funding available for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26, to support the sector in making improvements.
The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). We would expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
Asked by: Tom Morrison (Liberal Democrat - Cheadle)
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 prevent patients from being treated in (a) corridors, (b) converted office spaces, (c) gyms and (d) other places not designed for treatment ahead of winter 2025-26.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are doing everything we can as fast as we can to consign corridor care to the history books. The Government is determined to get the National Health Service back on its feet, so patients can be treated with dignity.
Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan, published in June 2025, set out the steps we are taking to ensure that patients will receive better, faster, and more appropriate emergency care this winter, backed by a total of nearly £450 million of funding. This includes a commitment to publish data on the prevalence of corridor care.
We have been taking key steps to ensure the health service is prepared for the colder months. This includes taking actions to try and reduce demand pressure on accident and emergency departments, increasing vaccination rates, and offering health checks to the most vulnerable, as well as stress-testing integrated care board and trust winter plans to confirm they are able to meet demand and support patient flow.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 support charities that provide make a wish experiences for children undergoing cancer treatment.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to improving outcomes and patient experience for children and young people with cancer. NHS England is taking steps to improve the experience of children in hospital and their families, including young cancer patients. To improve standards for the provision of play in hospitals, the Taskforce on Children’s Play in Healthcare has developed national guidance on play provision for commissioners and new national play standards for service providers.
NHS England has published service specifications that set out the service standards required of all providers of children and young people’s cancer services. The requirements include ensuring that every patient has access to specialist care and reducing physical, emotional, and psychological morbidity arising from treatment for childhood cancer. The specifications are available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/npc-crg/group-b/b05/
The Department has not made a formal assessment of the potential impact of sensory rooms in hospitals on the treatment experience of children with cancer.
On 4 February 2025, the Department relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce to identify tangible ways to improve outcomes and experiences for young cancer patients. The taskforce will explore opportunities for improvement, including detection and diagnosis, genomic testing and treatment, research and innovation, and patient experience. The taskforce will also ensure that the unique needs of children and young people with cancer are carefully considered as part of the National Cancer Plan for England, which will include further details on how we will improve play provision for children and young people with cancer.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 impact of sensory rooms in hospitals on treatment experience of children with cancer.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to improving outcomes and patient experience for children and young people with cancer. NHS England is taking steps to improve the experience of children in hospital and their families, including young cancer patients. To improve standards for the provision of play in hospitals, the Taskforce on Children’s Play in Healthcare has developed national guidance on play provision for commissioners and new national play standards for service providers.
NHS England has published service specifications that set out the service standards required of all providers of children and young people’s cancer services. The requirements include ensuring that every patient has access to specialist care and reducing physical, emotional, and psychological morbidity arising from treatment for childhood cancer. The specifications are available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/npc-crg/group-b/b05/
The Department has not made a formal assessment of the potential impact of sensory rooms in hospitals on the treatment experience of children with cancer.
On 4 February 2025, the Department relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce to identify tangible ways to improve outcomes and experiences for young cancer patients. The taskforce will explore opportunities for improvement, including detection and diagnosis, genomic testing and treatment, research and innovation, and patient experience. The taskforce will also ensure that the unique needs of children and young people with cancer are carefully considered as part of the National Cancer Plan for England, which will include further details on how we will improve play provision for children and young people with cancer.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Health Building Note 09-03: Neonatal Units, published 20 March 2013, how many and what proportion of neonatal units (a) do and (b) do not meet the standard for parent accommodation.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Not all maternity hospitals are currently able to offer adequate accommodation for families who have experienced a bereavement. This is due to the historic undercapitalisation across the National Health Service, as highlighted by the Darzi Report.
As a first step towards improving our maternity and neonatal estate, we are investing over £100 million through the 2025/26 Estates Safety Fund to address critical safety risks on the maternity estate, enabling better care for mothers and their newborns.
The provision of bereavement suites is included in current estate standards on the design and planning of new maternity units. This is delivering improvements, as our enquiries suggest that current NHS capital programmes progressing maternity new builds include the provision of an appropriate bereavement suite.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many bedrooms are available for parents and carers in neonatal units, broken down by (a) region, (b) Integrated Care Board, (c) Trust and (d) in England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Not all maternity hospitals are currently able to offer adequate accommodation for families who have experienced a bereavement. This is due to the historic undercapitalisation across the National Health Service, as highlighted by the Darzi Report.
As a first step towards improving our maternity and neonatal estate, we are investing over £100 million through the 2025/26 Estates Safety Fund to address critical safety risks on the maternity estate, enabling better care for mothers and their newborns.
The provision of bereavement suites is included in current estate standards on the design and planning of new maternity units. This is delivering improvements, as our enquiries suggest that current NHS capital programmes progressing maternity new builds include the provision of an appropriate bereavement suite.