Asked by: Jo White (Labour - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department will consider allowing families of vulnerable patients who are at highest risk, particularly those affected by transplants and kidney disease, access to NHS COVID vaccinations.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The primary aim of the national COVID-19 vaccination programme remains the prevention of serious illness, resulting in hospitalisations and deaths, arising from COVID-19.
The JCVI has advised that population immunity to COVID-19 has increased due to a combination of naturally acquired immunity following recovery from infection and vaccine-derived immunity. COVID-19 is now a relatively mild disease for most people, though it can still be unpleasant, with rates of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19 having reduced significantly since COVID-19 first emerged.
The JCVI has also advised that as currently available COVID-19 vaccines provide limited protection against transmission and mild or asymptomatic disease, the focus of the programme is on offering vaccination to those most likely to directly benefit from vaccination. These are the oldest adults and individuals who are immunosuppressed.
The Government has accepted the JCVI advice for autumn 2025 and in line with the advice, a COVID-19 vaccination is being offered to the following groups:
As for all vaccines, the JCVI keeps the evidence under regular review.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 availability and quality of data held by Integrated Care Boards on the prevalence of clinically diagnosed allergic conditions and the specialist allergy workforce in their local areas; and what consideration has he given to the potential merits of establishing a National Allergy Register, embedded within the planned Single Patient Record in improving patient safety and reducing regional inequalities in allergy care.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In conducting health needs assessments to inform their commissioning decisions, integrated care boards (ICBs) will have access to a wide range of data sources, including public health data, hospital statistics, primary care data, and social care metrics.
NHS England is working with the UK Fatal Anaphylaxis Register (UKFAR) to develop a mechanism for sharing relevant patient safety anaphylaxis incidents, including the reporting of anaphylaxis in hospitals. The aim will be for the UKFAR to extract and share patient safety incidents reported to the national databases, the National Reporting and Learning System and Learn from Patient Safety Events, relating to severe allergic reactions. Work has been progressing on this.
The National Allergy Strategy Group, an external group of stakeholders, is developing a UK National Allergy Strategy 2025-2035. The Department will carefully consider and respond to it when we receive it next year.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
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 paediatric settings to adopt the recommended Play Well standards in NHS England's Play Well toolkit published in June 2025.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises the importance of supporting and maintaining children’s right to play in healthcare settings.
The NHS England and Starlight Play Well Toolkit, published in June 2025, includes the first national guidelines and standards for commissioning and delivering health play services in England. It aims to improve access to child-friendly care and specialised health play services across paediatric healthcare.
To support adoption of Play Well standards, NHS England is promoting the toolkit to managers of health play services across a wide range of settings, including community clinics, emergency departments, children’s hospices, and acute paediatric wards. The toolkit provides clear guidance on supporting practical training and mentorship in healthcare settings.
A range of communication channels have been used to raise awareness, including engagement with services via professional bodies, messaging via the Chief Nursing Officer, a blog posts and ongoing promotion of the toolkit across the National Health Service through operational delivery networks, directly to trusts and directly with professional groups.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to reduce access to treatment variations between ICBs for people with arthritis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to improving timely diagnosis and management of arthritis and other musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions across England.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published guidance to support health and care professionals in the early diagnosis and management of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. These guidelines help ensure that patients receive evidence-based care as early as possible.
NHS England is working to improve early diagnosis rates through its Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) rheumatology programme. This initiative focuses on reducing variation in care, improving referral pathways, and ensuring patients with suspected arthritis and other MSK conditions are assessed promptly by specialists.
The Government has funded NHS England’s GIRFT programme to deploy its proven Further Faster model for MSK community services. The programme has been designed to reduce waiting times for community MSK appointments and to enhance access to quality treatment, working with integrated care board leaders to improve data and metrics and referral pathways to wider support services.
We are working together to further develop the approach to better enable integrated care systems to commission the delivery of high quality MSK services in the community, which will benefit patients now and into the future.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure people are able to access a timely diagnosis for arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to improving timely diagnosis and management of arthritis and other musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions across England.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published guidance to support health and care professionals in the early diagnosis and management of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. These guidelines help ensure that patients receive evidence-based care as early as possible.
NHS England is working to improve early diagnosis rates through its Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) rheumatology programme. This initiative focuses on reducing variation in care, improving referral pathways, and ensuring patients with suspected arthritis and other MSK conditions are assessed promptly by specialists.
The Government has funded NHS England’s GIRFT programme to deploy its proven Further Faster model for MSK community services. The programme has been designed to reduce waiting times for community MSK appointments and to enhance access to quality treatment, working with integrated care board leaders to improve data and metrics and referral pathways to wider support services.
We are working together to further develop the approach to better enable integrated care systems to commission the delivery of high quality MSK services in the community, which will benefit patients now and into the future.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2025 to Question 95676, whether his Department has conducted any evaluation of patient safety risks affecting people with severe and very severe ME/CFS, including malnutrition.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Patient safety risks affecting people with severe and very severe myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), including malnutrition, have been considered during the development of the final delivery plan (FDP) published in July this year, through engagement with stakeholders, including clinicians and patient groups.
To this end, the FDP includes an action for the Department and NHS England to explore whether a specialised service should be prescribed by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for very severe ME/CFS. Officials from the Department have commenced discussions with NHS England on how best to take forward this action.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his department is taking to reduce the diagnosis waiting time for Endometriosis.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health, including endometriosis care. The Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, has commissioned studies focused on endometriosis diagnosis, treatment, and patient experience.
Diagnosis may involve magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or ultrasound, but laparoscopy remains the definitive diagnostic and treatment method. We are taking action to transform diagnostic services and increase capacity, including MRI and ultrasound. This includes expanding existing community diagnostic centres (CDCs) and building up to five new ones in 2025/26. Our Elective Reform Plan also committed to CDCs opening 12 hours per day, seven days a week, delivering more same-day tests and consultations.
Surgical hubs are helping endometriosis patients get quicker treatment. National Health Service surgical hubs deliver high-volume, low-complexity elective surgeries, including gynaecological procedures. Currently, over half of the 123 operational elective surgical hubs in England provide gynaecology services, and laparoscopies are a key part of this offering. The Elective Reform Plan commits to expand the number of hubs over the next three years to increase surgical capacity and reduce waiting times.
From 2027, a new “online hospital” will also offer patients the choice to access specialist care, including for menstrual problems potentially indicating endometriosis or fibroids from home, providing additional appointments to cut waiting times.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
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 (a) the effectiveness of the monitoring of early foetal development in patients by trusts and (b) trends in the level of variations in that monitoring by those trusts.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Monitoring and reviewing Foetal Growth Restriction is a key safety component of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle (Care Bundle) which includes the Foetal Growth standard. NHS Resolution monitors this through the Maternity Incentive Scheme as part of the financial incentive for National Health Service trusts to improve safety in maternity and neonatal services. We are expecting the final evaluation of Maternity Incentive Scheme this year.
In December 2025, NHS England wrote to NHS trusts advising them to stop using intergrowth growth charts to estimate foetal weight and move to other alternatives by 31 March 2026. This is supported in guidance from the Royal College of Gynaecologists and implementation of this change will be monitored locally.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has has discussions with his counterparts in Northern Ireland on pressures on accident and emergency services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As a Government department, we work collaboratively with the devolved administrations to drive forward our objective of supporting people to lead more independent, healthier lives for longer.
While health is primarily devolved and each health system operates in its own context, there are strong benefits from sharing experiences and learning between the devolved administrations. While ministers have not recently discussed pressures on accident and emergency services in recent months, Department and NHS England officials periodically speak informally with counterparts on urgent and emergency care issues.
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, pursuant to the Answer to UIN 94508, how many of these unique applications were made by people currently outside the UK, compared to those already based in the UK.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not undertaken an analysis of the information collected as part of the 2025 medical specialty training programme to assess the location of applicants at the point of application.