Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
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 trends in the level of capacity pressures in secondary care, particularly at hospital front doors, including staffing levels and bed availability.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We continue to monitor the impact of winter pressures on the National Health Service over the winter months. The NHS has been preparing for winter this year with the development and thorough testing of winter plans. This includes the surge capacity and escalation plans in place across all NHS and urgent care services.
While pressure has remained high on acute hospitals, performance has been better than in previous years. Accident and emergency four-hour performance was 73.8% in December 2025, an improvement of 2.7% from 71.1%. Provisional data for December 2025 indicates that there were 101,200 General and Acute beds open for all acute trusts, 93,177 of which were occupied, a 92.1% occupancy rate.
There were 431,000 more accident and emergency attendances in year-to-date to December in 2025/26 compared to the same period in 2024/25, a growth rate of 2.1%. This is lower than the average annual growth rate of 3.9% seen between 2021/22 and 2024/25 but still represents an increase in pressure on accident and emergency departments. Growth in attendances at consultant-led type 1 accident and emergency departments was 1.8% in the year to date to December in 2025/26, greater than the average annual growth rate of 1.3% between 2021/22 and 2024/25.
The 10-Year Health Plan aims to expand urgent care capacity through Neighbourhood Health Services and virtual wards, enabling patients to receive care closer to home where clinically appropriate and easing pressure on hospitals.
The responsibility for staffing levels should remain with clinical and other leaders at a local level, responding to local needs, supported by guidelines by national and professional bodies, and overseen and regulated in England by the Care Quality Commission.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's register of board members' interests, 2025 to 2026, published on 5 September 2025, what business A.M.Strategy undertakes.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Rt. Hon. Alan Milburn has declared A.M. Strategy Ltd in the Department’s register of interests. This is the business through which he has provided advisory services for several years.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number of people who were treated following female genital mutilation in the (a) 2022–23, (b) 2023-24 and (c) 2024-25 financial years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are a range of services available to support women affected by female genital mutilation (FGM) including treatment, counselling, and further referrals to urology and gynaecology, depending on clinical need.
Data published in the FGM Enhanced Dataset records the number of FGM-related attendances in National Health Service settings. This data is published by NHS England and shows health attendances by patients where FGM was identified or a procedure for FGM was undertaken. The FGM data is collected by NHS healthcare providers in England, including acute hospitals, mental health services, and general practices. The following table shows the number of individual women and girls who had an attendance where FGM was identified, and the number of FGM related attendances for 2022/23, 2023/24, and 2024/25:
Period | Number of individual women and girls who had an attendance where FGM was identified | Number of FGM related attendances |
April 2022 to March 2023 | 6,000 | 12,660 |
April 2023 to March 2024 | 6,695 | 14,395 |
April 2024 to March 2025 | 6,980 | 16,300 |
Source: Female Genital Mutilation, Annual Report - April 2024 to March 2025, published by NHS England, and available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/female-genital-mutilation/april-2024-to-march-2025
Notes:
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
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 that the commitment to end the discharge of newborn babies into bed and breakfast accommodation or other unsuitable shared housing applies to all families, including those seeking asylum and those subject to No Recourse to Public Funds.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has committed to ending the practice of discharging newborn babies into bed and breakfast or other unsuitable shared accommodation through the Child Poverty Strategy. We are working closely across Government, including with Home Office, to consider its implementation and any other associated impacts.
Asylum seeking families can access some of the support set out in the Child Poverty Strategy, including Best Start Family Hubs in England.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
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 help prevent teenagers and young adults from contracting Meningitis B.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Meningococcal disease is rare, and the incidence has declined over the last two decades following the introduction of vaccines targeting meningococcal disease including the MenACWY teenage vaccination programme.
There is no current Meningitis B (MenB) vaccination programme for teenagers and young adults.
The importance of raising awareness in parents, teenagers and other adults about the signs and symptoms of meningitis and septicaemia remains key. There are a range of resources developed by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), co-branded with the National Health Service, that set out these key messages and their importance, such as the teenage guide to immunisation. The guide is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immunisations-for-young-people
The UKHSA collaboratively produces a university vaccine communications toolkit. This is shared with the distribution lists of Universities UK and the Association of Managers of Student Services in Higher Education (AMOSSHE), and is available at the following link:
In addition, United Kingdom guidance on the public health management of meningococcal disease provides clear advice on the management of confirmed and probable cases of invasive meningococcal disease, including MenB, to minimise onward transmission and further associated cases. This guidance is available at the following link:
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the savings generated by reductions in NHS England staffing; and how are those savings being redirected into frontline patient care.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Creating a new joint organisation will streamline decision-making, reduce bureaucracy, and improve accountability. These changes are expected to generate significant efficiencies over time.
The Department’s initial modelling demonstrate that the up-front investment in organisational change will be offset by long-term reductions in staffing and running costs, ensuring the programme delivers value for money and sustainable savings for the taxpayer. Current estimates expect that these changes will save £1 billion a year by the end of this Parliament, which is equivalent to 116,000 hip and knee operations.
The Government is committed to transparency in how these figures are calculated. The methodology underpinning the £1 billion saving estimate will be set out through established mechanisms, including publication of supporting documentation where appropriate. This will ensure that both Parliament and the public are able to scrutinise the basis of the savings. Further detail will be brought forward over time, in line with our commitment to provide clear and timely information.
The Department is committed to transparent, responsible, evidence-based policy making. We will publish proportionate assessments to support reforms. Assessments will be published to enable scrutiny and will be proportionate to the scale of reform.
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, what steps he has taken to mandate the release of data for the data linkage study.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is committed to delivering the data linkage study, as part of a wider programme of research that will ensure research is embedded at the heart of the new children and young people’s gender services.
The study was planned to take place during the lifespan of the Independent Cass Review, and a statutory instrument was brought forward in 2022 aiming to protect those disclosing protected information. It is well documented that some NHS adult Gender Dysphoria Clinics did not send data to allow the study to commence and the study was not completed.
After the Cass Review concluded, NHS England took on responsibility for delivering the data linkage study. Following a further period of engagement with study data contributors, including adult gender clinics, the Department and NHS England are now ensuring all necessary requirements are in place to allow the study to successfully progress.
As a publicly funded study, the updated protocol is subject to refreshed research approvals from the Health Research Authority, before the study can begin.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much their Department has spent on (a) advertising and (b) marketing in each of the last three years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Significant payments to companies, £25,000 and over, are published by month as part of the Department’s transparency data. This provides the most up to date data, including the companies used to deliver advertising and marketing. They are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/spending-over-25-000--2
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support for training and resources his Department is providing to integrated care boards to help implement the NHS England Maternal Care Bundle, published on 6 January 2026.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Maternity care remains a top priority for NHS Providers, as demonstrated in the planning guidance.
Maternity services in England are commissioned by integrated care boards (ICBs), and maternity funding, which formed part of the System Development Funding in 2024/25, has been transferred to ICB core allocations for 2025/26. This is to allow local leaders more flexibility to serve the needs of their population.
The Maternity Care Bundle codifies best practice standards and therefore the implementation of the Maternity Care Bundle will be absorbed through ICB core allocations.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by his Department in the last financial year.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There were no transactions (subscription costs or otherwise) identified with LinkedIn as a supplier in the 2024/25 financial year.
The total subscription fees identified for the 2024/25 financial year was £832,046.14. This figure excludes membership of the World Health Organisation which is considered a subscription for accountancy purposes.
The response relates to the core department only and does not include information relating to the department’s arm’s-length bodies.