theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of improving continuing healthcare assessments for (a) progressive supranuclear palsy and (b) corticobasal degeneration. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department has not made an assessment of the potential merits of improving NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) assessments at this time, in relation to individuals with supranuclear palsy and corticobasal degeneration.

Eligibility for CHC is not determined by age, diagnosis or condition, or financial means, instead it is assessed on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the totality of an individual’s needs. This ensures a person-centred approach to CHC, whereby the individual is placed at the centre of the assessment and care-planning process, and should be supported to access and follow these. We continue to work with our partners, including: NHS England, who is responsible for oversight of CHC delivery; external organisations; and people with lived experience, to seek feedback on CHC policy and implementation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-14)

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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to (a) increase and (b) remove the referral cap for Walking With The Wounded’s Head Start psychotherapy service in the East of England. \p Stephen Kinnock: Part of the allocation from the Department to NHS England includes funding for National Health Service bespoke commissioned services for veterans such as Op COURAGE. Whilst there has been no assessment of the funding provided for Op COURAGE services across England, the funding received by Op COURAGE in the East of England is based on historic demand for veterans’ mental health services in that region.

The Head Start Psychotherapy service is not funded by the Department, as it is part of a formal sub-contractual arrangement between Op COURAGE in the East of England and Walking with the Wounded. As such, any referral cap would be agreed between Op COURAGE and Walking with the Wounded.

NHS England meets with the regional providers of Op COURAGE on a regular basis to review the service, including reviewing the time waited for treatment. NHS England discusses the overall performance of Op COURAGE with providers to ensure that the service, including those elements delivered by partners such as Walking with the Wounded, is meeting the needs of veterans.
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Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that there is a wide range of customisations available to patients at all providers when procuring prosthetic eyes through the National Artificial Eye Service. \p Stephen Kinnock: Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning artificial eye services. The National Artificial Eye Service supplies one artificial eye free of charge. Customised bespoke artificial eyes can be provided to patients at the time of the supply of a National Health Service prosthesis at a small cost. Further information, including examples of customisations provided to patients, can be found on the National Artificial Eye Service website, at the following link:

https://www.naes.nhs.uk/custom-eyes
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to introduce free personal care for (a) elderly and (b) disabled residents in West Dorset constituency. \p Stephen Kinnock: Local authorities have the power to charge for care, and it is for them to decide whether to do so. Two local authorities in England currently offer free home care to their residents.

Where local authorities do choose to charge for care, they must do so in accordance with the Care Act 2014 and the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014, and they must act under the Care and Support Statutory guidance.

We have launched an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.

The commission, which began work in April 2025, will be comprehensive and will build on the expert proposals of other reviews, including that of Sir Andrew Dilnot into care funding and support.
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Jo Platt:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to introduce a National Services Framework for dementia. \p Stephen Kinnock: Our health system has struggled to support those with complex needs, including those with dementia. Under the 10 Year Plan, those living with dementia will benefit from improved care planning and better services.

We will deliver the first ever Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, expected in 2026.

The Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia will seek to reduce unwarranted variation and narrow inequality for those living with dementia, and will set national standards for dementia care and redirect National Health Service priorities to provide the best possible care and support.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has received representations from GP practices on workload for non-primary care blood tests. \p Stephen Kinnock: We understand the pressures that general practices (GPs) are facing, which is why we are investing an additional £889 million into GPs, to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, in 2025/26. The independent review body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) has recommended an uplift of 4% to the pay ranges for salaried GPs, and to GP contractor pay. As with last year, we are accepting the DDRB’s pay recommendation, and we will provide a 4% uplift to the pay elements of the GP Contract on a consolidated basis, on top of the provisional 2.8% uplift already provided, to bring it up to 4%. This is the biggest increase in over a decade, and we are pleased that the General Practitioners Committee England is supportive of the contract changes.

The Red Tape Challenge, launched by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and NHS England’s Chief Executive Officer, will also aim to address challenges seen by services between primary and secondary care interface. This work and investment will support the move from the hospital to the community, one of the three fundamental shifts set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.

Local enhanced services, such as blood tests, are negotiated and agreed locally, and are commissioned by integrated care boards to fit the needs of the local population. GPs can choose whether or not they would like to participate in directly providing these services. These services can vary in scope and funding across the country.

Community diagnostic centres (CDCs) are supporting one of the Government’s top priorities for health, to shift care from the hospital to the community. CDCs offer local populations a wide range of diagnostic tests, including phlebotomy, closer to home and allow for greater choice on where and how they are undertaken, whilst also reducing pressure on the system. We will deliver additional CDC capacity in 2025/26 by expanding a number of existing CDCs and building up to five new ones, as well as increasing the number of CDCs offering services 12 hours per day, seven days a week.
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James Wild:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to introduce a provisional registration scheme for trained international dentists to practice (a) under supervision and (b) with training support in the UK. \p Stephen Kinnock: We recognise that there is a considerable waiting list for candidates to sit the General Dental Council’s (GDC) Overseas Registration Exam (ORE). I have asked the GDC to urgently develop an action plan of concrete measures to reduce the ORE waiting list, and will be regularly meeting with them to monitor progress.

I have welcomed the additional sittings of both parts of the ORE that the GDC has put in place, and their ongoing procurement of new ORE provider contracts. I will continue to discuss the new arrangements with the GDC, with a focus on understanding how they will further increase the availability of the ORE exam in the short and longer term.

We will not be providing the GDC with any additional legislative powers for international registration at this time. Having considered the options for a provisional registration scheme, the Government’s view is that other, more cost-effective and efficient routes to registration should be the immediate priority.

Meanwhile, we expect the GDC to make full use of the flexibility afforded by the international registration reforms introduced in 2023 to ensure that those who have the right skills and experience are able to join its registers as quickly and efficiently as possible.
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Dame Harriett Baldwin:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to continue the children's hospice grant beyond March 2026. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government wants a society where every child receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life.

Whilst the majority of palliative care and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the important contribution that children and young people’s hospices make to care and support for children and young people with life-threatening and life-limiting conditions, as well as to their families.

NHS England has provided £26 million in revenue funding for children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26, through what was, until recently, known as the Children and Young people’s Hospice Grant.

Integrated care boards will once again administer the funding to their respective children and young people’s hospices on behalf of NHS England. The majority of children and young people’s hospices should now have received their allocations, with the remaining few receiving theirs in the coming weeks.

Funding arrangements for 2026/27 will be confirmed in due course.
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John Milne:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the scope of the Government’s independent commission into adult social care include the means testing which underpins the Disabled Facilities Grant. \p Stephen Kinnock: We have launched an independent commission into adult social care as part of our first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.

Baroness Casey and her team will look at what fundamental reforms will be needed, what social care should look like, who should it serve, and who should be responsible and accountable for its services.

The Terms of Reference for the commission are sufficiently broad to enable Baroness Casey to independently consider how to build a social care system fit for the future, including aspects of the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) if she sees fit.

To ensure the DFG is as effective as possible, we continue to keep different aspects of the grant, including the means test, under consideration.
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Ayoub Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2025 to Question 62444 on Asthma: Medical Equipment, what steps his Department is taking to encourage an increase in the number of market authorisation holders for dosage counters for emergency inhalers. \p Karin Smyth: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has not taken steps to increase the number of marketing authorisation holders for short-acting beta agonist pressurised metered-dose inhalers with integrated dose counters. As the United Kingdom’s independent regulator for medicines and medical devices, the MHRA promotes patient safety and supports improvements in product design but does not have the remit to direct or influence the commercial decisions of pharmaceutical companies. The MHRA can provide scientific and regulatory advice to support potential new entrants to the market, but cannot compel or incentivise companies to apply for marketing authorisation for specific products.
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Ayoub Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many asthma attacks that resulted in hospital admissions occurred in schools that (a) had emergency inhalers and (b) did not have emergency inhalers installed on their grounds. \p Karin Smyth: The information requested is not held centrally.
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Ayoub Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many asthma patients receiving their inhaler prescriptions (a) free of charge and (b) at the current prescription charge have been admitted to hospitals with life-threatening asthma attacks in the latest period for which data is available. \p Karin Smyth: The Government and its arm’s-length bodies, including the NHS Business Services Authority, do not collect this information.
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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that patients with incurable secondary breast cancer are able to access new life-extending treatments. \p Karin Smyth: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources.

To enable rapid access for NHS patients to new and effective life-extending treatments, NICE aims, wherever possible, to issue recommendations on new medicines close to the point of licensing.

NHS England is legally required to fund the use of NICE approved cancer medicines from the date of positive draft guidance, and the Cancer Drugs Fund provides £340 million of ringfenced funding to support patient access to the most promising new cancer medicines while further evidence is collected on their use to address clinical uncertainty.

NICE has recommended 24 out of the 25 breast cancer treatments it has assessed since April 2018.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to review the prohibition on the (a) import and (b) sale of Kava products. \p Karin Smyth: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for the regulation of medicines, medical devices, and blood components for transfusion in the United Kingdom, and this includes the regulation of herbal medicinal products.

The UK Statutory Instrument 2002 No. 3170 The Medicines for Human use (Kava-kava) (Prohibition) Order 2002 prohibits the sale, supply, and importation of Kava-kava for use in unlicensed medicines in the UK.

The Prohibition Order was reviewed after it had been in force for two years by an Expert Working Group of the Committee on Safety of Medicines, which announced in February 2006 that the prohibition was justified and proportionate and should remain in place. No further review of the prohibition order has been made.

The 2002 Prohibition Order does not exclude applicants applying for a traditional herbal registration or a marketing authorisation under Regulation 125 or Regulation 49, respectively, of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012, should someone wish to market a Kava-kava medicinal product in the UK.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many overheating incidents have been logged in NHS hospitals in West Dorset constituency in each of the last five years. \p Karin Smyth: Data on overheating incidents is collected as part of the Estates Return Information Collection, and is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/estates-returns-information-collection

The following table shows how many overheating incidents have been logged in National Health Service hospitals in the South West in each of the last five years:

Year

Overheating incidents

2023/24

413

2022/23

259

2021/22

191

2020/21

Not collected

2029/20

Not collected

Total

863

Source: Estates Returns Information Collection dataset, published January 2025.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of making Apolipoprotein M available through the NHS on the prevention of macular degeneration. \p Karin Smyth: The Department has not made an assessment. There are no approved medicinal products in the United Kingdom with apolipoprotein M, and there is no specifically approved product for macular degeneration that is known to act mainly by increasing apolipoprotein M.

If a company were to develop such a medicine, they would need to apply for a licence to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. The medicine would be assessed for safety, quality, and efficacy before it could be granted a marketing authorisation in order to be appraised by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for routine National Health Service use.
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Rebecca Paul:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure newly qualified nurses are not prevented from accessing band 5 roles within the NHS due to (a) experience requirements and (b) such roles only being advertised internally. \p Karin Smyth: Decisions about recruitment are a matter for individual National Health Service employers, who manage this at a local level to ensure they have the staff they need to deliver safe and effective care.

NHS England is working with employers, universities, and regional nursing leads to ensure support is in place to help graduating nurses find a role as soon as possible after qualification, aiding their transition into the workplace.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of trials of a test designed to identify pregnant women at risk of miscarriage; and whether his Department plans to roll this out on the NHS. \p Karin Smyth: The Government is committed to considering the latest research and evidence that will improve the experiences and outcomes for women at risk of miscarriage.

The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR is currently funding a £1 million award focused on a device that delivers vital doses of progesterone to women with threatened miscarriage. If approved, this would become the world’s first drug-device combination product to treat threatened miscarriage. The new technology could help over 150,000 women in the United Kingdom who experience threatened miscarriage each year.

Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage and Research at the University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire is piloting a new test to identify women with an abnormal womb lining that increases their risk of miscarriage. We will carefully consider the findings of this pilot when it concludes.
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Ian Roome:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to amend the eligibility requirements for free NHS prescriptions, in the context of increases to the State Pension age. \p Karin Smyth: The Department currently has no plans to align the upper age prescription charge exemption with the State Pension age.
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Amanda Hack:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with NHS England on the potential merits of funding research on using AI based on the knowledge of expert cardiologists to help interpret ECGs for the diagnosis of young people with cardiac conditions in (a) primary and (b) secondary care. \p Karin Smyth: The National Health Service has set an ambitious goal in its new 10-Year Plan that by 2035, artificial intelligence (AI) should be seamlessly integrated into most clinical pathways, with tools like generative AI being widely adopted and continuously improved. The aim is for the NHS to become a global leader in the ethical use of AI.

One promising area is the use of AI to interpret electrocardiograms (ECGs). While AI is not yet routinely used for ECG interpretation in NHS practice, it is being actively developed and tested in research and pilot settings. Major funders such as the British Heart Foundation, the National Institute for Health and Care Research, and the Medical Research Council are supporting this work to improve the speed, accuracy, and accessibility of ECG analysis.

However, there are still important challenges to overcome. Different studies use different types of ECG recordings and data preparation methods, making it difficult to compare results or identify best practices. AI models also need further refinement to ensure they work well across diverse patient groups, including young people. Importantly, these tools must be thoroughly validated, clinicians must be trained to use them, and appropriate legal and ethical frameworks must be in place before they can be safely adopted into routine care.

Research teams are working to address these barriers. For example, NHS trials are planned to begin in late 2025 at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. These trials will test whether an AI model can accurately predict long-term health risks from routine ECGs.

At the same time, United Kingdom health regulators are developing the rules and safety checks needed to ensure that AI tools are accurate, fair, and safe for patients.
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Dawn Butler:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Faculty will have access to NHS patient DNA data through Government contracts. \p Karin Smyth: No data relating to patients’ DNA is included in the datasets processed in the NHS Federated Data Platform provided by a consortium led by Palantir. Faculty had no access to patient DNA data as part of any contract with the Department of Health and Social Care or NHS England.
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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2025 to Question 62450 on Vamorolone, which NHS Trusts have submitted prior approval forms. \p Karin Smyth: The National Health Service trusts which have submitted prior approval forms are as follows:
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Ayoub Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 1 July 2025 to Question 62448 on Asthma: Medical Equipment, how many patients with asthma receive their inhaler prescriptions (a) free of charge and (b) at the current prescription charge in the latest period for which data is available. \p Karin Smyth: Whilst the NHS Business Services Authority collects data for the number of specific prescription items dispensed in England, it is not possible to determine the indication for which a medicine was prescribed. Given inhalers can be used to treat medical conditions other than asthma, for example chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, we are unable to determine how many were dispensed for the treatment of asthma.

From February to April 2025, dispensers in the community in England issued inhalation products to approximately 3,751,000 unique patients who did not pay a charge at the point of dispensing. This total includes items where no charge was collected due to a patient holding a valid pre-payment certificate.

Furthermore, from February to April 2025, dispensers in the community in England issued inhalation products to approximately 492,000 unique patients who did pay a charge at the point of dispensing. Figures are approximate, as a unique patient cannot always be identified from a paper prescription.
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Andrew Griffith:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to correspondence of (a) 2 April, (b) 6 May and (c) 12 June 2025 from the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs. \p Karin Smyth: I replied to the Hon. Member on 6 June 2025. The Department sent a further copy of this reply to the Hon. Member on 10 July 2025.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what milestones are included in the Federated Data Platform contract to (a) facilitate orderly off‑boarding and (b) data migration to an alternative provider. \p Karin Smyth: The NHS Federated Data Platform Associated Services (FDP-AS) agreement has a comprehensive Exit Management Schedule which sets out the contract terms for exit, including the requirements on Palantir to support in re-procurement planning, exit, and transition assistance which would facilitate the migration to a future solution/state. Data migration is in the scope of the Exit Management provisions.

The terms of the FDP-AS agreement, within the context of the potential total contract duration, sets out the timeframes and periods of assistance that NHS England may utilise to facilitate exit and migration.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether patients who are data controllers under the national data opt‑out can (a) review and (b) challenge how their records are processed within the Federated Data Platform. \p Karin Smyth: The Federated Data Platform fully complies with the National Data Opt-Out policy. Confidential patient information is not used in the national instance, and only in a local instance for the purposes of direct care, and therefore the National Data Opt-Out does not apply.

If this changes in the future, because a new product processes confidential patient information for a purpose other than direct care, the process for managing the opt out is laid out in the FDP Information Governance Framework, which can be found at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/federated-data-platform-information-governance-framework/
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has received any representations from (a) medical and (b) ethnobotanical researchers on the potential therapeutic uses of Kava since 2020. \p Karin Smyth: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for the regulation of medicines, medical devices, and blood components for transfusion in the United Kingdom, this includes the regulation of herbal medicinal products.

The MHRA received requests in 2023 and 2024 to reconsider or remove Kava-kava from the UK’s list of restricted or banned herbal products, in order to allow the traditionally prepared beverage containing Kava-kava, used medicinally to treat anxiety and insomnia, to be marketed in the UK.

The MHRA indicated that an application for a marketing authorisation or a traditional herbal registration would be required to place any medicinal product on the UK market, and provided information about the requirements. Applications for authorised products are exempt from the Statutory Instrument 2002 No. 3170 The Medicines for Human use (Kava-kava) (Prohibition) Order 2002. However, no application has been received by the MHRA.
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Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will publish (a) transparent and (b) clear data on (i) hospital admissions and (ii) presentations to minor injury clinics due to dog bites in each healthcare trust in the most recent period for which data is available. \p Karin Smyth: NHS England already published data on hospital admissions due to dog bites. This data can be found at the following link:

digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/hospital-admitted-patient-care-activity/2023-24.

In 2023/24, in England, there were 10,678 finished admission episodes with an external cause of being bitten or struck by a dog. This data is available nationally and is not disaggregated by individual National Health Service trusts or minor injury unit. There are no current plans to change this approach.
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James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of NICE’s severity modifier on people with secondary breast cancer. \p Karin Smyth: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is responsible for the methods and processes that it uses in the development of its recommendations. The severity modifier was introduced in January 2022 as part of a number of changes intended to make NICE’s methods fairer, faster, and more consistent.

NICE carried out a review of the implementation of the severity modifier in September 2024 and found that it is operating as intended. This showed that the proportion of positive cancer recommendations is higher, at 84.8%, than with the end-of-life modifier it replaced, at 75%, and the proportion of positive recommendations for advanced cancer treatments is also higher, 81.1% compared to 69%.

Since the introduction of the severity modifier, NICE has recommended all but one of the treatments for breast cancer that it has assessed. These treatments are now available to eligible National Health Service patients.

NICE has commissioned research to gather further evidence on societal preferences that will inform future methods reviews.
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James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of NICE’s definition of a very severe condition. \p Karin Smyth: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) introduced the severity modifier in 2022 to replace the existing end of life modifier, based on evidence of societal preferences and as part of a comprehensive review of NICE’s methods and processes. The modifier was designed through extensive public and stakeholder engagement and in line with the principle of opportunity cost neutrality. NICE’s updated methods, including the severity modifier, have enabled it to recommend a number of treatments for conditions such as hepatitis D and cystic fibrosis, that it may not otherwise have been able to recommend for use on the National Health Service. Under these new methods, the proportion of positive recommendations is higher, at 86.5%, than with the end-of-life modifier, at 82.5%.

NICE has commissioned research to gather further evidence on societal preferences that will inform future methods reviews.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-14)

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Tim Farron:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential reasons for the level of availability of Megestrol 160mg tablets. \p Karin Smyth: We are aware of supply issues affecting Megestrol Acetate 160 milligram tablets, for which we issued comprehensive management guidance to the National Health Service. This supply issue should start being resolved the week commencing 14 July 2025. We continue to work with the supplier to ensure full resolution.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-14 conversation_244

Alison Bennett:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that NHS podiatry services in Mid Sussex constituency are adequately resourced. \p Karin Smyth: The National Health Service podiatry and orthotics service provided by the Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust is made up of registered podiatrists, orthotists, nurses, and health care assistants who provide a comprehensive foot health service to adults and children across West Sussex and Brighton and Hove.

The service works with general practice (GP) services if prescriptions are required, and with local hospital trusts to provide treatment for patients who need specialist support.

To access the service an individual will need to be referred by their GP, a nurse, or an allied health professional. Children also need to be referred by a healthcare professional which may be a GP, a dentist, a school nurse, or community and specialist nurse. All referrals are assessed on the day of receipt and if a case is urgent, the service will contact the person within 48 hours to book an appointment.

Most appointments are face to face but they do offer home visits if a patient is housebound and meets set criteria. Some appointments can be performed via a telephone consultation.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning the majority of health and care services, including podiatry services in England. ICBs arrange healthcare services to meet the needs of their local population within the available resources, and to reduce inequalities in access to, and outcomes from, healthcare services.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-14 conversation_245

Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2025 to Question 61313 on NHS: Fees and Charges, how much revenue was raised by National Health Service penalty charges by type of (a) prescription and (b) dental treatment in each year between 2020 and 2024. \p Karin Smyth: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave the Hon. Member on 30 June 2025 to Question 61313.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-14 conversation_246

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Palantir's involvement on the NHS model of being free at the point of use. \p Karin Smyth: The provision by Palantir Industries of the NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP) has no impact on National Health Service care being free at the point of use.

Palantir is a technology supplier providing the underlying technology that supports the FDP. They do not influence NHS policy, funding models, or decisions about access to care. Their role is limited to delivering technical services under the direction and control of the NHS.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-14 conversation_247

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to install customer experience machines in his Department to measure staff morale. \p Karin Smyth: The Department currently has no plans to install customer experience machines to measure staff morale.

The Department does, however, have mechanisms to measure staff engagement. The Department uses the annual Civil Service People Survey to understand staff attitudes to, and their experience of, working in the Department. This provides insight on staff engagement across a range of topics including health and wellbeing, culture, and change management. Business areas will also run their own ad hoc pulse surveys on specific topics when needed. The Department also holds regular all staff calls where staff can feed back their views on various topics.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-14 conversation_248

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps NHS England is taking to verify that derivative analytical outputs from the NHS Federated Digital Platform cannot be reverse‑engineered to reveal identifiable patient data. \p Karin Smyth: All analytics products created by NHS England, including those developed on the NHS Federated Data Platform, are subject to a full Data Privacy Impact Assessment (DPIA) as part of the design and development process, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/overarching-data-protection-impact-assessment-dpia-for-the-federated-data-platform-fdp/#18-in-which-country-territory-will-personal-data-be-stored-or-processed

All data used by the NHS Federated Data Platform integrates with advanced Privacy Enhancing Technology (PET). This has been procured from a separate supplier to ensure independence and to mitigate any potential conflicts of interest. This technology ensures that data is processed in a secure and privacy-preserving manner.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-14 conversation_249

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS‑funded analytics solutions created on the Federated Data Platform have been (a) patented and (b) registered by (i) Palantir Technologies and (ii) its subsidiaries. \p Karin Smyth: Within the NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP), where the National Health Service commissions and funds the development of solutions, the intellectual property of these solutions remains with the NHS.

Under the FDP-Associated Services Agreement between NHS England and Palantir, background intellectual property, prior to entering into the agreement, remains the property of the respective party.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-14 conversation_250

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether patients will be consulted on changes to purpose‑based access policies during the contract with Palantir. \p Karin Smyth: The National Health Service is committed to maintaining public trust and transparency in the use of patient data and to ensuring that patients and the public are informed and engaged in decisions that affect how their data is used. This aligns with NHS England’s broader commitment to working in partnership with people and communities.

The Federated Data Platform uses a Purpose-Based Access Control model. This ensures that access to data is strictly governed by the specific purposes approved by NHS England.

Any change to the approved use cases, or new use cases, will require further engagement with patients and stakeholder advisory groups, including the Specialist Information Governance Advisory Group, and approval from the Data Governance Group. This engagement would be prior to, and inform any changes to, purpose-based access policies.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-14 conversation_251

Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the scope is of Palantir’s involvement in NHS data systems. \p Karin Smyth: In 2023, NHS England awarded the contract for the NHS Federated Data Platform and Associated Services to a consortium led by Palantir Technologies.

Access to National Health Service health and social care data within the NHS Federated Data Platform is carefully controlled. Only authorised users are granted access to data for approved purposes. The contract has strict stipulations about confidentiality, and there is governance in place to monitor delivery and usage of the NHS Federated Data Platform. Palantir only operates under the instruction of the NHS when processing data on the platform. Palantir does not control the data in the platform, nor are they permitted to access, use, or share it for their own purposes.

Palantir previously provided the COVID-19 Data Platform.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-14 conversation_252

Gregory Stafford:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support Integrated Care Boards to increase the availability of Fracture Liaison Services. \p Karin Smyth: Fracture Liaison Services are commissioned by integrated care boards, which are well-placed to make decisions according to local need.

Our 10-Year Health Plan committed to rolling out Fracture Liaison Services across every part of the country by 2030.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-14 conversation_253

Sorcha Eastwood:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has taken steps following receipt of the BMA letter dated 4 April 2025 requesting review of the Foundation Programme allocations. \p Karin Smyth: NHS England is due to review the Foundation Programme allocation process to make sure it works well for applicants. The review is aiming to commence in 2026. NHS England will advise stakeholders how they can input in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-14 conversation_254

Dan Norris:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to GP appointments in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government is determined to work with the National Health Service to fix the front door of our health service and to ensure that everyone can access general practice (GP) appointments and services, including in North East Somerset and Hanham. Through our 10-Year Health Plan, it will be easier and faster to see a GP. The 8:00am scramble will end, we will train more doctors, and we will guarantee digital consultations within 24 hours.

In October 2024, we invested £82 million into the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme to support the recruitment of 1,900 individual GPs into primary care networks across England, helping to increase appointment availability and improve care for thousands of patients.   We have also delivered the biggest boost to GP funding in years, an £889 million uplift, with GPs now receiving a growing share of NHS resources. Additionally, the new £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund will create additional clinical space within over 1,000 GPs across England. This investment will deliver more appointments and improve patient care.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-14)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-14 conversation_255

Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what training is provided to NHS continuing healthcare assessors on health needs associated with (a) progressive supranuclear palsy and (b) corticobasal degeneration. \p Stephen Kinnock: The National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care sets out the process for determining eligibility for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC). This statutory guidance is clear that the assessment process should include someone with specialist knowledge of the individual’s condition, such as progressive supranuclear palsy or corticobasal degeneration, or have information available to them from the relevant specialists.

It is important that those contributing to the assessment process have the relevant skills and knowledge. To support staff working in health and social care to apply the principles of the national framework, NHS England has developed and published a comprehensive set of online learning resources.

Eligibility for CHC is not determined by diagnosis or clinical condition. It is assessed on a case-by-case basis, taking into account an individual’s needs, including ways in which these needs interact with one another.