theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of postural tachycardia syndrome on people’s ability to work. \p Ashley Dalton: Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (PoTS) can significantly limit a person's ability to work, though the degree of impact will vary among individuals. For some, symptoms are debilitating and prevent them from working entirely, while others can work with adjustments in place. A person's ability to work will depend on the severity of their symptoms and the demands of the job.

The Government is committed to supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, including people with PoTS, with their employment journey. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems.

The 10-Year Health Plan, published in July 2025, set out our intention to break down barriers to opportunity by delivering the holistic support that people need to access and thrive in employment by ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. The Plan sets out the vision for what good joined-up care looks like for people with a combination of health and care needs, including for disabled people and those with long-term conditions. Furthermore, it outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

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Josh Fenton-Glynn:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the time taken to diagnose (a) cancers that present with (i) vague and (ii) non-specific symptoms and (b) pancreatic cancer. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department is supporting the National Health Service to meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard (FDS), for 75% of patients to be diagnosed or have cancer ruled out within 28 days of being referred urgently by their general practitioner (GP) for suspected cancer. NHS England collects and publishes monthly FDS performance data nationally and for individual cancer groups. Data is not available from the time of the onset of symptoms, but from referral.

To achieve the FDS, NHS England rolled out public awareness campaigns of cancer signs and symptoms, streamlined referral routes for different cancer types, and is increasing the availability of diagnostic capacity through the roll-out of more community diagnostic centres.

NHS England has also achieved full roll out of non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with vague and non-site-specific symptoms which do not clearly align to a tumour type.

The NHS is also taking crucial steps to improve lung cancer outcomes for patients across England, including the roll out of the Lung Cancer Screening Programme, designed to identify cancer at an earlier stage, and which is aimed at high-risk individuals or people with a history of smoking between the ages of 55 and 74 years old.

Additionally, we set out expectations for renewed focus on cancer targets in the Elective Reform plan, published on 6 January 2025. We asked systems and providers to identify local opportunities in both community diagnostic centres and hospital based diagnostic services to improve performance against the FDS, to reduce the number of patients waiting too long for a confirmed diagnosis of cancer.

As part of developing the forthcoming National Cancer Plan for England, the Department has been working with members of the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce to identify how to improve diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes for less survivable cancers, which includes lung, pancreatic, liver, brain, oesophageal, and stomach cancer.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

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Juliet Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support people affected by (a) Fahr's Disease and (b) other genetic, rare and undiagnosed conditions. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases, such as Fahr’s Disease. The United Kingdom Rare Diseases Framework sets out four priorities collaboratively developed with the rare disease community. These include: helping patients get a final diagnosis faster; increasing awareness of rare diseases among healthcare professionals; better coordination of care; and improving access to specialist care, treatments, and drugs.

We published the annual England Action Plan in February 2025, where we report on the steps we have taken to advance these priorities in the preceding year and set out three new actions for the year ahead.
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Gareth Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to support growth in the no and low alcohol market. \p Ashley Dalton: In Fit for the Future: 10 Year Health Plan for England, the Government has committed to tackling harmful levels of alcohol consumption by exploring options to encourage consumers to reduce their alcohol intake by substituting standard strength drinks with no- and low-alcohol (NoLo) alternatives.

One of the first steps to support further growth of the NoLo sector, and potentially increase the range of NoLo products, will be to explore raising the upper alcohol limit for drinks labelled as alcohol-free to 0.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) from 0.05% ABV, whilst providing clarity to consumers and producers. At the same time, we will explore measures to regulate access to NoLo products in line with other alcoholic beverages, including prohibiting sales to individuals under the age of 18 years old.

Alongside the plan, a large, multi-year National Institute for Health and Care Research study is underway to examine the public health impacts of NoLo products, and we look forward to the findings of that study being available in the coming year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

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Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to prepare for possible future pandemics. \p Ashley Dalton: Ensuring the United Kingdom is prepared for a future pandemic is a top priority for the Government, and we are embedding lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic in our approach to pandemic preparedness. We aim to have flexible, adaptable and scalable capabilities that can respond to any infectious disease or other threat, rather than rely on plans for specific threats.

In the Autumn 2024 budget, the Chancellor announced £460 million of investment to strengthen the UK’s pandemic preparedness, including replenishing personal protective equipment (PPE), vaccine and medicines stockpiles.

Our stockpiles for a potential future health emergency cover a range of clinical countermeasures, including antivirals, antibiotics, medical consumables, PPE and hygiene consumables.

In autumn 2025, the Department and UK Health Security Agency are conducting Exercise PEGASUS, a national exercise on the UK’s preparedness for a pandemic. It aims to assess the UK’s preparedness, capabilities, and response arrangements in the context of a pandemic arising from a novel infectious disease and involves all regions and nations of the UK and thousands of participants.

The outcomes of the exercise will inform how we approach our pandemic strategy going forward.
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Liz Jarvis:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to review protocols around medical consent. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: Consent to care and treatment is a regulated activity in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2009, which set out that the registered person must have suitable arrangements in place for obtaining, and acting in accordance with, the consent of service users in relation to the care and treatment provided for them.

Protocols around obtaining medical consent are set out in professional guidance from the General Medical Council, Decision making and consent. This includes advice on what professionals should tell patients and what they should record. The guidance came into effect in 2020 and was updated in 2024. The guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.gmc-uk.org/professional-standards/the-professional-standards/decision-making-and-consent
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Stuart Andrew:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of deliberately imposed minimum waiting times for elective care on the NHS’s compliance with its constitutional access standards. \p Karin Smyth: As set out in the Plan for Change, we are committed to returning to the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029. As of August 2025, the waiting list had reduced by over 206,000 compared to the start of July 2024 despite over 24.5 million referrals onto the list over this period. Performance against the standard for 92% of patients to start first treatment within 18 weeks of referral was 61.0%, 2.7 percentage points higher than a year earlier.

There is no formal national policy supporting minimum waits in the National Health Service and no national assessment has been made on the potential impact of minimum waiting. However, the NHS standard contract technical guidance for 2025/26 states that commissioners may choose to include minimum waiting times in Activity Planning Assumptions to ensure delivery of targets within agreed financial allocations. The guidance requires commissioners to consider the equality and quality impacts of their plans on patients and to plan to deliver their wait time targets as set out in the annual Planning Guidance.

Improving value for money and ensuring we are using resources in the most effective manner is a priority for this government. This provision was added to support commissioners in managing activity to ensure they can sustainably manage within their budgets alongside the other requirements set out in the operational planning guidance for 2025/26.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) hold the responsibility and budget for commissioning and delivering elective activity through providers in their local area, they have discretion to design bespoke services that work best for and meet the needs of their local community. The specific information requested on which NHS ICBs use minimum waiting times for elective care; and for what reasons, is not held by the Department.

We will work closely with all systems to ensure they deliver the expected level of improvement in waiting times set out in 2025/26 Planning Guidance.
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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, If he will make an assessment of the adequacy of his Department's processes for (a) forecasting, (b) alerting and (c) responding to medicine shortages. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: Medicine supply chains are complex, global and highly regulated and there are a number of reasons why supply can be disrupted – many of which are not specific to the United Kingdom and are outside of government control. This includes manufacturing difficulties, access to raw materials, sudden demand spikes or distribution issues, and regulatory issues.

The resilience of UK supply chains is a key priority, and we are continually learning and seeking to improve the way we work to both manage and help prevent supply issues and avoid shortages. In August, the government published a policy paper, ‘Managing a robust and resilient supply of medicines’, which provides transparency of the supply chains we rely on, the actions we take to protect patients from medicines shortages when they occur, and the steps the Department and NHS England are taking to enhance resilience in our supply chains. As part of that work, we continue to engage with industry, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and other colleagues across the supply chain as we progress work to co-design and deliver these actions.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what criteria his Department is using to evaluate (a) effectiveness and (b) value in the new NHS medical technology procurement model. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The Department is developing Value Based Procurement Standard Guidance to improve the National Health Service’s consistency in the procurement of medical technology in England, shifting the focus from buying the cheapest to considering wider factors to ensure that taxpayer money delivers better outcomes for patients, staff, and the environment.

Procurement decisions will be based on a minimum of 60% weighting from five value domains, including the mandated minimum 10% on Social Value. The remaining 40% is a maximum weighting for Whole Life Cost. The guidance includes the choice of 21 questions across the five value domains. For example, where improvement to hospital productivity is assessed, real world evidence on the impact to the length of stay, procedure time, and/or readmission rates will be required.

The following 13 NHS trusts, covered by nine procurement teams, are piloting the guidance before national rollout across the NHS in England in early 2026:
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Dr Caroline Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the NICE cost effectiveness threshold. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The Life Sciences Sector Plan states that future changes to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE’s) methods and processes can be considered where they are evidence based, financially sustainable, and represent value to the taxpayer.

The pharmaceutical sector and the innovative medicines it produces are critical to our National Health Service, our economy, and the Plan for Change.

Through our Life Sciences Sector Plan, we have committed to working with industry to accelerate growth in spending on innovative medicines compared to the previous decade so that NHS patients can be assured of better access to the best and novel treatments. We are working with industry to consider the most appropriate route to achieving this aim and will consider all necessary levers to achieve this, including the NICE cost effectiveness threshold.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of people aged under 21 who have been diagnosed as legally deaf in the last 12 months. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The information requested is not held centrally.

The Office for National Statistics collates data on deaf adults, but not on deaf children. It estimates in its 2022/23 annual population survey that 1,235,855 adults aged 16 years old and over in the United Kingdom have difficulty in hearing. These statistics are available at the following link:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transparencyandgovernance/freedomofinformationfoi/ukhearingpopulationfordeafandhardofhearingstatistics

However, other organisations have data or estimates of the number of deaf children and young people. For example, the Consortium for Research into Deaf Education, which brings together a range of organisations with an interest in improving the educational outcomes achieved by deaf children, identified in its 2024 report that there were 54,321 deaf children reported by services across the UK, a 3% increase since 2023. The report is available at the following link:

https://cms.ndcs.org.uk/sites/default/files/2025-05/CRIDE%20UK%20-%202024.pdf

NHS audiology services are locally commissioned, and the responsibility for meeting the needs of non-hearing people lies with local NHS commissioners. We expect local commissioning to be informed by the best available evidence, relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, and guidance issued by NHS England. In 2019, NHS England, with input from the National Deaf Children’s Society, produced a guide for commissioner and health and local authority providers who support children and young people with hearing loss. This guide is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/what-works-chswg-guide.pdf
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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to make cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia more widely available in England. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: In its Clinical Knowledge Summary on insomnia, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) suggests that clinicians can offer cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for insomnia if sleep hygiene measures fail, daytime impairment is severe, causing significant distress, and the insomnia is not likely to resolve soon. It is for local integrated care boards to decide what treatments and support for insomnia are offered to their local populations. Further information on NICE’s Clinical Knowledge Summary on insomnia is available at the following link:

https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/insomnia/

In addition, NHS Talking Therapies services for anxiety and depression offer low-intensity therapy, including CBT, which may include interventions around sleep hygiene. Individuals who are experiencing symptoms of anxiety and/or depression can be referred by their general practitioner, or can self-refer, to NHS Talking Therapies via the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/talking-therapies-medicine-treatments/talking-therapies-and-counselling/nhs-talking-therapies/

Individuals can also access helpful resources on sleep problems on the Every Mind Matters website, at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/mental-health-issues/sleep/

NICE has also agreed to prioritise digital technologies that deliver CBT interventions for insomnia and insomnia symptoms as a topic for the development of HealthTech guidance.
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Liz Jarvis:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve coordination between children’s and adult mental health services to support young people transitioning between them. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: A key priority for children and young people’s (CYP) mental health services is ensuring continuity of care and a smooth transition for patients moving to adult services.

NHS England released funding in 2022/23 to improve, transform and focus improvement on the young adult mental health pathway. As of 2024/25, the majority of integrated care boards report that they have improved the way that they manage transitions to adult services, including removing rigid age-based thresholds for transition and ensuring that there are strong working relationships and embedded shared responsibility between CYP and adults’ mental health services.

NHS England is developing a personalised care framework which sets out the core principles of care that people should expect when accessing mental health services. This will be applicable across CYP and adults’ services to ensure that transitions are smooth and care is consistent across settings.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

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Josh Babarinde:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding his Department will provide to support the delivery of (a) art therapy, (b) animal therapy, (c) talking therapies, (d) group therapies and (e) other community-based preventative mental health support provision for residents in the Eastbourne area. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The NHS Sussex Integrated Care Board is responsible for funding decisions relating to the provision of mental health care for people in the Eastbourne area.

Nationally, funding to expand evidence-based NHS Talking Therapies services has been prioritised, with the number of people completing a course of treatment expected to increase by 384,000 by 2028/29.
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Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with NHS England on reducing the number of (a) delays and (b) cancellations to NHS mental health appointments in Hazel Grove constituency. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: No such specific discussions have taken place regarding delays and cancellations to National Health Service mental health appointments in the Hazel Grove constituency.

On a national scale we are meeting the waiting time standards we have in place for NHS Talking Therapies and Early Intervention in Psychosis pathways. However, we recognise that many of the working-age adult population with mental health needs can face long waits to access mental health support.

This is why we are working to reform our mental health system to make sure patients get the care they need, when they need.

At the Spending Review 2025, we confirmed that we will deliver on our commitments to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers by the end of this Parliament and roll out mental health support teams to cover all schools in England by 2029/30.

Six pilot sites are trialling 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres, providing open access to mental health care for patients, reducing long waits. Our improvements to the NHS App will mean people are able to access rapid online support when they need.
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Fred Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support is available for (a) parents and (b) children who receive diagnoses of neurodevelopmental conditions. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) in England to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including pre-and-post diagnostic support for neurodevelopmental conditions, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan will make the National Health Service fit for the future and it recognises the need for early intervention and support. The Government is supporting inclusive environments and earlier intervention for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) through the Early Language Support for Every Child and the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools programmes. In addition, through local commissioning, the Government will ensure that Neighbourhood Health Services work in partnership with family hubs, schools, nurseries, and colleges to offer timely and joined-up support to children, young people, and their families, including for those with SEND.

NHS England commissions Autism Central, a peer education programme, which aims to make it easier for parents and carers to learn more about autism and the services available to them.

NHS England also established an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) taskforce to better understand the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including in accessing services and support. An interim report was published on 20 June, with the final report expected later in the year, and we will carefully consider its recommendations.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what pre-clinical animal testing was conducted prior to reaching the clinical vaccine trial stage for AHEAD-MERIT (BNT113). \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for ensuring that all medicines and vaccines, including cancer vaccines, meet appropriate standards of safety, quality and efficacy before they are approved for use in humans.

Non-clinical (also known as pre-clinical) studies for therapeutic cancer vaccines are performed in compliance with applicable International Council for Harmonisation guidance, the WHO guideline on Non-clinical Evaluation of Vaccines. Such studies must be conducted in compliance with the principles of Good Laboratory Practice and in accordance with the United Kingdom’s strict animal welfare legislation, including the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, which requires that the use of animals in research is justified and that alternatives are considered wherever possible.

The MHRA is not able to share confidential information on pre-clinical studies. A clinical trial may only proceed once the MHRA is satisfied that the data supports a reasonable expectation of safety and potential therapeutic benefit to participants.
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Liz Jarvis:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the proactive management of Mounjaro shortages for patients with Type 2 diabetes. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: We are not currently aware of any supply issues with Mounjaro preparations. We have a range of well-established processes and tools to manage supply issues if and when they arise and to mitigate risks to patients.
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Shockat Adam:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that people with secondary breast cancer can access (a) new and (b) effective treatments; and if he will review National Institute for Health and Care Excellence assessment processes for such treatments. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has been monitoring the impact of the severity modifier since it was implemented in 2022. Data up to March 2025 shows that the proportion of positive cancer recommendations is higher (85%) than with the end-of-life modifier it replaced (75%) and the proportion of positive recommendations for advanced cancer treatments is also higher (81% compared to 69%).

Since January 2022, NICE has recommended all but one of the treatments for breast cancer that it has assessed, including treatments for advanced breast cancer (such as Truqap and Korserdu), which are now available to eligible National Health Service patients.

The severity modifier is therefore working as intended and there are currently no plans to adjust or change it in the near future. However, NICE has commissioned research on people’s attitudes to how the severity modifier should be applied that will inform future reviews of NICE’s methods.
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Maya Ellis:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support the (a) mental health and (b) wellbeing needs of British farmers. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: We know that too many people are not receiving the mental health care they need, and we recognise that British farmers, and others living and working in isolated communities, may face particular challenges in accessing the mental health services that they need.

We are working with NHS England on a refreshed workforce plan, which will revolve around the three shifts to deliver our 10-Year Health Plan: moving more care from hospitals to communities; making better use of technology in health and care; and focusing on preventing sickness, not just treating it, including in rural and agricultural communities.

Specifically in relation to farmers mental health and wellbeing, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is supporting access to farmer mental health support services by funding the Farmer Welfare Grant. This aids organisations in delivering projects which will support mental health and build resilience in local farming communities. One recipient, the Farming Community Network, is using the funding to expand their FarmWell platform. This online resource provides business and personal resilience advice on topics including mental health, isolation, depression, and suicide.

Defra is also developing options in consultation with communities, farming support organisations, and experts across Government, as to how it can further support the investment in mental health interventions for those in agricultural communities.
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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the fortnightly notification provided to medicine suppliers regarding medicine shortages. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: NHS England’s medicines frameworks contain a contractual ask that requires all suppliers to update NHS England on their ability to supply their products to National Health Service hospitals.

This information is requested fortnightly and the responses are the basis by which NHS England’s medicines supply chain team assess current or potential upcoming medicines shortages.

This is a process designed to ensure the continuity of medicines supply for NHS hospitals and the information is not shared openly, but rather is only shared with specific relevant suppliers, who may be able to assist with the proposed mitigation plan.

A compilation of the mitigations is shared with all NHS hospitals and regional pharmacy procurement leads in order to support the implementation of the agreed actions locally.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with medical researchers on the development of histotripsy treatments. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: Histotripsy is a non-invasive ultrasound treatment that destroys tumours without the need for surgery or radiation. HistoSonics developed the Edison System to deliver histotripsy, and this was one of eight transformative technologies supported through the Government’s Innovative Devices Access Pathway pilot. This programme aimed to streamline patient access to medical devices that address an unmet clinical need in the National Health Service.

In August 2024, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, met with clinicians and researchers at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to discuss their pioneering work in histotripsy research and trials, including the world’s first kidney tumour procedure and the HOPE4LIVER and CAIN studies.

In June 2025, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Baroness Merron) met with clinicians and researchers at Cambridge University Hospitals to announce the conditional use of histotripsy in the NHS for patients with liver tumours. NHS treatments will begin in October 2025 as a first in Europe, strengthening the United Kingdom’s position as a global leader in medical innovation. The Government continues to work closely with clinical and research experts to accelerate evidence generation of this transformative technology.
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Fred Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce wait times for people requiring new wheelchairs. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of local wheelchair services.

NHS England supports ICBs to commission effective, efficient, and personalised wheelchair services. Since July 2015, NHS England has collected quarterly data from clinical commissioning groups, now ICBs, on wheelchair provision, including waiting times, to enable targeted action if improvement is required.

NHS England is taking steps to reduce regional variation in the quality and provision of National Health Service wheelchairs, and to support ICBs to reduce delays in people receiving timely intervention and wheelchair equipment. This includes publishing a Wheelchair Quality Framework on 9 April 2025, which sets out quality standards and statutory requirements for ICBs, such as offering personal wheelchair budgets. The framework is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/wheelchair-quality-framework/
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to update information on the commissioning framework within the NHS England guidance entitled Prescribing Gluten Free Foods in Primary Care: Guidance for CCGs, published on 28 November 2018. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: No recent assessment has been made by the Department. However, a review was undertaken in 2019, which confirmed that the position in England remains that gluten free (GF) bread and mixes can be provided to all eligible coeliac patients on a National Health Service prescription. A wide range of these items continues to be listed in Part XV of the Drug Tariff.

NHS England developed guidance on Prescribing Gluten Free Foods in Primary Care in 2018 which states that NHS commissioners can restrict the prescribing of GF foods to bread and mixes only. Under the current legislation, integrated care boards may choose to further restrict product choice, or end prescribing of GF foods altogether, if they feel this is appropriate for their population, whilst taking account of their legal duties to advance equality and having regard to reducing health inequalities. NHS England currently has no plans to update the guidance.
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Alison Hume:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support NHS trusts to reduce the number of delayed discharges from hospital. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The Government is committed to tackling delayed discharges.

In January 2025, we published a new policy framework for the £9 billion Better Care Fund, giving the National Health Service and local authorities accountability for setting and achieving joint goals for reducing discharge delays, preventing avoidable emergency admissions and care home admissions. We also published the Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26, making it a priority to tackle delays for patients waiting over 21 days after being medically fit for discharge.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-21 conversation_55

Mr Joshua Reynolds:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is taking to ensure transparency in the (a) operation and (b) maintenance of the UK orphan medicines register. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care and regulates medicine, medical devices and blood components for transfusion in the UK, with responsibility for ensuring medicines meet appropriate standards of safety, quality and efficacy.

The United Kingdom Orphan Register is publicly available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/orphan-registered-medicinal-products/orphan-register

The register is updated by the MHRA when a new orphan medicinal product or new orphan indication is authorised or their market protection expires. A process of checks to be carried out on the register on a periodic basis has been implemented to ensure that accuracy of the website is maintained.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-21 conversation_56

Max Wilkinson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of NICE's decision to restrict secondary breast cancer patient's access to Enhertu on the grounds of patient wellbeing. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes independent, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service in England on whether new licensed medicines should be routinely funded for eligible patients based on an evaluation of clinical and cost effectiveness.

NICE has recommended Enhertu, also known as trastuzumab deruxtecan, for use in the Cancer Drugs Fund for the treatment of women with HER2-positive secondary breast cancer and it is now available for the treatment of eligible patients while further data on its effectiveness is being collected that will inform a NICE decision on routine funding.

NICE published guidance in July 2024 on the use of Enhertu for the treatment of HER-2 low metastatic and unresectable breast cancer and was unfortunately unable to recommend it for routine NHS funding. I understand that NICE and NHS England have sought to apply as much flexibility as they can in their considerations of Enhertu for HER2-low breast cancer and have made it clear to the companies that their pricing of the drug remains the only obstacle to access.

Ministers met with the manufacturers of Enhertu, AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo in November 2024, to encourage them to re-engage in commercial discussions with NHS England. Despite NICE and NHS England offering unprecedented flexibilities, the companies were unable to offer Enhertu at a cost-effective price. NICE’s guidance published in July 2024 will therefore remain unchanged. NICE has reassured me that the door remains open for the companies to enter into a new NICE appraisal if they are willing to offer Enhertu at a cost-effective price.

Since January 2022, 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.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-21 conversation_57

Tim Farron:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of patients who no longer meeting the criteria to reside in hospital in (a) the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, (b) Westmorland General Hospital and (c) Furness General Hospital. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The Department does not hold hospital level data. However, as per the trust level data for the University Hospital Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, which includes the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, Westmorland General Hospital, and Furness General Hospital, in the month of September 2025, the latest month for which data is available, there were on average 145 adult patients, occupying 20.9% of the adult acute beds, each day who had no criteria to reside but who were not discharged by the end of the day. This was 6.1% higher than the average for England, of 14.8%, for September 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-21 conversation_58

Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of cyber-attacks against the NHS since 2021. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: We do not hold data for the total economic impact of cyber incidents on National Health Service organisations specifically.

Cyber-attacks can have a significant economic impact. The WannaCry cyber-attack in 2017 was estimated by the Department to have cost the NHS £92 million. Public estimates of the impact of the Synnovis cyber-attack stand at £32.7 million, according to accounts filed on Companies House.

NHS trusts are independent organisations with their own set budgets, and a decision will be made on a case-by-case basis as to whether the economic impact of smaller incidents is assessed.

Government is working to fully assess the impact of cyber-attacks on the wider public sector. It is worth noting that the economic impact of cyber incidents affected by a wide variety of complex factors. Further information about the financial cost of breaches or attacks can be found in the Cyber security breaches survey 2025, published by the Department for Science, innovation and Technology (DSIT). This is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cyber-security-breaches-survey-2025/cyber-security-breaches-survey-2025
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-21 conversation_59

Siân Berry:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects NICE to complete its review into guideline on the management of fertility problems. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is consulting on its updated draft guideline on Fertility problems: assessment and treatment. The consultation closes on 21 October 2025.

NICE currently expects to publish its final updated recommendations on 19 March 2026. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ng10263
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-21 conversation_60

Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of NHS tariff thresholds on pharmacies' ability to source medicines. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: Evaluations by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) ensure that spend on new medicines represents a clinically and cost-effective use of National Health Service resources.

NICE thresholds should not have any impact on pharmacies’ ability to source medicines. Community pharmacies source the drugs they need to dispense against NHS prescriptions and will be reimbursed according to the prices and arrangements set out in the Drug Tariff. The United Kingdom has well established ways of managing the cost of medicines, ensuring pharmacies are appropriately reimbursed and clear processes in place to protect against risks to supply.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-21 conversation_61

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of abolishing (a) NHS England and (b) some integrated care boards on (i) veteran-focussed services provided by NHS England and (ii) veteran-tailored healthcare provision. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: Following the announcement on the abolition of NHS England, work is progressing to develop the design and operating model for the new integrated organisation, and to plan for the smooth transfer of people, functions, and responsibilities from NHS England to the Department.

The Department is committed to carefully assessing and understanding the potential impacts, and these ongoing assessments will inform the programme as it progresses. NHS England will continue to undertake its statutory functions until parliamentary time allows for legislative changes to be made.

Whilst this transformation takes place, the Department will ensure that it continues to evaluate impacts and work collaboratively to ensure continuity of care within veteran focussed services.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-21 conversation_62

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 73 of his Department's 10 Year Health Plan, published on 3 July 2025, whether patients will be able to opt out of viewing their risk of major conditions. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The National Health Service’s 10-Year Health Plan included a commitment that the NHS will develop a Unified Genomic Record, integrating genomic data with relevant clinical and diagnostic data. This will be linked to the NHS Single Patient Record. Patients will be able to view a complete account of their risk of major conditions and manage their personal health risks through the NHS App.

The information that a patient chooses to receive from the Unified Genomic Record via the NHS App will be tailored to individual preferences.

Clinicians will be able to view the patient’s risk of major conditions and can work with individual patients to manage that risk and mitigate the risk of the condition developing.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-21)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-10-21 conversation_63

Mary Glindon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of levels of research into postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The Department funds health and care research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR funds clinical, public health and social care research and works in partnership with the NHS, universities, local government, other research funders, patients and the public. The NIHR welcomes proposals for research into a range of conditions, including postural tachycardia syndrome. Proposals can be made at the following link:

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/get-involved/suggest-a-research-topic