theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of recent trends in the length of NHS waiting lists in (i) Fylde and (ii) Lancashire. \p Karin Smyth: We are clear that the extent of waits for treatment is unacceptable, and cutting waiting lists is a key priority for the Government. We have committed to returning by March 2029 to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment.

We are committed to transforming elective services to ensure patients get timely access to the care they need. This includes investing £6 billion of additional capital investment over five years for diagnostic, elective, and urgent and emergency capacity in the NHS.

Between July 2024 and June 2025, we delivered 5.2 million additional appointments compared to the previous year, more than double our pledge of two million. This marks a vital first step towards delivering the constitutional standard.

We promised change, and we have made good progress. As of the end of September 2025, 61.8% of pathways on the waiting list are within 18 weeks, an improvement of 3.3% since September 2024, and the number of waits over 18 weeks has reduced by almost 320,000 over the same period.

Waiting list data is not available by constituency. The NHS trust that covers the Fylde constituency is the Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. As of the end of September 2025, the waiting list at this trust stood at 42,630, and 56.1% of these pathways were within 18 weeks, an improvement of 0.4% since the start of July 2024, when it was 55.7%.

As of the end of September 2025, the waiting list at the NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board stood at 248,818, 61.6% of which were within 18 weeks, an improvement of 2.5% since the start of July 2024, when it was 59.1%.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that UK medical graduates are prioritised for training posts in the National Health Service. \p Karin Smyth: As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan, published on 3 July, we will work across the Government to prioritise United Kingdom medical graduates for foundation training, and to prioritise UK medical graduates and other doctors who have worked in the National Health Service for a significant period for specialty training. We will set out next steps in due course.

NHS England has also taken steps to tackle competition for speciality training places this year by changing General Medical Council registration requirements and limiting the number of applications that can be submitted by individuals.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-27)

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Sir Ashley Fox:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 11 September 2025 to Question 74930 on Midwives: Recruitment and Training, if he can outlines measures his Department is taking to increase the number of jobs available for newly qualified midwives. \p Karin Smyth: On 11 August 2025, the Government announced the Graduate Guarantee for nurses and midwives. The Graduate Guarantee will ensure that there are enough positions this year for every newly qualified midwife in England. Vacant maternity support worker posts will be temporarily converted to Band 5 midwifery roles, backed by £8 million to create new opportunities specifically for newly qualified midwives and to further ease the recruitment strain.

Furthermore, the Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.

The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.
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Sir Ashley Fox:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department has carried out an assessment of the potential merits of providing childcare support for midwives in training. \p Karin Smyth: The Department for Education provides the primary funding support package for English domiciled students in higher education through the student loans system. Eligible students can also apply for the Childcare Grant and Parents’ Learning Allowance.

The Department of Health and Social Care provides eligible healthcare students, including midwifery students, with supplementary, non-repayable support via the NHS Learning Support Fund. This includes a non-repayable grant of £5,000 per academic year and, for eligible students with childcare responsibilities, an additional £2,000 per academic year for parental support. These funding arrangements are reviewed ahead of the start of each academic year.

Midwifery apprentices can access childcare support schemes available to working parents, subject to meeting the eligibility criteria.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the net zero targets for NHS England are; and what guidance has been given to NHS bodies on adopting net zero targets earlier than 2050. \p Karin Smyth: The 10-Year Health Plan commits to supporting NHS England’s existing commitments set out in 2020’s Delivering a Net Zero Health Service report, including achieving net zero by 2040 for the emissions the National Health Service controls and by 2045 for the emissions it can influence. The plan is clear that all NHS bodies will be expected to decarbonise, reduce environmental impact, and increase resilience to climate risks in line with the climate change duties set out in the Health and Care Act 2022.

We continue to work with NHS England to ensure that the NHS’s net zero aims are delivered in a way that improves patient care and saves taxpayers money, and which is aligned to the Government’s wider approach to carbon budgets and the 2050 legislative target for the United Kingdom’s economy.
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Marie Goldman:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that hospitals have sufficient capacity for patients. \p Karin Smyth: Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning healthcare services, including hospitals, to meet the needs of their local populations. We are asking trusts to place a special focus on reducing bed occupancy ahead of Christmas, creating additional capacity and improving patient flow.

The New Hospital Programme (NHP) will build “right-sized” hospitals, based on robust assumptions appropriate for local health needs that support the shift from hospital to community. The NHP has developed a National Health Service demand and capacity model which reflects changes in demographics, including predictions for population growth, which will underpin assumptions when right-sizing hospitals. The NHP Plan for Implementation, published on the GOV.UK website, sets out the delivery timeline for the schemes in the programme. Further information on the NHP Plan for Implementation is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome/new-hospital-programme-plan-for-implementation
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been admitted to hospital for self injecting botox in the last five years. \p Karin Smyth: The requested data is not held centrally. NHS England does not routinely collect hospital admissions data specifically related to Botox or self-injected Botox.
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Dr Ben Spencer:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what measures his Department is taking to mitigate any potential increase in waiting times for neurodiverse assessments in Runnymede and Weybridge as a result of the recent ICB decision to pause assessments through the Right to Choose with the provider Psicon. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Dr Ben Spencer:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the introduction of Indicative Activity Plans limiting neurodiverse assessments through Right to Choose providers on waiting lists for neurodevelopmental assessments in Runnymede and Weybridge. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Marie Goldman:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department’s timescale is for the publication of data on incidences of corridor care. \p Karin Smyth: The Government is committed to tackling the corridor care in our National Health Service. Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan, published in June, set out the steps we are taking to improve accident and emergency waiting times, including the commitment to publish data on the prevalence of corridor care.

NHS England has been working with trusts to put in place new reporting arrangements related to the use of corridor care, to drive improvement. The data quality is currently being reviewed, and the information will be published shortly.
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Jess Brown-Fuller:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce the time taken for occupational therapy a) assessments and b) reassessments. \p Karin Smyth: Integrated care boards are responsible for the commissioning Occupational Therapy services that meet the needs of their local populations. This includes overseeing waiting lists for access to Occupational Therapy services, improve outcomes and deliver best value from the health budget.
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Leader of the House, whether he plans to introduce measures to prevent Members of Parliament receiving income for posted content from social media platforms. \p Sir Alan Campbell: The Government is committed to restoring a politics of service, consistent with the high standards expected of public officeholders. That is why, within a month of the election, the Government brought forward proposals to tighten the rules around MPs’ outside interests, and deliver on our manifesto commitment to ban paid advocacy. We welcome the ongoing work by the Committee on Standards to review the rules relating to MPs’ outside interests, and look forward to receiving its findings.
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David Chadwick:To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether she has considered allowing a greater proportion of Local Growth Fund spending to be allocated to revenue rather than capital activities in order to maintain continuity of support for local businesses and workers. \p Jo Stevens: As announced at the Spending Review, from 2026-27 the UK government will provide targeted, long-term local growth funding to support regional growth across the UK, completing the transition from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). For the next three years, this funding will be at the same overall level in cash terms as under UKSPF in the current year in Wales.

My Department has been provided with the financial breakdown for the new Local Growth Fund, including the capital and revenue split. I have regular discussions with both UK and Welsh Government ministerial colleagues on how this funding will benefit communities the length and breadth of Wales.

Over the course of the Spending Review period, the Local Growth Fund will invest in a range of projects that drive growth through both capital and revenue funding – from infrastructure to supporting businesses and helping people find jobs and acquire new skills.

The Welsh Government is developing an Investment Plan for the Local Growth Fund in Wales, and there is currently a live consultation to inform priorities. Insights from the consultation exercise alongside learning from evaluations of previous programmes will help ensure that the Local Growth Fund delivers long-term, sustainable benefits for communities and complements other major programmes such as Pride in Place, City and Regional Growth Deals, Freeports and Investment Zones.

This new fund reinforces the strong collaborative relationship between the UK Government and Welsh Government. It will help create jobs and grow productivity, bringing benefit to every part of Wales. I am fully committed to ensuring that the transition to the new Local Growth Fund is as smooth as possible with sufficient flexibilities for local authorities to manage the change in capital and revenue funding. To this end, I have written a joint letter with Rebecca Evans MS, Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Planning to local authority leaders in Wales reassuring them that both governments are open to exploring opportunities for additional flexibilities within the parameters of the budget settlement and our shared responsibilities for managing public money. This will help local authorities manage the change while continuing to support local businesses and workers.
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Jayne Kirkham:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what his ambitions for tidal stream are in the upcoming renewable auction. \p Michael Shanks: Tidal stream continues to be eligible for our main support mechanism for low-carbon electricity, the Contracts for Difference scheme, through which over 120 MW of capacity has already been secured.

The parameters for Allocation Round 7 were published in July, and the budget for technologies including tidal stream will be confirmed later this year.
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Sir Christopher Chope:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the answer to WPQ 88184, how many staff in a) each of the Private Offices and b) Parliamentary Unit were engaged on 12th November with a) answering Ministerial invitations and b) answering PQs. \p Michael Shanks: This information is not held.
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Neil Coyle:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to require all primary care networks to publish annual accounts. \p Stephen Kinnock: The network directed enhanced service contract for primary care networks is held by individual practices, and there is no requirement to form separate legal entities or produce separate accounts. Where local arrangements have led to the creation of separate legal entities they are covered by existing company law and requirements to produce accounts.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-22)

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Marie Goldman:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce therapy waiting times for young people with mental health challenges. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government is investing an extra £688 million this year to transform mental health services by hiring more staff, delivering more early interventions, and getting waiting lists down so children can have the best possible start in life. We are delivering on our commitment to recruit an additional 8,500 staff across children and adult mental health services by the end of the Parliament, with 6,700 of these extra workers having been recruited since July 2024.

We also want to intervene much earlier to support better outcomes for children and young people. That is why the 10-Year Health Plan sets out how we will work with schools and colleges to better identify and meet children's mental health needs by expanding mental health support teams in schools to cover 100% of pupils by 2029/30, and by embedding mental health support in the new Young Futures hubs, to ensure there is no 'wrong front door' for people seeking help.

Additionally, we are continuing to provide top-up funding of £7 million to 24 existing early support hubs to expand their services and to take part in an ongoing evaluation of these services in 2025/26. This funding will enable the supported hubs to deliver at least 10,000 additional mental health and wellbeing interventions, so that more children and young people are supported.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-22)

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Dame Chi Onwurah:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle health inequalities in the North East. \p Ashley Dalton: This government is working to stamp out this country’s stark health inequalities. The North East has had the lowest healthy life expectancy for over ten years, which is unacceptable.

The Government has put tackling these inequalities at the heart of the 10 Year Plan. We will create a fairer Britain where everyone can access quality care, regardless of background, income or postcode.

We are taking unprecedented action by diverting billions of pounds to working class communities that need it most – prioritising investment in towns with the greatest health needs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-22)

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Nick Smith:What assessment he has made of the potential impact of NHS practitioners prescribing parkrun on public health. \p Ashley Dalton: Parkrun is a fantastic achievement - helping thousands of people to move more. Social prescribing like this can really boost people’s health and wellbeing.  We know that movement saves the NHS around £10.5 billion a year – but 12 million adults are still inactive.  We need a team effort to succeed in getting millions more moving and there’s lots for us to learn from Parkrun’s experience.
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Rosie Duffield:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what role neighbourhood mental health centre pilot schemes will play in improving (a) care and (b) support for people living with bipolar; and whether these centres will provide specialist support to help reduce delays in (i) diagnosis and (ii) treatment. \p Stephen Kinnock: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark on 10 June 2025 to Question 53884.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase awareness of the potential risks of unregulated online pharmacies. \p Stephen Kinnock: Pharmacies based in Great Britain must be registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC). Patients can check if a pharmacy is registered on the GPhC website. The GPhC has recently updated their guidance for online pharmacies to strengthen their safeguards, to prevent people from receiving medicines that are not clinically appropriate for them, and which may cause them harm.

Not all providers of medicines online are pharmacies registered with the GPhC. In such cases, the matter falls to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which is responsible for regulating the sale, supply, and advertising of medicines which are set out in the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. These regulations apply equally to medicines advertised, sold, or supplied via the internet. The MHRA and its Criminal Enforcement Unit actively seeks to identify individuals involved in unlawful activity and, where appropriate, prosecutes those who put public health at risk.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-22)

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Daniel Francis:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a national service specification for adult cerebral palsy to be used to commission specialist services within integrated care system areas. \p Ashley Dalton: We are committed to ensuring that people with cerebral palsy have access to appropriate support and services at all stages of their lives, so that they can fulfil their potential and lead happy, healthy and productive lives. Later this year, NHS England’s service specification for neurology services is being updated. The specification defines standards and manages care pathways for neurological conditions like cerebral palsy.
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Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to make the NHS more accessible for people with visual impairment. \p Stephen Kinnock: Under the Equality Act (2010), health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged.

The Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag was developed to enable health and care workers to record, share, and view details of reasonable adjustments, across the National Health Service and social care, wherever the person is seen or treated.

Since 2016, all NHS organisations and publicly funded social care providers are expected to meet the Accessible Information Standard, which details the recommended approach to supporting the information and communication support needs of people with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss, including people with a hearing or visual impairment.

On 30 June 2025, a revised Accessible Information Standard (AIS) was published. NHS England is working to support implementation of the AIS with awareness raising, communication, and engagement, and is reviewing the current e-learning modules on the AIS. The intention is to ensure that staff and organisations in the NHS are aware of the AIS and the importance of meeting the information and communication needs of disabled people using services.
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Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to provide culturally appropriate dementia services for (a) South Asian and (b) other ethnic minority groups. \p Stephen Kinnock: The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). We expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

NHS England has also published a guide which aims to help health and social care workers provide dementia care which corresponds to the needs and wishes of people from a wide range of ethnic groups, especially minority ethnic groups. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/intercultural-dementia-care-guide/

Our health system has struggled to support those with complex needs, including those with dementia. Under the 10-Health 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, which will seek to reduce unwarranted variation and narrow inequality for those living with dementia, and which will set national standards for dementia care and redirect National Health Service priorities to provide the best possible care and support. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, expected in 2026.
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Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the dermatology workforce. \p Karin Smyth: We will publish a 10-Year Workforce Plan to create a National Health Service workforce in England ready to deliver a transformed service.

The 10-Year Workforce Plan will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the best care for patients, when they need it, including those requiring dermatology services. From now on, we will ensure that staff will be better treated, have better training, more fulfilling roles, and hope for the future, so they can achieve more.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of suicide prevention training provided to ambulance staff. \p Karin Smyth: Looking after the mental health of hard-working NHS staff is essential, and particularly so for ambulance staff as responders to emergency incidents. Ambulance Trusts and the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives have worked closely with NHS England to ensure there is a good range of health and wellbeing support available for staff. This includes an ambulance sector specific suicide prevention pathway to provide immediate support 24/7 for staff experiencing suicidal ideation. At a national level, ambulance staff have access to the SHOUT helpline for crisis support alongside the Practitioner Health service for more complex mental health wellbeing support, including trauma and addiction.

We have also announced in the 10-Year Health Plan that we will roll out Staff Treatment Hubs to provide a high-quality occupational health service for all NHS staff, including support for mental health issues and back conditions, with both being significant causes of long-term sickness absence.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to improve state funded physiotherapy. \p Karin Smyth: Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the commissioning the majority of health and care services, including physiotherapy, in England. ICBs arrange healthcare services to meet the needs of their local population, within available resources.

NHS England is supporting ICBs to make informed decisions about the provision of physiotherapy services so that they can provide consistent, high quality, and integrated care.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-22)

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Josh Babarinde:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve the supply of Pancreatin for people struggling to acquire their required quantity and dosage. \p Karin Smyth: The Department is currently managing a supply issue with the pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) Creon, which is used by patients with conditions such as cystic fibrosis and certain cancers, including pancreatic cancer and neuroendocrine cancer. The supply issue with Creon is impacting countries throughout Europe and has been caused by the limited availability of raw ingredients and manufacturing capacity constraints to produce the volumes needed to meet demand. This is causing knock-on supply issues with alternative PERT products.

The Department is continuing to work with all suppliers of PERT to help resolve the supply issues in the short and longer term. This includes asking that they expedite deliveries, source stock from other markets, and increase production. Through these discussions we have managed to secure additional volumes for 2025 for the United Kingdom.

The Department has also reached out to specialist importers who have sourced unlicensed stock to assist in covering the remaining gap in the market. In May 2024, pancreatin preparations were added to the Department’s list of medicines that cannot be exported from the UK or hoarded. In the longer term, the Department has had interest from non-UK suppliers of PERT wishing to bring their products to the UK and, along with colleagues in the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, we are working with these potential suppliers, and if authorised, these products could further diversify and strengthen the market.

The Department has widely disseminated comprehensive guidance to healthcare professionals about these supply issues, which provides advice on how to manage patients whilst there is disruption to supply to ensure that no patient is left without PERT.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps NHS England is taking to ensure that (a) access logs and (b) permissions related to NHS data processed on Palantir platforms are independently auditable. \p Karin Smyth: The NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP) is built with robust security and privacy controls to ensure that access to National Health Service data is tightly governed and independently auditable.

All user activity within the FDP environment is logged for auditing purposes. These logs are actively monitored by both Palantir’s UK security team and the NHS Cyber Security Operations Centre, to detect and respond to any malicious activity. Security logs are encrypted at rest and in transit, and stored on a secure Security Information and Event Management server accessible only to authorised personnel.

Access to data within the FDP is governed by strict controls, including the principle of least privilege and mandatory access control systems. Only authorised users are granted access for approved purposes, and all permissions are subject to audit and review. In addition to these technical safeguards, the FDP Associated Services contract includes audit provisions that allow NHS England to validate and confirm that contractual requirements are being met. These rights of audit are standard within NHS commercial agreements and provide assurance that the platform operates in accordance with NHS England’s expectations and legal obligations.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the contract for the Federated Data Platform will require Palantir to publish an open standard data schema to enable interoperability with alternative platforms. \p Karin Smyth: The contract for the Federated Data Platform and Associated Services (FDP AS) includes provisions to ensure interoperability and support for market development through the use of open standards.

As part of this, the platform is underpinned by the NHS Canonical Data Model (CDM), which provides a consistent and open data schema that all parties connecting to the FDP must use. This ensures that data can be shared and understood across different systems and platforms, supporting interoperability and reducing the risk of vendor lock-in.

To further support transparency and innovation, NHS England has taken steps to publish the CDM on GitHub. This enables developers and suppliers to understand the structure and semantics of the data used within the platform, and to build compatible solutions that can integrate with the FDP.

The publication of the CDM is part of a broader commitment to openness and technical sovereignty, ensuring that the National Health Service retains control over its data infrastructure and can transition to alternative providers if needed.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-22)

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Adam Jogee:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) steps he is taking to support and (b) funding he has allocated to the rollout of AI-assisted stethoscope checks for heart murmurs in community pharmacies. \p Karin Smyth: Artificial intelligence (AI) assisted stethoscope tools are currently being trialed in 200 general practices (GPs) across London and Wales, with trials set to end in December 2025. The AI in Health and Care Award and the National Institute for Health and Care Research provided £1.2 million in funding for these trials, known as the TRICORDER programme, which aims to assess whether providing the tool to GPs can increase the early detection of heart failure and reduce diagnosis through emergency hospital admission. Early results have shown these devices can test for heart failure with high levels of sensitivity, 91%, and specificity, 80%, compared to routine diagnostic tests that are invasive and expensive.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-22 conversation_17

Jade Botterill:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that diagnostic results shared via the NHS App for patients living with chronic conditions are accompanied by (a) tailored information for patients about their condition and (b) a clear route to contact with a health care professional where appropriate and desired by patients. \p Karin Smyth: As part of the delivery of the 10-Year Health Plan, the NHS App will provide an improved and personalised experience for users, empowering them to access key elements of their health conditions like test results, and providing patients with 24 hour a day, seven day a week advice and guidance that will help them to understand their health and make informed choices about what to do next.

This will be building on the current test results feature in the NHS App that is successfully used by millions of people each month to access the results of tests they have conducted with their general practice.

In the future, the NHS App will go even further and provide patients with a range of new tools that will redefine how patients engage with the health service. The 10-Year Plan outlines that patients can expect:

- fast advice, so no patient faces uncertainty about what care they need, or a needlessly anxious wait;

- increased choice between different services and different providers;

- direct access, so patients can book appointments or self-refer to tests wherever clinically appropriate; and

- accessible knowledge, so patients can find the information they need to get the most out of their healthcare, or to manage their caring responsibilities for others.
wrans/answers2025-07-22 conversation_18
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-22 conversation_18

Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that practicing nurses are able to find NHS employment and remain on the nursing register. \p Karin Smyth: As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, this Government is committed to making the NHS the best place to work, by supporting and retaining our hardworking and dedicated healthcare professionals including our nurses. We will publish a 10-Year Workforce Plan this Autumn setting out how we will ensure all NHS staff including nurses are better treated, have better training, more fulfilling roles and hope for the future, so they can achieve more.

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 and transition into the workplace.
wrans/answers2025-07-22 conversation_19
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-22 conversation_19

Carla Lockhart:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential link between the use of gabapentin and cognitive impairment in patients. \p Karin Smyth: The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is an executive agency of the Department and regulates medicine, medical devices, and blood components for transfusion in the United Kingdom, with responsibility for ensuring medicines meet appropriate standards of safety, quality, and efficacy. Medicines are authorised on the basis that the benefits exceed the risks, and all products are licensed by the MHRA before being placed on the market.

Product information for gabapentin currently carries warnings of potential side effects of confusion, mental impairment, amnesia, and anxiety, and therefore patients should be advised to exercise caution until they are familiar with the potential effects of the medicinal product. All new safety information continues to be carefully considered, and regulatory action will be taken if considered necessary.

All medicines have side effects, although not everyone will experience them. The MHRA encourages anyone who suspects or experiences a side effect of their medicine to report it to the MHRA through the Yellow Card scheme.
wrans/answers2025-07-22 conversation_20
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-22 conversation_20

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) federated machine learning and (b) transfer learning techniques have been employed in the Federated Data Platform. \p Karin Smyth: Neither federated machine learning nor transfer learning techniques are currently utilised within the NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP).

The FDP is designed to support operational use cases such as elective recovery, care coordination, and discharge planning by enabling secure, real-time access to data across National Health Service organisations. While the platform supports advanced analytics and data integration, it does not currently employ federated or transfer learning methods as part of its architecture or functionality.

NHS England continues to monitor developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning to ensure that any future applications involving NHS data align with core NHS principles, including safety, fairness, and accountability.
wrans/answers2025-07-22 conversation_21
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-22 conversation_21

Adam Dance:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of prescribing medical cannabis as a treatment for the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. \p Karin Smyth: No assessment has been made by the Department of the potential merits of prescribing medical cannabis as a treatment for symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Where there are demonstrated therapeutic effects, we would expect manufactures to apply to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for a marketing authorisation (licence) for their medicines, to enable prescribers to be confident of the medicine’s quality, safety and effectiveness.

Assessment by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) would then precede any routine prescribing on the NHS.
wrans/answers2025-07-22 conversation_22
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-22 conversation_22

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) encryption key management protocols and (b) physical hosting zones are in place to ensure NHS datasets remain (i) logically and (ii) geographically partitioned from Palantir’s multi-tenant infrastructure. \p Karin Smyth: Access to National Health Service health and social care data within the Federated Data Platform (FDP) is tightly controlled. The FDP incorporates advanced Privacy Enhancing Technology (PET), which has been procured from a separate supplier to ensure independence and to mitigate any conflicts of interest.

It is a contractual requirement that personal data stored in the FDP and NHS PET cannot be accessed by its own personnel or contractors from outside the United Kingdom. In accordance with General Data Protection Regulation principles of transparency and accountability, NHS England has published details in the FDP Information Governance Framework. This framework is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/federated-data-platform-information-governance-framework/
wrans/answers2025-07-22 conversation_23
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-22 conversation_23

Adam Dance:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of mandating digital prescribing for medical cannabis. \p Karin Smyth: Cannabis-based products for medicinal use are Schedule 2 controlled drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001. Electronic prescribing of Schedule 2 and 3 Controlled Drugs in NHS primary care settings has been operational since 2019.

It is mandatory for electronic prescriptions for controlled drugs in Schedules 2 and 3 to be sent using an advanced electronic signature and sent via the NHS Electronic Prescribing Service as part of enhanced security measures.

There are no current plans to make legislative changes to enable similar systems in private healthcare to prescribe Schedule 2 and 3 controlled drugs.
wrans/answers2025-07-22 conversation_24
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-22 conversation_24

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has received representations from (a) Palantir Technologies Ltd and (b) its subsidiaries on combining data functions under a single NHS data contract. \p Karin Smyth: My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care met with representatives of Palantir on 4 June 2025. The meeting was to discuss the importance of the rollout of the Federated Data Platform, including progress towards having all trusts onboarded. The meeting did not discuss combining data functions under a single National Health Service data contract, and the Department has not received representation from Palantir or its subsidiaries on that topic.
wrans/answers2025-07-22 conversation_25
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-22 conversation_25

Michelle Welsh:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting lists for (a) appointments and (b) assessments for hearing services. \p Karin Smyth: Cutting elective care waiting times, including for hearing services, is a key priority for this government. We have now exceeded our pledge to deliver an extra 2 million operations, scans, and appointments, having now delivered 4.6 million additional appointments.

We are committed to transforming diagnostic services and will support the NHS to increase capacity to meet the demand, including for audiology services such as hearing tests. Our Elective Reform Plan commits to transform and expand diagnostic services and speed up waiting times for tests.

NHS England is supporting provider organisations and integrated care boards (ICBs) who are the commissioners of audiology services to improve performance and reduce waiting lists for appointments and assessments for hearing services. This includes capital investment to upgrade audiology facilities in NHS Trusts, expanding audiology testing capacity via Community Diagnostic Centres, and direct support through a national audiology improvement collaborative.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-22)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-22 conversation_26

Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that the NHS (a) retains the intellectual property in relation to the technical sovereignty for and (b) is not locked in to using the Federated Data Platform. \p Karin Smyth: The National Health Service retains the intellectual property of solutions it funds or develops, including all associated data models, products, and analytical solutions of the NHS Federated Data Platform, and the background intellectual property remains the property of the respective party.

The contract for the FDP and Associated Services includes specific provisions to mitigate vendor lock-in and support transition to an alternative provider at the end of the contractual period. The contract is available at the following link:

https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/0f8a65b5-23a2-4294-abb1-a7fd8efb3ad0