theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, CP 1337, published on 23 June 2025, what funding he has provided to the Cambridge x Manchester Innovation partnership. \p Kanishka Narayan: Through Research England, we are providing almost £4.8 million over three years to support the Cambridge x Manchester Innovation Partnership. This exciting initiative brings together the Universities of Cambridge and Manchester, alongside local authorities and businesses, to strengthen relations within and between these regions’ innovation ecosystems.

The partnership will pilot new approaches to place-to-place collaboration between ecosystems. This will share best practice, support start-ups and scale-ups to deliver jobs and opportunities, and stimulate investment into research and development, contributing directly to the delivery of the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of regional variation in patient access to motor neurone disease clinical trials; and what steps he is taking to ensure equitable access across all NHS regions. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department is committed to ensuring equitable access to health and care research, including motor neurone disease (MND) studies, across all National Health Service regions. National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) infrastructure has national coverage, but we recognise that trials in some disease areas can be concentrated in specialist centres, which can result in regional variation in patient access.

Through investment in world-class expertise, specialist facilities, a dedicated research delivery workforce, and coordinated support services, the NIHR enables research to be set up and delivered effectively across the NHS and wider health and care system.

Measures to ensure equitable access include supporting travel and accommodation costs through the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme, study-level travel reimbursement, and practical assistance from NIHR Clinical Research Facilities and the Research Delivery Network.

In line with the NHS 10-Year Health Plan, there is a growing emphasis on delivering research in community and home settings, supported by digital tools and mobile research teams. This approach reduces the need for hospital visits and ensures that patients with MND can participate in research regardless of their location. This work is complemented by wider Government investment, such as the £6 million MND Translational Accelerator and the £8 million EXPERTS-ALS programme, which are designed to connect research centres nationally and broaden opportunities for patients across regions.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of limited trial site locations on the ability of motor neurone disease patients to participate in research; and what support his Department provides to help patients who need to travel significant distances to access trials. \p Ashley Dalton: The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), funded by the Department, supports patients and the public to take part in high-quality research. In 2024/25, the NIHR Research Delivery Network supported 35 motor neurone disease (MND) studies and recruited over 2,900 participants.

We recognise that MND trials are often concentrated in specialist centres, which can create challenges for patients who live far from these sites. To address this, NHS England and the NIHR provide practical support to reduce travel barriers. The Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme enables eligible patients to claim travel expenses for National Health Service appointments, including research visits, while many trial sponsors and sites reimburse travel, accommodation, and subsistence costs. NIHR Clinical Research Facilities and the NIHR Research Delivery Network also provide logistical support to facilitate participation.

In line with the NHS 10-Year Plan, there is a growing emphasis on delivering research in community and home settings, supported by digital tools and mobile research teams.
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Tom Gordon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the provision of Covid vaccinations to people with (a) type 1 diabetes and (b) long term immunosuppressive health conditions. \p Ashley Dalton: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is an independent expert committee which reviews the latest data on COVID-19 risks, vaccine safety, and effectiveness and advises the government on eligibility for vaccination and immunisation programmes. The JCVI has published advice for future COVID-19 vaccination campaigns in autumn 2025, spring 2026, autumn 2026, and spring 2027. The government has accepted JCVI advice for autumn 2025. The Government is considering the JCVI’s advice for 2026 and spring 2027 carefully and will respond in due course.

The primary aim of the national COVID-19 vaccination programme remains the prevention of serious disease (hospitalisations and deaths) arising from COVID-19. The JCVI assessment indicates that the oldest age cohorts and individuals who are immunosuppressed are the two groups who continue to be at higher risk of serious disease.

Therefore, in autumn 2025, a COVID-19 vaccination will be offered to:

The JCVI has advised that more recent data are needed to assess whether any other population groups under the age of 75 years with specific clinical comorbidities, such as type 1 diabetes, are at similar risk of serious disease as those aged 75 years and over.

The JCVI continues to review evidence and may update its advice in future.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department has allocated to support the (a) development and (b) expansion of MND clinical trial infrastructure. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department funds health and care research infrastructure through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). This provides world-class research expertise, specialist facilities, a dedicated research delivery workforce, and support services across the National Health Service and wider health and care system in England.

NIHR infrastructure funding is not allocated by individual disease or therapy area. Instead, it underpins the development and expansion of research capacity across all specialties, including motor neurone disease (MND). Examples include:

- Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs), with £909 million awarded from December 2022 to March 2028. Six BRCs conduct research into neurological disease, supporting discovery science and the development of new trial approaches;

- the Research Delivery Network, with approximately £380 million provided each year, providing the NHS with support funding and the workforce to expand research delivery capability across regions, including for MND studies; and

- Clinical Research Facilities, with £214 million invested until 2029 in 28 facilities, creating dedicated spaces for early-phase and complex trials such as drug, cell, and gene therapies, supporting both the development and expansion of MND clinical trials.

Government responsibility for MND research is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered by NIHR, and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). In addition, targeted investments are helping to strengthen trial capacity, including £6 million for the MND Translational Accelerator, which connects UK institutes to speed up the development of treatments, and £8 million for the EXPERTS-ALS programme, which screens promising drugs and complements the MND-SMART platform trial.
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Samantha Niblett:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of sites previously used to dump fly ash now used for house building on public health. \p Ashley Dalton: The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has not undertaken any overarching assessment of the potential impact on public health from housebuilding on sites previously used to deposit fly ash.

Assessments of potential land contamination used for housing are governed at national level by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs under contaminated land legislation and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government under planning legislation. Local authorities assess land within their areas with respect to contaminated land, and Local Planning Authorities address legacy contamination through local plans and development management.

In England and Wales, local authorities are required to assess their areas to identify and remove unacceptable risks to public health and the environment, and act as a regulator to ensure that contaminated land is made suitable for its current use. Specific development sites brought into use for housing should be adequately risk-assessed, and any required remediation overseen, within the planning process.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help protect livestock from botulism disease in Shropshire. \p Ashley Dalton: The risk posed by botulism from poultry litter and other sources are well established in the agricultural industry. Farmers and their advisors know what measures can be taken to mitigate the risk. In some situations where risk analysis has been undertaken, several farmers opt to vaccinate cattle against the disease.

There is advice available on GOV.UK on botulism in livestock at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/botulism-in-farmed-ruminants/botulism-in-farmed-ruminants

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has published review articles in veterinary journals such as In Practice, which is available at the following link:

https://bvajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1136/inpract.30.7.392

The APHA Surveillance Unit also present on the subject with food safety lecture to undergraduates at veterinary schools in the United Kingdom and at conferences for livestock vets.
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Ellie Chowns:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether whole genome sequencing will be available on the NHS for all sarcoma patients under the 10 Year Health Plan for England. \p Ashley Dalton: Genomic testing, including both whole genome sequencing (WGS) and non-WGS testing, in the National Health Service in England is provided through the NHS Genomic Medicine Service. Testing is directed by the National Genomic Test Directory (NGTD), which sets out the eligibility criteria for patients to access testing.

For all cancer patients undergoing genomic testing, to support routine care, and including sarcoma patients, the first line testing is done by next generation sequencing panel testing that includes all the targets for the currently available precision medicines. The NGTD’s eligibility criteria outlines that, if clinically required, WGS can then be offered for sarcoma patients to determine their next stage of treatment or management.
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Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of 29 May 2025 from the hon. Member for Hazel Grove, ref LS06945. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Baroness Merron) replied to the hon. Member on 1 August 2025.
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Mrs Sharon Hodgson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence plans to publish updated guidance on the eight types of hernia mesh. \p Karin Smyth: Topics for new or updated guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) are considered through the NICE prioritisation process. Decisions as to whether NICE will create new, or update existing, guidance are overseen by an integrated, cross-organisational prioritisation board, chaired by NICE’s Chief Medical Officer. NICE’s prioritisation board is considering the use of hernia mesh in the treatment of ventral and inguinal hernias as a potential topic for guidance, and a decision will be taken in due course.
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Adam Jogee:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to improve access to NHS dentistry in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire. \p Stephen Kinnock: The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency, this is Staffordshire and Stoke-on Trent ICB.

We will deliver 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments per year, and ICBs have been making extra appointments available from 1 April 2025. Staffordshire and Stoke-on Trent ICB is expected to deliver 16,190 additional urgent dental appointments as part of the scheme.

We are committed to reforming the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 21 July 2025 to Question 67468 on Diseases: Undocumented Migrants, what the cost to the public purse was for initial health assessments for irregular migrants in each of the last five years. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department and NHS England do not hold the information requested.

The Department, NHS England and UK Health Security Agency officials are supporting the Home Office and regional and local health partners to support delivery of reforms to the asylum system, including to accommodation for asylum seekers. The Department’s role focuses on addressing the health needs of asylum seekers, protecting local services, and addressing the transmission risks for infectious diseases.
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Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of community care for dementia patients. \p Stephen Kinnock: 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 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidelines.

Under the 10-Year Health 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.

The Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia will seek to reduce unwarranted variation and narrow inequality for those living with dementia, will set national standards for dementia care and will redirect National Health Service priorities to provide the best possible care and support.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Food Standards Agency on increasing the frequency of food hygiene assessments. \p Ashley Dalton: The Food Law Code of Practice (the Code), which is prepared by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and issued by my rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, provides statutory guidance to local authorities and Port Health Authorities responsible for the delivery of official food controls and other official activities. Within the Code is guidance for authorities on how to determine the frequency of official controls using a risk-based approach. Higher risk or non-compliant establishments receive a higher frequency of official control than lower risk, compliant establishments.

The FSA has recently consulted upon a revised Code which included proposals to introduce and develop flexibilities available to authorities. These can help support more focus on higher risk or non-compliant food establishments. The FSA aims to lay the revised Code in autumn 2025. The FSA also continues to work across Government and with local authority partners to ensure food safety regulation remains proportionate and effective.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to improve access to new treatments for patients with secondary breast cancer. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department is committed to ensuring that the National Health Service diagnoses cancer earlier and treats it faster so that more patients, including those with breast cancer, survive.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations for the NHS on whether new licensed medicines should be routinely funded by the NHS based on their costs and benefits. Cancer medicines are eligible for funding from the Cancer Drugs Fund from the point of a positive NICE recommendation. Since January 2022, NICE has recommended all but one of the treatments for breast cancer that it has assessed, including treatments for secondary breast cancer such as Truqap and Korserdu, which are now available to eligible NHS patients.

The National Cancer Plan for England will be published later this year and will set out further details on how we will improve outcomes for all cancer patients, including those with secondary breast cancer. The National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and aftercare.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency plans to improve the (a) monitoring and (b) reporting of adverse effects related to weight loss drugs; and what systems are in place to ensure that (i) patients and (ii) healthcare providers can report those effects. \p Karin Smyth: The Yellow Card scheme collects reports of suspected adverse effects for all healthcare products including weight loss drugs. Reporting is open to all healthcare professionals and members of the public through a variety of methods including online, via the Yellow Card app, phone, email and paper forms. To make reporting as quick and easy as possible, there is also direct integration of Yellow Card reporting functionality available within some clinical IT systems. This includes covering over 93% of GP practices across England.

To improve the quality of information captured on a Yellow Card report for weight loss medicines, we have recently introduced a number of additional questions to support ongoing monitoring of the safety of these products and rapid identification of potential safety issues.

Reporting to the scheme is voluntary and therefore requires sustained efforts to promote and raise awareness of the scheme. To promote the reporting of side effects, a call to report side effects is included in all communications for weight loss medicines. For example, the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) guidance on GLP-1 medicines contains several links to the Yellow Card Scheme, as do the Drug Safety Updates for healthcare professionals that the MHRA have published relating to these medicines. Reporting has also been encouraged on press releases issued on the illegal sales of GLP-1s and posts on the MHRA social media platforms (X, Instagram and Facebook).

Alongside data collected through the Yellow Card scheme, the MHRA also monitors for adverse events through a variety of other data sources including scientific literature, epidemiological studies, regulatory reports from other countries, and periodic safety data submitted by pharmaceutical companies. All safety concerns are evaluated by our multidisciplinary teams and expert advisory groups, and where necessary, regulatory action is taken.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is he taking to improve access to innovative treatments for patients diagnosed with rare cancers. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department of Health and Social Care is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with rare cancers, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments.

The National Cancer Plan, which is due to be published later this year, will include details on how cancer research will be supported, ensuring all cancer patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, as well as speeding up diagnosis.

The Government also supports the Rare Cancers Bill and its ambitions to incentivise clinical trials and access to innovative treatments for rare cancers. The Department is working to fast-track clinical trials to drive global investment into life sciences, improve health outcomes and accelerate the development of medicines and therapies of the future, including for rare cancers. DHSC invests £1.6 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was £133 million in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to support MND Care Centres to participate in (a) research studies and (b) MND-SMART. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department is committed to funding health and care research via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) across England, to ensure that the research we support is inclusive and representative of the populations we serve. Government responsibility for motor neurone disease (MND) research is shared between the Department for Health and Social Care, with research delivered by the NIHR, and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered by UK Research and Innovation.

NIHR infrastructure has national coverage and is designed to build research capacity and capability across all settings, including MND care centres, to support participation in all eligible research studies. These mechanisms are well placed to support care centres’ participation in studies such as MND-SMART, ensuring centres have the guidance and practical support needed to take part in this trial.

This sits alongside wider Government investment to accelerate MND research. Examples include £12.5 million to support discovery science at the UK Dementia Research Institute, £6 million for the MND Translational Accelerator, and £8 million for the EXPERTS-ALS drug screening programme, which complements the charity-funded MND-SMART trial.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to implement the recommendations of the Stroke Association’s report entitled Unlocking Potential: A Bold Vision for Stroke Care in England. \p Ashley Dalton: We welcome the report of the Stroke Association and its recommendations, which are closely aligned with the 10-Year Health Plan’s three big shifts of hospital to community, analogue to digital and treatment to prevention.

This Government is committed to ensuring fewer lives are lost to the biggest killers, including cardiovascular disease (CVD). That is why this Government has set an ambition to reduce premature mortality from heart disease and stroke by 25% in the next 10 years.

To deliver on this ambition, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England are working together to understand both the scale of the challenge and the opportunities for progress across the prevention, treatment and management of CVD.

We are engaging with stakeholders to put the best available evidence and expert opinion at the heart of this ambition and to gather a diverse range of views.

We have committed in the 10-Year Health Plan to publish a Modern Service Framework for CVD in 2026. This will identify and set standards for the best evidenced interventions, drive innovation in CVD prevention and management, and reduce unwarranted variation in healthcare.
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much of the £50 million allocated for targeted motor neurone disease research has been allocated as of September 2025. \p Ashley Dalton: Government responsibility for delivering motor neurone disease research (MND) is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and in particular via the Medical Research Council.

The commitment to allocate £50 million to MND research was introduced by the previous administration. As of 4 June 2025, when the data was last analysed, a total of £50.2 million has been committed to MND research since the start of the 2022/23 financial year. We will continue to invest in MND research via open competition, with no maximum funding limit.

The Government is investing into MND research across a range of areas, including an £8 million investment via the NIHR’s EXPERTS-ALS trial, an early phase clinical research trial which screens for drugs that have the potential to be successful in clinical trials for people with MND.

The MND Translational Accelerator, supported by £6 million of Government funding, is connecting the UK Dementia Research Institute, the UK MND Research Institute, and Dementias Platform UK. Twelve projects have been funded through the accelerator, and all are aimed at speeding up the development of treatments for MND.

The NIHR and UKRI will continue to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including MND. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.

Welcoming applications on MND to all NIHR and UKRI programmes enables maximum flexibility both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of diagnosis rates for rare cancers, broken down by each county. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is committed to supporting the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including rare and less common cancers, earlier and to treat them faster.

The National Disease Registration Service in NHS England, as the national cancer registry, collects diagnosis and treatment data on cancer patients in England. Further information on the National Disease Registration Service is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrs

The Department has not made a formal assessment of this data broken down by county, however the forthcoming National Cancer Plan will include further details on how the NHS will improve diagnosis and outcomes for all cancer patients in England, including for rare and less common cancers.
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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will ensure that (a) prioritisation for medical evacuation and treatment of children from Gaza is based solely on clinical urgency and medical need and (b) it is not contingent on the availability of private funding or charitable sponsorship. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is working urgently to get some of the critically ill and injured children medically evacuated from Gaza.

The United Kingdom is partnering with the World Health Organization (WHO), which works on the ground and plays a critical role in supporting medical evacuations from Gaza. Clinical leaders in the NHS are working to match Gazan children to a priority list of those needing specialist medical care, provided by medical specialists in Gaza to the WHO, where there is capacity within the NHS to treat them.

Children will only be transferred to the UK where it is clinically safe to do so and in the interests of each individual patient. As such, we will ensure medical assessments are undertaken before they travel.

The UK Government will meet all the costs of those evacuated as part of this process.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total cost to the public purse is for the evacuation of children from Gaza as of 2 September 2025. \p Ashley Dalton: I refer the Hon. Member to my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’s written statement to the House on 1 September 2025, which is available at the following link:

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2025-09-01/hcws899

No children have been evacuated as of 2 September 2025. The Government has therefore not incurred any costs outside of the costs associated with the teams in various Government departments overseeing the evacuation arrangements.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking with the Food Standards Agency to help increase levels of public awareness of dangerous food product recalls. \p Ashley Dalton: Food recalls and allergy alerts often receive a high level of engagement depending on the scale and risk associated with each recall. It is the responsibility of businesses to reach the public through displaying in-store notices and notifying consumers through their own communication channels. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) amplifies recalls to reach a wider audience and those most vulnerable.

The FSA works with national and regional media outlets, and shares recall information across its social media channels. This strategy achieves regular national coverage, plus targeted regional coverage. Targeted advertising campaigns on social media encourage the public to sign up for the food alerts and recalls service. Promoting the alerts and recall service is a key objective of our current business campaign. Safer food means better business, which aims to support small and micro businesses in protecting their customers.

Targeted partnerships with healthcare providers, charities and organisations that represent vulnerable consumers facilitate direct access to those who are most at risk to food borne diseases. This includes immunocompromised groups or those living with an allergy.

The FSA carried out a key review of the recall process in 2017 with the strengthened processes in place by 2019, and an evaluation of improvements carried out in 2022. At the heart of this work is making sure that as much as possible the system works smoothly across all those involved so that consumers are aware when unsafe foods are recalled.
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Ben Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that cancer early diagnosis targets are appropriate for blood cancers. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department remains committed to the early diagnosis of cancer and to improving outcomes for patients. However, we recognise that there is more to be done to ensure that patients with harder to stage cancers, such as blood cancer, receive fast and early diagnoses.

There are no current plans to introduce a specific proxy staging measure or a corresponding national target to support the earlier diagnosis of blood cancers. However, to tackle late, emergency setting diagnoses of blood cancers, the National Health Service is implementing non-specific symptom (NSS) pathways for patients who present with symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. There are currently 115 NSS services operating in England, with blood cancers being one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.
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Layla Moran:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that Integrated Care Systems provide a range of weight management services. \p Ashley Dalton: Local authorities and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) are responsible for providing local weight management services, taking into account their population needs and relevant guidance. Weight management services range from behavioural programmes to specialist services for those living with obesity and associated co-morbidities.

Local authorities are able to fund behavioural weight management services from their Public Health Grant. Additionally, NHS England commissions the NHS Digital Weight Management Programme nationally, which can be accessed via referral from general practice or community pharmacy.

ICBs are responsible for commissioning NHS specialist weight management services. Until recently the newest obesity medicines have only been available via the NHS through specialist weight management services. One of these medicines, tirzepatide (brand name Mounjaro®), is now available in primary care, with access currently being prioritised to those with the greatest clinical need. ICBs are developing new care pathways to ensure that patients can access these medicines via general practice.
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Layla Moran:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to evaluate the effectiveness of NHS weight management programmes. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department of Health and Social Care, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), has commissioned a range of research to evaluate the effectiveness of NHS weight management programmes.

This includes an evaluation of the NHS Digital Weight Management Programme, which reported in April 2024 and found it to be highly cost-effective service, helping people to lose a clinically meaningful amounts of weight. There is also a £1.7 million evaluation commencing looking at NHS England’s new service models to deliver weight loss drugs outside of hospital settings. It will provide evidence on the effectiveness of the models to support wider roll out. It is expected to report around 2028. In addition, there is a £1.4 million evaluation of NHS England’s Complications of Excess Weight clinics, which deliver tailored support to children and young people with severe or complex forms of obesity. The evaluation will provide evidence on optimal models of care to support future expansion of the clinics and is expected to report around 2026. There is also a range of other ongoing research relevant to weight management services, including looking at services for people with depression and looking at weight regain.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has also undertaken an evaluation of digital technologies delivering multidisciplinary weight-management services either with or without prescribing and monitoring obesity medicines. This was published in October 2023 and recommended the technologies that can be used in the NHS while more evidence is generated.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-10 conversation_206

Layla Moran:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to integrate mental health support into weight management services. \p Ashley Dalton: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) produces evidence-based guidance for service commissioners, providers, and health and care practitioners on best practice for weight management. Its guidance on weight management makes a number of recommendations about mental health support. For example, it recommends that:

- For adults, providers of weight management services discuss with a person accessing weight management services whether their individual circumstances such as psychological factors may affect their ability to lose weight, and whether referral to another service (such as mental health support) may be appropriate.

- For children, practitioners make a referral to the local mental health pathway if there are concerns that the child or young person's mental wellbeing is affected by their weight, that mental health is affecting their weight or the circumstances that influence their weight, or an eating disorder is suspected.

- Specialist weight management services, commissioned by NHS integrated care boards, should be provided by multidisciplinary teams, with psychological and behavioural support.

More recently, NHS England has issued commissioning guidance for the use of tirzepatide for the management of obesity. It states that prescribers should carefully consider the patient’s overall wellbeing, particularly when eating disorders, body dysmorphia, or mental health status are factors in the request and consideration for treatment. Onward referral to dedicated services may be made where appropriate, in line with local guidelines and existing NICE guidance.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-10 conversation_207

Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has considered implementing a humanitarian sponsorship or visa scheme for critically ill children from Gaza. \p Ashley Dalton: The United Kingdom continues to take additional immediate steps to alleviate the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including working urgently to get some of the critically ill and injured children medically evacuated from Gaza. Further details about that process are set out in the Written Statement my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care made on 1 September, available at the following link:

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2025-09-01/hcws899

The Government is not currently considering implementing a bespoke visa route for Palestinians fleeing Gaza to come to the UK. Palestinians who wish to settle in the UK can do so via the existing routes available which allow a person to apply to work, study, settle, or join family in the UK.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-10 conversation_208

Mary Glindon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2025 to Question 62460 on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Health Services, whether a date has been set for the showcase event for post-acute infection conditions. \p Ashley Dalton: A provisional date of 6 November 2025 has been set for the showcase event for post-acute infection conditions. The event looks to encourage researchers to join the myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), and long COVID research field, to enable new collaborations across specialties and disciplines to stimulate further vital research.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-10 conversation_209

Jayne Kirkham:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the transfer of the functions of Healthwatch England to the Patient Experience Directorate of his Department on Healthwatch Cornwall. \p Ashley Dalton: The abolition of Healthwatch England and the transfer of its functions and the changes to Local Healthwatch will require primary legislation. Timing of this is subject to the will of Parliament and take place when parliamentary time allows.

A full Impact Assessment would be produced and published on the Government website when legislation is introduced in Parliament. No assessment has been made at this time.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-10 conversation_210

Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many deaths there have been due to sepsis in the last 24 months. \p Ashley Dalton: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes annual data on the number of death registrations where sepsis was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, and on the number of death registrations where sepsis was specified as the underlying cause of death, in England and Wales. The number of death registrations where sepsis was specified as the underlying cause of death is a proportion of the total number of death registrations where sepsis was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate.

According to ONS, in 2023, the number of deaths registered where sepsis was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate in England and Wales was 26,203. Of this total number, there were 4,260 deaths registered where sepsis was the underlying cause of death.

ONS has not yet published the number of deaths registered where sepsis was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate for 2024. However, ONS has published data on the number of death registrations where sepsis was the underlying cause of death in England and Wales for 2024, which was 4,372.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-10 conversation_211

Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 2 June 2025 to Question 54442 on Oxygen: Medical Treatments, whether the recompression chambers in (a) Wirral, (b) Hull, (c) the Midlands and (d) Whipps Cross will close. \p Karin Smyth: The hyperbaric oxygen therapy services in Wirral, Hull and the Midlands will continue to be commissioned by NHS England.

From 1 October, the service currently commissioned for the London and South East regions will be delivered by a provider in Chichester. As such, from 30 September, the current centre based at Whipps Cross will cease to be funded for National Health Service activity.

NHS England remains committed to ensuring high-quality, accessible and cost-effective hyperbaric oxygen therapy services which meet optimal time to treatment from symptom onset standards based on clinical evidence.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-10 conversation_212

Steve Race:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to hold discussions with the Reclassification Alliance on the future of medicines reclassification. \p Karin Smyth: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) chairs the Reclassification Alliance, a collaborative forum involving the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), Proprietary Association of Great Britain (PAGB), pharmacy bodies and industry stakeholders.

The Alliance was relaunched in July 2023 to explore opportunities for improving the reclassification of medicines in the UK. Although the next meeting has not yet been scheduled, the work of the Alliance remains ongoing. MHRA is working with industry to encourage the application of new therapies for consideration in the over-the-counter setting.

As part of this work, the MHRA has developed an updated reclassification procedure and, in April 2024, published updated reclassification guidance. The MHRA also held a reclassification webinar for industry on 12 November 2024 which focused on the updated procedure and the recently published reclassification guidance.

Further information on the Government’s priorities for reclassification, including the list of conditions and categories identified for potential reclassification, is available at the following link: https://healthmedia.blog.gov.uk/2025/02/05/new-opportunities-to-reclassify-medicines-what-you-need-to-know
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-09-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-09-10 conversation_213

Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all NHS Trusts allow accompaniment in any meeting where disciplinary action or dismissal is a potential outcome. \p Karin Smyth: It is a statutory requirement that all workers are entitled to be accompanied by a work colleague or a trade union representative or official at any disciplinary hearing. This right applies to all National Health Service staff and is set out in the handbook to the NHS Constitution for England.

Where the outcome of a hearing could result in the worker’s professional career being put at risk, they can request to be accompanied by a legal representative.