Written questions by Snowden.

What assessment he has made of the link between untreated Urinary Tract infections and (a) mental confusion and (b) aggression in patients with neurological injuries.

Through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the Department has funded and supported multiple studies investigating urinary tract infections (UTIs), with some funded studies studying the link between UTIs and cognitive outcomes. For example, NIHR has funded the ‘IntraVESical Preparations for REcurrent Urinary Tract Infection Prevention’ (VESPER) study. This study aims to determine whether in-bladder treatments are more effective and cost-efficient than second-line oral antibiotics in reducing recurrent UTIs in women who have not responded to first-line preventative antibiotics. It will connect clinical outcomes with quality-adjusted life year (QALY)-based evaluations that take cognitive changes into account.NIHR infrastructure is also conducting relevant research that is investigating UTIs and considering cognitive outcomes. The NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre, is leading the ‘DIagnoSing Care hOme UTI’ (DISCO UTI) study which is investigating new ways to accurately diagnose and treat UTIs in care homes, as UTIs can cause symptoms like confusion, resulting in difficulties when diagnosing UTIs in care home residents.

What support is available for NHS mental health staff who are injured at work or absent due to work-related stress.

The health and wellbeing of National Health Service staff is a top priority, including those who work in mental health settings. It is important that employers across the NHS take a preventative and proactive approach to supporting their staff and keeping them healthy. At a national level, NHS staff have access to the SHOUT helpline for crisis support alongside the Practitioner Health service for more complex mental health and wellbeing support, including for trauma and addiction. The 10-Year Health Plan aims to significantly reduce sickness absence rates. We will introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment which will ensure employers support staff to work healthily and flexibly. We will also roll out Staff Treatment hubs, starting in 2027, to ensure staff have access to high quality support for mental health and back conditions.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure safe staffing levels at The Harbour mental health facility in Blackpool.

As of July 2025, the Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust’s in-patient settings achieved a fill rate of above 90% for planned rostered hours, as clinically required. Fill rates are a key metric for monitoring whether enough staff are available to meet patient needs.The trust is also required to report care hours per patient day monthly. The most recent figures for the trust and Harbour hospital were 12.9, and 16 respectively. This is above the national average of 9, and the highest out of all mental health trusts in the North West region.Nationally, the Government has also committed to recruiting an additional 8,500 mental health workers by the end of this Parliament, to ease pressure on busy mental health services. We are more than halfway towards our target.

What recent discussions his Department has had with the Nursing and Midwifery Council on the balance of academic and practical training in nurse education programmes.

No recent discussions have taken place. Higher education institutions and practice placement providers develop the content of programmes and determine the balance of academic and practical learning in line with the outcome standards set by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).Nursing students are required to complete 2,300 hours of practice learning as part of their pre-registration programme, 600 of which can be completed through simulated training. The NMC is currently conducting a review of nursing and midwifery practice learning requirements.

What recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of staffing shortages on patient and staff safety in psychiatric wards in Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust.

As of July 2025, the Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust’s in-patient settings achieved a fill rate of above 90% for planned rostered hours, as clinically required. Fill rates are a key metric for monitoring whether enough staff are available to meet patient needs.The trust is also required to report care hours per patient day monthly. The most recent figures for the trust and Harbour hospital were 12.9, and 16 respectively. This is above the national average of 9, and the highest out of all mental health trusts in the North West region.Nationally, the Government has also committed to recruiting an additional 8,500 mental health workers by the end of this Parliament, to ease pressure on busy mental health services. We are more than halfway towards our target.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure childcare policy supports the recruitment and retention of student nurses as part of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, updated on 22 April 2024.

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 student nurses, with supplementary, non-repayable support via the NHS Learning Support Fund (LSF). This includes a £5,000 training grant for all students eligible for the LSF and a further £2,000 per academic year for those students with childcare responsibility. These funding arrangements are reviewed annually ahead of the start of each academic year.We will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan (10YWP) to create a workforce ready to deliver a transformed service. This 10YWP 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.

What steps he is taking to increase the availability of virtual GP appointments.

We are expanding capacity in general practice (GP) which will help deliver more virtual and face-to-face appointments to patients.In October 2024, we invested £82 million into the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme to support the recruitment of an additional 2,000 GPs into primary care networks across England, helping to increase appointment availability and improve care for thousands of patients. We have invested an additional £1.1 billion in GPs to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service. This is the biggest increase in over a decade, and we are pleased that the General Practitioners Committee England is supportive of the contract changes. Additionally, the new £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund will create additional clinical space within over 1,000 practices across England in order to deliver 8.3 million more appointments each year.As a result of these efforts, eight million more appointments have been delivered this year compared to last.

What steps are being taken to ensure equal access to stoma care across all regions of the UK.

The Government is committed to ensuring patients across the United Kingdom have equitable access to high quality care, including those who need stoma surgery. As set out in the Plan for Change, we are committed to returning to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029.Demand for stoma care services will vary across regions. Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning and assessing the quality and availability of stoma care services at a regional level and in accordance with their local populations’ health needs.

Whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the (a) quality and (b) availability of stoma care services.

The Government is committed to ensuring patients across the United Kingdom have access to high quality care, including those who need stoma surgery. As set out in the Plan for Change, we are committed to returning to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029.No recent assessment has been made about the quality and availability of stoma care services. Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning and assessing the quality and availability of stoma care services at a regional level and in accordance with their local populations’ health needs.

What (a) access to stoma nurses, (b) psychological services and (c) home delivery of supplies does the NHS provide to people living with a stoma.

National Health Service Talking Therapies Long Term Conditions Services provide evidence-based psychological therapies for people with depression and anxiety disorders, who also have a long-term physical health condition, such as those living with a stoma. All integrated care boards (ICBs) are expected to expand services locally by commissioning NHS Talking Therapies services integrated into physical healthcare pathways. ICBs are legally responsible for commissioning the majority of health services, including stoma-related services like home delivery of supplies, in accordance with their populations’ health needs.The Department does not hold the information requested on access to stoma nurses.

What guidance his Department provides to (a) NHS local health boards and (b) trusts on treating jellyfish stings.

The General Medical Council sets the overall standards and outcomes for medical training, and the Royal Colleges develop the specific curricula for each medical specialty.The Department does not provide guidance to National Health Service trusts or integrated care boards on this topic. Patient-facing information on how to treat jellyfish stings is already available on the NHS website.

What assessment he has has made of the potential impact hospital specialists providing advice through the Advice and Guidance scheme on their workload; and whether additional (a) resources and (b) staffing have been provided to specialist departments to manage this increased demand for consultation.

Advice and Guidance (A&G) is a proven method of reducing unnecessary referrals into elective care, by diverting potential referrals where specialist advice determines that the most appropriate setting for care is in primary or community settings. Unnecessary referrals can waste valuable clinical time assessing and or treating patients in secondary care who could be cared for in the community. Allocating existing resources and staff time to handling A&G requests reduces demand for first outpatient appointments where a referral to secondary care is not considered necessary, so where referrals are made, they are a good use of patient and clinician time and result in the most appropriate treatment.NHS England is leading a programme of work to improve clinical job planning to support trusts to provide high quality and timely A&G responses back to general practitioners alongside their existing work with patients. There are also robust mechanisms for system oversight and reporting on A&G, including the operational delivery framework for integrated care boards to identify and help resolve local operational barriers to delivering increased A&G volumes.

What steps he is taking to help tackle regional variations in the uptake of the Advice and Guidance scheme; and what support is being provided to regions with lower adoption rates.

The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, outlines actions to significantly increase the use of Advice and Guidance (A&G), including reducing geographic variation. This includes the introduction of funding from April 2025 for general practitioners to recognise the importance of their role in ensuring patient care takes place in the most appropriate setting, as well as developing supporting resources such as an A&G toolkit with guidance for commissioners, referrers and secondary care clinical teams.The Department and NHS England closely monitor progress on A&G volumes, and there are robust mechanisms for system oversight and reporting. This includes the operational delivery framework for integrated care boards. The framework sets out a roadmap to help services develop their ability expand and improve their use of A&G across seven themes and with a set of minimum standards for best practice. This is helping NHS England work with local teams to address known barriers causing variation of uptake in A&G, including use of digital platforms, improving the quality of A&G, and workforce planning, training and development.

What the average waiting time is for a first appointment with a consultant in NHS trusts in Lancashire.

Tackling waiting-lists is a top priority for the Government. We have exceeded our pledge to deliver over two million more elective care appointments. More than double that number, 4.9 million more appointments, have now been delivered in England.On 6 January 2025, NHS England published the new Elective Reform Plan, which sets out a whole system approach to delivering on the commitment that 92% of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment, in line with the National Health Service constitutional standard, by March 2029.Across trusts in Lancashire, 67.1% of people are waiting for first attendance within 18 weeks as of 27th July 2025. This includes the Lancashire and South Cumbria Community Trust, at 93.8%, Morecambe Bay, at 76.3%, Mersey and West Lancashire, at 73.7%, East Lancashire, at 64.3%, Blackpool, at 61.0%, and Lancashire Teaching, at 60.7%.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the consumption of high caffeine energy drinks on health services in Lancashire.

On 3 September 2025, the Government published its consultation on banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under 16 years in England, an important step towards fulfilling our Plan for Change commitment to create the healthiest generation of children ever.We estimate the proposals could reduce childhood obesity rates by the equivalent of 40,000 children and deliver health benefits worth £7.7 billion through improved health outcomes. In addition, we estimate the proposals could provide NHS savings of £127 million, social care savings of £84 million, and reduced premature mortality is expected to deliver an additional £1.2 billion of economic output.The Department of Health and Social Care has not assessed the potential impact of the consumption of high-caffeine energy drinks on health services in Lancashire.The consultation and accompanying impact assessment are available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/banning-the-sale-of-high-caffeine-energy-drinks-to-children.

What steps his Department is taking to increase public awareness of the (a) causes and (b) early prevention of plantar fasciitis.

The NHS.UK website, the primary source of public information on health conditions and health services for patients in England, provides information on plantar fasciitis, including details on the causes and symptoms of the condition, as well as information on self-care and when to see a health professional. This information is available at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/plantar-fasciitis/

What steps he is taking to enhance transparency on the data used in the approval process for weight loss drugs.

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.If a drug is assessed to have a positive benefit-risk ratio, it will be approved. Following approval, the Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) and Patient Information Leaflet (PIL) will be made available, which includes details such as the patient population and conditions the drug is approved for treating. The PIL containing this information in lay language and a patient-friendly format. In addition, a Public Assessment Report will be made available which contains the non-confidential parts of the MHRA's assessment report for that particular marketing authorisation.We continue to review practices to ensure that transparency is delivered as a key priority of the agency.

Whether he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) mobile or (b) school-based vaccination programmes as part of the catch-up campaign for chickenpox vaccination.

On 29 August 2025, the Government announced plans to introduce chickenpox (varicella) vaccination into the routine childhood immunisation schedule from 1 January 2026. Eligible children will receive a MMRV vaccine during routine GP appointments, which protects against measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox.The eligibility criteria, including which age groups will receive the vaccine, will be announced ahead of the programme launch.In line with the NHS vaccination strategy, NHS England are driving excellence in operational delivery by ensuring a high-quality core vaccination offer to eligible cohorts.

Whether any regional pilot schemes will be introduced prior to the national rollout of the chickenpox vaccine for children.

From 1 January 2026, general practices will offer eligible children a combined vaccine for measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) as part of the routine infant vaccination schedule. There are no plans for regional pilot schemes prior to the national rollout of the chickenpox vaccine for children.The eligibility criteria for children will be set out in clinical guidance, which will be published in due course, covering which age groups will get the MMRV vaccine and when, to ensure the most effective protection for children.

What discussions his Department has had with the Department for Business and Trade on the potential impact of UK-US trade agreements on the price the NHS pays for medicines from American suppliers.

The Department of Health and Social Care continues to work closely with the Department for Business and Trade to assess the potential impact of the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal on the life sciences and pharmaceutical sector. The Government is clear that we will only ever sign trade agreements that align with the UK’s national interests and the price the NHS pays for medicines will never be on the table for any trade agreement.