Written questions by Slaughter.

What steps he is taking to ensure Integrated Care Boards are (a) adopting the recent Get It Right First-Time guidance on glaucoma and (b) commissioning enhanced referral and filtering schemes.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of aligning the General Ophthalmic Services contract in England with Scotland and Wales.

Awaiting answer.

What steps he is taking to ensure that ICBs commission community minor and urgent eye care services.

Awaiting answer.

What steps he is taking to ensure commissioners are making use of capacity and expertise in primary care optometry to improve access to care for those (a) at risk of and (b) with glaucoma.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment he has made of trends in the level of variations in waiting times for glaucoma diagnosis and treatment across England.

Awaiting answer.

What steps he is taking to tackle the (a) palliative, (b) end of life care and (c) other medical needs of older prisoners.

As a signatory to the National Partnership Agreement for Health and Social Care for people in contact with the criminal justice system, the Department is committed to working with the Ministry of Justice, HM Prison and Probation Service, NHS England, and the UK Health Security Agency to ensure that safe, legal, decent, and effective care that improves health outcomes and reduces health inequalities is provided for all prisoners, including those who are elderly. NHS England is responsible for providing a full range of healthcare services to meet the needs of the prison population. Every prison will have a health needs assessment undertaken on a regular basis which is then used to locally determine the health needs and requirements of that prison’s population. This includes supporting elderly prisoners in their palliative care, end of life care, and other health needs such as dementia care. Local authorities also have a duty to support elderly prisoners with their social care needs. The Dying Well in Custody Charter and supporting self-assessment framework describes a set of national standards for local adoption and provides a tool for a local multi-disciplinary approach to providing agreed standards of palliative and end of life care to people in prison. The charter is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/dying-well-in-custody-charter/#:~:text=It%20is%20the%20last%20thing,of%20their%20place%20of%20death

If he will consider the merits of implementing safety recommendation R/2025/055 in the report by the Health Service Safety Investigations Body entitled Mental health inpatient settings: Creating conditions for the delivery of safe and therapeutic care to adults, published on 30 January 2025.

We are grateful to the Health Services Safety Investigations Body for their report on creating conditions for learning from deaths in mental health inpatient settings. The report highlights important concerns and safety recommendations that can help us to improve inpatient mental health services.We will formally respond to all the recommendations for the Department made within this report in due course.

What role he plans integrated care systems will play in addressing malnutrition across their localities.

Malnutrition is a clinical condition affecting all ages, across all communities, and in all health and care settings. Most cases of malnutrition will be secondary to another health condition, which may impact on nutritional needs or a person’s ability to ...

If his Department will make an estimate of the potential savings to the public purse from increased levels of malnutrition (a) screening and (b) treatment.

Malnutrition is a clinical condition affecting all ages, across all communities, and in all health and care settings. Most cases of malnutrition will be secondary to another health condition, which may impact on nutritional needs or a person’s ability to ...

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that NHS patients receive appropriate (a) screening and (b) treatment for malnutrition.

Malnutrition is a clinical condition affecting all ages, across all communities, and in all health and care settings. Most cases of malnutrition will be secondary to another health condition, which may impact on nutritional needs or a person’s ability to ...