Every parliamentary written question tabled by Caroline Voaden this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 1–11 of 11 · Department of Health and Social Care
What assessment he has made of the potential merits of giving pharmacy students studying for MPharm degrees in England access to the NHS Learning Support Fund.
For the 2025 to 2026 academic year, the Government extended the Learning Support Fund (LSF) scheme’s Travel and Dual Accommodation Expenses provision to pre-registration pharmacy and healthcare science students to ensure they are reimbursed for the additi...
What steps his Department is taking to ensure female same-sex couples have access to NHS-funded IVF treatment.
The Government recognises that fertility treatment across the National Health Service in England is subject to variation in access. Work continues between the Department and NHS England to better understand the offer around National Health Service-funded fertility services including access for female same sex couples.Funding decisions for health services in England are made by integrated care boards (ICBs) and are based on the clinical needs of their population. We expect ICBs to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines ensuring equal access to fertility treatment across England.NICE is currently reviewing the fertility guidelines and will consider whether the current recommendations for access to NHS-funded treatment are still appropriate. A consultation on revised guidelines was published on 10 September and closed on 21 October 2025. The guidance is currently in development with the final recommendations expected to be published in March 2026.
What steps his Department is taking to help ensure consistent access to post-diagnostic dementia support.
Our health system has struggled to support those with complex needs, including those with dementia. Under our 10-Year Health Plan, those living with dementia will benefit from improved care planning and better services.We will deliver the first ever Frailty and Dementia Modern Service Framework to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, expected in 2026.The Frailty and Dementia Modern Service Framework will seek to reduce unwarranted variation and narrow inequality for those living with dementia. It will set national standards for dementia care and redirect National Health Service priorities to provide the best possible care and support.Those with dementia will also benefit from more joined up care through co-created care plans.We have also published the D100: Assessment Tool Pathway programme, which brings together multiple resources into a single, consolidated tool to help simplify best practice. This is available at the following link:https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/improving-care/nccmh/service-design-and-development/dementia-100-pathway-assessment-tool
With reference to page 17 of his Department's publication entitled Reforming elective care for patients, published on 6 January 2025, what progress has been made with reviewing local patient transport services.
As set out in the Plan for Change, we will ensure that 92% of patients return to waiting no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment by March 2029, a standard which has not been met consistently since September 2015. The Government is clear that reforming elective care must be done equitably and inclusively for all adults, children, and young people. We know there is also geographical variation in waiting times. It is important patients do not miss or cancel hospital appointments due to a lack of affordable and/or accessible transport options in their area. This is why the Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, committed to reviewing, developing and increasing the uptake of existing national health inequalities improvement initiatives. NHS England are funding and co-ordinating a range of Patient Transport projects to explore more effective approaches to supporting patients with their National Health Service travel needs.A number of trusts (including Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust) are working on promoting, and streamlining the administration of the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS) locally to better support eligible patients to access the transport support they need. A number of other trusts are offering targeted patient transport interventions, such as pre-paid bus tickets, to specific groups of patients who may need additional support to access their NHS care.
What steps he is taking to ensure that care home fee rates set by local authorities include (a) the economic situation, (b) workforce and (c) inflation.
We recognise the importance of local authority fee rates to adult social care providers, which meet the costs of delivering care and enable providers to recruit and retain staff. We have therefore provided the Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund to local authorities since 2023/24, with one of the three target areas that local authorities can spend their allocations on being to improve fee rates to providers.A letter sent out to council leaders in January set out the expectation that in 2025/26, when commissioning services, local authorities should ensure fee levels for care and support services take account of the actual costs of care in their area, including inflationary and all other pressures, such as the rise in National Living Wage and the changes to employers National Insurance contributions.As part of our monitoring of the Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund grant conditions, and to understand fee rates more generally, local authorities are required to provide an annual return to the Department, including data on the fee rates they pay care providers. The Government publishes this data annually, with the latest data being available to view at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/market-sustainability-and-improvement-fund-2024-to-2025-care-provider-fees/market-sustainability-and-improvement-fund-msif-provider-fee-reporting-2024-to-2025
What proportion of eligible families are using the Healthy Start scheme in the South Devon constituency.
The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. Monthly figures for the number of people on the digital Healthy Start scheme are published on the NHS Healthy Start website, which is available at the following link:https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/healthcare-professionals/The NHSBSA does not hold data on the number of families receiving Healthy Start. The number of people on the scheme receiving Healthy Start in February 2025 for South Devon is 1,239.The NHSBSA does not currently hold data on the number of people who are eligible for the scheme. An issue was identified with the Healthy Start source data that is used to calculate uptake of the NHS Healthy Start scheme. The NHSBSA removed the data for the number of people eligible for the scheme and the uptake percentage from January 2023 onwards.The issue has only affected the data on the number of people eligible for the scheme. It has not prevented anyone from joining the scheme or continuing to access the scheme if they are eligible.The following table shows the number of people on the scheme in February 2025 for all three wards in South Devon:CountryWardPeople on the digital schemeEnglandSouth Hams165EnglandTeignbridge440EnglandTorbay634
What steps his Department is taking to help ensure the recognition of overseas medical qualifications of Ukrainian refugees.
The General Medical Council (GMC) is the independent regulator of doctors, physician associates, and anaesthesia associates in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for setting standards that must be met by both domestic and international applicants wishi...
What assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the funding for local authorities to provide drug and alcohol support services.
Drug and alcohol treatment is funded through the Public Health Grant. In addition to the Public Health Grant, the Department allocated local authorities £267 million in 2024/25 to improve the quality and capacity of drug and alcohol treatment and recovery...
What steps he is taking to help ensure equality of access to NHS services in the context of increases in digital patient-facing systems.
We are striving for digital services to improve access, experience, and outcomes for the widest range of people, based on their preferences, as any digital healthcare benefits will be limited if people remain digitally excluded. Mitigating against the ris...
With reference to the report entitled First Do No Harm: the report of Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review, published in July 2020, what progress he has made on setting up an ind
The previous Government did not previously accept the recommendation to establish a redress agency, as set out in the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review. However, the Government is carefully considering the valuable work done by the P...
What steps he is taking to support biomedical research into (a) long covid and (b) myalgic encephalomyelitis.
The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including long COVID and myalgic encephalomyel...