Written questions by Morgan.

What steps he is taking to support people with epidermolysis bullosa.

Awaiting answer.

If he will take steps to improve staff training for health professionals regarding the treatment of care experienced patients.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

What steps he is taking to ensure accurate recording of care experienced patients.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

What steps the Government is taking to strengthen the resilience of the UK's supply of medicines, beyond establishing the Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund.

Awaiting answer.

If he will work towards a mutual recognition agreement with India on medicines regulation by 2030.

The United Kingdom and India have a strong relationship on healthcare issues, as evidenced through the memorandum of understanding signed between the governments on a health and life sciences partnership. This partnership recognises medicine and medical devices regulation as a key area of mutual interest, and we will continue to work closely together to identify opportunities for collaboration and alignment where this is suitable.

Whether he plans to seek mutual recognition of batch testing for medicines manufacturing with the EU at the forthcoming UK-EU summit.

Awaiting answer.

Whether NICE plans to develop a new product for off-patent medicine reappraisals.

As the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) moves towards a whole life-cycle approach to producing guidance, it is considering whether its methods and processes for reviewing guidance on off-patent medicines need to change. NICE’s whole life-cycle approach will help the National Health Service keep guidance up to date with best practice, reflecting changes in evidence, costs, and clinical practice. It will support the ongoing review of what works best, identify where care can be improved, and will highlight where treatments should evolve over time. This means NICE will not assess a new medicine or treatment once and then move on, it will continue to review the evidence as it develops, so NHS care remains focused on what delivers the greatest benefit for patients.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the UK’s health security pact with India on UK access to medicines exported from India.

Awaiting answer.

Whether the Government expects to conclude the community pharmacy agreement by the start of June 2026.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment his Department has made of the impact of the Iran war on the prices paid by community pharmacies to procure prescription medicines.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the adequacy of weight management support on patients required to lose weight to become eligible for joint replacement surgery.

The Department has made no specific assessment of the potential impact of body mass index (BMI) based restrictions on health inequalities.It is the responsibility of individual integrated care boards to determine policies for their local area, including that of the BMI threshold criteria for joint replacement surgery. As with all surgery, BMI should be considered as part of a holistic, personalised perioperative evaluation of the risks versus clinical need for joint replacement surgery of an individual patient. However, BMI should not be considered in isolation and in and of itself should not act as a barrier to surgery.While National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines are not mandatory, they do represent best practice and National Health Service organisations are expected to take them fully into account in ensuring that local services meet the needs of their populations.The NHS and local government provide a range of services to help people living with overweight and obesity to manage their weight, which may include individuals waiting for joint replacement surgery, where they meet other eligibility criteria. These range from multi-component behavioural programmes, such as the NHS Digital Weight Management Programme, to specialist services for those living with severe obesity and associated co-morbidities.

What steps he is taking to ensure that ICBs adhere to NICE guidance on the use of BMI thresholds for referral for joint replacement surgery.

The Department has made no specific assessment of the potential impact of body mass index (BMI) based restrictions on health inequalities.It is the responsibility of individual integrated care boards to determine policies for their local area, including that of the BMI threshold criteria for joint replacement surgery. As with all surgery, BMI should be considered as part of a holistic, personalised perioperative evaluation of the risks versus clinical need for joint replacement surgery of an individual patient. However, BMI should not be considered in isolation and in and of itself should not act as a barrier to surgery.While National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines are not mandatory, they do represent best practice and National Health Service organisations are expected to take them fully into account in ensuring that local services meet the needs of their populations.The NHS and local government provide a range of services to help people living with overweight and obesity to manage their weight, which may include individuals waiting for joint replacement surgery, where they meet other eligibility criteria. These range from multi-component behavioural programmes, such as the NHS Digital Weight Management Programme, to specialist services for those living with severe obesity and associated co-morbidities.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of BMI-based restriction on access to joint replacement surgery on health inequalities.

The Department has made no specific assessment of the potential impact of body mass index (BMI) based restrictions on health inequalities.It is the responsibility of individual integrated care boards to determine policies for their local area, including that of the BMI threshold criteria for joint replacement surgery. As with all surgery, BMI should be considered as part of a holistic, personalised perioperative evaluation of the risks versus clinical need for joint replacement surgery of an individual patient. However, BMI should not be considered in isolation and in and of itself should not act as a barrier to surgery.While National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines are not mandatory, they do represent best practice and National Health Service organisations are expected to take them fully into account in ensuring that local services meet the needs of their populations.The NHS and local government provide a range of services to help people living with overweight and obesity to manage their weight, which may include individuals waiting for joint replacement surgery, where they meet other eligibility criteria. These range from multi-component behavioural programmes, such as the NHS Digital Weight Management Programme, to specialist services for those living with severe obesity and associated co-morbidities.

If he will publish the ten advice and guidance referral pathways selected by each integrated care board.

Currently there are no plans to publish a national dataset setting out the specialties selected by National Health Service providers at integrated care board level. This position is being kept under review.

If he will publish the referral network map for specialist centres for placenta accreta spectrum disorder.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

(a) what criteria a hospital must meet to be designated as an accredited specialist centre for placenta accreta spectrum disorder and (b) what assessment process is used to verify compliance with those criteria.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Whether his Department holds guidance on histopathological examination of retained placenta to identify undiagnosed placenta accreta spectrum disorder.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

What assessment he has made of the causes of the reported 19 per cent increase in postpartum haemorrhage rates among mothers in England.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

What assessment he has made of the gap between diagnosed and actual incidence of placenta accreta spectrum disorder.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

What steps he is taking to address regional differences in funding for patients trying to conceive through IVF, in the context of NICE guidelines on offering people under 40 up to three full cycles of IVF.

Funding decisions for health services in England are made by integrated care boards (ICBs) and are based on the clinical needs of their local population.On 31 March, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published its updated fertility guideline, which recommends that women under 40 years old who meet the clinical eligibility criteria should be offered up to three full cycles of in vitro fertilisation.We expect ICBs to consider and reflect the updated NICE fertility guideline in their commissioning decisions, and we are working with NHS England to support greater consistency in provision.