Every parliamentary written question tabled by Mark Sewards this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 1–20 of 40 · Department of Health and Social Care
What steps his Department is taking to support engagement with people who are less likely to engage with health services directly, including groups experiencing health inequalities, under the proposed arrangements for local engagement and feedback following the abolition of local Healthwatch.
Awaiting answer.
Whether he plans to publish (a) criteria and (b) performance metrics that will inform a decision on exercising the break clause in the Federated Data Platform contract before that decision is taken.
Awaiting answer.
Whether any formal investigation has been commissioned into reports of NHS staff being threatened in connection with the Federated Data Platform.
Awaiting answer.
What (a) contractual and (b) regulatory safeguards apply to IQVIA’s role in providing de-identification services for NHS patient data within the Federated Data Platform.
Awaiting answer.
Who will own the intellectual property in products developed using the Federated Data Platform.
Awaiting answer.
What assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a standardised Parkinson’s Passport to support people with Parkinson’s in (a) NHS hospital settings and (b) workplace settings.
Awaiting answer.
What assessment he has made of the impact of abolishing local Healthwatch on public trust in providing feedback on health and care services.
Awaiting answer.
What steps he is taking to ensure that people feel safe providing feedback where that feedback is critical of NHS or local authority services under the proposed arrangements.
Awaiting answer.
What guidance will be issued to Integrated Care Boards and local authorities on how to deliver independent and inclusive engagement with local communities.
Awaiting answer.
What assessment he has made of trends in the level of regional variation in access to migraine diagnosis and treatment in England; and what steps he is taking to reduce inequalities in access to migraine treatment.
Awaiting answer.
How many newly qualified nurses and midwives are expected to join the Nursing and Midwifery Council register in (a) 2025-26 and (b) 2026-27; and how many Band 5 nursing and midwifery vacancies were there in each of these periods.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council publishes data twice a year on the makeup of its professional register, and this includes information on the number of people trained in the United Kingdom who have joined the register for the first time, which will be a close proxy for newly qualified nurses and midwives. This information can be found at the link below:https://www.nmc.org.uk/about-us/reports-and-accounts/registration-statistics/The data shows 22,176 nursing and midwifery first time registrants, who were resident in England, joining in the year to March 2025 who will largely have entered education three years earlier, in the 2021/22 academic year. Data published by the Office for Students as part of the Higher Education Students Early Statistics release shows nursing and midwifery undergraduate entrants fell 9% between 2021/22 and 2022/23 and a further 14% between 2022/23 and 2024 after a big increase in joiners during 2020/21 and 2021/22. We might therefore expect that numbers joining the Nursing and Midwifery Council register fall similar amounts in 2025/26 and 2026/27.The Department does not hold information on the number of band 5 nursing and midwifery vacancies there were in 2025/26 or that there are projected to be in 2026/27. Data is published quarterly on total registered nursing vacancies and can found at the link below:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-vacancies-survey
What assessment he has made of accessibility to NHS mental health services for residents in Leeds South West and Morley, including average waiting times for assessment and treatment.
Awaiting answer.
What steps his Department is taking to reduce delays between qualification, professional registration, and commencing employment for newly qualified nurses and midwives.
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are working with higher education institutions (HEIs) to set a standard for the confirmation of course completion, so that newly qualified nurses can begin work as soon as they are able. This work is due for completion by September 2026.NHS England, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the Council of Deans for Health, and HEIs are also working closely together to improve data sharing and significantly streamline registration processes to enable a smoother transition for newly qualified nurses and midwives into their first roles. NHS England continues to monitor this to ensure these improvements are maintained.
What steps his Department is taking to implement the Graduate Guarantee for newly qualified nurses and midwives; and what metrics will be used to measure its impact.
Awaiting answer.
What steps he is taking to help ensure that NHS staff who took partial retirement and subsequently apply for Voluntary Redundancy are not disadvantaged in their entitlement to contractual redundancy payments.
Entitlement to contractual redundancy payments is set out in the Agenda for Change NHS terms and conditions of service handbook, under section 16, for National Health Service staff that are on Agenda for Change contracts in England, or those whose terms refer dynamically to the Agenda for Change. The NHS national voluntary redundancy scheme follows the same Agenda for Change principles.Where an employee has taken partial retirement, the Department expects employers to apply the contractual redundancy provisions to the individual’s circumstances and ensure that staff are treated fairly and consistently.Taking partial retirement does not make staff ineligible for redundancy payments, however, it will affect how any contractual redundancy payment is calculated. In line with Agenda for Change paragraph 16.6, service which has been used to calculate previous pension benefits does not count again when calculating a contractual redundancy payment. Statutory redundancy entitlements are separate and should be met in accordance with statutory rules.
Whether his Department has issued guidance to NHS employers on the relationship between partial retirement and entitlement to contractual redundancy payments.
Contractual redundancy terms are set out in the Agenda for Change NHS terms and conditions of service handbook under section 16, more specifically paragraph 16.6, for National Health Service staff who are on Agenda for Change contracts in England or those whose terms refer dynamically to the Agenda for Change.The Department commissions NHS Employers to provide guidance for employers on a range of topics, including NHS redundancy arrangements and retirement options for NHS staff. This guidance clearly sets out the position in relation to partial retirement and redundancy. NHS employers are expected to comply with both contractual and statutory obligations when determining entitlement.
What steps his Department is taking to increase public awareness of the health risks associated with inhaling nitrous oxide.
The Department has worked with the Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Association to develop lesson plans on drugs, alcohol, and tobacco, which include specific references to the dangers of nitrous oxide. The lesson plans target primary and secondary students, teaching them how to manage influences and pressure, and keep themselves healthy and safe. They are available at the following link:https://pshe-association.org.uk/drugeducationThe Government also has a drug and information and advice service called Talk to FRANK, which aims to reduce drug and alcohol misuse and its harms by providing awareness to young people, parents, and concerned others. Information on nitrous oxide and the danger of its misuse is available at the following link:https://www.talktofrank.com/drug/nitrous-oxide
Whether his Department has considered the potential merits of establishing a compensation scheme for women who have experienced harm associated with pelvic mesh implants.
The Government is carefully considering the work done by the Patient Safety Commissioner and her report, which set out recommendations for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh, including options for financial compensation.The Government has deep sympathy for all those affected and recognises the profound impact that these harms have had on individuals and their families.My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has been clear that he wants to make meaningful progress during this Parliament, although a decision to provide compensation has not yet been made. We recognise how difficult and disappointing this uncertainty is for those affected, and we will ensure that the public is kept informed as soon as any decision on redress is made.I met with the Patient Safety Commissioner, Dr Henrietta Hughes since I have been in post, and had a very fruitful discussion about the ongoing health initiatives led by the Department regarding sodium valproate and pelvic mesh. Details of the Government’s work to date are set out in recent letters to the Dr Hughes, which are published on her website.
What steps his Department is taking to support families who travel long distances for NHS‑commissioned inpatient mental health care.
We recognise that being sent to a hospital far away from home, family, and support networks means a poorer experience of care for patients and increased safety risks, which is why we are working to end this practice. We have invested £75 million of capital funding in 2025/26 to improve inpatient care and help stop mental health patients being sent far from home for treatment. A national quality improvement programme is in place across England to improve the culture of care in all mental health hospitals.Through the 10-Year Health Plan we will move care closer to home by reducing ‘out of area placements’ for mental health patients by March 2027. The NHS England Capital Guidance for 2026/27 to 2029/30, published in November 2025, makes £473 million of capital funding available for systems and encourages them to establish community based mental health centres, alongside other capital priorities. These include eliminating inappropriate out of area placements.Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights protects the right to a family life. All patients have the right to maintain contact with, and be visited by, anyone they wish to see, subject to carefully limited exceptions. The value of visits in maintaining links with family and community networks is recognised as a key element in a patient’s care, treatment, and recovery. Every effort should be made to assist patients to maintain contact with friends and family, including considering the need to travel for visits when the patient is placed out of area.Where the patient is detained under the Mental Health Act, the Code of Practice sets out that commissioners should consider whether they can provide any assistance where there are difficulties visiting because of distance. Local authorities should also consider whether it would be appropriate to provide financial support to enable families to visit children and young people placed in hospital, taking into account their duties to promote contact between children and young people and their families. Such duties arise when children and young people are being looked after by local authorities as well as when they are accommodated in hospital for three months or more. Consideration of any transfer to another hospital must include whether the transfer would give the patient greater access to carers or have the opposite effect.
What steps his department is taking to improve (i) support, and (ii) access to treatments, for people with (a) Multiple System Atrophy, and (b) Parkinson’s.
At the national level, there are several initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with Parkinson’s and Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), including the RightCare Progressive Neurological Conditions Toolkit and the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology. NHS England has also established a Neurology Transformation Programme, a multi-year, clinically led programme, which has developed a new model of integrated care for neurology services, to support integrated care boards to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients, including those with Parkinson’s and MSA. NICE has also published guidelines on Parkinson’s disease, namely NG71, covering the diagnosis and management in people aged 18 years old and over. Under the UK Rare Diseases Framework, the Government is working to improve access to specialist care, treatments, and drugs across all rare conditions such as MSA. In February 2025, we published the fourth England action plan reporting on progress.