Written questions by Ellis.

What plans he has to improve the recording of miscarriage experienced by women engaged with NHS services.

Awaiting answer.

Whether an update to the Digital Maternity Record Standard is planned to limit birth outcome to coded values and ensure that a value is included for second trimester miscarriage.

Awaiting answer.

How the Single Patient Record could improve the recording of miscarriage across NHS services and what steps he is taking to help reduce the risk of double counting the same miscarriage recorded by different services.

Awaiting answer.

How the Single Patient Record could improve the recording of miscarriage across NHS services; and what steps are being taken to reduce the risk of double counting the same miscarriage recorded by different services.

Awaiting answer.

What plans NHS England has to improve the collection of second trimester miscarriage data through the Maternity Services Dataset.

Awaiting answer.

What steps he is taking to address the decline in the recruitment of learning disability nurses.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment has been made of supplier lock-in risks in relation to the NHS Federated Data Platform contract.

The NHS Federated Data Platform (NHS FDP) safely connects information from different systems across the National Health Service into a single, secure environment. This allows staff to co-ordinate care better to improve outcomes for patients. The NHS FDP ...

What steps his Department is taking to prevent digital exclusion from increasing health inequalities in the context of the Health Bill.

The Government’s Health Bill will improve services for patients, deliver efficiencies for the National Health Service and commits to reducing health inequalities. Under the proposed legislation, NHS organisations must ensure all patients have equitable ac...

With reference to his Department's press release entitled Key target hit with 8,500 extra mental health workers in the NHS, published on 30 June 2026, what proportion of the additional mental healt

Awaiting answer.

What steps his Department is taking to support the mental health and wellbeing of midwives in the NHS, including access to occupational mental health services, support after traumatic experiences i

The health and wellbeing of all National Health Service staff is a top priority, and we are working to improve the support available to staff. NHS organisations have a responsibility to create supportive working environments for their staff, including acc...

What steps his Department is taking to ensure the independent patient and public scrutiny of NHS and social care services following the proposed abolition of local Healthwatch organisations under t

The aim of our patient and public voice reforms is not to maintain the current independent structures, but to strengthen the patient and public’s voice so it drives real change and improvement to services at all levels of the health and social care system...

What steps his Department will take to ensure the independent oversight of complaints and safeguarding concerns under the reforms proposed in the Health Bill.

The independent oversight of complaints will continue. The independent Care Quality Commission will continue to perform its important role in ensuring National Health Service providers have an effective and accessible system for handling complaints from s...

What consultation his Department held with patients, carers, NHS staff and voluntary sector organisations before bringing forward the Health Bill.

The Health Bill gives effect to the Prime Minister’s March 2025 commitment to abolish NHS England, as well as reforms and recommendations set out in the 10-Year Health Plan and Dr Penny Dash’s review of patient safety across the health and care landscape,...

What recent progress her Department has made in improving the recruitment and retention of midwives in the NHS under the Long Term Workforce Plan, including (a) changes in midwifery training places

The 10-Year Health Plan sets the Government vision for building a health service fit for the future, and we are committed to publishing a new 10-Year Workforce Plan to ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the r...

Whether his Department plans to issue updated guidance to local authorities on minimum contact standards for adult social care front-door services, including call handling, voicemail and email tria

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is assessing how well local authorities in England are meeting the full range of their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014, including local authorities’ front doors. The assessments identify local authorities’ streng...

What assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the regulatory classification of melatonin in the UK compared with other countries.

The Department has not undertaken a formal assessment comparing the United Kingdom’s prescription-only classification of melatonin with its status in other countries. In the UK, melatonin is regulated as a prescription only medicine. Decisions on how medi...

If he will request that NHS England and NICE evaluate the use of Tirzepatide, currently prescribed for weight loss on the NHS, as a potential treatment for Bile Acid Malabsorption.

In the United Kingdom, medicines need to have a licence before they can be marketed, and these are granted by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. To get a licence, the manufacturer of the medicine must provide evidence which shows tha...

What data collection exists on the outcomes of people with a dementia diagnosis in care home settings.

NHS England collects and publishes data about people with dementia registered at each general practice (GP) in England. Dementia diagnosis counts are published with ethnicity and age breakdowns, prescriptions of anti-psychotic medications, and record of receiving a care plan review. Diagnosis rates are calculated by comparing recorded diagnoses to estimated dementia prevalence.From April 2023 data has also been collected on counts of patients on the GP’s dementia register which are aggregated into the following residential types:- residential care home;- nursing home;- private residence;- no permanent address;- other residential type; and- inconclusive residential type.

Whether he plans to review the prescription payment penalty charge system.

There are no plans for such a review. NHS Penalty Charge Notices are issued in accordance with the National Health Service (Penalty Charge) Regulations 1999.

What steps he is taking to ensure the validity of online evidence submitted to the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation Call for Evidence, including the verification methods for submissions.

The call for evidence only collects personal category data that is necessary to support its analysis and further our understanding of the experiences of different groups of women and families, in line with United Kingdom data protection proportionality principles. Individuals’ names or other identifiable information are not collected because they were not deemed necessary for analysis.Surveys are hosted by SurveyOptic, who are monitoring their network for unusual spikes in activity and will flag anything unusual to the investigation team to prevent bots. Throughout the analysis process, responses that appear to be duplicative, whether identical or near identical, will be removed.