Written questions by Darling.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing NICE guidance for (a) Tourette’s Syndrome and (b) other tic disorders.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has established a prioritisation board that takes decisions on which topics should be prioritised for the development of a clinical guideline, in line with the criteria set out in NICE’s published prioritisation framework, and through engagement with experts and other interested parties. The prioritisation board recently considered the development of a guideline on Tourette’s and tic disorders and concluded that many of the challenges relate to service provision, where NICE guidance is likely to have limited impact. It was, however, recognised that there could be value in developing a clinical knowledge summary on this topic, and NICE is exploring this possibility further.NICE has produced guidance on suspected neurological conditions, which includes recommendations on treatment for tics and involuntary movements in adults and children. The guidance can be found at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng127/On 7 May 2025, NICE published Early Value Assessment guidance on digital therapy for chronic tic disorders and Tourette syndrome. The guidance states that Online Remote Behavioural Intervention for Tics, created by the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s MindTech national research centre, can be used with standard care in the National Health Service during an evidence generation period as an option to treat chronic tic disorders and Tourette syndrome in children and young people nine to 17 years old. Further information on the digital therapy for chronic tic disorders and Tourette syndrome is available at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/hte25

Whether he plans to take steps to ensure that specialist medical services are accessible outside London.

Specialised services are typically delivered on a scale that allows for some concentration of clinical expertise and for the management of relatively small caseloads. As such, it is more likely that some patients may need to travel further to access high-quality services. Commissioners are required to review the geographic spread of patients and to reflect this in their commissioning strategies, which may include the use of remote appointments, shared care models, outreach, education and training, and support with travel and accommodation.

What plans his Department has to increase the number of specialist practitioners (a) researching and (b) treating Tourette’s Syndrome.

We will publish a new workforce plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and to ensure the National Health Service has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it. NHS England’s Neuroscience Transformation Programme is supporting integrated care boards to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients, including providing care closer to home.NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology and RightCare Toolkits aim to improve care for patients with neurological conditions by reducing variation.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced a range of guidance on the diagnosis and treatment of neurological conditions for use by healthcare professionals and commissioners. NICE guidance ensures that patients are cared for in a consistently evidence-based way.

What plans his Department has to improve the quality of training on (a) Tourette’s syndrome and (b) other tic disorders for service providers nationally.

We will publish a new workforce plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and to ensure the National Health Service has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it. NHS England’s Neuroscience Transformation Programme is supporting integrated care boards to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients, including providing care closer to home.NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology and RightCare Toolkits aim to improve care for patients with neurological conditions by reducing variation.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced a range of guidance on the diagnosis and treatment of neurological conditions for use by healthcare professionals and commissioners. NICE guidance ensures that patients are cared for in a consistently evidence-based way.

When his Department plans to publish the findings of the 2023-24 Learning from Lives and Deaths – People with a Learning Disability and Autistic People report.

NHS England commissions Kings College London and its partners to analyse data from the Learning from Lives and Deaths - people with a learning disability and autistic people (LeDeR) reports. The annual LeDeR report is published by Kings College London, who are currently working on the next annual report, which NHS England advises will be published shortly. The last report was published in November 2023, and can be found at the following link:https://www.kcl.ac.uk/ioppn/assets/fans-dept/leder-2022-v2.0.pdf

How many civil servants in his Department are working on the (a) findings and (b) implementation of recommendations from the 2023 Learning from Lives and Deaths – People with a Learning Disability and Autistic People annual report.

We recognise that the Learning from Lives and Deaths (LeDeR) programme as a crucial source of evidence that helps to identify the key improvements needed to tackle health disparities and to prevent the avoidable deaths of people with a learning disability and autistic people. There is no fixed number of people working on LeDeR within the Department, as the programme is run by NHS England, and the Department’s involvement varies depending on the programme’s requirements and findings from each year’s report.Alongside the forthcoming publication of the next LeDeR report, NHS England will publish an Action from Learning report. This highlights the work across the country by integrated care boards to improve services for people with a learning disability and autism. The learning disability and autism programme within NHS England is responsible for commissioning the LeDeR report and continues to work with other NHS England programmes to ensure that they consider the needs of people with a learning disability and autistic people when looking at pathways of care and needs assessments.

Whether his Department is taking steps to help tackle ageism in healthcare services.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme on 5 June 2025 to Question 54136.

If his Department take steps with the (a) Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry and (b) Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to further digitise paper-based patient information leaflets through the UK Electronic Patient Information Task Force.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has worked with the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry through the UK Electronic Patient Information Task Force on the potential digitisation of the paper-based patient information leaflets.The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is committed to continuing to engage with healthcare partners and patients to identify opportunities to enable better patient access to healthcare information that fulfils the needs of patients.

Whether his Department plans to implement the recommendations outlined in the Patient Safety Commissioner's report entitled The Safety Gap, published in March 2025.

We welcome the Patient Safety Commissioner’s (PSC) report, The Safety Gap – Safety and Accessibility of Medicines and Medical Devices for people with sensory impairment, highlighting the experiences of people with sensory impairment or loss when accessing and using medicines and medical devices safely. Officials in the Department, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and NHS England are considering how to take forward the report’s recommendations, and will update the PSC at the earliest opportunity.

What steps his Department is taking to (a) review and (b) improve NHS App accessibility for (i) people with visual impairment and (ii) other people.

We are working to improve access to digital services, outcomes, and experiences for the widest range of people, based on their preferences. Patients unable to use digital channels can continue to access services via telephone and through traditional face to face services.We conduct user research on an ongoing basis with users from diverse backgrounds to ensure our service works for everyone. This includes patients with a range of access needs and diverse groups, for instance ethnic minority groups, those with visual impairments, neurodiversity, and physical impairments. We have recruited users who are blind or partially sighted in community-based research, research with local National Health Service teams, and in remote research, either one to one or in groups. We use the findings of user research to plan and prioritise new work to improve accessibility.Centrally built services, such as the NHS App and NHS website, are designed to meet international accessibility standards. We are modernising the mobile patient experience within the NHS App, ensuring information is clearly structured and easy to find and understand.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing funding for the Lavender Square project in Devon; and if he will hold discussions with representatives of that project.

Provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). We would expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines. Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care markets to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes commissioning a diverse range of care and support services that enable people to access quality care.The Government recognises the challenges facing the adult social care system and we are taking immediate action to improve it by ensuring that funding goes to the places that need it most in 2025-26. The Government is making available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes a £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant. We are also taking forward a range of initiatives in 2025/26, including funding more home adaptations, promoting better use of care technologies, and professionalising the adult social care workforce.We will continue to engage with the sector to ensure that we are considering the merits of different models of care.

What discussions he has had with the Food Standards Agency on its plans to publish its response to the consultation entitled Best Practice Guidance - Allergen Information for Non-Prepacked Foods; and what steps he is taking with the Food Standards Agency to improve the allergen information available to consumers.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has policy responsibility for food safety, including food allergen labelling, in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and is working to improve the availability and accuracy of allergen information for non-prepacked foods.A summary of the responses to the consultation entitled Best Practice Guidance - Allergen Information for Non-Prepacked Foods, along with corresponding guidance with supporting tools, was published on 5 March 2025. This is available at the following link:https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/summary-of-stakeholder-responses-consultation-on-best-practice-guidance-allergen-information-for-non-prepacked-foodsThe guidance is a positive step in improving the provision of allergen information for non-prepacked foods.Officials at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department of Health and Social Care are in close contact with the FSA, receiving regular updates on the implementation of this guidance.

Whether he plans to provide additional funding to ensure the sustainability of social prescribing in (a) the UK and (b) Torbay.

As part of our Mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future, the Government has underlined its commitment to taking a preventive approach to addressing health inequalities.We are determined to improve people’s physical and mental health, to support them to live longer and healthier lives, and we recognise the role that social prescribing can play in this.In March 2025, the Department agreed a further year of grant funding for the National Academy for Social Prescribing, securing £1.5 million to advance and expand social prescribing across England.The Department funds the workforce through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, including for social prescribing link workers in primary care.In Torbay, two primary care networks employ a combined 8.6 whole time equivalent social prescribing link workers at a value of £364,958 per annum.The Torbay Better Care Fund invests a further £221,000 within the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector to fund three whole time equivalent social prescribers, known as well-being co-ordinators, and a full-time manager.

When the Review of patient safety across the health and care landscape will be published.

The review of patient safety across the health and care landscape, by Dr Penny Dash, is planned to be published shortly.

Whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that the private sector is used to help reduce NHS waiting lists for the (a) most urgent procedures and (b) patients with the greatest clinical need.

We have committed to tackling waiting lists and getting back to the National Health Service constitutional standard, that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment, by March 2029. We will use every lever to do this, and independent sector providers have a key role to play.A new partnership agreement between the NHS and the independent sector was published in January 2025, the first of its kind for 25 years. The aim of this agreement is to ensure that private providers and the NHS work closely together to tackle waiting lists and improve elective services, providing NHS patients with the ability to choose to be treated privately where there is capacity, at no cost to them. The independent sector committed to reviewing their clinical exclusion criteria to ensure that they allow the choice of an independent provider to as broad a cohort of patients as possible. The agreement also set a shared goal to improve access to treatment in the independent sector for the most challenged specialties.Local systems are best placed to commission activity, considering the patients and providers in their area, and ensuring assets are utilised effectively, and that patients requiring urgent procedures are treated quickly. All patients should be offered a choice of provider at the point of referral, including independent providers where clinically appropriate, and should be provided with information on waiting times to inform their decision.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of offering (a) guidance or (b) funding support for charities who are assisting refugees with medical qualifications into the NHS.

The Department has made no assessment of the potential merits of offering guidance or funding support for charities who are assisting refugees with medical qualifications into the National Health Service.Many regulators, royal colleges, and other organisations provide support or prioritise services for refugees, including some flexibility in the information that candidates need to provide for employment checks.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for its policies of recommendation on (a) screening and (b) research on prostate cancer in Council of the EU recommendation on cancer screening (update), adopted in December 2022.

The United Kingdom is not bound by the Council of the European Union's recommendations. The UK National Screening Committee is currently looking at the evidence for prostate cancer screening in accordance with its published processes. This work will evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the implementation of organised prostate cancer screening programmes. It therefore aligns with the Council of the European Union's recommendations.

What information his Department has on the (a) number of unfilled vacancies, (b) cost for using (i) locum and (ii) bank staff to fill vacancies at Torbay Hospital in the most recent period for which data is available.

The Department does not hold information on the number of unfilled vacancies or the costs of using locum or bank staff to fill vacancies at Torbay Hospital. NHS England published vacancy rates by trust as of June 2024, with further information available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/supplementary-information/2024/total-vacancy-rates-by-org-since-201718The Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, of which the hospital is a part, has reported to NHS England a position of a zero full time equivalent vacancy rate across the trust.

If his Department will take steps to provide financial support for unpaid carers through the social care system.

Local authorities have duties to support people caring for their family and friends. Under the Care Act 2014, they are required to undertake Carer’s Assessments to support people caring for their family and friends who appear to have a need for support, and to meet their eligible needs upon request from them. For example, if eligible, this might include financial support, such as direct payments.We have already taken action to support unpaid carers. From April 2025, we will increase the Carer's Allowance weekly earnings limit from £151 a week to £196, the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage. This means carers can earn up to £10,000 a year whilst still retaining Carer's Allowance, which is approximately an additional £2,000 a year.The Government also recognises the challenges facing the adult social care system. That is why the Government is launching an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.The commission will start a national conversation about what working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers who provide vital care and support.

Pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2025 to Question 36169 on Health Services, what tests (a) his Department and (b) NHS England require before a substantial planned service change.

The tests the Department requires are set out in NHS England’s guidance to the National Health Service on planning, assuring and delivering service change, which is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/planning-assuring-and-delivering-service-change-for-patients/The Government’s four tests of service change are:strong public and patient engagement;consistency with current and prospective need for patient choice;clear, clinical evidence base; andsupport for proposals from clinical commissioners.In any proposal includes plans to significantly reduce hospital bed numbers, NHS England will expect commissioners to be able to evidence that they can meet one of the following three conditions: demonstrate that sufficient alternative provision, such as increased general practice or community services, is being put in place alongside or ahead of bed closures, and that the new workforce will be there to deliver it; and/or show that specific new treatments or therapies, such as new anti-coagulation drugs used to treat strokes, will reduce specific categories of admissions; or where a hospital has been using beds less efficiently than the national average, that it has a credible plan to improve performance without affecting patient care, for example in line with the Getting it Right First Time programme.