Written questions by Dhesi.

Whether he is taking steps to increase reserves of helium within the NHS.

The Department is closely monitoring the impacts of the Middle East conflict on the medical supply chain, including on the supply of helium. We have engaged with industry and received assurance on the stability of continued helium supply through contingency planning and sourcing through multiple global routes. We will continue to monitor the supply of helium and other medical products to mitigate any potential impacts on patient care.

What recent assessment has been made of the availability of mental health support to parents affected by baby loss in Slough.

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

What recent steps he has taken to improve NHS capacity in Accident and Emergency departments in (a) Slough and (b) Berkshire.

Decisions on the commissioning and configuration of local National Health Services, including accident and emergency (A&E) departments and urgent treatment centres, are the responsibility of integrated care boards, working with their local NHS trusts. These organisations are best placed to determine how services should operate to meet the needs of their local populations.Within Slough and Berkshire, a range of steps have been taken over the past year to improve A&E capacity and patient flow. These include expansion of Same Day Emergency Care, improved discharge and community capacity, enhanced access to urgent care alternatives such as urgent treatment centres, and focused work on patient flow and ambulance handovers.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act on UK citizens who received their medical training abroad.

Under the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026, British citizens who have graduated from medical schools outside of the United Kingdom will not be prioritised for foundation training places, and graduates from a medical school in the UK will not be prioritised if they spent the majority of their time studying outside the British Islands.For specialty training places starting in 2026, we are using immigration statuses as a practical proxy to capture applicants who are most likely to have significant experience working in the health service in the UK. The effect of this is that British citizens will be prioritised.From 2027, immigration status will no longer automatically determine priority for specialty training. Instead, we will be able to make regulations to specify any additional groups who will be prioritised by reference to criteria indicating significant experience as a doctor in the health service, or by reference to immigration status.Non-prioritised graduates can still apply for postgraduate medical training and will be offered places if vacancies remain after prioritised applicants have received offers.

Whether NHS ambulances are equipped with an MHRA approved anti-choking device.

At present, 'anti-choking' devices have not been adopted into routine National Health Service ambulance practice, as the current evidence base and national clinical guidance do not support their use over established techniques. As such, they are not included within standard ambulance equipment specifications. Ambulance crews are equipped with a comprehensive range of airway management tools, including suction, oxygen, bag-valve-mask ventilation, airway adjuncts, both oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal, and, at a paramedic level, supraglottic airway devices, laryngoscopy, with the potential use of Magill forceps for removal of visible foreign bodies, and intubation equipment where appropriate. These enable clinicians to manage airway obstruction safely and in line with current clinical standards.

What technical controls are in place within NHS patient record systems to prevent employees from accessing the records of family members without clinical need; and whether patients can request that named individuals be proactively blocked from accessing their records.

There are systems and safeguards in place to keep patient information secure and confidential. The National Health Service prioritises security and privacy in its handling of personal data. NHS systems operate Role Based Access Controls. This means only appropriate health and care staff can access the medical records they need to see to carry out their role in delivering care. Robust governance processes are required to ensure organisations comply with data protection law, and that access to personal data is necessary and appropriate. All staff accessing systems which contain personal data are bound by their contract of employment and their professional codes of conduct. There is currently no way to block named individuals from accessing the health records of family members. However, all access is audited and care settings can see which patient records their staff have accessed. This audit report can be used to investigate complaints or to perform proactive monitoring for inappropriate usage. There is a policy allowing patients to request that access to their demographic record is restricted. This is to protect the location of patients who may be at risk. It ensures that information like the patient’s address cannot be easily accessed by any healthcare professional other than the patient’s general practice. Further information on this can be found at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/services/personal-demographics-service/restricting-access-to-a-patients-demographic-record

Whether Ambulance call handlers are required to have working knowledge of (a) What Three Words and (b) the NATO phonetic alphabet.

There is no national requirement for ambulance call handlers to have working knowledge of What3Words or the NATO phonetic alphabet, as responsibility for delivering and implementing training to call handlers on use of What3Words and the NATO phonetic alphabet sits with individual ambulance services.

What recent steps he has taken to encourage a higher uptake of regular diabetes health checks for eligible patients.

Improving the uptake of annual diabetes health checks recommended by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is a key primary care metric in the NHS Oversight Framework, which is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/nhs-oversight-framework-2025-26/The framework sets out how NHS England will assess providers and integrated care boards, to identify where support is needed and promote improvement.The annual checks are based on NICE’s nine recommended care processes to manage diabetes and to reduce the risk of complications. NHS England is also working closely with National Health Service systems to monitor the improvement of achievement rates in delivering the annual diabetes health checks. To help deliver this, NHS England has recently launched a new National Diabetes Audit Care Processes and Treatment Targets dashboard to support systems to benchmark and improve delivery of the health checks.

What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of treatments for patients with rare diseases in a) Slough constituency and b) the South East.

The Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases, and we acknowledge unmet need remains, with just 5% of rare diseases having an approved and effective treatment. The UK Rare Diseases Framework sets out four priorities collaboratively developed with the rare disease community, such as improving access to specialist care, treatments, and drugs, including in Slough. We published the fifth annual England action plan in February 2026, where we report on the steps we have taken to advance these priorities. These include:the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) developing a framework to enable innovation in rare disease therapies;new clinical trial regulations being fully implemented from April 2026;the MHRA and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) aligning a pathway for parallel decision making to reduce the gap between marketing authorisation and NICE guidance decisions;continuing to review the effectiveness of the Early Access to Medicines Scheme, the Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway and the Innovative Medicines Fund, access pathways for rare therapies; andNHS England progressing work to develop an operational framework for individualised therapies.

What plans his Department has to increase the number of specialist Parkinson's nurses in Slough constituency.

The Department does not hold a central count of the number of specialist Parkinson’s nurses working in the Slough constituency. Workforce planning, including decisions about the number and type of specialist nurses needed locally, is the responsibility of individual employers and their integrated care boards, which are best placed to assess the needs of their populations.We continue to work with NHS England through programmes like Getting It Right First Time to support improvements in access to specialist care for patients with Parkinson’s disease. We have also set up the United Kingdom‑wide Neuro Forum, which brings together the Department, NHS England, the devolved administrations, and health services and Neurological Alliances of all four nations to share best practice and address system-wide challenges, including neurology workforce challenges.The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it. We are working through how the plan will articulate the changes for different professional groups.

What recent estimate he has made of the number of specialist Parkinson nurses working in Slough constituency.

The Department does not hold a central count of the number of specialist Parkinson’s nurses working in the Slough constituency. Workforce planning, including decisions about the number and type of specialist nurses needed locally, is the responsibility of individual employers and their integrated care boards, which are best placed to assess the needs of their populations.We continue to work with NHS England through programmes like Getting It Right First Time to support improvements in access to specialist care for patients with Parkinson’s disease. We have also set up the United Kingdom‑wide Neuro Forum, which brings together the Department, NHS England, the devolved administrations, and health services and Neurological Alliances of all four nations to share best practice and address system-wide challenges, including neurology workforce challenges.The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it. We are working through how the plan will articulate the changes for different professional groups.

With reference to paragraph 88 of the policy paper entitled UK Government Resilience Action Plan, published on 14 July 2025, how many meetings have been attended by civil servants within their Department in relation to the Home Defence Programme; which directorate in the Department owns the Departmental contribution to the Home Defence Programme; and what the job title is of the civil servant leading and cohering the Departmental contribution to the Home Defence Programme.

The Resilience Action Plan sets out the Government’s strategic approach to how we will strengthen our domestic resilience and invest to protect the nation. Department officials regularly attend meetings to discuss the implementation of the Resilience Action Plan as well as matters of national security and defence. The Department is actively contributing to this work. This includes ensuring the health sector has flexible, adaptable, and scalable capabilities that can respond to a range of threats. These capabilities include equipment, for instance stockpiles and countermeasures, including medicines and medical equipment, skilled people, such as clinicians and public health staff, and infrastructure, for instance technology, diagnostics, testing.

Whether any money has been paid to the NHS as a result of NHS employees publishing content on personal social media platforms that was filmed during working hours, using NHS equipment or uniforms, and related to their work.

This information is not held centrally by the Department. However, NHS England has not received any payments from anyone in relation to National Health Service employees publishing content on their personal social media platforms.

When his Department intends to respond to the coroner's Prevention of Future Death report following the death of John Johnson.

We can confirm that a response to the coroner’s Prevention of Future Death report was issued on 6 March 2026.

If he will ask the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency to respond to the coroner's Prevention of Future Death report following the death of Luke Chatterton.

The Coroner's Prevention of Future Death report following the death of Luke Chatterton was first brought to the attention of The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on 5 February 2026. The MHRA issued a response to the coroner on 2 March 2026.

When his Department intends to respond to the coroner's Prevention of Future Death report following the death of Luke Chatterton.

The Prevention of Future Deaths report concerning the death of Luke Chatterton was not received by the Department when it was issued, resulting in a delay in it coming to our attention. The Department is now considering the report carefully before responding.

With reference to page 92 of the Strategic Defence Review, how many meetings officials from their Department have attended on the national conversation on defence and security; which directorate in their Department is responsible for the departmental contribution to that national conversation; and what the job title is of the official responsible.

Officials from the Department of Health and Social Care regularly attend meetings to discuss matters of national security, defence, and resilience as well as the associated public communications required to deliver these lines of efforts. The conversation on national defence was a recommendation in the 2025 Strategic Defence Review (SDR), which the Government accepted. The Ministry of Defence is the lead department for delivering the SDR, with support from the Cabinet Office, and particularly from the National Security Secretariat.As set out in the Strategic Defence Review, the national conversation will be a multi-year, cross-departmental effort designed to deliver on the whole-of-society approach to national security and defence allowing the Government, the private sector, and the public to play their part in strengthening the United Kingdom’s resilience to any potential future shocks. This work addresses the risks and threats the UK faces, including those below and above the threshold of an armed attack.The Department of Health and Social Care is actively supporting this work. The Emergency Preparedness and Health Protection Directorate works across the Department, the health system, and wider partners to strengthen our response on health security, which includes defence and officials having regular meetings with their defence counterparts.

When digital prescriptions will be available in all NHS hospitals.

NHS England does not have a target date for digital prescription availability in all National Health Service hospitals. The NHS Digital Maturity Assessment 2025 showed that 93% of NHS hospital trusts have gone live with an electronic prescribing and medicines administration system. The 2026 Digital Maturity Assessment will provide the latest data later this year.

What steps he is taking to (a) support NHS trusts with software needs and (b) unify software across NHS trusts.

NHS England supports National Health Service trusts with software needs in many ways, including through documentation, guides, support, a developer community, application programming interfaces, and mandatory standards.NHS England is unifying software across NHS trusts through application of interoperability and accessibility standards and national services such as NHS Notify.NHS trusts make their own decisions regarding the adoption and deployment of software and are expected to ensure that access to the tools they employ is safe, ethical, effective, and equitable for all within their remit.

With reference to paragraph 88 of the UK Government Resilience Action Plan, how many meetings Ministers in their Department have attended related to the Home Defence Programme.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has regular discussions with officials, external experts, and ministerial colleagues on a range of issues, including national security, defence, and resilience.The Home Defence Programme was established in August 2024 to build the United Kingdom’s resilience to any potential escalation to conflict. It is an evolving and enduring programme of work which provides defence, security, and resilience planning, focused on aligning military and civil effort in the event of a period of crisis and international hostilities affecting the UK, informed by and reflecting the recommendations from Government strategies, including the Strategic Defence Review, National Security Strategy, and Resilience Action Plan.The Department, with NHS England and health partners, is actively supporting this work. This includes working with partners to ensure the health sector has flexible, adaptable, and scalable capabilities that can respond to a range of threats such as equipment, for example stockpiles and countermeasures, medicines, and medical equipment, skilled people, such as clinicians and public health staff, and infrastructure, including technology, diagnostics, testing.