Written questions by Thompson.

Whether the government plans to include representatives of families with a child harmed by maternity or neonatal negligence, and a representative of women harmed by maternity or neonatal negligence, on the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce.

Family voices are at the heart of our work to improve maternity and neonatal care.There are four family representatives on the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, many of whom have experienced bereavement in maternity and neonatal services. To hear a wider breath of family voices, the taskforce will be supported by three family Expert Reference Groups. These will comprise of people who have lived experience of maternity and neonatal care, particularly, but not exclusively, those families and mothers who have experienced harm or bereavement.

What steps he is taking to help prevent ill health.

The 10 Year Health Plan announced ambitious measures to prevent ill health by making the healthy choice the easy choice. This includes a moonshot to end the obesity epidemic through mandatory healthy food sales reporting and introducing business targets to increase the healthiness of sales in all communities. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will deliver a smoke-free UK by gradually ending the sale of tobacco products.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing coronary artery calcium scoring in routine NHS cardiovascular health checks.

The Department has made no assessment of the inclusion of coronary artery calcium scoring in National Health Service cardiovascular health checks.The NHS Health Check, a core component of England’s cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention programme, assesses the top seven risk factors for CVD in people aged 40 to 74 years old and refers them for behavioural support services, such as smoking cessation and weight management, and clinical assessment for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, and high CVD risk, where appropriate.

Whether his Department plans to make e-cigarettes available on prescription for smoking cessation.

The Government is committed to delivering on its ambition for a smoke-free United Kingdom, and is supporting smokers to quit through a range of services. This includes an additional £70 million investment in 2025/26 for local Stop Smoking Services in England. We are also working to ensure all National Health Service hospitals offer ‘opt-out’ smoking cessation services.Vapes, also known as e-cigarettes, can be an effective quit tool for adult smokers, particularly when combined with behavioural support. Currently, all vapes supplied to the UK are done so through the consumer market, as there is no medicinally licensed vaping product. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is ready to support a future medicinally licensed vaping product if the industry comes forward with a successful candidate. The MHRA continues to provide technical and scientific advice to companies interested in developing medicinal vapes.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a national healthcare worker register including training records to protect vulnerable clients.

There are no plans to establish a national healthcare worker register. All health and care professional regulators have a statutory duty to maintain a register of the professionals they regulate. The health and care professional regulators’ registers are publicly available on their websites.Health professionals that are not subject to statutory regulation can join voluntary registers accredited by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA). The Accredited Registers Programme provides assurance to the public when choosing and using health and care services by independently assessing organisations who register practitioners who are not regulated by law.The Government would encourage anyone accessing health and care services to use a practitioner who is subject to statutory regulation or voluntary registration accredited by the PSA. Members of the public can check online to establish whether a practitioner is registered with a voluntary accredited register.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of expanding NHS prenatal care to include three ultra-sound scans.

The Government is committed to ensuring that all women and babies receive safe, personalised, equitable, and compassionate care. We are supporting NHS England as it delivers its three-year plan to improve maternity and neonatal care for women and babies. As part of this, all trusts are rolling out version three of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle which includes interventions for risk assessment, surveillance, and management of foetal growth restriction.In 2021, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) undertook an evidence review on routine third-trimester ultrasound for foetal growth. This concluded that there is no evidence of benefit to routinely scanning all women in the third trimester, compared to a more selective approach. Instead, the NICE recommends targeted scanning based on clinical need. Further information on the NICE’s evidence review is available at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng201/evidence/q-routine-third-trimester-ultrasound-for-fetal-growth-pdf-331305934364There are no plans at this time to make a further assessment of the potential merits of expanding NHS England’s maternity care to include three ultra-sound scans.

What steps his Department is taking with the voluntary sector to introduce new ways of treating mental ill health.

Ministers and Departmental officials meet regularly with voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) stakeholders in the mental health sector to discuss a range of mental health issues and current challenges.In October 2024 we launched the 10-Year Health Plan for the National Health Service to gather views from members of the public, NHS staff, VCSEs, and other organisations on their experiences and ideas to reform the NHS and make it fit for the future. The plan will set out a bold agenda to deliver on the three big shifts needed, to move healthcare from the hospital to the community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention. We are working closely with VCSEs and other mental health stakeholders to ensure the unique challenges for mental health services across England are reflected in 10-Year Health Plan.

What steps his Department is taking to (a) help prevent and (b) increase early intervention for mental ill health.

The Shared Outcomes Fund Early Support Hubs project aims to increase the Government's understanding of the effectiveness of early intervention and prevention support for children and young people's mental health delivered in a community setting and strengthen the evidence base for early intervention. By evaluating the Early Support Hubs as a delivery model for early intervention, the project aims to build a strong evidence base, assess the impact of these services, and inform potential future expansion of the model. The evaluation of the project aims to report its findings by Summer 2025.There are currently approximately 65 locally funded early support hubs in England offering early easy access mental health interventions to thousands of children and young people aged 11 to 25 years old, including those from low-income families.As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future and that is there when people need it, we will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across child and adult mental health services in England to reduce delays and provide faster treatment.Additionally, Every Mind Matters is a campaign run by NHS England, which features the mental health tool My Mind Plan at the heart of their resources and advice for those facing mental health problems.

What steps his Department is taking with the (a) NHS and (b) voluntary sector to introduce (i) clinical and (ii) non-clinical responses for young people with mental health needs.

We are committed to delivering a range of support, both clinical and non-clinical, to improve children and young people’s mental health. This includes recruiting an additional 8,500 mental health workers across child and adult National Health Service mental health services, to reduce delays and provide faster treatment, helping to ease pressure on busy mental health services.Nearly 500 NHS-funded mental health support teams were operational in approximately 8,500, or 34%, of schools and colleges across England as of the end of March 2024, covering 4.2 million, or 44%, of pupils or learners. These teams work with young people and parents to manage mild to moderate mental health conditions like anxiety and depression, while also assisting schools to develop a whole-school approach to positive mental health and wellbeing.We will provide access to a specialist mental health professional in every school in England and roll out Young Futures hubs in every community. The national network of Young Futures hubs is expected to bring local services together, and deliver support for teenagers at risk of being drawn into crime or facing mental health challenges. They will provide open access mental health support for children and young people in every community.

If his Department will make an assessment of the effectiveness of (a) maternal mental health services launched in 2019 and (b) maternal mental health services pregnancy and baby loss pathways in su

A National Institute for Health and Care Research-funded study has been commissioned to examine the effectiveness and the implementation of maternal mental health services, including the services’ provision of support for perinatal loss. The study will he...

How much funding (a) the Queen's Medical Centre and (b) Nottingham City Hospital received from the National Hospital Programme until the end of the 2023-24 financial year.

Up to the end of 2023/24, the total amount of funding received by Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust for the Queen’s Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital scheme was £7.5 million. The breakdown of how much the Trust received for their new hos...

How much funding had been (a) budgeted and (b) provided for (i) the Queen's Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital and (ii) the New Hospital Programme in total by 2 July 2024.

Up to the end of 2023/24, the total amount of funding received by Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust for the Queen’s Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital scheme was £7.5 million. The breakdown of how much the Trust received for their new hos...

What estimate his Department has made of the total cost to the public purse of work on (a) the Queen's Medical Centre and (b) Nottingham City Hospital via the New Hospital programme.

The standard process for confirming the total funding amount for major infrastructure projects involves the review and approval of a Full Business Case. All trusts in the programme have previously received indicative funding allocations to support plannin...

What the (a) business case status and (b) RIBA stage is for the delivery of works on (i) Queen's Medical Centre and (ii) Nottingham City Hospital as part of the New Hospital Programme.

The standard process for confirming the total funding amount for major infrastructure projects involves the review and approval of a Full Business Case. All trusts in the programme have previously received indicative funding allocations to support plannin...

What steps he is taking to ensure that (a) progress can be monitored on all maternity safety improvement schemes and (b) all schemes can be effectively evaluated to assess impact.

Improving safety and outcomes for women and babies is central to NHS England’s three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services, which is built on recommendations from recent maternity safety inquiries and specifically addresses the key themes...