Every parliamentary written question tabled by Maya Ellis this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 1–20 of 35 · Department of Health and Social Care
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 in maternity care, and measures to reduce burnout and stress in maternity services.
Awaiting answer.
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, (b) attrition rates during training and early career practice, and (c) the steps being taken to address staffing shortages in maternity services.
Awaiting answer.
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 health workers are currently working in (a) child and adolescent mental health services and (b) adult mental health services.
Awaiting answer.
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 the Health Bill.
Awaiting answer.
What steps his Department will take to ensure the independent oversight of complaints and safeguarding concerns under the reforms proposed in the Health Bill.
Awaiting answer.
What consultation his Department held with patients, carers, NHS staff and voluntary sector organisations before bringing forward the Health Bill.
Awaiting answer.
What assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the regulatory classification of melatonin in the UK compared with other countries.
Awaiting answer.
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
Awaiting answer.
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.
Awaiting answer.
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 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.
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.
(i) whether Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) claims are matched to assessors with condition-specific expertise, (ii) whether the Department for Health and Social Care holds audits or quality assurance exercises on the accuracy and consistency of medical determinations under the VDPS since 2021, and (iii) what steps are being taken to ensure the transparency and accountability of the VDPS medical assessment process.
Each claim to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) is assessed on a case-by-case basis by a medical assessor. All medical assessors are General Medical Council registered doctors, who have undertaken specialised training in vaccine damage and disability assessment.The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), as the administrator of the VDPS, is responsible for managing quality assurance with the medical assessment supplier. Medical assessors write a comprehensive medical assessment report for each claim, explaining how they reached their decision and what evidence they considered. NHSBSA shares this report with the claimant.If a claim is rejected, the claimant can challenge the medical assessor’s decision by submitting a mandatory reversal request. The original decision will then be reviewed.
What steps his Department is taking to support primary care providers in assessing hereditary cancer risk for people without a clear family history.
Genomic testing in the National Health Service in England is provided through the NHS Genomic Medicine Service and delivered by a national genomic testing network of seven NHS Genomic Laboratory Hubs (GLHs). The NHS GLHs deliver laboratory based genetic testing as directed by the National Genomic Test Directory (the Test Directory), which includes tests for over 7,000 rare diseases and over 200 cancer clinical indications, including both whole genome sequencing (WGS) and non-WGS testing. The Test Directory includes a range of tests for inherited cancer as part of its coverage of rare and inherited disease and cancer related genomic indications. Further information on the Test Directory is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/national-genomic-test-directories/The Test Directory sets out the eligibility criteria for patients to access testing as well as the genomic targets to be tested, the method that should be used, and the clinical specialities able to request the test. A robust and evidence based process and policy is in place to routinely review the Test Directory and ensure that genomic testing continues to be available for all patients for whom it would be of clinical benefit, while delivering value for money for the NHS. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/genomics/the-national-genomic-test-directory/Qualified general practitioners (GPs) are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date, and for identifying learning needs across their whole scope of practice. The Royal College of General Practitioners provides a number of resources on cancer prevention, diagnosis, and care for GPs, relevant for the primary care setting.NHS England is supporting GPs in referring cancer patients earlier in various ways. This includes encouraging GP direct access to tests for patients who fall outside of urgent suspected cancer referrals and sharing evidence-based assessments of where cancer recognition and referral guidance could be improved with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, to inform referral updates. NHS England also funds Gateway-C, an early diagnosis education platform aimed at primary care.
How many of the Trusts outlined in the national maternity review were made aware of (a) their inclusion before the review was publicly announced and (b) why they had been chosen to be included in the review.
All trusts were made aware that they had been selected for inclusion in the national maternity and neonatal investigation before it was publicly announced.The Chair’s selection of the trusts for the local reviews has been made with a view to ensure a diverse mix of trusts, including variation in case mix, trust type, and geographic and demographic coverage. By taking this approach, the investigation can capture learning from a wide range of provision and experiences, ensuring the findings are relevant across the system.The rationale of these selected sites has taken into consideration several criteria, including data indicating trusts with poor outcomes or experience, in particular from Mothers and Babies: Reducing Risk through Audits and Confidential Enquiries across the UK, or MBRRACE-UK, perinatal mortality rates from 2021 to 2023, and the Care Quality Commission maternity patient survey from 2024.The Chair also considered trusts proposed by bereaved and harmed families who have experienced failures in maternity care.
What steps his Department is taking to ensure that every ICB retains its Women’s Health Champion.
The network of women’s health champions brings together senior leaders in women’s health from every integrated care system (ICS) to share best practice to improve women’s health outcomes across the life course and reduce health inequalities. The role is a voluntary commitment.The network continues to meet every one to two months to share insight and discuss best practice on local implementation of women’s health services across ICSs. Meetings continue to be well-attended with insightful, positive discussion. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety, Women’s Health and Mental Health also attended the March 2025 Network of Champions meeting and had the opportunity to hear firsthand about their excellent work and ideas for the future.
What steps his Department is taking to help reduce gynaecology waiting lists in Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB.
Reducing waiting lists is a key part of the Government’s Health Mission, and we are committed to cutting waiting times across all specialities and integrated care boards (ICBs). We have committed to returning to the National Health Service constitutional standard, that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment, by March 2029. We are making good progress, with waiting lists cut by over 230,000 since the Government came into office, including nearly 14,000 fewer waits for gynaecology treatment.We also delivered 5.2 million additional appointments between July 2024 and June 2025, exceeding our pledge of two million. However, we know that there is more to do and have confirmed over £6 billion of additional capital investment to expand capacity across diagnostics, electives, and urgent care. This includes expanding the number of surgical hubs, which provide valuable and protected capacity across elective specialities, including gynaecology. As of November 2025, there are 123 operational elective surgical hubs in England, three of which are in the NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB. Over half of the 123 provide gynaecology services. The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, also committed to:increasing the relative funding available to support gynaecology procedures with the largest waiting lists;ensuring that independent sector providers play a greater role in providing support for the most challenged specialities, such as gynaecology; andreforming and optimising clinical pathways across a number of specialities. In gynaecology, this includes supporting the delivery of innovative models offering patients care closer to home and piloting gynaecology pathways in community diagnostic centres for patients with post-menopausal bleeding.
What guidance his Department provides to pregnant women to ensure they receive adequate information on all four birth settings.
The NHS Long Term Plan and the accompanying guidance, Universal Personalised Care, made commitments to deliver choice and personalised care in maternity services. The NHS Long Term Plan and the Universal Personalised Care guidance are available, respectively, at the following two links:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-term-plan/https://www.england.nhs.uk/personalisedcare/comprehensive-model/The Maternity Programme supports local maternity systems to improve choice and deliver personalised care for women and their families.NHS England has published guidance which sets out the four birthing choices: home birth; birth in a unit run by midwives; hospital birth; and unassisted birth. This guidance is available at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/labour-and-birth/preparing-for-the-birth/where-to-give-birth-the-options/The provision of arrangements for home birth and information on how this is provided is the responsibility of local National Health Service trusts, who are directed as appropriate by their integrated care board.
What steps his Department is taking to help ensure that home birth is presented as an (a) guaranteed and (b) consistently-available option to pregnant women.
The NHS Long Term Plan and the accompanying guidance, Universal Personalised Care, made commitments to deliver choice and personalised care in maternity services. The NHS Long Term Plan and the Universal Personalised Care guidance are available, respectively, at the following two links:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-term-plan/https://www.england.nhs.uk/personalisedcare/comprehensive-model/The Maternity Programme supports local maternity systems to improve choice and deliver personalised care for women and their families.NHS England has published guidance which sets out the four birthing choices: home birth; birth in a unit run by midwives; hospital birth; and unassisted birth. This guidance is available at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/labour-and-birth/preparing-for-the-birth/where-to-give-birth-the-options/The provision of arrangements for home birth and information on how this is provided is the responsibility of local National Health Service trusts, who are directed as appropriate by their integrated care board.
What steps his Department is taking to ensure pregnant women’s access to birthing choice is protected.
The NHS Long Term Plan and the accompanying guidance, Universal Personalised Care, made commitments to deliver choice and personalised care in maternity services. The NHS Long Term Plan and the Universal Personalised Care guidance are available, respectively, at the following two links:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-term-plan/https://www.england.nhs.uk/personalisedcare/comprehensive-model/The Maternity Programme supports local maternity systems to improve choice and deliver personalised care for women and their families.NHS England has published guidance which sets out the four birthing choices: home birth; birth in a unit run by midwives; hospital birth; and unassisted birth. This guidance is available at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/labour-and-birth/preparing-for-the-birth/where-to-give-birth-the-options/The provision of arrangements for home birth and information on how this is provided is the responsibility of local National Health Service trusts, who are directed as appropriate by their integrated care board.