Helen Whately MP: written questions
4 Jul 2024–3 Jul 2025
How these years work
Our reporting years run from 4 July to 3 July, starting with the 2024 general election. They are not official parliamentary sessions. Office costs keep IPSA’s April–March financial years. Records may cover only part of a year; a missing record does not mean no work was done.
Read what this MP said, asked and contributed in Parliament.
33 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Health Services: Waiting ListsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 2 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 56297More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Department for Health and Social Care's press release entitled Crack teams get patients off waiting lists at twice the speed, published on 16 March 2025, what estimate he has
Answer: No formal estimate has been made of the associated impact of the reduction in waiting lists on employment. The Further Faster 20 (FF20) programme continues to support trusts within the cohort to reduce their waiting lists, helping people to return to work...
Answered 12 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordDeath CertificatesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 4 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 35346More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2025 to Question 31062 on Death Certificates, what the median time taken was to register a death at the most localised level for which data is available.
Answer: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes weekly data showing the median time to register a death by certification type in England and Wales. The latest data, for deaths registered in the week ending 21 February 2025, shows that the median time t...
Answered 12 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordDeath CertificatesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 12 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 31062More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to review the (a) capacity and (b) efficiency of the medical examiner system in the new death certification process.
Answer: The Government is monitoring the impact of the death certification reforms, which came into legal effect on 9 September 2024. Early data indicates the median time taken to register a death appears to have risen by one day, from seven days to eight days. T...
Answered 28 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordDeath CertificatesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 12 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 31061More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that the new death certification process does not cause further distress for grieving families.
Answer: The Government is monitoring the impact of the death certification reforms, which came into legal effect on 9 September 2024. Early data indicates the median time taken to register a death appears to have risen by one day, from seven days to eight days. T...
Answered 27 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordDeath Certificates: South EastDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 12 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 31060More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce backlogs in the death certification process in the South East.
Answer: The Government is monitoring the impact of the death certification reforms, which came into legal effect on 9 September 2024. Early data indicates the median time taken to register a death appears to have risen by one day, from seven days to eight days. T...
Answered 27 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordDeath CertificatesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 12 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 31059More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) average and (b) longest recorded wait time is for the issuance of death certificates since September 2024.
Answer: The Government is monitoring the impact of the death certification reforms, which came into legal effect on 9 September 2024. Early data indicates the median time taken to register a death appears to have risen by one day, from seven days to eight days. T...
Answered 27 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordHospitals and Social Services: WeatherDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 13 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23395More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to increase (a) hospital and (b) social care capacity for winter 2024-25.
Answer: December 2024 saw record numbers of people attending accident and emergency, a 7.5% increase on December 2023. Despite this, there were 5% fewer delayed discharges than in December 2023.The Government will tackle delayed discharges by developing local par...
Answered 22 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordHospitals: DischargesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 13 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23394More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many meetings the Minister of State for Health (Secondary Care) has had with the National health and social care discharge taskforce.
Answer: Ministers meet regularly with NHS England to discuss discharge and winter performance.
Answered 22 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordHospitals: DischargesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 13 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23393More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of recent trends in the level the social care capacity available to support discharges from hospitals in the last 12 months.
Answer: Comparing December 2024 to December 2023, there was a 5% decrease in the average number of patients in hospital with delayed discharge at the end of each day. In December 2024, for patients with a length of stay of at least 14 days, an average of 33% of t...
Answered 27 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordHospitals: DischargesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 13 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23392More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many meetings the Minister for Health (Secondary Care) has attended to review NHS performance on discharging patients from hospital.
Answer: Ministers meet regularly with NHS England to discuss discharge and winter performance.
Answered 22 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordAccident and Emergency Departments: StandardsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 13 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23391More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many meetings the Minister for Health (Secondary Care) has attended on (a) A&E performance and (b) flow through the emergency care system.
Answer: I have attended regular winter preparedness meetings since 26 September 2024. Urgent and emergency care performance is a standing agenda item within these meetings.In addition, I have meetings most days to discuss the reform and improvement of the health ...
Answered 22 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordNHS: WeatherDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 13 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23390More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many meetings he has attended to discuss winter preparedness.
Answer: My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has chaired eight meetings on winter preparedness since 2 December 2024.
Answered 31 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordHospitals: Domestic VisitsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 13 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23389More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospital visits the Minister for Health (Secondary Care) has made in the last six months; and which hospitals she visited.
Answer: Since 14 July 2024, I have engaged in a total of nine visits, of which the following five were hospitals:Red Kite View;Southmead Hospital;Leeds General Infirmary;Newham Hospital; andMusgrove Park Hospital.
Answered 21 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordUrgent Treatment CentresDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 19 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 21339More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to ensure Urgent Treatment Centres remain open.
Answer: No such assessment has been made. Integrated care boards are responsible for the commissioning of local services, including urgent treatment centres and their operational hours.
Answered 7 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordPrimary CareDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 19 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 21338More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to support ICBs that are considering cuts to primary care services.
Answer: Integrated care boards (ICBs) have a delegated responsibility for planning and commissioning healthcare services to meet the reasonable needs of the people for whom they are responsible. ICBs should evaluate the needs of the populations for which they are...
Answered 8 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordPrimary CareDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 19 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 21337More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to safeguard primary care services.
Answer: Work is already underway to ensure the safeguarding of primary care services. Neighbourhood Health Centres will be trialled to bring together a range of services, ensuring healthcare is provided closer to home. This is part of our broader ambition to move...
Answered 8 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordEmployment: Mental IllnessDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 3 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17758More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department’s Get Britain Working White Paper published on 26 November 2024, whether the 140,000 places for Individual Placement and Support for severe mental illness are in ad
Answer: The Government inherited a £22 billion blackhole in the nation’s finances which has required tough choices around spending priorities. Despite this bleak financial backdrop, we were determined to identify the funding required to support local Individual P...
Answered 20 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordEmployment: Mental Health ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 2 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 17191More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the White Paper entitled Get Britain Working, published November 2024, whether the 384,000 additional Talking Therapies places in Priority 1 were previously (a) announced and (b)
Answer: The Government inherited a £22 billion blackhole in the nation’s finances which has required necessary choices around spending priorities. Despite this backdrop, we were determined to identify the funding required to support NHS Talking Therapies.The Whit...
Answered 18 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordHealth ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 17 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9746More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure adequate healthcare provision in areas with high (a) housing targets and (b) population growth.
Answer: The Government is committed to delivering a National Health Service that is fit for the future, and this means we require world class NHS infrastructure across the entire NHS estate. Beyond hospitals, we know we need the right infrastructure in the right ...
Answered 28 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordPalliative CareDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 16 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9513More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to increase transparency to the public accessing of data on palliative care commissioned by local ICBs.
Answer: We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to end of life. Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. To support ICBs in this dut...
Answered 24 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordAmbulance Services: StandardsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 16 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9512More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure ambulances are not delayed outside hospitals waiting to hand over patients.
Answer: The Government has committed to supporting the National Health Service to improve performance and achieve the standards set out in the NHS Constitution, including ambulance response times.As a first step, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Heal...
Answered 28 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordVirtual WardsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 16 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9511More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help extend access to virtual wards to (a) avoid admission to hospital and (b) speed up discharge.
Answer: We are continuing to expand services to treat patients outside of hospitals when they have urgent needs, helping to prevent avoidable hospital admissions and speed up discharges. This includes using virtual wards which have benefited more than 240,000 peo...
Answered 24 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordCare Workers: QualificationsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 16 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9510More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to increase the financial support available to care workers who are seeking to gain new qualifications.
Answer: We are committed to supporting a professional, well-supported social care workforce. On 6 September 2024, the Department launched the Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support Scheme, which allows eligible employers to claim for funding for certa...
Answered 25 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordCare WorkersDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 16 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9509More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to (a) recognise and (b) reward care workers who take on nursing responsibilities.
Answer: Care workers deserve to be recognised and supported for the vital work they do. We want social care to be regarded as a profession, and for the people who work in care to be respected as professionals. That is why, as part of our health mission, we will t...
Answered 24 Oct 2024
Original Parliament recordCare Workers: QualificationsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 16 Oct 2024AnsweredUIN 9508More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to develop new qualifications for care workers.
Answer: We are committed to supporting a professional, well-supported social care workforce. On 6 September 2024, the Department launched the Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support Scheme, which allows eligible employers to claim for funding for certa...
Answered 25 Oct 2024
Original Parliament record
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4 Jul 2024–3 Jul 2025. One record per UIN and tabled date; the named department is not a measure of answer quality.
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