Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2025 to Question 38407 on Diethylstilbestrol, whether he plans to issue an apology to women who (a) experienced long-term health impacts, (b) were compelled to place their children up adoption and (c) experienced poor maternity care due to being prescribed Diethylstilbestrol between 1950 and 1980.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The government took action regarding Diethylstilbestrol (DES) in the early 1970s. In 1971, it was recognised that DES could cause a distinct type of cancer in the daughters of women who took DES in early pregnancy. Shortly afterwards, its use was contraindicated in pregnancy, pre-menopausal women, children and young adults and the Committee on Safety of Medicines wrote to all doctors in May 1973 to advise against the use of DES in pregnancy and pre-menopausal women.

Since 1992, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the US National Institutes of Health has been conducting the DES Follow-up Study of more than 21,000 mothers, daughters, and sons, exposed in the womb during the mother’s pregnancy, to better understand the long-term health effects of exposure to DES. The findings of this study have been published in the scientific literature.

As such, work has been undertaken to contact historic users of DES. Our sympathies are with anyone harmed by its historic use.

The UK Health Security Agency advises that routine cervical screening is appropriate for those who believe they were exposed to DES in utero. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cervical-screening-programme-and-colposcopy-management/5-screening-and-management-of-immunosuppressed-individuals

Participation in the National Breast Screening Programme is also recommended. Pregnant women who know that they were exposed in utero to DES should inform their obstetrician and be aware of the increased risks of ectopic pregnancy and preterm labour.

The MHRA continuously assesses the benefit risk balance of all medicines at the time of initial licensing and throughout their use in clinical practice, carefully evaluating any emerging evidence on their benefits and risks.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will issue national guidance on the use of Auditory Verbal therapy for deaf babies and children; and if he will increase funding to promote greater access to Auditory Verbal therapy in (a) Derby South constituency and (b) the rest of England.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever. This includes all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, including non-hearing children. Auditory verbal therapy is one of a range of approaches that can be used with deaf babies and children.

Each integrated care board (ICB) commissions the services they need for their local area, with NHS England supporting them to make informed decisions about the provision of audiology services so they can provide consistent, high-quality, and integrated care to non-hearing children. In July 2016, NHS England published Commissioning Services for People with Hearing Loss: A framework, for clinical commissioning groups. The framework supports National Health Service ICBs to make informed decisions to address inequalities in access and outcomes between hearing services.

In 2019, with input from the National Deaf Children’s Society, NHS England also produced a guide for commissioners and providers who support children and young people with hearing loss. The guide provides practical advice on ensuring that non-hearing children receive the support they need.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to help raise life expectancy in areas of high deprivation.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Life expectancy differs dramatically between and within communities, and people living in the most deprived areas are more likely to die earlier and spend more years in ill health than those living in the least deprived areas.

Tackling health inequalities is central to our Health Mission, which is why the Government has committed to halving the healthy life expectancy gap between the richest and poorest regions. We are taking a cross-Government mission-led approach to tackle the root causes of health inequalities, addressing the adverse social determinants of health which contribute to poorer outcomes.

Addressing healthcare inequity is a core focus of the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan, to ensure the National Health Service is there for anyone who needs it, whenever they need it. We have established 11 working groups to take forward policy development that will feed into the plan. This includes working groups focused on how care should be designed and delivered to improve healthcare equity, alongside ensuring that access to healthcare services is effective and responsive.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to minimise the differences in health outcomes in the UK.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Life expectancy differs dramatically between and within communities, and people living in the most deprived areas are more likely to die earlier and spend more years in ill health than those living in the least deprived areas.

Tackling health inequalities is central to our Health Mission, which is why the Government has committed to halving the healthy life expectancy gap between the richest and poorest regions. We are taking a cross-Government mission-led approach to tackle the root causes of health inequalities, addressing the adverse social determinants of health which contribute to poorer outcomes.

Addressing healthcare inequity is a core focus of the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan, to ensure the National Health Service is there for anyone who needs it, whenever they need it. We have established 11 working groups to take forward policy development that will feed into the plan. This includes working groups focused on how care should be designed and delivered to improve healthcare equity, alongside ensuring that access to healthcare services is effective and responsive.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the (a) National Disease Registration Service and (b) National Congenital Anomaly and Rare Diseases Registration Service continue after the planned abolition of NHS England.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Working under the UK Rare Diseases Framework, the Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases. Digital data and technology are underpinning themes of the UK Rare Diseases Framework. We acknowledge the important role of the National Congenital Anomaly and Rare Disease Registration Service, part of the National Disease Registration Service, in underpinning the delivery of England’s Rare Diseases Action Plans. Further information about the National Congenital Anomaly and Rare Disease Registration Service is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrs/about/ncardrs

We are currently in the initial phases of scoping and designing a new integrated department that aims to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our healthcare system. The important role of the National Disease Registration Service will be taken into account as part of future plans.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Civil Procedure Rule Committee regarding the implementation of fixed recoverable costs for clinical negligence claims valued up to £25,000.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Currently, the Government is considering the way forward on a wide range of matters relating to clinical negligence reform, and we will announce our position in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a dedicated diagnostic pathway for brain tumours.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department is working with NHS England to improve diagnostic processes in the National Health Service for all patients with cancer, including those with brain tumours.

To support faster and earlier diagnosis, the Department will address the challenges in diagnostic waiting times, providing the number of computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and other tests that are needed to reduce cancer waits. NHS England is delivering a range of interventions to support general practices in diagnosing brain cancer earlier, for example through the early cancer diagnosis service specification for primary care networks. This specification is designed to support improvements in rates of early cancer diagnosis by requiring primary care networks to review the quality of their general practices’ referrals for suspected cancer and take steps to improve this, where appropriate.

The Department also set out expectations for renewed focus on cancer targets in the Elective Reform plan, published on 6 January 2025. NHS providers have been asked to identify local opportunities in both community diagnostic centres (CDCs) and hospital based diagnostic services to improve performance against the Faster Diagnosis Standard, in order to reduce the number of patients waiting too long for a confirmed diagnosis of cancer. Any new CDC will be expected to include specific capacity for cancer testing as part of its CDC activity plans, enabled either through direct provision or via freeing up acute hospital capacity for more complex cancer tests.

Later this year, the Department will publish a National Cancer Plan, which will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, including diagnosis. It will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care, to improve the experiences and outcomes for people with cancer, including those with brain cancer.

Given this wider ongoing work, the Department has not made a specific assessment on the merits of implementing a dedicated diagnostics pathway for brain tumours.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce cases of prostate cancer.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government understands that more needs to be done to reduce the number of cases of prostate cancer in England.

The Government and the National Health Service promote a healthy lifestyle and physical activity to help reduce the risk of prostate cancer. Guidance on healthy eating, including the United Kingdom’s healthy eating model the Eatwell Guide, is communicated through the NHS.UK website. Alongside this, the NHS’s Better Health Campaign signposts people to digital support like the NHS Active 10 walking app.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has announced that following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, a National Cancer Plan for England will be published this year. The National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care, and will apply to all cancer types, including prostate cancer. The goal is to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer over the next 10 years.

Currently, the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) does not recommend a national prostate cancer screening programme due to the limitations of the current best test, the Prostate Specific Antigen test, which may lead to overdiagnosis and overtreatment of cancers that would not have caused harm during a man’s lifetime. However, the UK NSC is undertaking a comprehensive evidence review to assess six potential approaches to targeted screening for those at higher risk of developing prostate cancer. Recommendations will be published upon the conclusion of this review.

In addition, the Government has invested £16 million in the £42 million UK-wide TRANSFORM trial, led by Prostate Cancer UK, which aims to identify new ways of detecting prostate cancer at an earlier stage, including in men without symptoms.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2025 to Question 43996 on NHS England, what plans his Department plans to put in place to help ensure that there are no risks to patient safety.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England will continue to undertake its statutory functions while working with the new NHS England executive during the transition, until parliamentary time allows for primary legislative changes to be made.

Patient safety will remain paramount over this transformation period. We will put plans in place to ensure continuity of care and that there are no risks to patient safety.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the £70 million funding for new radiotherapy machines is in addition to the prevailing budgets for radiotherapy machines.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The £70 million investment into 28 radiotherapy machines that was announced in the 2024 Autumn Budget is part of the overall financial settlement for the 2025/26 financial year.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing mandatory nutritional targets for large supermarket retailers.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever and tackling the three biggest killers, which will require effort from across society, not just for obesity but also for alcohol and smoking.

We have made a start with the Tobacco and Vapes Bill and will continue to speak to partners across industry and civic society to best understand what actions help to change behaviours in a way that puts power in the hands of consumers.

As part of the Government’s Plan for Change, we are committed to achieving our Health Mission to build a National Health Service fit for the future, and under the 10-Year Health Plan, to shift from sickness to prevention. Making the healthier choice the easier choice is a major part of creating a food environment that is fairer, with the fewest lives lost to the biggest killers, and where everyone lives well for longer.

As part of considerations around mandatory healthiness targets, the previous administration brought together the Food Data Transparency Partnership (FDTP), a shared programme of work across the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, and the Food Standards Agency. Separate from the eco strand of FDTP headed by the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, the FDTP health strand was paused at the election and is being reviewed alongside other obesity policies.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of changes to the eligibility criteria for the Winter Fuel Payment on (a) cold-related illness and (b) hospital admissions amongst older adults in Wiltshire.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

A specific assessment relating to older adults in Wilshire has not been produced. The Department for Work and Pensions published an equality analysis of the changes to eligibility for the winter fuel payment last summer, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/responses-to-freedom-of-information-requests-on-equality-impact-assessments-produced-for-targeting-winter-fuel-payment/dwp-freedom-of-information-response

The Government has continued to take action to support vulnerable households with cost-of-living pressures, including extending the Household Support Fund until March 2026, thereby providing local authorities with an additional £742 million of funding.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to extend the Nursery Milk Scheme entitlement to the end of the academic year in which a child turns five.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Nursery Milk Scheme is a statutory scheme which allows early years childcare settings to reclaim the cost of providing one-third of a pint of milk per day to children under the age of five who attend a setting for two or more hours per day. Schools can claim reimbursement from the scheme in respect of their pupils aged under five years old.

There are no plans to extend eligibility for the Nursery Milk Scheme to cover children until the end of the academic year, during which they reach their fifth birthday. Separate legislation allows pupils from lower-income families, and who are eligible for free school meals, to continue to receive free milk at school after the age of five years old.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce the prevalence of infant brain injuries at childbirth.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has invested £7.8 million to develop the Avoiding Brain Injury in Childbirth programme, which will reduce the number of avoidable brain injuries that occur during childbirth. This will be implemented by NHS England and will provide staff with the tools and training to identify, intervene, and manage obstetric emergencies, as well as better identify signs that a baby is showing distress during labour.

Additionally, the Maternity and Newborn Safety Investigations (MNSI) Programme investigates certain cases of potential severe brain injury that occur in the first seven days of life. The MNSI investigations seek to improve maternity safety and reduce the prevalence of adverse outcomes through providing learning to the health system via reports at a local, regional, and national level.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to update NHS commissioning policy to include funding for Selective Internal Radiation Therapy for patients with neuroendocrine tumours with liver metastases.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department recognises the need to offer patients the most suitable treatment, including the use of selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT).

NHS England is currently in the early stages of policy development for SIRT as an additional treatment option for patients with neuroendocrine tumours with liver metastases. NHS England, through its specialised commissioning function, is responsible for setting national service standards, and for the development of clinical commissioning policies for prescribed specialised services. Should NHS England’s Clinical Panel consider that the evidence is robust enough to warrant making the treatment routinely available across the National Health Service in England, it will require further consideration through relative prioritisation and investment.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to reforming the loss of future earnings element of clinical negligence compensation for cases arising from obstetrics.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We recognise that clinical negligence is an important issue, and ministers will examine the drivers of costs, how to manage spending on clinical negligence, and the potential merits of reform options.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to improve (a) the referral process and (b) treatment for people with brain tumours.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department recognises that cancer patients, including those with brain tumours, are often waiting too long for referral and treatment. It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including brain tumours, earlier, and to treat them faster, so more patients survive, and patient experience improves across the system.

As the first step to ensuring early diagnosis and treatment, NHS England has delivered an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week since the start of this administration.

The Department recognises that there are currently limited treatment options available for people who have been diagnosed with brain tumours, and the significant impact that rarer forms of cancer can have on patients, carers, and their families. The Government is invested in driving new lifesaving and life-improving research, supporting those diagnosed and living with brain tumours.

In the five years between 2018/19 and 2022/23, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) directly invested £11.3 million in brain cancer research projects, plus an estimated £31.5 million to enable brain tumour research to take place through NIHR research infrastructure, namely facilities, services, and the research workforce, enabling delivery of 227 studies involving 8,500 people.

The National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care. Research is a key focus of the plan, and the Department will work closely with partners, including the National Institute for Health and Care Research, on this.

The Department, with NHS England, will develop the plan, which will address the challenges in diagnostic waiting times, providing the number of computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and other tests that are needed to reduce cancer waits. The Government’s goal is to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer over the next ten years, including to brain tumours.

The Department expects to publish the National Cancer Plan later this year, following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the lower price point of very high puff-count vapes on youth vaping.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has not made a direct assessment of the potential impact of the lower price point of high puff-count vapes on youth vaping. However, it is incredibly worrying that 25% of 11 to 15 year old had tried vaping, as of 2023. To address this, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will ban the advertising of vaping and nicotine products, as well as sponsorship agreements which promote them. It also provides powers to limit flavours, packaging, and displays, and provides powers that allow the Government to regulate the tank sizes and refill containers, and the amount of liquid that can be included. The Government intends to consult on these issues soon after Royal Assent.

The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs is introducing a ban on single-use vapes, which is defined as a vape that is neither refillable nor rechargeable, and if it has a coil, the coil must be replaceable. This will capture most “big puff” vapes currently on the market.

Alongside this, and to discourage non-smokers and young people from taking up vaping, the Government will be introducing the Vaping Products Duty, which will come into force from 1 October 2026. The duty will be set at a single flat rate of £2.20 per 10 millilitre on all vaping liquid.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which NHS facilities exist to carry out diagnostic testing of patients for Paraneoplastic Encephalitis.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Paraneoplastic encephalitis (PNE), also known as paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis, is diagnosed through a combination of clinical evaluation, blood and spinal fluid tests, and imaging studies. Currently, the main types of diagnostic testing for PNE are computed tomography scans, magnetic resonance imaging scans, lumbar punctures, electroencephalograms, and blood and urine tests. These tests are available through both acute and non-acute settings such as hospitals and community diagnostic centres.

We know that whilst hard working National Health Service staff are delivering a large number of diagnostic tests for patients, the percentage of patients receiving a diagnostic test within the constitutional standard of six weeks, with no more than 1% of patients waiting, is still not being achieved. Our Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, builds on the investments already made with an ambitious vision for the future of diagnostic testing. This will include more straight-to-test pathways, increasing and expanding community diagnostic centres, and better use of technology.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue delivery plan will include (a) advice and (b) provisions for (i) long covid, (ii) fibromyalgia and (iii) other conditions that cause fatigue.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are committed to improving care and support for people with myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). We recognise how devastating the symptoms can be, and the significant impact they can have on patients and their families.

As such, the ME/CFS final delivery plan focuses on ME/CFS only, and will not cover advice or the provision of services for related conditions, although some of the content may be applicable or relevant to other conditions that cause fatigue.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of new patients registered at (a) Highcliffe Medical Centre, (b) Christchurch Medical Centre, (c) Burton Brunch Surgery, (d) The Stour Surgery and (e) The Grove Surgery in the (i) 2023-24 and (ii) 2024-25 financial years; and how much was paid to each practice for those additional patients.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Changes in the number of registered patients reflects both new registrations as well as existing patients being taken off a practice’s list, such as where they have moved practice or have died. As a result, it is not possible to identify the number of new registrations from the published data, and it is not possible to determine the additional funding practices have received from new registrations.

Practices receive global sum payments based on their registered patient list, which are weighted using the Carr-Hill formula. This takes into consideration factors such as the age and sex of patients, and additional pressures generated by factors such as geographical location and patient turnover.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of GP patient-to-practice ratios in (a) rural constituencies and (b) West Dorset constituency.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

As of 31 March 2025, the median number of patients per practice was 7,447 in the West Dorset constituency. This compares to 8,812 nationally. Data on general practice patient to practice ratios in rural constituencies is not held.

This government is determined to work with the NHS to fix the front door of our health service and ensure everyone can access GP services. The Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund was announced during the 2024 spending review and provides new capital funding of £102 million in 2025 to 2026 to support improvements in the primary care estate. The fund aims to enhance the use of existing infrastructure, create additional capacity for the GP and practice workforce, and enable additional patient appointments.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients were registered at (a) Highcliffe Medical Centre, (b) Christchurch Medical Centre, (c) Burton Brunch Surgery, (d) Stour Surgery and (e) The Grove Surgery on (i) 1 June 2024 and (ii) 14 May 2025.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The data below shows the number of registered patients at the Highcliffe Medical Centre, the Christchurch Medical Practice, the Stour Surgery, and the Grove Medical Centre as of 31 March 2025, as this is the most recent available data, and as of 31 March 2024, to align with the most recent data.

Data for the Burton Medical Centre is not available as it was a branch of the Christchurch Medical Practice. The Burton Medical Centre became a branch practice in October 2017 and was subsequently closed in October 2024. The following table shows the number of registered patients at the Highcliffe Medical Centre, the Christchurch Medical Practice, the Stour Surgery, and the Grove Medical Centre as of 31 March 2025:

In addition, the following table shows the number of registered patients at the Highcliffe Medical Centre, the Christchurch Medical Practice, the Stour Surgery, and the Grove Medical Centre as of 31 March 2024:

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support the employment of qualified counsellors in paid roles within mental health services.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department welcomes the appointment of qualified counsellors to roles within National Health Service mental health services. However, employment decisions are for individual employers, and we would expect any such appointments to be based on the successful candidate’s abilities and skills.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve mental health services in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) across Lancashire.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Too many people with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they need, including in the Fylde constituency and across Lancashire, and we know that waits for mental health services are far too long.

We are committed to improving mental health care for people with a range of mental health conditions, and to shifting the focus from treatment to prevention as we make the National Health Service fit for the future.

Our reforms to the Mental Health Act will give patients a greater say in their care and will ensure that people get the appropriate and compassionate mental health support they need.

We have also launched 24/7 mental health crisis support services via NHS 111, and we will recruit 8,500 mental health staff, create a network of community Young Futures Hubs, and provide access to mental health support in every school.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much was spent on GP services by Dorset Integrated Care Board in Christchurch in (a) 2022-23, (b) 2023-2024 and (c) 2024-25; and what the budget is for 2025-2026.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

In 2022/23, total National Health Service payments to general practices in the Christchurch constituency, including COVID-19 and primary care network payments, were £17,452,214, including any deductions for Pensions, Levies and Prescription Charge Income. Data for the years after 2022/23 has not been published yet.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of new GP registrations were made by non-UK nationals in each of the last five years.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not hold data regarding the number and proportion of National Health Service general practitioner registrations that were for non-United Kingdom nationals.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to review the length of time GPs take to process medical records for the armed forces.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are working across Government to increase efficiency in general practices (GPs) and the patient experience by removing red tape and streamlining, or removing, requests to GPs for medical evidence where possible, aiming to free up more GP time to care for patients. This includes improving and helping speed up processes through digital solutions for the sharing of medical records for recruitment to the armed forces, whilst work continues towards the introduction of a new Armed Forces Recruitment Service by 2027.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many meetings the Minister for Mental Health has had with the Chief Executive of Mind since her appointment; and what the dates were of those meetings.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Ministerial meetings with external organisations are routinely published on the GOV.UK website on a quarterly basis.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what meetings the Minister for Mental Health has had with external bodies since her appointment.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Ministerial meetings with external organisations are routinely published on the GOV.UK website on a quarterly basis.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve palliative care.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Palliative care services are included in the list of services that integrated care boards (ICBs) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.

Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at the end of life and their loved ones.

In recognition of this, we are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England for 2024/25 and 2025/26, to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.

Additionally, children and young people’s hospices will receive £26 million in revenue funding for 2025/26. This is a continuation of the funding which until recently was known as the Children and Young People’s Hospice Grant.

More widely, As part of the work to develop the 10-Year Health Plan, we will be carefully considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative care and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners, including those in the hospice sector.

In February, I met with key palliative and end of life care and hospice stakeholders, in a roundtable format, with a focus on long-term sector sustainability within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to support access to orthopaedic care for veterans.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Veterans with an orthopaedic condition related to their time in service can ask their general practitioner to refer them to Op RESTORE. Op RESTORE is an integrated physical health and wellbeing service, and works to ensure that veterans are seen in the right clinical pathway by the right clinician. Op RESTORE works in collaboration with many military charities to provide veterans with wellbeing support to ensure they ‘wait well’ for treatment.

The Government recognises that some veterans may not wish to use bespoke services for veterans, and in some cases orthopaedic conditions may occur that are not attributable to their time in service. In these instances, veterans are able to access the full range of mainstream orthopaedic services commissioned by their local National Health Service integrated care board. As well as local NHS hospitals, this includes local arrangements with the independent sector and supporting services, such as diagnostics and physiotherapy provided by musculoskeletal services, to ensure care is provided as close to the veteran’s home as possible.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help improve the mental health of young people.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We know children and young people are not receiving the mental health care they need and that waits for mental health services are too long. We are determined to change that.

Nationally, the Government is providing £7 million of funding to extend support for 24 early support hubs that have a track record of helping thousands of young people in their community. We will also provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school in England and roll out Young Futures hubs to provide open access mental health support for children and young people.

In addition, we are recruiting 8,500 mental health workers across child and adult mental health services in England to ease pressure on busy mental health services.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the use of opt-out agreements in the care sector on workplace standards.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has not made, and has no current plans to make, an assessment of the potential impact of the use of opt-out agreements in the care sector on workplace standards. Most care workers are employed by private sector providers who set their terms and conditions, including opt-out agreements, independent of central Government.

The Government is introducing the first ever Fair Pay Agreement to the adult social care sector. Fair Pay Agreements will empower worker representatives, employers, and others to negotiate pay and terms and conditions in a responsible manner.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to support community pharmacies in South Shropshire constituency.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

For 2025/26, funding for the core community pharmacy contractual framework has been increased to £3.073 billion. This represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service, at over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26.

There is also additional funding available, for example for pharmacies delivering Pharmacy First consultations and flu and COVID-19 vaccinations. The Pharmacy Access Scheme also provides additional funding to support pharmacies in areas where there are fewer.

This year, legislation will also be laid to enable all pharmacies to benefit from the efficiencies of hub and spoke dispensing and/or using pharmacy technicians to undertake more of the work in pharmacies, enabling pharmacists to spend more time with patients.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on providing long term, sustainable funding for transforming palliative and end of life care services.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has regular discussions with my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and colleagues across the Cabinet on a whole host of issues across our brief, including palliative and end of life care services.

However, as part of the work to develop the 10-Year Health Plan, we will be carefully considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners.

We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life. The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting, and palliative and end of life care services will have a big role to play in that shift.

Additionally, in February, I met with key palliative and end of life care and hospice stakeholders, in a roundtable format with a focus on long-term sector sustainability within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on providing long term, sustainable funding for palliative and end of life care services.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has regular discussions with my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and colleagues across the Cabinet on a whole host of issues across our brief, including palliative and end of life care services.

However, as part of the work to develop the 10-Year Health Plan, we will be carefully considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners.

We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life. The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting, and palliative and end of life care services will have a big role to play in that shift.

Additionally, in February, I met with key palliative and end of life care and hospice stakeholders, in a roundtable format with a focus on long-term sector sustainability within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish evidence on the impact of puberty blockers.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to supporting further research that delivers a robust, evidence-based understanding of the needs, and support and treatment options, for those with gender dysphoria, especially relating to children and young people. A joint partnership between NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is working to fund and deliver independent research that fulfils that aim.

The research programme already includes two initial studies: a commission for a living evidence review to maintain an up to date understanding of the findings from the latest United Kingdom and international research; and a priority setting partnership being led by the James Lind Alliance, which will enable a broad range of stakeholders to shape future research priorities. It includes a study looking at the experiences of the 9,000 adults who, as children, were cared for under a previous model of National Health Service care, and it also includes the PATHWAYS study. This is planned to have several elements, including a longitudinal observational study of children and young people attending NHS Gender Services, and a clinical trial into the potential benefits and harms of puberty-suppressing hormones as a potential treatment option for children and young people with gender incongruence/dysphoria.

The NIHR follows the World Health Organisation's recommendations for maximising clinical trial transparency, and therefore we would also expect the study’s findings to be published in a peer reviewed academic journal within 12 months of its completion.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the long-term sustainability of the hospice sector.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Palliative care services are included in the list of services an Integrated Care Board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.

Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at the end of life and their loved ones.

In recognition of this, we are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England for 2024/25 and 2025/26, to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.

Additionally, children and young people’s hospices will receive £26 million in revenue funding for 2025/26. This is a continuation of the funding which until recently was known as the Children and Young People’s Hospice Grant.  

As part of the work to develop the 10-Year Health Plan, we will be carefully considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners, including those in the hospice sector.

In February, I met with key palliative and end of life care and hospice stakeholders, in a roundtable format, with a focus on long-term sector sustainability within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve access to NHS dental care in South Shropshire constituency.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) across England. For the South Shropshire constituency, this is the NHS Shropshire, Telford, and Wrekin ICB. ICBs have been asked to start making extra urgent dental appointments available from April 2025. The Shropshire, Telford, and Wrekin ICB is expected to deliver 7,408 additional urgent dental appointments as part of the scheme.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the NHS is taking to help ensure that Dorset Police are able to refer convicted stalkers for mental health interventions.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS Liaison and Diversion services in Dorset work closely with the police and other parts of the criminal justice system to identify people who have mental health, learning disability, substance misuse, or other issues when they first come into contact with the criminal justice system as suspects, defendants, or convicted offenders.

The aim is to improve overall health outcomes and to reduce re-offending through early identification of possible need, putting in place the right support from the start, including mental health support, and reducing the likelihood that they will reach a crisis point.

The service can then support them through the criminal system pathway, refer them for appropriate health or social care support, or enable them to be diverted away from the criminal justice system, where appropriate.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people who do not meet the criteria to reside were inpatients in (a) Hinchingbrooke Hospital, (b) Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn and (c) Peterborough City Hospital on 21 April 2025.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The following table shows the number of patients with no criteria to reside as of 21 April 2025, in Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn, and Peterborough City Hospital:

No criteria to reside refers to patients who are medically fit for discharge but are still in hospital. These delays can be caused by a range of issues including hospital processes, delays in arranging ongoing support, a lack of care capacity, and wellbeing concerns.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many full-time equivalent (a) GPs and (b) other clinical practitioners were employed at (i) Highcliffe Medical Centre, (ii) Christchurch Medical Centre, (iii) Burton Brunch Surgery, (iv) Stour Surgery and (v) The Grove Surgery on (A) 1 June 2024 and (B) 14 May 2025.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Figures are provided in the tables below on full time equivalent (FTE) general practitioners (GPs) and other clinical practitioners employed at the practices for which the Department holds data. We have provided the most recent data available, which captures staff employed on 31 March 2025, and compared this to 31 March 2024.

Data for the Burton Medical Centre is not available as it was a branch of the Christchurch Medical Practice. The Burton Medical Centre became a branch practice in October 2017, and was subsequently closed in October 2024.

The following table shows the number of FTE GP doctors and other clinical staff in the Highcliffe Medical Centre, the Christchurch Medical Centre, the Burton Brunch Surgery, the Stour Surgery, and the Grove Surgery, as of 31 March 2025:

In addition, the following table shows the number of FTE GP doctors and other clinical staff in the Highcliffe Medical Centre, the Christchurch Medical Centre, the Burton Brunch Surgery, the Stour Surgery, and the Grove Surgery, as of 31 March 2024:

Notes:

1. the data does not include estimates for practices that did not provide fully valid staff records; and
2. FTE refers to the proportion of full time contracted hours that the post holder is contracted to work. 1 would indicate they work a full set of hours, 37.5 hours, and 0.5 that they worked half that time. For GPs in training grade contracts, 1 FTE is equal to 40 hours, and in this table these FTEs have been converted to the standard Workforce Minimum Data Set measure of 1 FTE equalling 37.5 hours, for consistency.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish his Department's final delivery plan on myalgic encephalomyelitis.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We aim to publish our myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), final delivery plan by the end of June 2025.

The plan will focus on boosting research, improving attitudes and education, and bettering the lives of the people with this debilitating disease. The responses to the interim delivery plan consultation, along with continued close engagement with other parts of the Government, the National Health Service, and external stakeholders, will inform the development of the final ME/CFS delivery plan.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to increase levels of access to (a) educational psychologists, (b) speech and language therapy and (c) child and adolescent mental health services in Devon.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We know that too many children and young people are not receiving the support they need, including in Devon, and that waits for accessing mental health services and community health services, such as speech and language therapy, are too long. We are determined to change that.

We are working closely with the Department for Education on reforms to the special educational needs and disabilities system to improve inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools.

As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future, we will provide access to a specialist mental health professional in every school. As set out in the NHS Planning Operational Guidance for 2025/26, we are committed to increasing the number of children and young people accessing mental health services by 345,000 compared to 2019. We are also providing £7 million to extend support for 24 Early Support Hubs that have a track record of helping thousands of young people in their community. This includes two early support hubs in Devon.

In Devon, the NHS Devon Integrated Care Board, local authorities, and education and health care providers are working together to align speech and language therapists to schools alongside wider community offers, so that more children and young people can get the help they need sooner, and without long waits.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to include provisions in the NHS 10-Year Plan on the (a) funding, (b) planning, (c) provision and (d) commissioning at (i) national and (ii) regional level of children’s palliative care.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We want a society where every child and young person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life. The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and families receive the care they need when and where they need it, including those who need palliative and end of life care. It is too early to say exactly what the 10-Year Health Plan will look like, but we expect palliative and end of life care to benefit from the plan’s three big shifts.

As part of the work to develop a 10-Year Health Plan, we have been carefully considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with extensive input at both national and regional levels. In February, I met key palliative and end of life care and hospice stakeholders in a roundtable format with a focus on long-term sector sustainability within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan. Additionally, I recently met my Hon. Friend the Member for York Central, and Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, to discuss the Commission on Palliative and End-of-Life Care’s first report. I welcome the report’s recent publication.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department has issued to integrated care boards on maintaining access to dental services in underserved communities.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning primary care dentistry and receive an annual allocation of funding to secure services to meet the needs of their population.

NHS England supports ICBs with their local commissioning responsibilities for primary dental services with the provision of nationally agreed policies and procedures. NHS England has also published guidance to support commissioners to take advantage of the opportunities offered to commission further and additional services through flexible commissioning, which enables the responsible commissioner to tailor services to meet local population oral health needs. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/opportunities-for-flexible-commissioning-in-primary-care-dentistry-a-framework-for-commissioners/

We are aware of the challenges faced in accessing a dentist, particularly in rural and coastal areas. The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

ICBs have started to advertise posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see up to 240 dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years. As of 10 April 2025, in England, there are 53 dentists in post with a further 44 dentists who have been recruited but are yet to start in post. Another 256 posts are currently advertised.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to increase the level of funding available for new GP premises in (a) rural areas and (b) West Dorset constituency.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to delivering a National Health Service that is fit for the future and recognises the importance of strategic, value for money investments in capital projects. We recently announced schemes which will benefit from the £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund to deliver upgrades this financial year to more than a thousand general practice (GP) surgeries across England.

At the local level, the Dorset Integrated Care Board (ICB) is responsible for deciding how the NHS budget for its area, including the West Dorset constituency, is spent and for allocating funding according to local priorities, such as new GP surgeries.

The Dorset ICB has been provisionally allocated the following amounts from capital programmes and operational capital for 2025/26:

• £34.3 million from our Constitutional Standards Recovery Fund;
• £9.2 million from our Estates Safety Fund;
• £1.4 million from our Primary Care Utilisation Fund; and
• £78.9 million in operational capital funding.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of routinely (a) recording and (b) matching new fathers’ health records to those of their children.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has not carried out a recent assessment of the merits of routinely recording and matching new fathers’ health records to those of their children.

The Personal Demographics Service (PDS) can record many relationships, including 'mother', 'father' and 'parent'. If a baby is born in England, then the midwife will create a PDS record and grant them a National Health Service number. They will link the birth mother's record to the child, and if the local maternity system supports it, they could also add the second parent at that time.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of (a) intergenerational inequality and (b) socio-economic status on mental health.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We recognise that many young people are particularly struggling with their mental health, and we know that socio-economic factors play an important role in supporting positive mental health and wellbeing.

That is why, as part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future, we will provide access to a specialist mental health professional in every school in England and create a network of open access community Young Futures hubs. We will also recruit 8,500 mental health workers across child and adult services to ease pressure on busy mental health services.

The Get Britain Working White Paper confirms the Government’s commitment to continuing to expand the number of places on Individual Placement Support schemes to help thousands more people with severe mental illness find and stay in employment, helping to interrupt the vicious cycle between poverty and mental illness.

Beyond this, we are taking a whole-of-Government approach to mental health and working with other Government departments to address intergenerational inequality and the socioeconomic determinants of mental health through the vehicle of the Government’s missions.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve conditions in psychiatric hospitals.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

In January 2025, the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) concluded its series of investigations into mental health inpatient settings. These identified ways we can improve mental health care, protect patients and the public, and create a safe working environment for staff. The HSSIB’s findings have been published in a series of reports, and we will formally respond to all the recommendations for the Department in due course.

Additionally, NHS England is taking forward its mental health, learning disability, and autism inpatient quality transformation programme to support cultural change and a reimagined model of care for the future in inpatient settings. Local health systems have now published their three-year plans for localising and realigning inpatient care in line with this vision.

As part of our plans to improve the mental health estate, we have invested over £560 million between 2020/21 and 2024/25 to eradicate dormitories in mental health facilities and give patients the privacy of their own ensuite bedroom. As of April 2025, 973 beds, out of a total of approximately 1,360, have been replaced and over 1,000 single rooms opened across over 40 sites.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of increases in National Insurance contributions on the financial sustainability of charitable hospices and the delivery of end-of-life care services.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We took the necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, enabling the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26.

The employer National Insurance contribution rise was implemented in April 2025, and planning guidance published on 30 January 2025 sets out the funding available to integrated care boards and the overall approach to funding providers for the 2025/26 financial year. It takes into account a variety of pay and non-pay factors and pressures on providers of secondary healthcare, including charitable hospices. Further information on the planning guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/2025-26-priorities-and-operational-planning-guidance/

We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England, to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. I am delighted that the first £25 million tranche of that funding, which Hospice UK kindly allocated and distributed to hospices throughout England, was fully spent by hospices on capital projects. An additional £75 million will be allocated in the coming weeks for use in 2025/26.

We are also providing £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. This is a continuation of the funding which until recently was known as the children and young people’s hospice grant.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the increase in the number of people that will have palliative care needs over the next 10 years.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Currently, approximately 600,000 people die per year in the United Kingdom. It is estimated that up to 90% of deaths could benefit from palliative and end of life care.

The Office for National Statistics has projected that, by 2040, approximately 800,000 people a year will die in the UK. Also, current trends point to a growing proportion of people dying from chronic disease, particularly cancer and dementia. Taking these considerations together, it has been estimated that the number of people needing palliative and end of life care could increase by 42% by 2040.

We have committed to develop a 10-Year Plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future, by driving three shifts in the way health care is delivered, from hospital to community, from treatment to prevention, and from analogue to digital. We will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our stakeholders as we develop the plan.

In February, I met with key palliative and end of life care and hospice stakeholders, in a roundtable format with a focus on long-term sector sustainability within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan. I have followed up with meetings with officials from the Department and NHS England. I also recently met with my Hon. Friend the Member for York Central, and Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, to discuss the progress of their independent commission into palliative and end of life care, including the commission’s first of three reports, published on 13 May, to which we will formally respond in the coming weeks.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the number of available dental appointments in (a) Mid Bedfordshire and (b) the UK.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Mid Bedfordshire constituency, this is the Bedfordshire Luton and Milton Keynes ICB. ICBs have been asked to start making extra urgent dental appointments available from April 2025. The Bedfordshire Luton and Milton Keynes ICB is expected to deliver 6,041 additional urgent dental appointments as part of the scheme.

ICBs have started to advertise posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see up to 240 dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years. As of 10 April 2025, in England, there are 53 dentists in post with a further 44 dentists who have been recruited but are yet to start in post. Another 256 posts are currently advertised.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the time taken by integrated care boards to add new National Institute for Health and Care Excellence-recommended medicines to their formularies on the ability of NHS patients to access new treatments.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new licensed medicines should be routinely funded by the NHS based on an assessment of their costs and benefits. The NHS in England is legally required to fund medicines recommended in a NICE technology appraisal, usually within three months of final guidance.

The NICE has published guidance on the adoption of medicines in local formularies which states that once a NICE technology appraisal recommends a medicine, it must be included in a local formulary within three months, providing it is clinically appropriate and relevant to the services provided by the organisation, or within 30 days for Early Access to Medicines Scheme medicines.

As part of the commitments made in the 2024 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access and growth (2024 VPAG), NHS England agreed to the development of a local formulary national minimum dataset within the first half of the 2024 VPAG, to increase visibility of local variation in the implementation of NICE guidance, identify where variation in local formularies may be creating barriers to access, and to confirm to NHS England when a NICE recommended treatment has been placed on a local formulary.

NHS England also agreed to use the dataset to inform a report, which will be published no less frequently than annually, identifying unwarranted variation between national guidance and local formularies.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support the (a) mental and (b) physical health of (i) fathers and (ii) their (A) partners and (B) families in the perinatal period.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to improving the support available to mothers, fathers, and partners who experience mental health difficulties, including postnatal depression, during the perinatal period.

Fathers and partners of women accessing specialist perinatal mental health services and maternal mental health services should be offered an evidence-based assessment for their mental health and signposted to sources of support as required. This can include NHS Talking Therapies services, which are available for anyone who needs support with their mental health. People can refer themselves online via the National Health Service website or by contacting their general practice.

In addition, in January 2025, the Department announced £126 million for the continuation of the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme in 2025/26 in 75 local authorities with high levels of deprivation. This includes £36.5 million for bespoke perinatal mental health and parent-infant relationship support, including for fathers.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) create a pathway for (i) expectant and (ii) new fathers and (b) ensure that NHS staff are trained to (A) engage with and (B) provide (1) information and (2) support to fathers.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Listening and responding to all women and families, including expectant and new fathers, is an essential part of providing safe and high-quality care. There are multiple actions in place that recognise and involve new and expectant fathers. These include:

• ensuring that fathers’ perspectives shape improvements to services and care, through Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnerships;
• encouraging fathers’ involvement in care for their babies in neonatal units, through Family Integrated Care, helping to strengthen the parent-infant bond and improve infant health outcomes;
• providing evidence-based mental health assessments and support for partners, including fathers, through Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Services. This has helped 5% to 10% of fathers experiencing mental health conditions during the perinatal period;
• ensuring that health visiting services are parent focussed and include both mothers and fathers, including in perinatal mental health support; and
• offering antenatal education services which are available to women and their families, including fathers, in the majority of trusts.

In addition, in January 2025, the Department announced £126 million for the continuation of the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme in 2025/26, in 75 local authorities with high levels of deprivation. This includes £36.5 million for bespoke perinatal mental health and parent-infant relationship support, including for fathers.

Employers in the health system are responsible for ensuring that their staff are trained to the required standards to deliver appropriate treatment for patients.

To support employers, NHS England has launched a number of initiatives to ensure that NHS staff are trained to engage with and provide information and support to fathers. This includes an e-learning module on handling difficult situations, and a Core Competency Framework, which sets out clear expectations for all trusts, aiming to address known variations in training and competency assessments. The framework includes a module on equality, equity, and personalised care.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many pregnant women were accompanied by (a) the child's father and (b) their partner during (i) antenatal booking-in appointments and (ii) antenatal scans in the most recent 12 month period for which data is available.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not hold information on how many pregnant women were accompanied by the child's father and their partner during antenatal booking-in appointments and antenatal scans.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing mandatory (a) Accessible Information Standard and (b) deaf awareness training for NHS staff.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Employers in the health system are responsible for ensuring that their staff are trained to the required standards to deliver safe and effective treatment for patients, and to deploy them in the best way to ensure the delivery of health services to their populations.

Since 2016, all National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers are expected to meet the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), which details the recommended approach to supporting the information and communication support needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss.

NHS England has been undertaking a review of the AIS to help ensure that the communication needs of people with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss are met in health and care provision.

A revised AIS will be published in due course. In the meantime, the current AIS remains in force, and therefore there should not be a gap in provision for people using services. NHS England is working to support implementation of the AIS with awareness raising, communication, and engagement, and a review of the current e-learning modules on the AIS. The intention is to ensure that staff and organisations in the NHS are aware of the AIS and the importance of meeting the information and communication needs of the disabled people using these services.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what representations he has received from people who have previously been sectioned under the Mental Health Act 1983.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Representations received from people who have previously been sectioned under the Mental Health Act 1983 have been used to modernise the Mental Health Act, to give patients greater choice, autonomy, enhanced rights and support, and to ensure that everyone is treated with dignity and respect throughout treatment.

The Mental Health Bill has been developed with input from those with lived experience from the outset. This legislation has been informed by an Independent Review into the Mental Health Act, and a public consultation on the Reforming the Mental Health Act White Paper. The public consultation received 1,119 individual responses, a significant proportion of which said that they had experience of contact with mental health services, detention under the act, and/or were a carer for someone under the act.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help improve the early diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in Yeovil constituency.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICB) in England to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

NHS England has established an ADHD taskforce which is working to bring together those with lived experience with experts from the National Health Service, education, charity, and justice sectors to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including timely and equitable access to services and support, with the report expected in the summer.

The Somerset ICB advises that it introduced a children and young people’s neurodevelopmental pathway and partnership advice line in 2021. The pathway offers assessment and support for ADHD and autism and since its introduction, NHS Somerset has doubled the capacity for first assessments. In respect of adults, the Somerset NHS Foundation Trust is working collaboratively with local partners to develop a new pathway and service model for the assessment and treatment of ADHD.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many cycles of NHS funded IVF treatment as recommended by NICE guidelines are provided in each integrated care board.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Information about integrated care board commissioning policy for National Health Service funded fertility services is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-funded-ivf-in-england/nhs-funded-in-vitro-fertilisation-ivf-in-england

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will list those medicines used by the NHS that were subject to (a) animal and (b) non-animal testing in the UK as part of the pre-clinical testing process.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Compiling a list of all the products that were developed with and without animal testing would take the medicine regulator a significant and disproportionate amount of time and resources.

Whilst new medicines are usually tested in animals, unless there is an alternative validated method, the majority of medicines used by the National Health Service are generic products, and these are usually licensed without any animal testing.

The Government is supporting and accelerating advances in biomedical science and technologies to reduce reliance on the use of animals in research, and importantly to avoid some of the scientific limitations of animal models of human diseases.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much (a) capital funding and (b) revenue funding has been allocated for the purchase of land near Junction 7 of the M3 for development of a new hospital for Basingstoke and North Hampshire.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The New Hospital Programme confirmed to the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on 7 May that it has included provision for the purchase of land for their scheme in this financial year’s capital budget. Revenue budget is not expected to be needed.

The funding amount will be confirmed once the short form business case is approved as per the business case process set out in HM Treasury’s Green Book.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to reduce waiting times for ADHD diagnoses.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICBs) in England to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

NHS England has established an ADHD taskforce which is working to bring together those with lived experience with experts from the National Health Service, education, charity, and justice sectors to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including timely and equitable access to services and support, with the report expected in the summer.

For the first time, NHS England will publish management information on ADHD prevalence and waits at a national level on 29 May 2025, as part of its ADHD data improvement plan, and will soon release technical guidance to ICBs to improve the recording of ADHD data, with a view to improving the quality of ADHD waits data. NHS England has also captured examples from ICBs who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services, and is using this information to support systems to tackle ADHD waiting lists and to provide support to address people’s needs.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing funding for ADHD services.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The ongoing Spending Review, which will be announced at my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Budget on 11 June, will set budgets for all areas of health.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the availability of beds in psychiatric intensive care units in (a) Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust and (b) other NHS trusts.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The number of mental health inpatient beds required to support a local population is dependent on both local mental health need and the effectiveness of the whole local mental health system in providing timely access to care and supporting people to stay well in the community, therefore reducing the likelihood of an inpatient admission being necessary.

The Department expects individual trusts and local health systems to effectively assess and manage bed capacity and the ‘flow’ of patients being discharged or moving to another setting.

Over the past few years, the National Health Service has been developing the community mental health framework to improve community support for people with severe mental illness, thus avoiding the need for an inpatient admission where possible, and freeing up more beds.

The 2025/26 NHS Planning Guidance sets out the expectation that ICBs should work with providers to improve patient flow through mental health crisis and acute pathways, reducing the average length of stay in adult acute beds, and improving access to children and young people’s mental health services.

As part of our mission to build an NHS fit for the future, we will make sure more mental health care is delivered in the community, close to people’s homes, through new models of care and support, so that fewer people need to go into hospital.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of applying a currency model to the commissioning of palliative and end of life care services.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative care and end of life care.

A suite of new community service currency models, including for palliative and end of life care in children and adults, have been developed and published in the 2025/26 NHS Payment Scheme. Further information on the new community service currency models and the 2025/26 NHS Payment Scheme is available, respectively, at the following two links:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/25-26NHSPS-Community-Currency-Guidance.pdf

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/2025-26-nhs-payment-scheme/

Currency models will help us to understand:

• the needs and complexity of our populations, allowing us to develop services around these needs;
• the resources, care contacts, and costs of supporting patients to meet these needs; and
• quality indicators and outcome measures to understand the effects of the care provided.

Combining these three elements provides an understanding of the overall value, and will support the achievement of the Government’s priorities for palliative care and end of life care.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of palliative and end of life care on patients; and how the 10 year plan will ensure that there is adequate provision of these services.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

No formal assessment has been made on the impact of palliative care and end of life care on patients, but we know that currently approximately 600,000 people die per year in the United Kingdom. Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative care and end of life care provision.

Whilst it is too soon to say what will be in the 10-Year Health Plan, the Department is investing £3 million through the National Institute for Health and Care Research in a new Policy Research Unit in Palliative and End of Life Care. This unit launched in January 2024 and will build the evidence base on palliative care and end of life care, with a specific focus on inequalities.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effectiveness of local health authorities appeals process as a means to secure additional funding for charitable hospices.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Integrated care board (ICBs) are responsible for the commissioning of palliative and end of life care services, to meet the needs of their local populations. ICBs receive funding via their annual core allocation for resources. This is their recurrent budget which is uplifted and adjusted for their population on an annual basis. It is for ICBs to locally determine the utilisation of their core allocation, including funding for all healthcare, according to their assessment of the relevant healthcare needs of their population. It will be through this process that decisions regarding funding for hospices are made.

Whilst the majority of palliative care and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at end of life and their loved ones. Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services.

We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care, and £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 16 April 2025 to Question 43484 on Independent Commission into Adult Social Care, what information his Department holds on which quarter of 2028 the phase two report will be published; when his Department plans to respond to the phase two report; and what estimate he has made of the subsequent timetable for consultation.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Chaired by Baroness Casey of Blackstock, the independent commission into adult social care will be split over two phases.

Phase one, reporting in 2026, will focus on how we can make the most of the existing resources to improve people’s lives over the medium term. Phase two, reporting by 2028, will then consider the long-term transformation of adult social care, setting us on the road to fundamental reform that will build a social care system fit for the future.

Baroness Casey’s commission is independent, but it has been tasked by the Government to report back by 2028. The quarter in which the phase two report will be published will be determined in due course. The Government will consider and respond to the commission’s recommendations, including whether there is a need for further consultation or legislation, when it reports.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to implement the planned transformation of the NHS App to support seamless delivery of pharmacy services, including by enabling patients to nominate distance-selling pharmacies for home delivery.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The NHS App supports seamless pharmacy services by allowing patients to order repeat prescriptions, nominate their preferred pharmacy, and manage their medication. A new prescription tracker feature means that nearly 1,500 pharmacies are now offering the new prescription tracking service through the NHS App, which provides updates on when prescriptions are ready to be collected. Work has also commenced on an ‘in App’ notification, which will enhance this feature further.

In relation to nominating distance selling pharmacies (DSPs), users of the NHS App are currently given the option to nominate a ‘high street’ or an ‘online-only’ pharmacy. For those wishing to nominate ‘online-only’ pharmacies, users are directed to the internet pharmacies section, to search for and contact their chosen DSP directly, as key information is required by the DSP before the nomination can be applied.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the decision of the Supreme Court in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16, what plans they have to include the biological sex of civil servants in reports about those employed by the Department of Health and Social Care and its agencies and public bodies.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department, like all other Government departments (OGDs) and public bodies, has a Public Sector Duty to ensure equality of opportunity, including when reporting on sex. This means the Department will continue to consider the impact of its policies and decisions on all people with protected characteristics. The Department will continue to include the biological sex of civil servants in reports about those employed by the Department and its agencies and public bodies.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the potential impact of her Department's White Paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system, published on 12 May 2025 on social care.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The immigration White Paper, Restoring Control over the Immigration System, was collectively agreed across Government, and is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6821f334ced319d02c906103/restoring-control-over-the-immigration-system-web-optimised.pdf

In the technical annex, published alongside the White Paper, the Home Office has estimated an annual reduction of approximately 7,000 main applicants as a result of ending overseas recruitment for care workers and senior care workers. This is based on their internal management information for entry visas granted covering the period March 2024 to February 2025. This estimate reflects that there was a drop in visa grants of more than 90% compared with the 12 months ending in March 2024, when more than 83,000 entry visas were granted to care workers and senior care workers. The analysis in the technical annex will be refined and included within the relevant impact assessments accompanying the rule changes, as appropriate. The technical annex is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6821b49bdb6463b14cd8189c/restoring-control-over-the-immigration-system-technical-annex.pdf

As set out in the immigration White Paper, visa extensions and in-country switching for those already in the country and with working rights will be permitted for a transition period until 2028. This will be kept under review.

DHSC are providing up to £12.5m to regional partnerships in 2025/26 to respond to unethical international recruitment practices in the adult social care sector. This includes supporting international recruits impacted by sponsor licence revocations to find alternative employment.

Care workers are essential to those who draw on care and support, helping them to maintain their quality of life, independence, and connection to the things that matter to them. In England, as per the Care Act 2014, it is the responsibility of local government to develop a market that delivers a wide range of sustainable, high-quality care and support services, that will be available to their communities. English local authorities have responsibility under the Care Act 2014 to meet social care needs, and statutory guidance directs them to ensure there is sufficient workforce in adult social care.

The Department continues to monitor adult social care workforce capacity, bringing together national data sets from Skills for Care’s monthly tracking data, the Capacity Tracker tool, and intelligence from key sector partners.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the white paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system, published on 12 May 2025, on the provision of a satisfactory standard of social care.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The immigration White Paper, Restoring Control over the Immigration System, was collectively agreed across Government, and is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6821f334ced319d02c906103/restoring-control-over-the-immigration-system-web-optimised.pdf

In the technical annex, published alongside the White Paper, the Home Office has estimated an annual reduction of approximately 7,000 main applicants as a result of ending overseas recruitment for care workers and senior care workers. This is based on their internal management information for entry visas granted covering the period March 2024 to February 2025. This estimate reflects that there was a drop in visa grants of more than 90% compared with the 12 months ending in March 2024, when more than 83,000 entry visas were granted to care workers and senior care workers. The analysis in the technical annex will be refined and included within the relevant impact assessments accompanying the rule changes, as appropriate. The technical annex is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6821b49bdb6463b14cd8189c/restoring-control-over-the-immigration-system-technical-annex.pdf

As set out in the immigration White Paper, visa extensions and in-country switching for those already in the country and with working rights will be permitted for a transition period until 2028. This will be kept under review.

DHSC are providing up to £12.5m to regional partnerships in 2025/26 to respond to unethical international recruitment practices in the adult social care sector. This includes supporting international recruits impacted by sponsor licence revocations to find alternative employment.

Care workers are essential to those who draw on care and support, helping them to maintain their quality of life, independence, and connection to the things that matter to them. In England, as per the Care Act 2014, it is the responsibility of local government to develop a market that delivers a wide range of sustainable, high-quality care and support services, that will be available to their communities. English local authorities have responsibility under the Care Act 2014 to meet social care needs, and statutory guidance directs them to ensure there is sufficient workforce in adult social care.

The Department continues to monitor adult social care workforce capacity, bringing together national data sets from Skills for Care’s monthly tracking data, the Capacity Tracker tool, and intelligence from key sector partners.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a list of geographical areas which do not have access to a pharmacy within 10 miles.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Data from June 2024 shows that approximately 93% of the population of England lived within two miles of a pharmacy. Data on distances travelled beyond two miles is not recorded.

In some rural areas where there is no pharmacy, general practitioners are permitted to dispense medicines to their patients. Patients can also choose to access medicines and pharmacy services through any of the over 400 National Health Service online pharmacies that are contractually required to deliver prescription medicines free of charge to patients anywhere in the country.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to introduce a national framework mandating GP acceptance of ADHD diagnoses from Right to Choose providers.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

There are no current plans to introduce a national framework mandating general practice (GP) acceptance of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnoses from Right to Choose providers.

Shared care within the National Health Service refers to an arrangement whereby a specialist doctor formally transfers responsibility for all or some aspects of their patient’s care, such as the prescription of medication, over to the patient’s GP.

The General Medical Council (GMC) has issued guidance on prescribing and managing medicines, which helps GPs decide whether to accept shared care responsibilities. The GMC has made it clear that GPs cannot be compelled to enter into a shared care agreement. GPs may decline such requests on clinical or capacity grounds.

If a shared care arrangement cannot be put in place after the treatment has been initiated, the responsibility for continued prescribing falls upon the specialist clinician. This applies to both NHS and private medical care.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the decision of the Supreme Court in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16, what plans they have to issue guidance to NHS staff regarding patient requests to be placed on a ward with other patients of the same sex; and whether staff who report patients with those requests will face disciplinary action.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We have always supported the protection of single-sex spaces based on biological sex. The Supreme Court’s ruling about the meaning of ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 has provided clarity to service providers.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has already committed to publishing guidance about placing transgender patients on hospital wards in the summer.

The National Health Service is reviewing its Delivering same-sex accommodation guidance and will ensure it reflects the Supreme Court’s ruling and is aligned with the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s statutory guidance, when this becomes available.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of changes to employer National Insurance contributions on care home providers.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government did consider the cost pressures facing adult social care as part of the wider consideration of local government spending within the Spending Review process in 2024.

To enable local authorities to deliver key services such as adult social care, the Government has made available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes an £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the decision of the Supreme Court in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16, whether they will issue guidance to ensure that NHS staff who refer to another person by the pronoun of their biological sex do not face disciplinary action.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

It is the responsibility of National Health Service employers to determine their own policies for staff, in accordance with their legal obligations. We expect NHS providers to follow the clarity that the Supreme Court’s ruling brings.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the need for improved access to mental health services for people experiencing bereavement following sudden or traumatic deaths.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

No assessment has been made. It is important that anybody who wants to access bereavement support can do so. We encourage anybody that wants to access support to speak with their general practitioner in the first instance.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning the significant majority of health services in their areas, ensuring these services meet the reasonable needs of their local population. NHS England has developed guidance to support ICBs with their duty to commission palliative care services within integrated care systems. This statutory guidance states commissioners should ensure there is sufficient access to bereavement services available for families and carers, including children and young people. Additionally, every local authority now has a multi-agency suicide prevention plan in place to address the needs of people in their area, which should include suicide bereavement support services.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what role his Department plans for hospices to play in shifting care into the community.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life. The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting, and hospices will have a big role to play in that shift.

Whilst the majority of palliative care and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at end of life and their loved ones.

In February, I met with key palliative care and end of life care and hospice stakeholders, in a roundtable format, with a focus on long-term sector sustainability within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 13 May 2025 to Question 50264 on General Practitioners: Pay, from which year is the Labour Force survey data.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is conducted by the Office for National Statistics. The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) uses the LFS’ data from April to June, from the relevant year. For example, in the ASHE for 2025, the LFS’ data from April to June of 2025 will be used.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help armed forces (a) veterans and (b) families to access NHS dental treatment.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are working to ensure that everyone who needs to see a dentist will be able to do so. This includes our valued members of the Armed Forces community, including our respected veterans, who have spent their careers defending our country.

The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists. Armed forces families and veterans will be able to benefit from the improved access these changes bring, like other civilian members of the public.

Free NHS dental care is available to people who meet the following criteria:

- under 18 years old, or under 19 years old and in full-time education;

- pregnant or have had a baby in the previous 12 months;

- being treated in an NHS hospital and the treatment is carried out by the hospital dentist, although patients may have to pay for any dentures or bridges;

- receiving low-income benefits, or under 20 years old and a dependant of someone receiving low-income benefits; or

- receiving War Pension Scheme payments, or Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments and the treatment is for your accepted disability.

Support is also available through the NHS Low Income Scheme for those patients who are not eligible for an exemption or a full remission of dental patient charges. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/dentists/who-is-entitled-to-free-nhs-dental-treatment-in-england/

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many times were the partners of women diagnosed with postnatal depression (a) engaged with and (b) assessed for their mental health by NHS mental health services in the most recent 12 month period for which data is available.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England collects some management data on the mental health service offers made to partners. However, this data is not centrally validated.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to include multi-year funding for voluntary sector providers of children’s (a) palliative care and (b) hospices in the NHS 10-Year Plan.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The 10-Year Health Plan will set out how the Government will fix our broken National Health Service. Too many babies, children, and young people, including those towards the end of their lives, are not receiving the support and care they deserve, and we know that waiting times for services are far too long. We are determined to change that, by changing the way services operate, rather than by simply funding more of the same.

Whilst it is too soon to say what will be in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are continuing to support the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. We are also providing £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. This is a continuation of the funding which until recently was known as the Children and Young People’s Hospice Grant.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the decision of the Supreme Court in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16, whether they will issue guidance to hospital trusts to ensure patients of male biological sex are not placed in wards or facilities used by patients of female biological sex, except in emergencies; and whether they will publish this guidance within six weeks.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We have always supported the protection of single-sex spaces based on biological sex.

The Supreme Court ruling about the meaning of ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 case has provided much needed confidence and clarity to service providers.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has already committed to publishing guidance about placing transgender patients on hospital wards in the summer.

The National Health Service is currently reviewing its Delivering same-sex accommodation guidance and will ensure it reflects the Supreme Court’s ruling and is aligned with the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s statutory guidance, when this becomes available.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what criteria they will use in reducing staff costs by 50 per cent for NHS England; and how this methodology was established with regard to local and regional outcomes.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Ministers and senior Department officials are working with the new executive team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to jointly lead the formation of a new joint centre.

At this stage, while we are scoping the transformation programme, it is too early to share details of any programmes to reduce staff costs, but we are looking closely at areas of duplication between NHS England and the Department. The reductions will be achieved through a mix of efficiencies, removing duplication between the Department and NHS England and stopping functions at the centre that will support our aim of empowering the frontline.

The Government is committed to transparency and will consider how best to ensure the public and parliamentarians are informed.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 13 May 2025 to question 50264 on General Practitioners: Pay, whether the methodology of the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings been updated since its introduction in 2004.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) was introduced in 2004, replacing the New Earnings Survey. Since its introduction, some changes have occurred, the key ones being:

• improvements to the questionnaire and the way in which geographic results were compiled, in 2005 and 2006;
• the introduction of automatic occupation coding and changes to stratum classification, that led to changes in the weights, in 2007;
• changes to the Standard Occupational Classification in 2010 and 2020;
• changes to the Standard Industrial Classification in 2007;
• a reduction in the sample by 20% in 2007 and 2008, followed by the full 1% sample being reinstated in 2009, following consultation with users as to the impact of the sample cut;
• response rates being decreased to between 140,000 and 150,000 from 2020 to 2022, due to the impact of COVID-19, although they started to recover in 2023 and returned to normal levels of response in 2024; and
• the introduction of methodological improvements to bring in more observations left in error, particularly for high earners in 2024.

Further information can be found in the ASHE’s methodology and guidance webpage, which is available at the following link:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/methodologies/annualsurveyofhoursandearningsashemethodologyandguidance

In addition, information on the ASHE’s data sources and quality, along with the latest publication, is available at the following link:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/annualsurveyofhoursandearnings/2024#data-sources-and-quality

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many care workers there are in the United Kingdom; and what assessment they have made of impact of the planned end of visas for overseas care workers on the number of care workers to meet demand.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Every day our 1.59 million-strong adult social care workforce provides vital care and support to people of all ages and with diverse needs. Care workers are essential to those who draw on care and support, helping them maintain their quality of life, independence and connection to the things that matter to them.

Adult social care is a devolved matter. In England in 2023/24, data from Skills for Care shows that there were 905,000 filled care worker roles.

The Home Office has estimated an annual reduction of approximately 7,000 main applicants as a result of ending overseas recruitment for social care visas. This is based on their internal management information for entry visas granted, covering the period of March 2024 to February 2025. This estimate reflects that there was a drop in visa grants of more than 90% compared to the 12 months ending in March 2024, when more than 83,000 entry visas were granted to care workers and senior care workers.

The analysis in the Technical Annex, published alongside the Immigration White Paper, will be refined and included within the relevant Impact Assessments accompanying the rule changes, as appropriate.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the decision of the Supreme Court in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16, what guidance they will issue to (1) the Department of Health and Social Care, and (2) agencies and public bodies that work with the Department, about updating their policies and written guidance; whether they will consult the organisation Sex Matters in doing so; and whether the revised policies and written guidance will be laid before Parliament.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Supreme Court ruling about the meaning of ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 case has provided much needed confidence and clarity to service providers. We expect all providers to follow the clarity this ruling provides.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is currently reviewing sections of the draft Code of Practice which need updating. They will shortly undertake a public consultation to understand how the practical implications of this judgment may be best reflected in the updated guidance, which will be seeking views from affected stakeholders.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the decision of the Supreme Court in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16, what plans they have to issue guidance to (1) royal medical colleges, (2) healthcare professional organisations, and (3) other stakeholders that interact with the department, about implementing the Supreme Court ruling.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Supreme Court ruling about the meaning of ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 case has provided much needed confidence and clarity to service providers. We expect all providers to follow the clarity this ruling provides.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is currently reviewing sections of the draft Code of Practice which need updating. They will shortly undertake a public consultation to understand how the practical implications of this judgment may be best reflected in the updated guidance, which will be seeking views from affected stakeholders.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the press release entitled Crack teams get patients off waiting lists at twice the speed, published on 16 March 2025, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of sending doctors into areas of highest economic inactivity on waiting lists in areas from which the doctors were seconded.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

No assessment is currently planned regarding the potential impact of sending doctors into areas with the highest economic inactivity on waiting lists in the areas from which the doctors were seconded.

As set out in the Elective Reform Plan, we continue to target waiting list performance across the country, so that 92% of patients return to waiting no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment by March 2029. In March 2025, performance against this standard was 59.8%, 2.6% higher than a year earlier.

The Further Faster 20 programme is supporting these efforts by ensuring that this improvement is seen in areas that can benefit the most. The positive progress made from October 2024 to March 2025, with waiting lists across these areas being reduced by over 57,000, means that almost half, specifically 47.9%, of the national reduction in the overall waiting list between those months has come from the 20 hospitals involved in the scheme.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with providers of community equipment services on their role in supporting (a) timely hospital discharge and (b) effective community-based care.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Local National Health Service procuring authorities are responsible for assessing the timeliness and the quality of medical equipment delivered for their patients, procured under contracts they hold with suppliers.

Timely provision of community equipment supports people to remain as independent as possible, for as long as possible, and contributes significantly to the priorities of the Department, the NHS, and local authorities in terms of hospital avoidance and discharge.

Many NHS trusts and local authorities offer an Integrated Community Equipment Service (ICES) within the integrated health and social care system, as they support both the home first agenda and hospital flows. These services can be provided in-house or by external suppliers following a tender exercise. An ICES enables people to remain in or return to their homes as the primary setting for care, avoiding unnecessary stays in hospital or care homes. Also, an ICES facilitates timely hospital admissions, treatment, and discharge processes, minimising delays and improving capacity across the sector.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help prevent violence and harassment towards NHS staff.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Everyone working in the National Health Service has a fundamental right to be safe at work. There is a zero-tolerance approach to any incidents of harassment or abuse against NHS staff.

Individual employers are responsible for the health and safety of their staff, and they put in place measures, including security, training, and emotional support, for staff affected by violence. To support them, NHS England is working on initiatives to prevent and reduce violence and aggression from patients, their families, and the public.

On 9 April 2025, the Government announced that the Social Partnership Forum’s recommendations on tackling and reducing violence, part of the 2023 Agenda for Change pay deal, have been accepted. These include the significant commitments of tackling violence and aggression against NHS staff, including improving data and the reporting of incidences, and ensuring strengthened risk assessments, training, and support for victims.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to set out a timeframe for the reduction of mental health waiting times.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The long waits for mental health services are being driven by increasing demand in a system in desperate need of change.

The Government is already responding by delivering new and innovative models of care in the community. As part of this, we have launched six neighbourhood adult mental health centres that are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to bring together community, crisis, and inpatient care.

NHS England’s Planning Guidance for 2025/26 makes clear that for this year, to support reform and improvements, we expect all providers to reduce the variation in children and young people accessing services and improve productivity.

We are also improving data quality, so we can support providers to understand the demand across their areas. Since July 2023, NHS England has included waiting time metrics for referrals to urgent and community-based mental health services in its monthly mental health statistics publication, to help services to target the longest waits.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the is taking to help increase the number of midwifery staff in hospitals in Greater Manchester.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Decisions about the recruitment of midwifery staff are a matter for individual National Health Service trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level to ensure they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.

We will publish a refreshed workforce plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the number of midwives in Stepping Hill hospital.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Decisions about the recruitment of midwifery staff are a matter for individual National Health Service trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level to ensure they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.

We will publish a refreshed workforce plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with providers of community equipment services on service delivery in the context of integrated care in the next (a) five and (b) 10 years.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

On 30 January 2025, NHS England published guidance on Standardising community health services, specifically codifying core services, which can be found at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/standardising-community-health-services/

Community health services cover a diverse range of healthcare delivery, and the guidance supports improved commissioning and delivery of community healthcare services. Codifying community health services will help to better assess demand and capacity and will help commissioners make investment choices as they design neighbourhood health provision that shifts care to community-based settings.

This publication is available for designing, commissioning, and delivering community health services, including neighbourhood health. Integrated care boards and their partners should consider the core components to support demand and capacity assessment and planning with providers, and should ensure the best use of funding to meet local needs and priorities.

Many National Health Service trusts and local authorities offer an Integrated Community Equipment Service (ICES) within the integrated health and social care system, as they support both the home first agenda and hospital flows. These services can be provided in-house or by external suppliers following a tender exercise. An ICES enables people to remain in or return to their homes as the primary setting for care, avoiding unnecessary stays in hospital or care homes. Also, an ICES facilitates timely hospital admissions, treatment, and discharge processes, minimising delays and improving capacity across the sector.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the decision of the Supreme Court in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16, what plans they have to ensure that NHS services offered to people of the female biological sex are provided by staff of female biological sex; and whether they will issue guidance about the rights of patients to request a staff member of the same biological sex.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Supreme Court ruling about the meaning of ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 case has provided much needed confidence and clarity to service providers. We expect all providers to follow the clarity this ruling provides.

National Health Services are patient centred, and the NHS Constitution is clear that patients have the right to receive care and treatment that is appropriate to them, meets their needs, and reflects their preferences.

Patients are able to request that intimate care is provided by someone of the same sex. This is recognised through the accompanying Care Quality Commission statutory guidance to the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. In line with this guidance, we expect that providers will make every reasonable effort to respect patient preferences.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of trends in the length of NHS waiting lists in the Black Country since 4 July 2024.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

In July 2024, the waiting list at the Black Country Integrated Care Board (ICB) was 192,268. Of these, 110,482, or 57.5% of pathways, were waiting within 18 weeks.

The latest data shows that as of March 2025, the waiting list at the Black Country ICB has decreased by over 13,631, to 178,637 since July 2024. Of these, 102,618, 57.4% of pathways were waiting within 18 weeks.

We promised change, and we’ve delivered early, with a reduction in the list of over 200,000 pathways. We have also now exceeded our pledge to deliver an extra two million operations, scans, and appointments, having now delivered over 3.5 million more appointments across the country.

This marks a vital First Step to delivering on the commitment that 92% of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment, in line with the National Health Service constitutional standard, by March 2029.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to incorporate mental health training into midwifery education.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

There are no such plans. Undergraduate midwifery education and training already incorporates aspects of mental health training. It is the responsibility of the Approved Education Institutions and practice partners to develop the specific content and design of midwifery programmes to meet the standards set by the midwifery regulator, the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to hold discussions with suppliers of medical equipment to community care services on social care reform.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

On 30 January 2025, NHS England published guidance on Standardising community health services, specifically codifying core services, which can be found at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/standardising-community-health-services/

Community health services cover a diverse range of healthcare delivery, and the guidance supports improved commissioning and delivery of community healthcare services. Codifying community health services will help to better assess demand and capacity and will help commissioners make investment choices as they design neighbourhood health provision that shifts care to community-based settings.

This publication is available for designing, commissioning, and delivering community health services, including neighbourhood health. Integrated care boards and their partners should consider the core components to support demand and capacity assessment and planning with providers, and should ensure the best use of funding to meet local needs and priorities.

Many National Health Service trusts and local authorities offer an Integrated Community Equipment Service (ICES) within the integrated health and social care system, as they support both the home first agenda and hospital flows. These services can be provided in-house or by external suppliers following a tender exercise. An ICES enables people to remain in or return to their homes as the primary setting for care, avoiding unnecessary stays in hospital or care homes. Also, an ICES facilitates timely hospital admissions, treatment, and discharge processes, minimising delays and improving capacity across the sector.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department’s long-term plan is for the community equipment services sector in the health and social care system.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Local National Health Service procuring authorities are responsible for assessing the timeliness and the quality of medical equipment delivered for their patients, procured under contracts they hold with suppliers.

Timely provision of community equipment supports people to remain as independent as possible, for as long as possible, and contributes significantly to the priorities of the Department, the NHS, and local authorities in terms of hospital avoidance and discharge.

Many NHS trusts and local authorities offer an Integrated Community Equipment Service (ICES) within the integrated health and social care system, as they support both the home first agenda and hospital flows. These services can be provided in-house or by external suppliers following a tender exercise. An ICES enables people to remain in or return to their homes as the primary setting for care, avoiding unnecessary stays in hospital or care homes. Also, an ICES facilitates timely hospital admissions, treatment, and discharge processes, minimising delays and improving capacity across the sector.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 12 May to Question 50557 on Prescriptions: ICT, whether he plans to ensure all Electronic Prescription Service Pharmacies use the Real Time Exemption Checking Service.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

There are no current plans to mandate use of the Real Time Exemption Checking service in all pharmacies using the Electronic Prescription Service.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support mothers with post-partum depression.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are committed to ensuring that all women and babies receive the safe, personalised, and compassionate care they need, at all stages of pregnancy and post-partum.

A range of specialist mental health services have been made available to women during the perinatal period. For women with, or at risk of, mental health problems, who are planning a pregnancy, who are pregnant, or who have a baby up to two years old, specialist perinatal mental health services provide care in all 42 integrated care system (ICS) areas of England. For women experiencing mental health difficulties directly arising from, or related to, their maternity or neonatal experience, Maternal Mental Health Services are operational in 41 of the 42 ICS areas in England, with the final ICS in England due to launch their service by the end of Quarter 1 of 2025/26. Additionally, 165 Mother and Baby Unit beds have now been commissioned, with 153 currently operational. These units provide inpatient care to women who experience severe mental health difficulties during and after pregnancy.

NHS England’s guidance sets out that all women who have given birth should be offered a postnatal check-up with their general practitioner (GP) after six to eight weeks. This check-up provides an important opportunity for women to be listened to by their GP in a discreet, supportive environment, and for women to be assessed and supported not just in their physical recovery post-birth but also their mental health.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of (a) collating and (b) publishing NHS tribunal data.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

This information is not held centrally by the Department or NHS England. There are currently no plans for an analysis of the potential merits of collating and publishing National Health Service tribunal data.

Found: and Local Government, the Ministry of Justice, the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: (DHSC) 10 Department for Education (2024), Keeping children safe, helping families thrive Drug and alcohol

Found: These include the Department of Health and Social Care, the Ministry of Justice and The Home Office.

Found: including for women in prison and in the community and for young women and girls, are increasing (DHSC

Found: Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls including the Department for Education (DfE), Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Children and Families Policy Research Unit is commissioned by the Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC

Found: There is particular commissioning potential within both the Department of Health and Social Care and

Found: NHS England and Department for Health and Social Care - “We recommend that NHS England and DHSC introduce

Found: collaboration between the Home Office, Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC

Found: contributes (or could contribute) to tackling VAWG, including MHCLG, DWP, DBT, DSIT, DCMS, DfE and DHSC

Found: guidance regarding joined up commissioning on VAWG when domestic abuse is present in 50% of caseloads; DHSC

Found: Get Britain Working White Paper and the Youth Guarantee will require join up between DWP, DfE and DHSC

Found:  Is shared across all government departments supporting young people (DWP, DfE, DHSC, DCMS).  Is

Found: The Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care are reviewing and updating

Found: The FCDO is working closely with other government departments, including DEFRA, DBT, DESNZ and DHSC

Found: The FCDO is working closely with other government departments, including DEFRA, DBT, DESNZ and DHSC

Found: Education (DfE), and cross-government partners including the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC

Found: Other ministries such as the Department for Education, the Home Office, the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: the EU, the UK has not codified in law labelling descriptors for these type of products – Current DHSC

Found: , pharmaceuticals were the third largest sector for exported goods at over £24 billion.11 8 DSIT, DHSC

Found: important that the published plan and subsequent implementation joins up activity across DSIT and DHSC

Found: Fund, Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT), Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC

Found: In December 2024, the DHSC admitted that thousands of young women on the lowest incomes have undergone

Found: uploads/2024/08/AXREM-State- of-the-Nation-Report-4WEB.pdf Commercial Pipeline for the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Government, Department for Transport, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Sure Start and the Social Exclusion Task Force, and non-executive director of the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: that the Government intends to address this challenge cross-departmentally, with input from DSIT, DHSC

Found: integrated care systems have been highlighted in three recent reports, see Lord Darzi’s review (DHSC

Found: In areas that are found to have “widespread and / or systemic failings”, there should be a DHSC improvement

Found: Children and Families Policy Research Unit is commissioned by the Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC

Found: support recommendation 2 from the Public Accounts Select Committee item on SEND (Jan 2025) - Work with DHSC

Found: DfE and DHSC should conduct research with those professionals who have left roles within the education

Found: (DHSC) and NHS England, to develop a workforce plan for children and young people

Found: It requires input as a minimum from the Department of Health and Social Care.

Found: .  Investigate increasing demand: Collaborate with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)

Found: Since its launch, N-ABLES has held several meetings with representatives of the DfE and DHSC and is

Found: Member of the House of Lords, Member of the House of Lords, and Department of Health and Social Care

Found: A public health mission, for example, should not stop at the Department of Health and Social Care –

Found: report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 3 May 2024 32 Department of Health and Social Care

Found: particular, the NAO Report in 2020 highlighted that the Treasury, the Cabinet Office, the Department of Health and Social Care

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to implement (a) recommendations on guidance for parents on the effects of screen time on infants and (b) other recommendations in the former Education Committee’s Fourth Report of Session 2023-24 entitled Screen time: impacts on education and wellbeing, HC 118.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department recognises the Education Committee’s concerns about the impacts of screen time and we are committed across government to protecting children online. We have responded to the Committee’s report.

The department and cross-government partners including the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) are taking action now, based on robust evidence and good practice, to provide guidance and support to schools, children and parents. Across government we are taking strong action on regulation to ensure the technology industry is clear on the government's expectations of how they should and must support children’s safety and wellbeing. The effective implementation of the Online Safety Act is a government priority. With leadership from DSIT and Ofcom, the Act is putting in place wide reaching protections for children.

There are areas where further evidence is needed, and it will also take time to understand the impact of guidance and how it could be improved in future. However, we have set out how all recommendations will be carefully considered as future actions are developed.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of PIP reforms on support for carers receiving carer's allowance.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We have committed to introduce a new requirement that, in addition to the existing eligibility criteria, claimants must score a minimum of four points in at least one daily living activity to be eligible for the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment. Our intention is that – subject to parliamentary approval – the changes will apply to new claims and award reviews from November 2026.

This government is committed to supporting carers, who do one of the most valuable jobs in society, unpaid. As the Green Paper sets out, we are consulting on the support needed for those who may lose any entitlements as a result of not receiving PIP daily living and what this support could look like. We will also work closely with the DHSC and others on how the health and eligible care needs of those who would lose entitlement to PIP could be met outside the benefits system.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department plans to take to ensure good quality therapy for care experienced children in a timely manner that meets the needs of families.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010 require an assessment of the health needs for every child when they enter care and a plan devised to address their needs. Together with the Department of Health and Social Care, the department is reviewing existing statutory guidance, including these regulations, to further ensure care-experienced young people receive the support needed for their health and wellbeing, including access to the requisite treatment or therapy. The guidance will strengthen expectations on key local and national organisations regarding promotion of the cohort’s physical, emotional and mental health, including acting on any early signs of health issues.

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will introduce corporate parenting responsibilities on government departments and relevant public bodies, to ensure these partners take account of care-experienced young people’s vulnerabilities when designing policies and delivering services. This will include organisations that deliver health and wellbeing services.

Annual pupil premium plus funding of £2,570, managed by the local authority’s virtual school head, is available to support looked-after children and can be used to facilitate therapeutic services and support.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she will take to support people with (a) Multiple Sclerosis and (b) other fluctuating or progressive neurological conditions under the proposed reforms to PIP.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

I recognise the vital role played by carers and family members in supporting individuals with MS. Through the Green Paper we are consulting on the support needed for those who may lose any entitlements because of proposed changes to PIP daily living and what this support could look like. We will also work closely with the DHSC and others on how the health and eligible care needs of those who would lose entitlement to PIP could be met outside the benefits system.

In the Green Paper, we committed to a review of the PIP assessment which I will be leading. Through the review, we want to make sure that the PIP assessment is fit for the future. This includes considering the PIP assessment criteria – including descriptors - and how the PIP assessment can play a role in unlocking wider support to enable better health, good work, higher living standards and greater independence.

We outlined our commitment to improving the PIP assessment in the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper. We will take action to get the basics right and improve the experience for people who use the system of health and disability benefits. This includes recording health assessments as standard to build greater trust in the system. The aim is to create greater transparency, using recordings as a learning opportunity to consider potential improvements to the quality of the assessment process.

I will work closely with disabled people, the organisations that represent them and others, to ensure that the voices of those who go through the PIP assessment, those who support them, and those with expertise in the system are embedded in the review.

The scope and timing of the review will be developed in close collaboration with stakeholders. I have now begun the first phase of this work, inviting stakeholders with a range of experience and expertise to roundtables to consider the scope and timing. I will then publish the Terms of Reference for the review in due course.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that (a) carers and (b) family members of people with Multiple Sclerosis are (i) supported and (ii) recognised in the context of proposed changes to disability-related benefits.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

I recognise the vital role played by carers and family members in supporting individuals with MS. Through the Green Paper we are consulting on the support needed for those who may lose any entitlements because of proposed changes to PIP daily living and what this support could look like. We will also work closely with the DHSC and others on how the health and eligible care needs of those who would lose entitlement to PIP could be met outside the benefits system.

In the Green Paper, we committed to a review of the PIP assessment which I will be leading. Through the review, we want to make sure that the PIP assessment is fit for the future. This includes considering the PIP assessment criteria – including descriptors - and how the PIP assessment can play a role in unlocking wider support to enable better health, good work, higher living standards and greater independence.

We outlined our commitment to improving the PIP assessment in the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper. We will take action to get the basics right and improve the experience for people who use the system of health and disability benefits. This includes recording health assessments as standard to build greater trust in the system. The aim is to create greater transparency, using recordings as a learning opportunity to consider potential improvements to the quality of the assessment process.

I will work closely with disabled people, the organisations that represent them and others, to ensure that the voices of those who go through the PIP assessment, those who support them, and those with expertise in the system are embedded in the review.

The scope and timing of the review will be developed in close collaboration with stakeholders. I have now begun the first phase of this work, inviting stakeholders with a range of experience and expertise to roundtables to consider the scope and timing. I will then publish the Terms of Reference for the review in due course.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 7 April (HL6018), and to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office on 21 October 2019 (HC463), why it was possible, in the case of the latter, to provide a full list of Permanent Secretary-level appointments, but not in the case of the former; and whether they will now provide a corresponding list of current Permanent Secretary-level appointments, including whether each appointment is fixed-term and its expiry date.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Since 2014, permanent secretary appointments have been made on the basis of a five year fixed tenure; this is set out in contracts of employment. There is no automatic presumption in favour of renewal, but renewals are possible at the discretion of the Prime Minister.

The table below sets out the tenure end dates of the current permanent secretary group.

*Andrew Goodall is on secondment from NHS Wales

**Andy Start is on a Fixed Term contract

*** Tamara Finkelstein, Jenny Harries and Sarah Munby are leaving the Civil Service in Summer 2025, and therefore before their tenure end date

Found: Ireland Wales MOJ MOD DWP Scotland HO MHCLG DHSC % change Main Estimates: Government spending plans

Found: announced in March 2025 that NHS England will be abolished and brought back into the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Ministry of Justice Process evaluation of the Victim Notification Scheme (PDF) 2025 66 Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Ministry of Justice Process evaluation of the Victim Notification Scheme (PDF) 2025 66 Department of Health and Social Care

Found: DBT and DHSC officials have been working closely together to understand the specific needs of the care

Found: Review Body , Office for the Pay Review Bodies, Cabinet Office, Ministry of Defence, Department of Health and Social Care

Found: (DHSC) Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs). 1

Found: Women’s Centres rely on a complex mix of funding from local authorities, the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: The IASC also worked across D epartment of Health and Social Care (DHSC), DBT and the Home Office on

Found: The IASC also worked across Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), DBT and the Home Office on

Found: The IASC also worked across D epartment of Health and Social Care (DHSC), DBT and the Home Office on

Found: Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland (DAERA) • Department of Health and Social Care

Found: HSE) • Defra’s Agencies, principally the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) • Department of Health and Social Care

Found: The effect of the provision is to return to the pre-2016 position, and DHSC have advised the implication

Found: The NMCF was established by the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Health and Social Care in 2015

Found: Ministry of Justice (MoJ), His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: The MHRA is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care.    

Found: Sensyne Health Group Limited - MagnifEye™ for special use with the COVID-19 Self-Test (Department of Health and Social Care

Found: The MHRA is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care.  

Found: The MHRA is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Found: From: NHS Pay Review Body, Office for the Pay Review Bodies and Department of Health and Social Care

Found: In addition, DHSC requested in their written evidence ‘a view on the relative priorities of investing

Found: (DHSC)

Found: Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration, Office for the Pay Review Bodies and Department of Health and Social Care

Found: (DHSC) Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs). 1

Found: Review Body , Office for the Pay Review Bodies, Cabinet Office, Ministry of Defence, Department of Health and Social Care

Found: From: UK Health Security Agency and Department of Health and Social Care Published 24 September 2018

Found: The effect of the provision is to return to the pre-2016 position, and DHSC have advised the implication

Found: Energy Superpower Mission 9 July 2025, 15:00 - 16:00 with Tom Riordan (Second Permanent Secretary, DHSC

Found: Ministry of Justice (MoJ), His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: The UK Government HIV Action Plan for England and PrEP Roadmap published by DHSC have already highlighted

Found: Virology Network Others • Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) • Department of Health and Social Care

Found: to whole system commissioning for sexual health, reproductive health and HIV Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Cytyc UK Limited Department of Health - Northern Ireland Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Cytyc UK Limited Department of Health - Northern Ireland Department of Health and Social Care

Found: With recent calls from the Department of Health and Social Care relating to the importance of reducing

Found: Renal Pharmacy Group • Vascular Society of Great Britain and Ireland Others • Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Forum • UK Clinical Pharmacy Association • UK Oncology Nursing Society Others • Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Medicine • UK Clinical Pharmacy Association • UK Oncology Nursing Society Others • Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Forum • UK Clinical Pharmacy Association • UK Oncology Nursing Society Others • Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Virology Network Others • Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) • Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Medicine • UK Clinical Pharmacy Association • UK Oncology Nursing Society Others • Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Urology Foundation • Vascular Society of Great Britain and Ireland Others • Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Women’s Centres rely on a complex mix of funding from local authorities, the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: DBT and DHSC officials have been working closely together to understand the specific needs of the care

Found: (DHSC), and the other Devolved Governments to agree the policy for the Code of Practice

Found: It is sponsored by the Department of Health and Social Care. 2.