Asked by: Aphra Brandreth (Conservative - Chester South and Eddisbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has considered reformulating unfilled training posts to enable them to be given to medical students in their second foundation year who have prior experience in the relevant department.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There has been no such consideration. Foundation training and medical speciality training involve different responsibilities, expectations, and levels of experience. The two-year foundation programme acts as a bridge between medical school and specialty training. The programme provides trainees with the defined practical skills, competencies, and sound knowledge of how to manage acutely ill patients that prepares them for entry into specialty training.
Asked by: Aphra Brandreth (Conservative - Chester South and Eddisbury)
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 adequacy of the (a) career and (b) job search support provisions available to junior doctors.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There has been no recent assessment. Under the UK Foundation Programme curriculum, foundation doctors should receive career guidance and advice from educational supervisors, along with the opportunity to explore potential careers.
A variety of other tools and support are available to support resident doctors with their career development and job searches. This includes an e-learning for healthcare course on career planning, and guidance on training pathways and career opportunities for doctors on the NHS Health Careers website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/doctors
Asked by: Aphra Brandreth (Conservative - Chester South and Eddisbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has considered allowing medical students in their second foundation year to apply for positions that are ring-fenced for physician associates.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No such consideration has been made. The role of physician associates (PAs) is to work with and support doctors, not to replace them. To become employed as a PA, candidates will need to have completed a recognised PA qualification.
Regulation of PAs by the General Medical Council (GMC) began at the end of 2024. To join the register, PAs must meet the GMC’s requirements and pass both parts of the Physician Associate National Examination.
Asked by: Aphra Brandreth (Conservative - Chester South and Eddisbury)
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 help junior doctors find employment in the NHS after they have completed training.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions about recruitment are matters for individual National Health Service employers. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.
We will ensure that the number of medical specialty training places meets the demands of the NHS in the future. NHS England will work with stakeholders to ensure that any growth is sustainable and focused in the service areas where need is greatest.
To reform the NHS and make it fit for the future, we have launched a 10-Year Health Plan as part of Government’s five long-term missions. Ensuring we have the right people, in the right places, with the right skills will be central to this vision. 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.
The Government committed to recruiting over 1,000 recently qualified general practitioners (GPs) through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) over 2024/25, as part of an initiative to secure the future pipeline of GPs, with over 1,000 doctors otherwise likely to graduate into unemployment in 2024/25. Data on the number of recently qualified GPs for which primary care networks are claiming reimbursement via the ARRS was published by NHS England on 7 April, and showed that since 1 October 2024, 1,503 GPs were recruited through the scheme.
Newly qualified GPs employed under the ARRS will continue to receive support under the scheme in the coming year as part of the 2025/26 contract. A number of changes have been confirmed to increase the flexibility of the ARRS. This includes GPs and practice nurses being included in the main ARRS funding pot, an uplift to the maximum reimbursable rate for GPs in the scheme, and no caps on the number of GPs that can be employed through the scheme.
Asked by: Aphra Brandreth (Conservative - Chester South and Eddisbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of eligible families are receiving Healthy Start in Chester South and Eddisbury constituency.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. Monthly figures for the number of people on the digital Healthy Start scheme are published on the NHS Healthy Start website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/healthcare-professionals/
The NHSBSA does not hold data on the number of families receiving Healthy Start. The Chester South and Eddisbury constituencies are included within the local authority areas of Chester West and Chester, within NHSBSA data reporting. The total number of people on the scheme for Chester South and Eddisbury in March 2025 was 1,729.
The NHSBSA does not currently hold data on the number of people who are eligible for the scheme. An issue was identified with the source data that is used to calculate uptake of the NHS Healthy Start scheme. The NHSBSA has therefore removed data for the number of people eligible for the scheme and the uptake percentage from January 2023 onwards.
The issue has only affected the data on the number of people eligible for the scheme. It has not prevented anyone from joining the scheme or continuing to access the scheme if they were eligible.
Asked by: Aphra Brandreth (Conservative - Chester South and Eddisbury)
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) support people with Sjogrens to work and (b) implement a multi-disciplinary care system.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Appropriate work is generally good for health and wellbeing, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. Disabled people and people with health conditions such as Sjogren’s syndrome are a diverse group, so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key.
The Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Work and Pensions are committed to supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, including people with Sjogren’s, and have range of support available so individuals can stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems.
Measures include joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care, as well as support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants.
It is also recognised that employers play an important role in addressing health and disability. To build on this, the joint Department for Work and Pensions and Department of Health and Social Care’s Work and Health Directorate is facilitating Keep Britain Working, an independent review of the role of the United Kingdom’s employers in reducing health-related inactivity, and to promote healthy and inclusive workplaces. The lead reviewer, Sir Charlie Mayfield, is expected to bring forward recommendations in Autumn 2025.
Most patients with Sjogren’s syndrome will be cared for in primary and secondary care services. A small number of people with complex disease will be cared for in specialised rheumatology services. The national service specifications for specialised rheumatology services define the standards of care expected from organisations commissioned by NHS England to provide specialised rheumatology services for either adults or children. These specifications set the national minimum standards for the diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes for people with Sjogren’s syndrome, and include the requirement for a multi-disciplinary team. People with Sjogren’s will be given the support to manage their condition and signposted to employment advice if required.
Asked by: Aphra Brandreth (Conservative - Chester South and Eddisbury)
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 specialist neuromuscular clinics that wish to take part in the Givinostat Early Access Programme.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government welcomes the Early Access Programme (EAP) that the company has put in place to provide early access for patients to givinostat. Access to the EAP must be through one of the 23 NorthStar Centres in the United Kingdom. However, participation in the EAP is decided at an individual National Health Service trust level and a NorthStar Centre will not be able to provide givinostat, if its local trust has not approved participation. Under the EAP, givinostat is free to both patients taking part in it and to the NHS, but the NHS trusts must still cover the cost of administering it to patients.
Asked by: Aphra Brandreth (Conservative - Chester South and Eddisbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to rebuild Leighton Hospital by 2030.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The programme this government inherited was severely delayed and did not have funding required to deliver it.
The Secretary of State has asked for an urgent report on the degree to which the New Hospital Programme (NHP) is funded and a realistic timetable for delivery. This will take into the account the urgent need to rebuild Leighton Hospital, which was built using Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC), to protect staff and patient safety.
Once the review into the New Hospital Programme is concluded the Secretary of State will update parliament and set out the next steps for the Programme.