Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
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 National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill on NHS GP practices.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have made necessary decisions to fix the foundations of the public finances in the Autumn Budget. Resource spending for the Department will be £22.6 billion more in 2025/26 than in 2023/24, as part of the Spending Review settlement. The employers’ National Insurance rise will be implemented in April 2025.
We recently announced a proposed funding uplift for general practices (GPs) for 2025/26 of £889 million, representing a 7.2% cash growth, estimated at approximately 4.8% in real terms growth. This is the largest uplift to GP funding since the beginning of the five-year framework, and means that we are reversing the recent trend, with a rising share of total National Health Service resources going to GPs. We are currently consulting the profession on corresponding reforms to the GP Contract that would improve access, increase continuity of care, enhance GP recruitment, and reduce bureaucracy.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to increase access to GP appointments.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to reduce waiting times for cancer treatment.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that patients are waiting too long for cancer treatment, and we will get the National Health Service diagnosing cancer on time or earlier, treating it faster, and we will improve patients’ experience across the system.
As we set out in our new plan for reforming elective care, we are committed to improving performance on cancer waiting times. Further details will be set out in a dedicated national cancer plan and the NHS’s annual operational planning guidance.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
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 access to emergency dentistry.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Dental Statistics - England 2023-24, published by the NHS Business Services Authority on 22 August 2024, is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/dental-england/dental-statistics-england-202324
In England, in 2023/24, 3,674,731 urgent dental treatments in the National Health Service were delivered, which was 10.8% of all treatments delivered.
This Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access NHS dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to 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 integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency, this is the NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough ICB.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
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 community pharmacies.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system. We are committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and to better using the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists as part of the shift from hospital to community and from treatment to prevention.
Now that the budget for Government has been set, we will shortly be resuming our consultation with Community Pharmacy England regarding the funding arrangements for community pharmacy.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to improve access to mental health services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Too many people are not receiving the mental health care they need, and we know that waits for mental health services are too long. As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future and that is there when people need it, we will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across children and adult mental health services in England to reduce delays and provide faster treatment.
We will also provide access to a specialist mental health professional in every school and roll out Young Futures Hubs in every community.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has a strategy to reduce waiting times on the 111 Option 2 crisis response service.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
To ensure that crisis care services are safe, effective, and consistently provide high quality care across England, NHS England has asked all crisis care services accessible via NHS 111 option two to move at pace and begin reporting access, responsiveness, and patient feedback measures from quarter two of 2024/25.
The collected data will enable a better understanding of where pressures exist in the system and help to drive improvements in waiting times and overall service delivery. These measures will allow NHS England and local providers to monitor performance and implement targeted strategies to reduce waiting times, therefore ensuring a timelier response for individuals in crisis.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will roll out Community Mental Health Hubs across the country.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is currently piloting a new way of supporting people experiencing mental ill health, through neighbourhood based, open access community mental health centres, in six sites across the country. An external evaluation of these pilot sites will inform any future decision to roll these centres out in other parts of the country.
We will also roll out Young Futures hubs in every community, providing open access mental health support for children and young people in every community.