Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of the additional funding for the NHS announced on 11 June 2025 will be allocated to NHS dentistry.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has now published the Medium Term Planning Framework and allocations for 2026/27 to 2027/28. Further information on the Medium Term Planning Framework and the allocations is available, respectively, at the following two links:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/allocation-of-resources-2026-27-to-2027-28/
National Health Service organisations are now in the process of developing their operational plans that will detail how they will meet the standards set out in the Medium-Term Planning Framework.
A separate schedule will be issued setting out the ringfence for dental services, including 2026/27 to 2028/29 integrated care board pharmacy optometry and dental allocations.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
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 reduce emergency hospital admissions involving people who are in the last 12 months of life.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Early identification of someone who has palliative and end of life care needs is vital. There are tools to aid clinicians in identifying those approaching the end of life, for example the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool and the EARLY toolkit. Further information on the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool and the EARLY toolkit is available, respectively, at the following two links:
https://www.spict.org.uk/the-spict/
NHS England has published universal principles for advanced care planning (ACP). These principles facilitate a consistent national approach to ACP in England. Further information on the universal principles for ACP is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/universal-principles-for-advance-care-planning/
The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
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 reduce the number of deaths in hospital.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Early identification of someone who has palliative and end of life care needs is vital. There are tools to aid clinicians in identifying those approaching the end of life, for example the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool and the EARLY toolkit. Further information on the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool and the EARLY toolkit is available, respectively, at the following two links:
https://www.spict.org.uk/the-spict/
NHS England has published universal principles for advanced care planning (ACP). These principles facilitate a consistent national approach to ACP in England. Further information on the universal principles for ACP is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/universal-principles-for-advance-care-planning/
The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
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 early identification of palliative care needs.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Early identification of someone who has palliative and end of life care needs is vital. There are tools to aid clinicians in identifying those approaching the end of life, for example the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool and the EARLY toolkit. Further information on the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool and the EARLY toolkit is available, respectively, at the following two links:
https://www.spict.org.uk/the-spict/
NHS England has published universal principles for advanced care planning (ACP). These principles facilitate a consistent national approach to ACP in England. Further information on the universal principles for ACP is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/universal-principles-for-advance-care-planning/
The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
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 palliative care workforce is able to cope with increases in demand for end of life care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it, including in palliative care and end of life care.
The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
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 reduce variation in the approaches of commissioners in meeting the local population's needs for palliative and end of life care services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning palliative care services to meet the reasonable needs of their population. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.
This further clarified in the recently published Strategic Commissioning Framework and Medium Term Planning Guidance, which makes clear the expectation that ICBs should understand current and projected service utilisation and costs, creating an overall plan to more effectively meet these needs through neighbourhood health.
The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. I refer the Hon. Members to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.
NHS England has developed a palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative and end of life care needs of their local population, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities, and ensure that funding is distributed fairly, based on prevalence.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
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 reduce levels of local variation in access to and quality of palliative and end of life care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning palliative care services to meet the reasonable needs of their population. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.
This further clarified in the recently published Strategic Commissioning Framework and Medium Term Planning Guidance, which makes clear the expectation that ICBs should understand current and projected service utilisation and costs, creating an overall plan to more effectively meet these needs through neighbourhood health.
The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. I refer the Hon. Members to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.
NHS England has developed a palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative and end of life care needs of their local population, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities, and ensure that funding is distributed fairly, based on prevalence.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
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 publish the (a) recoveries, (b) write‑offs and (c) associated costs for each supplier of PPE as part of his investigation into PPE procurement.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has already committed to the Public Accounts Committee that it will report to Parliament on the COVID-19 personal protective equipment contract dissolution outcomes once work is completed.
Outcomes and details of individual cases are expected to be published wherever possible so long as any such release of information does not breach commercial interests, harm public finances, or exacerbate legal sensitivities.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
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 support GPs (a) with professional training and (b) to update their clinical knowledge on the less survivable cancers.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
All registered doctors in the United Kingdom are expected to meet the professional standards set by the General Medical Council (GMC). In 2012, the GMC introduced revalidation, which supports doctors in regularly reflecting on how they can develop or improve their practice.
General practitioners (GPs) are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance, such as that produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, to ensure that they can continue to provide high quality care to all patients.
The training curricula for postgraduate trainee doctors is set by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and has to meet the standards set by the GMC. The RCGP provides several resources on cancer prevention, diagnosis, and care for GPs, relevant for the primary care setting.
We are investing an additional £1.1 billion in GPs to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.4 billion in 2025/26, the biggest increase in over a decade. The 8.9% boost to the GP Contract in 2025/26 is bigger than the 5.8% growth to the NHS budget as a whole, demonstrating our commitment to shifting resources to the community.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total expenditure of NHS England on agency staff was in each of the last three years; and what plans his Department has to reduce the use of agency employees.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Agency spend of National Health Service trusts in England in each of the last three years is shown in the table below and is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/financial-performance-reports
Year | Expenditure (£bn) |
2022/23 | 3.46 |
2023/24 | 3.02 |
2024/25 | 2.07 |
Agency spend is already going down and fell by nearly £1 billion in 2024/25.
The NHS 2025/26 priorities and operational planning guidance sets an expectation that trusts should reduce their temporary staffing spend by a minimum of 30% over the financial year and reduce bank spend by 10%. The accompanying Revenue finance and contracting guidance for 2025/26 sets the ambition of eliminating agency spend entirely in the coming years and is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/revenue-finance-and-contracting-guidance-for-2025-26/
In June, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and the Chief Executive of NHS England wrote to trusts and integrated care boards emphasising the message in the guidance to reduce spend. The letter states that if sufficient progress is not made the Government will consider what further action it can take to reduce spend.