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 adequacy of steps taken by Integrated Care Boards to address regional inequalities in access to eye care services.

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

No assessment has been made. Integrated care boards, as commissioners of primary and secondary eye care services, are required to work with local authorities to assess the current and future health, care, and wellbeing needs of their local populations. They will then set out, in joint local health and wellbeing strategies, how they will meet those needs, and this could include addressing any identified inequalities in accessing services.

Understanding patient demographics is an essential step in identifying and tackling health inequalities. The Elective Reform Plan included a commitment to publish waiting list information broken down by demographics to allow greater visibility of potential health inequalities. The Elective Reform Plan is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/reforming-elective-care-for-patients/

This enables local health services to understand the demographics of patients on their waiting list to better tailor services to their needs. Data on demographics of the elective waiting list can be found at the following link for the week ending 26 October 2025:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/rtt-waiting-times/wlmds/

It shows referral to treatment waiting times from the Waiting List Minimum Data Set for Ophthalmology split by age, sex, deprivation, and ethnicity.

The Public Health Outcomes Framework Eye Health Indicator also continues to track the rate of sight loss for age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy. This information is available to commissioners and can be used to drive improved local outcomes and interventions.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of NHS England’s total budget has been allocated to vaccination and immunisation programmes in each of the last five years.

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

NHS England is responsible for the operational delivery of vaccination and immunisation programmes, although this does not include the procurement of vaccines. The following table shows the proportion of NHS England’s total budget allocated to the operational delivery of vaccination and immunisation programmes for the last five years, where accounts have already been published:

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what measures his Department is taking to improve the access people experiencing homelessness have to health and social care services.

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

The Department recognises the importance of ensuring that people experiencing homelessness have access to appropriate health and social care services. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline 214, titled Integrated health and social care for people experiencing homelessness, sets out clear expectations for services to be accessible and tailored to individual needs, and is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng214/chapter/Recommendations#intermediate-care

We are exploring how best to encourage integrated care boards to adopt and embed this guidance within their commissioning processes.

People experiencing homelessness are considered as an inclusion health group. Inclusion health groups are a key cohort within the locally identified priority ‘PLUS’ populations in NHS England’s Core20PLUS5 framework to reduce healthcare inequalities. Further information on NHS England’s Core20PLUS5 framework is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/equality/equality-hub/national-healthcare-inequalities-improvement-programme/core20plus5/

Integrated care boards are responsible for implementing this approach, aiming to reduce inequalities in health outcomes and improve equitable access to healthcare treatments and services.

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 Housing First interventions for people experiencing homelessness on (a) health outcomes and (b) costs to the NHS.

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

The Department is committed to improving health outcomes for people experiencing homelessness. We are working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to support those experiencing homelessness with multiple and complex needs.

The Government published an evaluation of the Housing First pilots, including their impact on health outcomes, a copy of which is attached. However, Housing First is not a Department of Health and Social Care policy, therefore the National Health Service has not undertaken analysis of its effectiveness and costs.

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 implementing the recommendations of the report by the Association of Optometrists entitled Key Interventions to Transform Eye Care and Eye Health, published in October 2024, relating to a national-roll out of (a) Community Urgent Eye Service and Minor Eye Conditions Service, (b) the Integrated Glaucoma Pathway, and (c) the Integrated Cataract Pathway for pre and post assessments on costs to the NHS.

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

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for assessing the health needs of their local population and for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet them. This can include the commissioning of enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices.

NHS England accelerator pilots have demonstrated that improved IT connectivity and a single point of access can significantly speed up eye care referrals and support more patients to be managed in the community, in line with the ambitions in 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 (a) Minor Eye Conditions Service and (b) Community Urgent Eyecare Service on (i) patient outcomes and (ii) unnecessary referrals to secondary care.

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

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for assessing the health needs of their local population and for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet them. This can include the commissioning of enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices.

NHS England accelerator pilots have demonstrated that improved IT connectivity and a single point of access can significantly speed up eye care referrals and support more patients to be managed in the community, in line with the ambitions in 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 adequacy of the provision of a Minor Eye Conditions Service in every part of the country.

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

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for assessing the health needs of their local population and for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet them. This can include the commissioning of enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices.

NHS England accelerator pilots have demonstrated that improved IT connectivity and a single point of access can significantly speed up eye care referrals and support more patients to be managed in the community, in line with the ambitions in 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 effectiveness of the (a) Minor Eye Conditions Service and (b) Community Urgent Eyecare Service.

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

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for assessing the health needs of their local population and for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet them. This can include the commissioning of enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices.

NHS England accelerator pilots have demonstrated that improved IT connectivity and a single point of access can significantly speed up eye care referrals and support more patients to be managed in the community, in line with the ambitions in the 10-Year Health Plan.

Found: Q88 Danny Beales: Good morning.

Found: Wednesday 30 October 2024 Virtual meeting Members present Layla Moran, in the Chair 1 Danny Beales

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Layla Moran (Chair); Danny Beales; Ben Coleman; Dr Beccy Cooper;