Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Melton and Syston)
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 NHS England 987 inclusion health scheme on access to A&E services outside of the scope of that scheme.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Access to National Health Service care at accident and emergency departments, and the waiting times at the point of delivery for those services, will always be based on clinical priority.
Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Melton and Syston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which NHS Trusts have declared a critical incident since 1 December 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is no official National Health Service data collected and validated for publication on the number of ‘critical incidents’ as these are declared locally by NHS organisations and can be stood-up and stood-down quickly.
NHS management information as of 8 January 2025 reports that that there are 18 active critical incidents. Critical incidents can be declared in response to operational pressures and for other reasons including power outages, or IT or estates issues.
Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Melton and Syston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution by the Minister for Secondary Care of 18 December 2024, Official Report, column 345, when he chaired the first of the weekly winter preparedness meetings.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I chaired fortnightly meetings on winter preparedness from 26 September 2024 until early December 2024 at which point, as planned, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, began chairing a weekly meeting.
Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Melton and Syston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the total cost to the hospice sector of the increase in employers National Insurance contributions.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have taken necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at Autumn Budget 2024, which enabled 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 contributions (ENICs) rise will be implemented in April 2025. The Government recognises the need to protect the smallest businesses and charities, like hospices, which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning more than half of businesses with ENICs liabilities either gain or see no change next year. Businesses and charities will still be able to claim ENICs reliefs, including those for under 21 and under 25 apprentices, where eligible.
Our approach to ENIC exemptions has been consistent with the approach taken by previous governments. This does not include an exemption for independent contractors, including charities like hospices.
On 19 December, the Government announced the biggest investment in a generation for hospices in England, supporting the sector with a £100 million boost for adult and children’s hospices to ensure they have the best physical environment for care, and £26 million revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices. We will set out the details of the funding allocation and dissemination in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Melton and Syston)
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 patients who (a) were medically fit to be discharged and (b) were not discharged from hospital on 1 December 2024.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The number of patients who were medically fit to be discharged, those who no longer met the criteria to reside, in England on 1 December 2024 was 17,646, compared to 25,896 in December 2023. The number of patients who no longer met the criteria to reside but who were not discharged from hospitals in England on 1 December 2024, was 12,086, compared to 12,989 in December 2023.
Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Melton and Syston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he has met NHS England's (a) National Clinical Director for Urgent and Emergency Care and (b) Deputy Chief Operating Officer on NHS winter preparedness.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers in the Department engage with NHS England regularly on a variety of issues, including, but not limited to, winter preparedness.
Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Melton and Syston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what percentage of patients waited longer than four hours in A&E in (a) September, (b) October and (c) November 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the percentage of patients in England who waited longer than four hours in accident and emergency, in September, October, and November of 2023 and 2024:
Month and year | Percentage of patients who waited longer than four hours |
September 2024 | 25.8% |
October 2024 | 27.0% |
November 2024 | 27.9% |
September 2023 | 28.3% |
October 2023 | 29.7% |
November 2023 | 30.2% |
Source: NHS England, available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/
Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Melton and Syston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding was allocated to promote the update of the influenza vaccine in (a) 2022, (b) 2023 and (c) 2024.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The annual winter vaccination communications campaign supports the uptake of seasonal vaccinations for influenza and COVID-19 amongst eligible cohorts. This is an integrated campaign, so spend cannot be separated out by vaccine. The budget for the marketing campaign covers the Department, the National Health Service, and the UK Health Security Agency. The following table shows the allocations for winter vaccines promotion, for each of the last three years:
Year | Budget allocation for winter vaccines promotion |
2022 | £3,020,000 |
2023 | £4,400,000 |
2024 | £6,000,000 |
Each year, the campaign combines paid-for marketing and partnerships with earned national media, and social and stakeholder engagement, to raise awareness of the potential benefits of winter vaccinations and how they can be accessed by the public.
Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Melton and Syston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS (a) 111 and (b) 999 call handlers there were on (i) 1 September, (ii) 1 October, (iii) 1 November and (iv) 1 December 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information is not available. While NHS England collects information on the number of call handlers working in NHS 111 and 999 services, this information has not been centrally validated.
Asked by: Edward Argar (Conservative - Melton and Syston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many ambulances were in use in the NHS in (a) September, (b) October and (c) November 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information requested is not held centrally by the Department.