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 implications for his policies of the proposals of the East Midlands fertility policy review on the number of IVF cycles set out in that review.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made of the East Midlands fertility policy review, at a national level. It is for local integrated care boards to decide on local health policies for their population, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence fertility guidelines.
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 steps he is taking to (a) improve access to and (b) reduce waiting lists for the UK's 9 independent NHS pelvic mesh centres.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are nine specialist mesh centres across England, ensuring that women in every region with complications of mesh inserted for urinary incontinence and vaginal prolapse get the right support. Each mesh centre is led by a multi-disciplinary team to ensure patients get access to the specialist care and treatment that they need, including pain management and psychological support. NHS England publishes data on referral to treatment waiting times. This is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/rtt-waiting-times/
The Department does not have information on the average waiting times specifically for mesh centres.
Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission, and we are taking steps to return to the 18-week standard. The Elective Reform Plan sets out how the National Health Service will reform elective care services and meet the 18-week referral to treatment standard by March 2029.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2025 to Question 22633 on NHS: Weather, on what date in early December he first chaired a winter preparedness weekly meeting.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care first held discussions on winter planning with the Department ahead of the general election. The first briefing my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care received on winter preparations was on his first day in office, on 5 July 2024.
On 4 September my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care chaired a preliminary winter preparations meeting. The Minister of State for Health chaired fortnightly meetings on winter preparedness from 26 September 2024 until 2 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, with refence to his oral statement of 20 January 2025 on New Hospital Programme Review, Official Report columns 748-750s, what the (a) pre-construction works, (b) full construction start and (c) completion date in his re-phasing of the new hospital programme is of (i) Leicester general hospital and Leicester royal infirmary, (ii) Watford general hospital, (iii) Specialist and emergency care hospital in Sutton, (iv) Kettering general hospital, (v) Leeds general infirmary, (vi) Musgrove Park hospital, (vii) Princess Alexandra hospital, (viii) Torbay hospital, (ix) Whipps Cross hospital, (x) St Mary’s hospital in London, (xi) Charing Cross hospital, (xii) Hammersmith hospital, (xiii) North Devon district hospital, (xiv) Eastbourne district general hospital, (xv) Conquest hospital and Bexhill hospital, (xvi) Hampshire hospitals, (xvii) Royal Berkshire hospital, (xviii) Royal Preston hospital, (xix) the Royal Lancaster infirmary and (xx) Queen’s medical centre and Nottingham city hospital.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the start dates for the pre-construction work, which involves business case development and critical enabling works, and the main construction work, for the schemes requested:
Scheme | Pre-construction works start | Main construction works start |
Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester General Hospital and Glenfield Hospital | From 2028 | 2032 to 2034 |
Watford General Hospital | From 2028 | 2032 to 2034 |
Specialist Emergency Care Hospital, Sutton | From 2029 | 2032 to 2034 |
Kettering General Hospital | From 2028 | 2032 to 2034 |
Leeds General Infirmary | From 2030 | 2032 to 2034 |
Musgrove Park Hospital | From 2031 | 2032 to 2034 |
Princess Alexandra Hospital, Harlow | From 2030 | 2032 to 2034 |
Torbay Hospital | From 2030 | 2032 to 2034 |
Whipps Cross Hospital, north-east London | From 2029 | 2032 to 2034 |
St Mary’s Hospital, north-west London | From 2030 | 2035 to 2038 |
Charing Cross Hospital and Hammersmith Hospital, London | From 2030 | 2035 to 2038 |
North Devon District Hospital, Barnstaple | From 2030 | 2035 to 2038 |
Eastbourne District General, Conquest Hospital and Bexhill Community Hospital | From 2030 | 2037 to 2039 |
Hampshire Hospitals | From 2030 | 2037 to 2039 |
Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading | From 2030 | 2037 to 2039 |
Royal Preston Hospital | From 2030 | 2037 to 2039 |
Royal Lancaster Infirmary | From 2030 | 2035 to 2038 |
Queen’s Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital | From 2030 | 2037 to 2039 |
Note: the Charing Cross Hospital and Hammersmith Hospital are counted as one scheme under the New Hospital Programme, as are Eastbourne District General Hospital, Conquest Hospital, and Bexhill Hospital
The expected completion dates for the schemes in the New Hospital Programme will be confirmed following the approval of a Full Business Case, as set out in HM Treasury’s Green Book, and as is usual for large infrastructure projects, and they are therefore not included.
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, 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, 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)
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care first held discussions on winter planning with the Department ahead of the general election. The first briefing the Secretary of State received on winter preparations was on his first day in office, on 5 July 2024. Since then, heading into winter, ministers speak regularly with staff in the department, NHS England and social care leaders to make sure we were as well prepared for this winter as we could be.
In addition, 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 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.