Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to Answer of 13 June 2025 to Question 60148 on Tomography: Waiting Lists, how much of the £6 billion in capital investment will be allocated to services in North Shropshire constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 2025 Spending Review confirmed over £6 billion of additional capital investment over five years across new diagnostic, elective, and urgent care capacity. Further details and allocations, including for the Shropshire Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board (ICB), will be set out in due course.
This £6 billion investment includes the previously announced £1.65 billion of capital for investments aimed at improving National Health Service performance against constitutional standards in 2025/26.
Of this funding, the Shropshire Telford and Wrekin ICB and providers have been provisionally allocated £4 million to support NHS performance across secondary and emergency care in 2025/26.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of patients referred for diagnostic scans have been seen within six weeks in North Shropshire constituency each month since January 2020.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Monthly Diagnostic Waiting Times and Activity (DM01) dataset presents the current waiting times of patients on the waiting list for 15 key diagnostic tests or procedures at each month’s end. This can be found at the following link:
The attached table shows the proportion of patients that were waiting within six weeks from referral at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust for one of the 15 key diagnostic tests or one of the key imaging tests included in the DM01, each month since January 2020.
Diagnostic checks are a key part of many elective care pathways. In April 2025, the latest published DM01, the diagnostic waiting list at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust was 12,957, of which 10,192, or 78.7%, were waiting within six weeks. This in an improvement since April 2024, when the waiting list stood at 13,849, with 9,819, or 70.9% of, patients waiting within six weeks.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to Questions (a) 61929 tabled on 23 June, (b) 61928 tabled on 23 June and (c) 61005 tabled on 18 June 2025.
Answered by Karin Smyth - 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: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to establish mutual recognition schemes for dental qualifications with other countries.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The General Dental Council (GDC) is the independent regulator of dentistry in the United Kingdom. Only dentists and dental care professionals registered with the GDC can legally practise dentistry.
As an independent regulator, it is for the GDC to determine the standards that must be met by domestic and international applicants wishing to be added to the dental register. Changes to the GDC’s legislation made in 2023 enable it to apply a range of assessment options in determining whether international dentist applicants have the necessary knowledge, skills, and experience for practice in the UK. This includes the ability to recognise overseas dentistry diplomas.
The GDC is currently consulting on its 2026 to 2028 Corporate Strategy, in which it has stated that it will develop a comprehensive and accessible framework for registering overseas-qualified dental professionals, considering routes to registration in a holistic way. We will continue to encourage the GDC to make full use of the flexibilities that the 2023 legislation introduced when developing this framework.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help ensure that the Midlands Rail Hub contributes to economic growth in rural areas in Shropshire.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Midlands Rail Hub will kickstart economic growth and break down barriers to opportunity, by upgrading connectivity and reliability – with benefits across the country. This means providing capacity for hundreds of extra trains per day into central Birmingham and improving performance of services through New Street station, by making better use of Moor Street station.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much (a) development and (b) capital funding she has allocated for the Midlands Rail Hub in the Spending Review 2025.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Chancellor’s commitment to progress Midlands Rail Hub West in the 2025 Spending Review follows the release of £123 million last year to design the first phase, which could be delivered by the early 2030s.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish his Department's risk assessments of (a) the abolition of NHS England and (b) the 50% cost reductions required by Integrated Care Boards.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is only right that with such significant reform, we commit to carefully assessing and understanding the potential impacts, as is due process. These assessments will inform our programme as appropriate. Furthermore, the Government is committed to transparency and will consider how best to ensure the public and parliamentarians are informed of the outcomes and impact of both the abolition of NHS England and the reduction in workforce.
NHS England has asked integrated care boards (ICBs) to act primarily as strategic commissioners of health and care services and to reduce the duplication of responsibilities within their structure, with the expectation of achieving a reduction in their running cost allowance.
NHS England has shared a draft of the Model ICB Blueprint to help ICBs shape future plans. An update on the development of the Model ICB Blueprint, and the draft Model ICB Blueprint are available, respectively, at the following two links:
The blueprint confirms their critical role as strategic commissioner, with their core functions centred in population health management, including understanding local context, developing a long-term strategy, allocating resources, and evaluating impact.
Ministers and the Department will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to ensure ICBs continue to fulfil their future functions effectively within the running costs cap and unlock the benefit of working at scale to deliver better care for patients.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many air ambulance organisations hold contracts with NHS organisations.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold this information.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 12 May to Question 50600 on Integrated Care Boards: Per Capita Costs and with reference to the NHS England publication entitled, Working together in 2025/26 to lay the foundations for reform, published on 1 April 2025, how many integrated care boards have signed-off plans that are affordable within the reduced running cost envelope.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Plans are still in development. NHS England is continuing to work closely with integrated care boards to support them in finalising plans that are deliverable within the reduced running cost envelope.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people came off an NHS waiting list without receiving treatment since September 2024; and what new (a) care pathways and (b) triaging policies his Department has introduced since July 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
A breakdown of the reasons for coming off the waiting list is not available in the aggregate monthly official statistics.
There are a number of reasons why a patient may come off an NHS waiting list without receiving treatment including: the patient or their clinician initiating active monitoring; a decision being reached that no treatment is needed or no further contact required; the patient declining treatment; and the patient dying before treatment, including deaths unrelated to the condition the referral was made.
The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, set out key commitments to reform elective care, return to the constitutional standard of 92% of patients receiving treatment within 18 weeks, and build a sustainable National Health Service. This includes the commitment to transforming pathways, including: delivering at least 10 straight-to-test pathways by March 2026; opening CDCs 12 hours a day, seven days a week; ensuring all patients with long term conditions, who are on appropriate pathways, are offered Patient Initiated Follow-Up by March 2026; and undertaking pathway reform in five challenged specialties.
The Plan also set a focus on increased delivery of Advice & Guidance and effective triage, with a new incentivised model for pre-referral Advice & Guidance going live in April 2025; and a commitment to develop an implementation toolkit for triage services by March 2026.