Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment he has made of trends in NHS dental costs and average wages in England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No direct assessment has been made, however any decision to uplift dental patient charges is accompanied by an equalities impact assessment and informed by patient demographic data from the NHS Annual Dental Statistics and the GP Patient Survey NHS dentistry questions, with further information on both available, respectively, at the following two links:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/dental-england/dental-statistics-england-202425
https://gp-patient.co.uk/surveysandreports
The National Health Service dental patient charge is a contribution to the cost of the NHS dental treatment the patient receives. Free NHS dental care is available to people who meet the following criteria:
Support is also available through the NHS Low Income Scheme for those patients who are not eligible for exemption or full remission of dental patient charges. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/dentists/who-is-entitled-to-free-nhs-dental-treatment-in-england/
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
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 encourage (a) breast cancer screening and (b) cervical screening programmes to raise awareness of other gynaecological cancers.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England works to ensure that core public information on screening is easily accessible and understandable to the public, and it regularly and systematically reviews this information.
For example, earlier this year, NHS England updated its cervical screening guidance to include that cervical screening is not a check for other cancers of the reproductive system, such as ovary, womb, vulval, or vaginal cancer. This guidance is available at the following link:
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
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 22 October 2025 to Question 78048 on General Practitioners: Recruitment, whether he plans to recruit more experienced GPs whose Certificate of Completion of Training Date was more than two years ago.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As self-employed contractors to the National Health Service, it is for general practices (GPs) to determine how they run their operations, including recruitment decisions.
We are investing an additional £1.1 billion into GPs to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.4 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest cash increase in over a decade and will facilitate the recruitment of GPs. The 8.9% boost to the GP Contract in 2025/26 is greater than the 5.8% growth to the NHS budget as a whole.
In my previous response to Question 78048, I discussed the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS), which has now recruited over 2,500 GPs since being introduced in October 2024, and which was brought in as a targeted response to the risk of new GP unemployment. Every year we consult with the profession about what services GPs provide, and the money providers are entitled to in return under their contract, taking account of the cost of delivering services. This includes reviewing the terms of various schemes such as the ARRS.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will ensure early diagnosis of primary bone cancer is included in the National Cancer Plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Early diagnosis is a key focus of the National Cancer Plan. It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including primary bone cancer and other rare cancers, as early and quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, to improve outcomes.
We are committed to transforming diagnostic services and will support the NHS to increase capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment in new capacity, including magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners.
Furthermore, we have implemented non-specific symptom (NSS) pathways, designed to speed up the diagnosis of cancer by introducing a route to possible diagnosis for patients who display symptoms that could indicate cancer but do not align to specific cancers. The new NSS pathway complements current cancer diagnostic pathways, as well as providing elements that can be applied to existing pathways.
The Government welcomes the recent publication of Sarcoma UK’s sarcoma state of the nation report as it highlights the importance of early diagnosis, care co-ordination across complex pathways, research into new treatments, and survivorship. Our forthcoming National Cancer Plan, which will be published in the new year, will set out how we will improve outcomes for all cancers, including sarcoma.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NHS England on the adequacy of the information available on the NHS website on cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are over 7,000 rare diseases often needing highly specialised input, and so the National Health Service’s website is not always the most appropriate platform to disseminate such information. Working under the UK Rare Diseases Framework, the Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with conditions such as cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy. Information to support healthcare professions with the diagnosis and care of this condition is provided in the NHS England Genomics Education Programme’s Knowledge Hub.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
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 recruit more experienced GPs whose Certificate of Completion of Training date was more than two years ago.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We hugely value and appreciate the work that all general practitioners (GPs) do and recognise that it is vital for their roles to be satisfying, rewarding, and sustainable so that our GPs continue to contribute throughout their career.
The Government committed to recruiting over 1,000 recently qualified GPs, with a Certificate of Completion of Training dated under two years ago, in primary care networks (PCNs) through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) over 2024/25, as part of an initiative to secure the future pipeline of GPs, with over 1,000 doctors otherwise likely to have graduated into unemployment in 2024/25. Funding has been continued into 2025/26 with greater flexibilities also introduced to the scheme to allow PCNs to respond better to local workforce needs. Data on the number of recently qualified general practitioners for which PCNs are claiming reimbursement via the ARRS show that since 1 October 2024, over 2000 recently qualified GPs were recruited through the scheme.
The ARRS is subject to annual review as part of the consultation on the GP contract with professional and patient representatives. NHS England works closely with the Department to implement any changes identified as part of this process. To build capacity in the GP workforce and reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, we have invested an additional £1.1 billion in GPs, 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 greater than the 5.8% growth to the NHS budget as a whole.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients in the South West have been eligible for pre-implantation genetic testing for monogenic disorders in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Pre-implantation Genetic Testing (PGT) is used to identify genetic anomalies in embryos created through in-vitro fertilisation. Over 600 genetic conditions can currently be tested for using this technique, as licensed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. NHS England has commissioned five centres to provide PGT to patients in England. The number of PGT cycles undertaken has increased from 223 patients in 2009 to 620 in 2019, but NHS England does not have access to data that describes the geographical profile of the people that have used the National Health Service or privately commissioned PGT services.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of the assessment process for NHS continuing healthcare funding in accurately capturing the needs of people living with dementia.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Department has no plans at this time to assess the efficacy of the NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) assessment process. Eligibility for CHC is not determined by age, clinical condition, or financial means. It is assessed on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the totality of an individual’s needs, including ways in which these interact with one another. We continue to work with our partners to deliver CHC policy effectively, including NHS England, who are responsible for oversight of CHC delivery.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of waiting times for GP surgeries in Bristol East constituency.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
In the last 12 months to December 2023, 41% of the 407,000 appointments in Bristol East were delivered on the same day they were booked, and 84.1% were delivered within two weeks of booking. NHS England publishes monthly data on General Practice Appointments, including the approximate length of time between appointments being booked and taking place, but this is not a proxy for waiting times. There are a number of factors which can influence the timing of appointments, and it is not possible to estimate the time between the patient’s first attempt to contact their surgery, and an appointment.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate she has made of the number of primary care vacancies for each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
There is no centrally held data on the number of general practice or dentist vacancies. NHS England conducts an annual community pharmacy workforce survey, that collects data on vacancy rates across community pharmacies in England. Data for the last 12 months is not currently available, but data for 2023 is being analysed, and will be published later this year on NHS England’s Health Education England website, which is available at the following link: