Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
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 deliver a pay restoration framework for resident doctors.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Each year the Government allows the independent Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body (DDRB) to make recommendations on headline pay for doctors, including resident doctors.
In May 2025, the Government announced the 2025/26 pay awards for National Health Service staff in England, accepting the headline pay recommendations of the DDRB, for consultants, specialty and specialist doctors, and resident doctors for the 2025/26 period.
Resident doctors received one of the highest pay awards of the entire public sector this year, meaning an average 28.9% pay rise compared to three years ago.
The DDRB has been remitted and the process for 2026/27 pay is already under way.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the provision of specialist (a) wheelchairs, (b) beds and (c) armchairs for tall disabled people.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of local wheelchair services. National Health Service trusts work with the patient and wheelchair supplier to best meet the patient’s needs and requirements.
A typical hospital bed is 200 centimetres long and can be extended by 20 centimetres with pressure relieving infills available. With regards to armchairs, the NHS Supply Chain works with customers and suppliers if any bespoke products are needed in the market.
Equipment provision, where required for use in peoples’ own homes, is typically through a community equipment service; these are usually funded through a combination of the local authority and local NHS and provided via an outsourced provider or a locally-run service.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
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 adequacy of levels of pay for resident doctors.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government allows the independent Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) to make recommendations on headline pay for doctors, including resident doctors. Within their report they make an assessment on the level of pay with regard to various factors such as recruitment and retention.
We received the latest DDRB report at the end of April and on 22 May 2025, the Government announced the 2025/26 pay awards for National Health Service staff in England. The Government accepted the headline pay recommendations of the DDRB, which meant that resident doctors were awarded an, on average, 5.4% uplift to pay.
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has held several meetings with the British Medical Association’s Resident Doctors Committee chairs to discuss pay and wider working conditions since the report was received.
Resident doctors received the highest pay award of the entire public sector this year, an average 28.9% pay rise compared to three years ago.
The process for the 2026/27 pay round is already underway, with the Department setting out the remit to the DDRB in July. The DDRB report, which was submitted earlier this year, is available at the following link:
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
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 review NHS outsourcing contracts.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
All public authorities, including the National Health Service, follow the guidance and principles set out in the Sourcing Playbook when planning and making sourcing decisions to deliver public services in partnership with the private and third sectors. The playbook is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-sourcing-and-consultancy-playbooks
The consultation, Public Procurement: Growing British industry, jobs and skills, is one considering further reforms to public procurement. More specifically, it is proposed that public bodies would be required to carry out a quick and proportionate public interest test, to understand whether that work could not be more effectively done in-house before any service is contracted out. The Cabinet Office will consider the results of the consultation, and the Department will comply with any changes to the law. Details of the consultation are available at the following link:
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's planned timetable is for increasing the annual provision of specialty training places for resident doctors.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan published in July 2025, over the next three years we will create 1,000 new specialty training posts with a focus on specialties where there is greatest need. We will set out next steps in due course
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
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 merits of conducting efficiency savings to fund more (a) clinical staff and (b) equipment in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England’s 2025/26 priorities and operational planning guidance made it clear that the National Health Service must live within the budget it is allocated, reduce waste and increase productivity to deliver growth against demand. The Autumn Statement 2024 reaffirmed a 2% NHS productivity growth target for 2025/26, and the recent Spending Review set out the commitment to achieve 2% productivity growth across the Spending Review period, supported by up to £10 billion of technology and digital investment.
As part of the 2025/26 planning process, all NHS systems set efficiency and savings targets necessary to achieve a balanced financial position, and planned delivery of the other national priorities set out in planning guidance including recovering elective activity. To help organisations identify savings and plan for 2025/26, NHS England shared core productivity and efficiency metrics with benchmarked opportunities. For a given budget, savings and productivity opportunities can enable the same level of clinical staff to do more activity, or can involve savings to non-clinical areas or reduction in input costs, for example, procurement and agency savings, to enable reinvestment in additional clinical staff or non-capitalised equipment.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GPs have (a) been hired and (b) left practice since July 2024.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Between June 2024 and June 2025, the most recent period for which data is available, 2,611 full time equivalent (FTE), or 4,174 headcount, fully qualified general practitioners (GPs) joined general practice, while 1,760 FTE, or 2,756 headcount, fully qualified GPs left general practice.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to increase the recruitment of GPs.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are starting to see consistent growth in the general practitioner (GP) workforce. In July 2025, there were 658 more fully qualified full-time equivalent GPs working in practices than in July 2024.
The Government committed to recruiting over 1,000 recently qualified GPs in primary care networks (PCNs) through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) over 2024/25. This is part of our initiative to secure the future pipeline of GPs, with over 1,000 doctors otherwise likely to graduate into unemployment in 2024/25. 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 2,000 GPs were recruited through the scheme.
Newly qualified GPs employed under the ARRS will continue to receive support under the scheme in the coming year as part of the 25/26 contract. Several changes have been confirmed to increase the flexibility of ARRS. These include: GPs and practice nurses included in the main ARRS funding pot; an uplift of the maximum reimbursable rate for GPs in the scheme; and no caps on the number of GPs that can be employed through the scheme.
We are boosting practice finances by investing an additional £1,092 million in general practice 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 increase in over a decade. The 8.9% boost to the GP contract in 2025/26 is faster than the 5.8% growth to the NHS budget as a whole.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding his Department has allocated to GP practices to hire more GPs.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are starting to see consistent growth in the general practitioner (GP) workforce. In July 2025, there were 658 more fully qualified full-time equivalent GPs working in practices than in July 2024.
The Government committed to recruiting over 1,000 recently qualified GPs in primary care networks (PCNs) through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) over 2024/25. This is part of our initiative to secure the future pipeline of GPs, with over 1,000 doctors otherwise likely to graduate into unemployment in 2024/25. 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 2,000 GPs were recruited through the scheme.
Newly qualified GPs employed under the ARRS will continue to receive support under the scheme in the coming year as part of the 25/26 contract. Several changes have been confirmed to increase the flexibility of ARRS. These include: GPs and practice nurses included in the main ARRS funding pot; an uplift of the maximum reimbursable rate for GPs in the scheme; and no caps on the number of GPs that can be employed through the scheme.
We are boosting practice finances by investing an additional £1,092 million in general practice 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 increase in over a decade. The 8.9% boost to the GP contract in 2025/26 is faster than the 5.8% growth to the NHS budget as a whole.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his speech to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists World Congress, published on 23 June 2025, what his planned timetable is for the NHS Chief Executive and Chief Nursing Office to meet (i) Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and (ii) Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust; and if he will publish the outcomes of those meetings.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
An initial meeting between the Chief Executive of the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the NHS Chief Executive, and the Chief Nursing Officer for England to discuss maternity and neonatal services took place on 25 June 2025. Further in-depth meetings will take place in due course, and following these meetings the trust board should report on their progress to their public board.