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 data his Department holds on the (i) number and (ii) adequacy of provision of paediatric post-mortem specialists in (a) Gloucestershire, (b) the South West and (c) England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold information on the number of paediatric post mortem specialists either across England or in the South West or Gloucestershire regions.
NHS England does publish monthly information on the number of staff employed in the National Health Service in England, including information on the grade and specialty of NHS doctors. This includes information on the number of doctors working in the specialty of pathology as well as the sub-specialty of paediatric and perinatal pathology. This is not though the same as those able to provide paediatric post mortems. The relevant information can be found in the file ‘NHS HCHS Workforce Statistics, Trusts and core organisations – data tables’ in each monthly publication, at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics
NHS England established a national programme in late 2022 to address paediatric and perinatal pathologist workforce challenges and has undertaken significant work in relation to workforce funding, training, and incentives. This has included making additional funding available to support training posts in areas where there have been interested candidates but no training post available and changes to the national training course and examination structure. The number of training posts has increased across several recruitment rounds and the perinatal and paediatric training pathway will be at a full complement of 16 training posts from February 2026.
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, whether it is his policy that integrated care board boundaries should match mayoral combined authority boundaries.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It remains the Government’s ambition for integrated care boards (ICBs) to be coterminous with one or more strategic authorities wherever feasible, a commitment made in the English devolution white paper and reaffirmed in our 10-Year Health Plan.
This summer as local government reform progresses, the Department of Health and Social Care will work closely with NHS England and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to decide any further ICB mergers and boundary changes.
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 progress the MRS has made in delivering mechanistic research into ME/CFS.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We do not know what ‘MRS’ refers to in this context. The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). A limited amount of mechanistic research is funded through the NIHR, but the majority of mechanistic research is funded through the Medical Research Council (MRC), a UK Research and Innovation Council sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. Mechanistic research into myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, is within the remit of the MRC.
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 potential merits of including medication for the treatment of Parkinson's disease in the medical exemption scheme.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Broxtowe on 20 January 2026 to Question 106198.
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 has his department made of the potential impact of access targets on continuity of care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government values continuity in general practice, but this is not inconsistent with efforts to improve access, such as via the 24-hour access target where urgent treatment is required.
In the 2025/26 contract, one of the domains of the Capacity and Access Improvement Payment, worth £29.2 million, incentivises primary care networks to risk stratify their patients in accordance with need for continuity. This allows general practitioners (GPs) to deliver care to meet the specific needs of their patients.
We are investing an additional £1.1 billion in GPs to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.4 billion in 2025/26, which is the biggest cash 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 National Health Service budget as a whole.
Over ten million more GP appointments have been delivered in the 12 months to September 2025 compared to the same period last year, building capacity for continuity of care and improving access so that patients can be seen when they need to be in primary care. Patient satisfaction with access has improved significantly, rising from 61% in July 2024 to 74% in July 2025, marking a 13-percentage-point increase over the last year.
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, whether access metrics will be reviewed to ensure they support relationship-based care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This Government values continuity in general practice (GP) and there is an incentive to identify those who would benefit from continuity in the GP contract, but this isn't inconsistent with efforts to improve access, such as via the 24 hour access target where urgent treatment is required.
We are investing an additional £1.1 billion in general practice to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.4 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest cash 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.
Over ten million more GP appointments have been delivered in the 12 months to September 2025 compared to the same period last year, building capacity for continuity of care and improving access so that patients can be seen when they need to be in primary care.
In the 2025/26 GP contract, a new domain was introduced into the Capacity and Access Improvement Payment which incentivises primary care networks to risk stratify their patients in accordance with need including to identify those that would benefit most from continuity of care.
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, which department is responsible for making decisions and research into Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) as part of the Final Delivery Plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The Department of Health and Social Care is responsible for the overall delivery of the final delivery plan on myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
To address the breadth of the ME/CFS research challenge, the NIHR and the Medical Research Council (MRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, play complementary roles in the United Kingdom landscape by funding research across the research system, with MRC funding aetiological and early-stage translational science and NIHR funding later stage translational and applied clinical work.
The NIHR and MRC are working together to deliver the research actions outlined in the ME/CFS final delivery plan that we published in July.
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, whether his Department has considered guarantees on specialist care provision for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and very severe ME.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The commissioning of myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards, based on the needs of their local population.
The final delivery plan on ME/CFS, which we published in July, includes an action for the Department and NHS England to explore whether a specialised service should be prescribed by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for very severe ME/CFS. Officials from the Department have commenced discussions with NHS England on how best to take forward this action.
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 will GPs be supported with increases in workload demand for ADHD, gender medicine and weight-management prescribing.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are investing an additional £1.1 billion in general practice (GP) to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.4 billion in 2025/26, which is the biggest cash 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.
Since October 2024, we have funded primary care networks with an additional £160 million to recruit recently qualified GPs through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme. Over 2,600 individual GPs have now been recruited, preventing them from graduating into unemployment. We have committed to training thousands more GPs across the country which will increase capacity and take the pressure off those currently working in the system.
The Government is committed to ensuring the GP workforce is sustainable, supported, and valued for the work they do. Good staff experience is crucial in ensuring the NHS is able to recruit and retain staff and its importance is recognised and illustrated in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan. Later this year we will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan which will ensure that staff will be better treated, have better training, more fulfilling roles, and hope for the future, so they can achieve more.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence produces evidence-based guidance for health and care practitioners on best practice for a variety of conditions including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. NHS England has also published service specifications that describe how clinical and medical care is offered to people with gender dysphoria.
GPs have access to a range of support from their integrated care boards and NHS England has developed a suite of implementation materials, delivery guidance and protocols, and has provided access to training resources to help GPs with weight management prescribing.
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 has his department made of the potential impact of funding levels for primary care on levels of demand for secondary and urgent care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are investing an additional £1.1 billion in general practice (GP) to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.4 billion in 2025/26, which is the biggest cash 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. Over 10 million more GP appointments have been delivered in the 12-months to September 2025 compared to the same period last year, building capacity and improving access so that patients can be seen when they need to be in primary care.
As part of GP Contract funding, since 1 October, GPs must allow patients to contact them via an online form at any time during core hours to request an appointment or to raise a query, in addition to telephone and in-person requests. By expanding ease of contact via online access, we will reduce pressure on accident and emergency, as we know that many patients seek medical care in accident and emergency if they fail to make contact with their GP.
We are also funding the expansion of Advice and Guidance to improve two-way communication between GPs and hospital specialists and to ensure care is delivered in the right setting. We expect this to increase the usage of Advice and Guidance and to help patients receive the care they need in primary and community settings where appropriate, reducing referrals to secondary care.