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 impact of offering free flu vaccines to (a) charity and (b) voluntary workers on the health of vulnerable people.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Eligibility for a free National Health Service flu vaccine is guided, each year, by advice and recommendations from the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and is kept under regular review. The aim of the flu vaccination programme is to protect those most at risk from serious illness and hospitalisation.
Those eligible to receive a free flu vaccine on the NHS this autumn are:
The NHS website contains further information on eligibility, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/vaccinations/flu-vaccine/
Anyone who feels unsure about their eligibility (including those who work with vulnerable people in a voluntary capacity) can consult their general practitioner, practice nurse, or pharmacist. Pregnant women can also consult their midwife.
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 made of the potential impact of unlimited online consultations, introduced in the new GP contract, on the ability of GPs to meet patient demand.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In February 2025 the GPCE agreed to make it a contractual obligation for all GP practices to offer access to online services throughout core hours (8:00am - 18:30pm), bringing online access in line with walk-in and phone access. To support practices in preparing for this transition and to ensure they had sufficient time to make the necessary adjustments, the start date was deferred to 1 October 2025.
This change aims to improve patient access, reduce long phone queues, and help general practitioners manage demand more effectively. Experience suggests that extending online access offers significant benefits to both patients and practices. With more patients using online options, phone lines will be less busy and will open up availability for those who need additional help or more urgent care.
We understand that practices require additional resource to deliver services to their patients. That is why we have invested £1.1 billion into general practice: £160 million of this to expand the GP workforce (adding 2,000 more GPs since October 2024), and £102 million to create more clinical space which will enable the delivery of 8.3 million extra appointments.
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 impact of unlimited online consultations on the ability of GPs to meet patient demand.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
From 1 October, we extended access to general practice (GP) online services throughout core hours, which are from 8:00am to 18:30pm. According to the Office for National Statistics, for the first time ever, more patients are contacting their GP online rather than by phone, at 42.3% and 41.3% respectively. For GPs already offer online services, we are asking them to extend this service throughout core hours to bring online access in line with walk-in and phone access. GPs already using online systems have seen big improvements. One London GP surgery reduced waits from 14 days to just three, with 95% of patients seen within a week. The National Health Service continues to support those practices needing assistance with implementing these changes.
We understand that practices require additional resource to deliver services to their patients. That’s why we have invested £1.1 billion into GPs, with £160 million of this to expand the GP workforce, which has added 2,000 more GPs since October 2024, and £102 million to create more clinical space which will enable the delivery of 8.3 million extra appointments.
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, if he will consider reviewing the geographical areas within which resident doctors are expected to relocate during specialty training.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise the importance of location stability for doctors in training and the impact that frequent relocations can have on wellbeing, retention, and workforce planning.
A review into postgraduate medical training is already underway. The first phase of the review has now concluded, with further information available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/the-medical-training-review-phase-1-diagnostic-report/
The next phase of the review will involve working with a wide range of stakeholders across the system to design a package of reform.
Alongside this review, a review of rotational training is currently in progress and is being led by the Department, along with NHS England and the British Medical Association.
NHS England’s 10 Point Plan to improve resident doctors’ working lives, published on 29 August, contains a commitment to reduce the impact of rotations upon resident doctors’ lives while maintaining service delivery. Further information can be found at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/10-point-plan-to-improve-resident-doctors-working-lives/
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 capacity of GP services in Gloucestershire to meet patient demand.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are expanding capacity in general practice, enabling more appointments for patients both nationally and in Gloucestershire.
Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board has achieved a 6.4% increase in appointments delivered in general practice since 2024, with 398,000 appointments provided in September 2025 compared to 374,000 in September 2024.
In October 2024, we invested £82 million into the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme to support the recruitment of an additional 2,500 GPs into Primary Care Networks across England. This has helped to increase appointment availability and improve care for thousands of patients. We have invested an additional £1.1 billion in general practice to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service which was the biggest increase in over a decade. Additionally, we have invested £102 million into the Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund which will create additional clinical space within over 1,000 GP practices across England and will help deliver more appointments each 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, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the capacity of GP services to meet demand in Gloucestershire.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are expanding capacity in general practice, which will help to deliver more appointments to patients across the country, including in Gloucestershire.
In October 2024, we invested £160 million into the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme to support the recruitment of an additional 2,000 general practitioners into primary care networks across England, helping to increase appointment availability and improve care for thousands of patients. We have invested an additional £1.1 billion in general practices to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service. This is the biggest increase in over a decade. Additionally, the new £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund will create additional clinical space within over 1,000 general practices across England to deliver 8.3 million more appointments each year.
In the 12 months to August 2025, 4.74 million appointments were delivered in the Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board, which is a 3.2% increase from the previous 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, what Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust's planned timetable is for the (a) commencement and (b) publication of its health needs review.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The national review and the local needs assessment processes will help in setting out ideas on how services could be developed. The trust and the integrated care board (ICB) are keen that any proposals for future service development are co-designed through meaningful engagement.
The maternity health needs assessment at the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is under way, led by the NHS Gloucestershire ICB. The needs assessment involves a review of nationally available data and trends, and the evidence base for what works in terms of quality and safety. NHS England is aligning its maternity needs assessment with national priorities to improve outcomes and experiences, particularly by tackling health inequalities.
As part of the maternity needs assessment, NHS England is gathering insights from women and staff, asking about their experiences and their ideas for how services could be developed in the future.
NHS England is in the process of agreeing a timeline for approval of the needs assessment, with final publication expected in Spring 2026.
No plan to reopen the Aveta Birth Centre will be made until the outcome of the Government's Independent National Maternity Investigation, and the local Health Needs Assessment, led by the NHS Gloucestershire ICB and exploring the needs and changes in maternity care for Gloucestershire, are published. These are both due to report in Spring 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 his Department plans to reopen the Aveta Birth Centre at Cheltenham General Hospital.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The national review and the local needs assessment processes will help in setting out ideas on how services could be developed. The trust and the integrated care board (ICB) are keen that any proposals for future service development are co-designed through meaningful engagement.
The maternity health needs assessment at the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is under way, led by the NHS Gloucestershire ICB. The needs assessment involves a review of nationally available data and trends, and the evidence base for what works in terms of quality and safety. NHS England is aligning its maternity needs assessment with national priorities to improve outcomes and experiences, particularly by tackling health inequalities.
As part of the maternity needs assessment, NHS England is gathering insights from women and staff, asking about their experiences and their ideas for how services could be developed in the future.
NHS England is in the process of agreeing a timeline for approval of the needs assessment, with final publication expected in Spring 2026.
No plan to reopen the Aveta Birth Centre will be made until the outcome of the Government's Independent National Maternity Investigation, and the local Health Needs Assessment, led by the NHS Gloucestershire ICB and exploring the needs and changes in maternity care for Gloucestershire, are published. These are both due to report in Spring 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, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that the third-party data entry of NHS patient data is processed securely.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
IT systems in the National Health Service operate to the highest standards of security, and all organisations have governance arrangements in place to ensure the safe, legal management of data. Third party organisations operate under the instruction of the NHS when processing data, with safeguards in place to keep people’s confidential information secure as per contractual requirements. All organisations that have access to NHS patient data and systems must use the Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) to provide assurance on an annual basis that they are practising good data security and that personal information is handled correctly. Over 61,500 organisations completed a DSPT assessment for 2024/25.
The privacy and confidentiality of health and care data is championed by the National Data Guardian who provides independent advice on the use of such data and holds the Caldicott Principles, which provide a framework for the safe and respectful use of data.
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 impact of the severity modifier criteria on access to drugs for cancer patients.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has been monitoring the impact of the severity modifier since it was implemented in 2022. Data up to March 2025 shows that the proportion of positive cancer recommendations is higher (85%) than with the end-of-life modifier it replaced (75%) and the proportion of positive recommendations for advanced cancer treatments is also higher (81% compared to 69%).
Since January 2022, NICE has recommended all but one of the treatments for breast cancer that it has assessed, including treatments for advanced breast cancer (such as Truqap and Korserdu), which are now available to eligible National Health Service patients.
The severity modifier is therefore working as intended and there are currently no plans to adjust or change it in the near future. However, NICE has commissioned research on people’s attitudes to how the severity modifier should be applied that will inform future reviews of NICE’s methods.