Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the abolition of NHS England on the (a) consultation on NHS Right to Choose ADHD changes and (b) use of feedback from that consultation.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to lead this transformation. As we work to return many of NHS England’s current functions to the Department, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds.
The abolition of NHS England will strip out the unnecessary bureaucracy and cut the duplication that comes from having two organisations doing the same job; we will empower staff to focus on delivering better care for patients, driving productivity up and getting waiting times down.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
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 increase access to NHS dentistry in Worsley and Eccles constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For Worsley and Eccles constituency, this is the NHS Greater Manchester ICB.
ICBs have started to recruit posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see up to 240 dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been waiting over six months to access CAMHS support in (a) Salford and (b) Wigan.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
A copy of two tables breaking down the number of people waiting over six months to access Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service support in Salford and Wigan since 2020 is attached.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many referrals have been accepted by Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in (a) Salford and (b) Wigan in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of referrals accepted by child and adolescent mental health services in Salford in each month from 2020/21 up to December 2024, the month for which most recent data is available:
Month | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 |
April | 267 | 196 | 287 | 127 | 75 |
May | 325 | 304 | 269 | 171 | 84 |
June | 301 | 386 | 223 | 156 | 101 |
July | 385 | 378 | 158 | 127 | 130 |
August | 194 | 243 | 336 | 78 | 121 |
September | 317 | 243 | 277 | 153 | 175 |
October | 366 | 262 | 295 | 123 | 161 |
November | 343 | 340 | 277 | 107 | 176 |
December | 302 | 246 | 305 | 118 | 117 |
January |
| 283 | 265 | 126 | 107 |
February |
| 269 | 300 | 173 | 106 |
March |
| 316 | 288 | 170 | 169 |
Source: NHS England
The following table shows the number of referrals accepted by child and adolescent mental health services in Wigan in each month from 2020/21 up to December 2024, the month for which most recent data is available:
Month | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 |
April | 125 | 51 | 100 | 44 | 4 |
May | 130 | 111 | 97 | 27 | 5 |
June | 118 | 96 | 87 | 30 | 12 |
July | 79 | 92 | 53 | 41 | 20 |
August | 50 | 45 | 39 | 39 | 23 |
September | 117 | 72 | 62 | 18 | 34 |
October | 166 | 107 | 66 | 34 | 30 |
November | 163 | 118 | 87 | 53 | 28 |
December | 97 | 108 | 46 | 34 | 25 |
January |
| 136 | 82 | 95 | 25 |
February |
| 115 | 63 | 75 | 34 |
March |
| 132 | 91 | 97 | 40 |
Source: NHS England
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average time was between (a) referral and (b) first contact for mental health services for people aged 17 years and under in (a) Salford and (b) Wigan in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the median waiting time in days between a referral start date and first contact, within the three-month rolling reporting period, for referrals for children and young people aged under 18 years old who are supported through National Health Service funded mental health services, from August 2023, the earliest date available, to November 2024, for Salford and Wigan:
Salford | Reporting period | Median wait time (days) | Wigan | Reporting Period | Median wait time (days) |
| November 2024 | 6 |
| November 2024 | 1 |
October 2024 | 7 | October 2024 | 1 | ||
September 2024 | 7 | September 2024 | 4 | ||
August 2024 | 5 | August 2024 | 4 | ||
July 2024 | 6 | July 2024 | 3 | ||
June 2024 | 3 | June 2024 | 1 | ||
May 2024 | 5 | May 2024 | 2 | ||
April 2024 | 5 | April 2024 | 3 | ||
March 2024 | 5 | March 2024 | 5 | ||
February 2024 | 5 | February 2024 | 5 | ||
January 2024 | 5 | January 2024 | 3 | ||
December 2023 | 5 | December 2023 | 2 | ||
November 2023 | 4 | November 2023 | 2 | ||
October 2023 | 4 | October 2023 | 1 | ||
September 2023 | 6 | September 2023 | 2 | ||
August 2023 | 6 | August 2023 | 5 |
Source: NHS Futures.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many speech and language therapists have worked for the NHS in (a) Salford, (b) Wigan and (c) the North West in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of full-time equivalent speech and language therapists working in National Health Service trusts and other core organisations in Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the NHS England North West region in each of the last five years:
| Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust | Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | North West Region |
October 2019 | 110 | 35 | 1,035 |
October 2020 | 136 | 34 | 1,066 |
October 2021 | 169 | 39 | 1,102 |
October 2022 | 182 | 34 | 1,175 |
October 2023 | 199 | 36 | 1,261 |
October 2024 | 215 | 37 | 1,339 |
Source: NHS England, NHS Workforce Statistics
Note: These staff will provide services in a range of settings including in education. However, therapists will also be directly employed by other providers, including schools, independent provision and third sector/ charitable organisations for which data is not held centrally.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many mental health support teams there were in (a) Worsley and Eccles constituency, (b) Salford and (c) Wigan in each year since 2014.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows a summary of mental health support teams in (a) Worsley and Eccles constituency, Salford and Wigan in each year since 2014.
Financial Year | Number of teams |
| |
2021/2022 | Two | ||
2022/2023 | Two | ||
2023/2024 | Three teams specific to Wigan and one footprint team across Wigan and Bolton | ||
2024/2025 | Four Wigan teams in total, of which three are specific to Wigan and one footprint team across Wigan and Bolton. | ||
Source: NHS England
Note: there were no teams in existence between 2014 and 2020/21.
Salford has three Community Mental Health Teams covering the Salford locality and this has been the case since prior to 2014. Since 2022, Salford has also implemented a living well offer as part of the core community mental health pathway, working into each of the five primary care networks in the city. There are also specialist teams, for example, Early Intervention in Psychosis, adult community eating disorders, Home Based Treatment and MH Liaison, in addition to primary care mental health talking therapies, covering the Salford population.
Wigan mobilised its first two mental health support teams in 2021/22 with the staff in post and starting their training course in Sept 2021 and the team going live in the spring of 2022.
In 2023/24 Greater Manchester Mental Health was allocated funding for 2.58 new teams for the Wigan and Bolton footprint. This was an additional team for each locality and the development of a footprint higher education offer.
Asked by: Michael Wheeler (Labour - Worsley and Eccles)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GP practices there (a) are and (b) were in 2010 in Worsley and Eccles constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The data provided has been sourced from NHS England and shows the number of general practices (GPs) in the Worsley and Eccles constituency in January 2025 and January 2014, as no data is available prior to this. The data only includes main practices and does not include branch practices. The data is as follows:
- as of January 2025, there are 14 GPs in the Worsley and Eccles constituency; and
- as of January 2014, there were 20 GPs in the Worsley and Eccles constituency.
Practices close for a variety of reasons, including mergers or retirement, and so this does not necessarily indicate a reduction in the quality of care. When a practice does close, patients are informed of the closure and advised to register at another local practice of their choice within their area.