Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of levels of pressures in general practice on levels of (a) patient safety, (b) GP burnout and (c) demand for urgent care services, NHS 111 and accident and emergency departments.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of the 2026/27 GP Contract, changes were introduced to strengthen expectations around access to same-day assessment and management of urgent patient needs, helping practices ensure patients with urgent clinical needs can be assessed and directed to the most appropriate care in a timely way.
NHS England's Primary Care Patient Safety Strategy supports improvement through implementation of the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF), learning from patient safety incidents, development of a patient safety culture, and support for safer systems of working across primary care. NHS England also continues to support initiatives intended to reduce pressure across care pathways and improve patient access to appropriate services, recognising that system pressures can affect quality and safety across the National Health Service.
Additionally, the Department commissions the periodic National GP Worklife Survey to understand general practitioners’ (GPs) experiences at work and to help inform policymaking.
NHS England undertakes significant work regarding anticipated demand on NHS 111 services. This is based on a review of historical and current demand, using data on calls received over a rolling six-week period. The commissioning and provision of these NHS 111 services is the responsibility of integrated care boards.
Limitations of data capture in primary care and different models of delivery mean that there is no real time measure of primary care pressures and these may be variable across a provider area. NHS 111 providers rapidly flex resources, when possible, when demand deviates from forecasted demand.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with representatives of general practice regarding the objectives set out in the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan, including on achieving increased focus on prevention and continuity of care, in the context of levels of funding and workforce capacity in general practice.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
General practitioners (GPs), and their representative groups, were consulted during the preparation of the 10-Year Health Plan, and we will continue to work with them closely to address any issues arising during its implementation, including during the annual GP Contract consultation.
We are investing £601 million in GPs in 2026/27, bringing the total spend on the GP Contract to £14 billion. This builds on last year’s £1.1 billion of investment. This uplift represents a 4.5% cash increase, or 2.2% real terms increase, and includes the Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration recommended pay increase of 3.5%.
Thanks to actions taken by the Government, we have the highest number of fully qualified GPs since 2015, and steps are being taken to grow the GP workforce further. In July 2024, there were 27,735 fully qualified full-time-equivalent GPs, and as of July 2026, there are 30,218, which is over 2,400 more GPs.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, (a) what steps she is taking to implement the recommendations of the Fuller Inquiry, particularly in relation to a statutory regulatory scheme for funeral directors; and (b) what consideration has been given to the potential merits of requiring that individuals working with the deceased in funeral homes and other non-NHS settings be subject to a DBS check or similar vetting procedure.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on 1 September, available at the following link:
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2026-09-01/hcws295
We will provide further updates in due course, including on progress in implementing the recommendations in the Fuller Inquiry Phase 2 report.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her department is taking to provide more British Sign Language interpreters in emergency care settings.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to ensuring that Deaf people who use British Sign Language (BSL) can access health services safely and without avoidable barriers.
In June 2026, the Government announced plans to significantly increase the number of interpreters for deafblind people through the funding of interpreter competency sessions.
Under the Equality Act 2010, National Health Service organisations must make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, including providing appropriate communication support where required.
NHS organisations are also expected to comply with the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), which requires providers to identify and meet patients' information and communication needs, including those of people who use BSL. NHS England is working to support implementation of the AIS with awareness raising, communication and staff engagement.
NHS England is also rolling out the Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag, which will enable health and care services to record and share information about support patients may require when accessing care.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to embed debt advice within mental health support.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 27 January 2026 in response to Question 105804.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to (a) introduce national guidance and (b) amend NHS dental contractual requirements to ensure that NHS dental practices make reasonable adjustments for disabled patients before deregistering them from NHS dental lists.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales
Care Quality Commission regulations mandate that all registered providers of dental care must have due regard to the protected characteristics defined in the Equality Act 2010. Under the Equality Act, health and care organisations, including providers of National Health Service dental services, have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments to enable disabled patients to access care.
Patients in England are not registered with an NHS dental practice in the same way that they are registered with a general practice, although many NHS dental practices do tend to see patients regularly. There is no geographical restriction on which practice a patient may attend. NHS dentists may refuse to see a patient if they have reasonable grounds for doing so, for example when a patient repeatedly does not attend appointments.
We recognise that certain groups of patients may find it difficult to access dental care. Community dental services are available to people whose additional needs may mean they are not able to be treated at high street dental practices.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 introducing a legal requirement that vape shops cannot operate near schools.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The Department ran a call for evidence at the end of last year inviting feedback on the implementation of a retail licensing scheme for tobacco, vapes, and nicotine products. This included asking about the factors that should be taken into consideration when making decisions to grant a premises licence, such as the location and density of retailers.
We are carefully considering the feedback gathered and intend to consult on our proposals for the new retail licensing scheme in 2027.
More broadly, we are committed to tackling youth vaping. On 10 July, we launched a United Kingdom-wide consultation on new proposals to reduce the appeal of vaping, tobacco, and nicotine products, including proposals on product packaging, flavour descriptors, device appearance, and changing where and how vapes are displayed in shops.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of children’s hospices reducing services due to funding levels.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales
We recognise the challenging financial situation facing many hospices due to a range of cost pressures, and we understand that some children and young people’s hospices are having to make difficult decisions about services.
However, to support the sector, the Government has provided a £125 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England and has secured approximately £80 million of revenue funding for children and young people’s hospices over the three financial years, from 2026/27 to 2028/29, helping to provide greater financial certainty and stability.
Since the beginning of this year, NHS England has written twice to all integrated care boards (ICBs) requesting an update on the financial stability of hospices within their footprint and the steps being taken to mitigate risks as a matter of urgency. As part of the most recent request, in April, information was also gathered from Hospice UK to provide a rounded picture of the hospice sector. It is clear from all the returns received that there is a clear commitment from ICBs to work collaboratively with hospices and to understand any existing or potential impact of financial pressures, with clear steps being taken at a local level to mitigate risks to patients.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 trends in the level of geographic inequalities in access to high-quality children’s palliative care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales
We recognise that there are currently inequalities in access to, and the quality of, palliative care and end-of-life care. This is one of the reasons why we are developing a Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care.
On 4 June, we published an interim update on the MSF in the form of a Written Ministerial Statement, which is available at the following link:
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2026-06-04/hcws88
The MSF will provide a clinically led, evidence-based framework to support sustained improvement in patient and carer outcomes, including for children and young people with palliative care needs, by reducing both inequality and unwarranted variation.
The MSF will focus on reducing unwarranted variation in access, experience, and outcomes, ensuring that everyone can receive high‑quality, personalised care in the right place at the end of life. The MSF will address inequalities in access to palliative care and end-of-life care by embedding a stronger focus on identifying, measuring, and reducing health inequalities across the system.
It will support a shift towards strategic, population‑based commissioning, enabling integrated care boards to plan and deliver services based on a clear understanding of local need, including underserved and disadvantaged groups.
The MSF will also strengthen the use of data and evidence, including metrics that are under development, to help systems identify gaps in provision, track progress, and ensure funding and services are distributed more equitably.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard, (a) how many algorithmic tools deployed through the NHS Federated Data Platform have been assessed as falling within the mandatory scope of that standard, (b) how many such records have been published on the GOV.UK register, and (c) what the timetable is for any outstanding records to be published.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
The NHS Federated Data Platform (NHS FDP) safely connects information from different systems across the National Health Service into a single, secure environment. This allows staff to co-ordinate care better to improve outcomes for patients.
The NHS FDP is delivering for the NHS, helping people get the care they need quicker and more efficiently. Since March 2024, more than 100,000 additional patients have been supported to undergo procedures in theatres partly by increasing theatre utilisation. Nearly 94,000 people have been supported on their cancer journey, with 7% seeing a reduction in the time it took to diagnose their cancer. There has been a 14% decrease in delays discharging patients staying in hospital for more than seven days, freeing up beds for those who need them most. NHS England publishes quarterly information on benefits realised from the FDP, which is available at the following link:
As of the end of May 2026, 170 trusts have signed up for the NHS FDP, including the Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust.
One algorithmic tool deployed through the NHS FDP has been assessed as within the scope of the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard (ATRS) and submitted to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s ATRS team.
No records relating to algorithmic tools deployed through the NHS FDP have yet been published on the GOV.UK website’s ATRS register. NHS England continues to engage with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on next steps. No timetable for publication has yet been agreed.