Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to improve public awareness of arthritis symptoms to help reduce delays in the seeking of medical advice.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the importance of improving public awareness of arthritis and its symptoms to support early diagnosis and timely access to care. On its NHS.UK website, NHS England provides extensive, publicly accessible information regarding the symptoms and management of arthritis. This includes information about general symptoms alongside specific manifestations for different types of the condition, and when to seek medical advice.
Charities and patient organisations also play a key role in role in raising awareness, and the NHS.UK website includes information and links to charities, helplines, and patient groups across its various arthritis informational pages to help people access further advice and support.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take with Cabinet colleagues to help increase access to NHS dentistry in rural areas in (a) the next 12 months and (b) during this Parliament.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Dental Statistics - England 2024/25, published by NHS Business Services Authority on 28 August 2025, is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/dental-england/dental-statistics-england-202425
The data for the Dorset Integrated Care Board (ICB), which includes the North Dorset constituency, shows that 34% of adults were seen by a National Health Service dentist in the previous 24 months up to June 2025, compared to 40% in England, and that 53% of children were seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 12 months up to June 2025, compared to 57% in England.
We are aware of the challenges faced in accessing a dentist, particularly in more rural areas.
We have asked ICBs to commission extra urgent dental appointments to make sure that patients with urgent dental needs can get the treatment they require. ICBs have been making extra appointments available since April 2025.
ICBs are recruiting dentists through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.
We are committed to delivering fundamental reform of the dental contract before the end of this Parliament. As a first step, on 16 December we published the Government’s response to the public consultation on quality and payment reforms to the NHS dental contract. The changes will be introduced from April 2026. These reforms will put patients with the greatest need first, incentivising urgent care and complex treatments. Further information is available at the following website:
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
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 provision of NHS dentistry in North Dorset constituency compared to the national average.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Dental Statistics - England 2024/25, published by NHS Business Services Authority on 28 August 2025, is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/dental-england/dental-statistics-england-202425
The data for the Dorset Integrated Care Board (ICB), which includes the North Dorset constituency, shows that 34% of adults were seen by a National Health Service dentist in the previous 24 months up to June 2025, compared to 40% in England, and that 53% of children were seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 12 months up to June 2025, compared to 57% in England.
We are aware of the challenges faced in accessing a dentist, particularly in more rural areas.
We have asked ICBs to commission extra urgent dental appointments to make sure that patients with urgent dental needs can get the treatment they require. ICBs have been making extra appointments available since April 2025.
ICBs are recruiting dentists through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.
We are committed to delivering fundamental reform of the dental contract before the end of this Parliament. As a first step, on 16 December we published the Government’s response to the public consultation on quality and payment reforms to the NHS dental contract. The changes will be introduced from April 2026. These reforms will put patients with the greatest need first, incentivising urgent care and complex treatments. Further information is available at the following website:
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what percentage of people have an NHS dentist in (a) urban (b) suburban and (c) rural areas in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Patients in England are not registered with a National Health Service dental practice, although many NHS dental practices do tend to see patients regularly. There is no geographical restriction on which practice a patient may attend. Some dental practices may operate local waiting list arrangements.
Data is not held on the percentage of people who have an NHS dentist and data is not available by urban, suburban, and rural areas. Dental Statistics - England 2024/25, published by NHS Business Services Authority on 28 August 2025, is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/dental-england/dental-statistics-england-202425
In the 24 months to June 2025, 40% of adults in England saw an NHS dentist, and in the 12 months to June 2025, 57% of children in England saw an NHS dentist. In 2024/25, there were 50 dentists per 100,000 population on average across all ICBs in England.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the official closing date under section 14 of the Inquiries Act 2005 was for the public inquiry entitled Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Inquiry.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed
The Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust was set up on 9 June 2010 when Sir Robert Francis was appointed as Chair of the Inquiry. On the same date, this was announced to Parliament by the then Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley.
Sir Francis submitted his final report to then Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, on 5 February 2013, which officially closed the public inquiry. The report was published on 6 February 2013.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the official set up date under section 5 of the Inquiries Act 2005 was for the public inquiry entitled Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Inquiry.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed
The Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust was set up on 9 June 2010 when Sir Robert Francis was appointed as Chair of the Inquiry. On the same date, this was announced to Parliament by the then Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley.
Sir Francis submitted his final report to then Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, on 5 February 2013, which officially closed the public inquiry. The report was published on 6 February 2013.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many notifications of medical discontinuations to Northern Ireland have been formally received by his Department in each week since 1 August 2021.
Answered by Edward Argar
The Department regularly receives notifications of discontinuations and possible discontinuations from suppliers. However, we are unable to provide the information requested as it is commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding from the Elective Recovery Fund has been allocated to neurology elective care in England broken down by NHS region.
Answered by Edward Argar
Information on how much of the £1 billion Elective Recovery Fund has been allocated to each National Health Service region and elective service in England is not held centrally, as it will not be distributed through set allocations. As set out in NHS Planning Guidance for 2021-22, systems are asked to deliver activity levels above set thresholds in order to access this additional funding.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding from the Elective Recovery Fund has been allocated to neurology elective care in England since that fund's creation.
Answered by Edward Argar
Information on how much of the £1 billion Elective Recovery Fund has been allocated to each National Health Service region and elective service in England is not held centrally, as it will not be distributed through set allocations. As set out in NHS Planning Guidance for 2021-22, systems are asked to deliver activity levels above set thresholds in order to access this additional funding.
Asked by: Simon Hoare (Conservative - North Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Public Health England’s findings that people with learning disabilities were three to six times more likely to die from covid-19 than the general population during the first wave of covid-19 was taken into account when developing the vaccine prioritisation policy.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is the independent expert advisory committee which advises the Government on vaccination. The JCVI reviewed data on COVID-19 mortality from OpenSAFELY, QCOVID and Public Health England (PHE). This included the PHE report on mortality in people with learning disabilities.
After consideration of the evidence, the JCVI advised that people with severe and profound learning disabilities and Down’s syndrome should be offered vaccination in the first phase of the programme.