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 proposed neighbourhood health centres being able to (a) improve musculoskeletal health and (b) treat musculoskeletal health issues.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Improving health and work outcomes of people with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions will help deliver the Government's mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future and kickstart economic growth.

The 10-Year Health Plan sets out our vision for a Neighbourhood Health Service. Neighbourhood teams will bring together professionals, including nurses, doctors, social care staff, pharmacists, and health visitors, to provide comprehensive care that fits around people’s lives. Neighbourhood health approaches can help ensure that people with MSK conditions receive more personalised and coordinated support, reducing unnecessary hospital visits and enabling earlier, community-based interventions. Our aim is to have one Neighbourhood Health Centre in each community that brings together NHS, local authority, and voluntary sector services in one place, offering integrated, holistic support for all health needs, which could include MSK care, rehabilitation, and prevention.

We have launched wave 1 of the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme (NNHIP) across 43 places in England. The NNHIP will support systems across the country by driving innovation and integration at a local level, to accelerate improvements in outcomes, satisfaction, and experience for people by ensuring that care is more joined-up, accessible, and responsive to community needs.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is his Department taking to ensure people with suspected autoimmune or inflammatory conditions are referred to rheumatology services within 3 weeks.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are committed to supporting people with long-term conditions and ensuring they receive the support that they need, including referral to specialist services as appropriate.

To support health and care professionals in the early diagnosis and management of rheumatoid autoimmune or inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published expert guidance. This guidance states that people with suspected persistent synovitis, a condition closely associated with RA, should be assessed in a rheumatology service within three weeks of referral.

The Getting It Right First Time Programme for Rheumatology has published a report for healthcare professionals on the diagnosis and management of a range of rheumatic and musculoskeletal disorders, including autoimmune and inflammatory conditions. The report includes several recommendations designed to help reduce the number of unnecessary hospital visits and reduce waiting times for outpatient rheumatology services, including guidance on best approach for establishing patient initiated follow up, and specialist advice.

More widely, the Elective Reform Plan recognises that the traditional delivery of outpatient care, via a hospital appointment with a specialist, can be resource intensive and is often not the right model for clinicians, patients, or their carers. Digital solutions, updated financial flows, appropriate job planning, and time and investment will lead to meaningful reform to outpatient services, including rheumatology services.

The 10-Year Health Plan sets out further our vision for elective care by 2035, where most interactions no longer take place in a hospital building, instead happening virtually or via neighbourhood services. Planned care will be more efficient, timely, and effective and will put control in the hands of patients, including those with suspected autoimmune or inflammatory conditions.

We are also committed to transforming and expanding diagnostic services and speeding up waiting times for tests. This includes investment in new and expanded community diagnostic centres, which is supporting a key Government priority to shift care from the hospital to the community, and offer the tests needed to support diagnosis of suspected rheumatoid autoimmune or inflammatory conditions such as RA.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to expedite the roll-out of surgical hubs.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Dedicated and protected surgical hubs transform the way the National Health Service provides elective care by focusing on providing high volume low complexity surgery, as recommended by the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

That is why we are investing in hubs as part of the £1.65 billion of capital funding in 2025/26 announced at the 2025 Spending Review to support NHS performance across secondary and emergency care.

Since the Government came to office, 22 more surgical hubs have opened, bringing the total to 123 operational across England. We are committed to increasing that number over the next three years.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for joint replacement surgery in South Bolton and Walkden constituency.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to putting patients first, nationally and in the South Bolton and Walkden Constituency. This means making sure that patients, including those waiting for joint replacement surgery, are seen on time and ensuring that people have the best possible experience during their care.

The South Bolton area is predominantly served by the Bolton NHS Foundation Trust (FT), whilst the wider region including Walkden is served by the Manchester University NHS FT.

At the Bolton NHS FT, over half, or 55.6%, of waits on the trauma and orthopaedics (T&O) waiting list, which includes joint replacement surgery, were waiting within 18 weeks, an improvement of 8.8% since the start of July 2024. The number of long waits of more than 52 weeks has also reduced by 67% over the same period, down to 83.

At the Manchester University NHS FT, 45% of T&O waits were within 18 weeks, an improvement of 3.7%. The number of long waits of over 52 weeks has also reduced by 6% over the same period, down to 893.

We set out in the 2025 Elective Reform Plan, the productivity and modernisation efforts needed to reach the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029. The plan outlines actions that will help to ensure care is delivered in the right place. This includes £1.65 billion of capital funding in 2025/26 to increase capacity for elective and emergency care, partly through new surgical hubs. Hubs deliver quicker access to common surgical procedures, including T&O services. In October 2025, capacity in one of two surgical hubs that are part of the Manchester University FT was expanded, namely the Trafford Hospital Elective Surgical Hub. This means more patients can receive treatment faster and begin recovery sooner.

The Government remains committed to continuing to expand the number of hubs over the next three years to increase surgical capacity and deliver faster access to common procedures including T&O procedures.

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