Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in updating the NHS Data ethnicity categories in line with the 2021 Census categories, to include Gypsies, Travellers and Roma.

NHS England has continued to work at a national level on behalf of the Department, as part of a wider equality monitoring review programme, to explore options for how best to update equality monitoring arrangements by reference to the protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010. This review for the National Health Service includes consideration of equality monitoring in relation to ethnicity and consideration of the 2021 ethnic group census categories, which includes gypsy, Irish traveller, and Roma. Once the report recommendations are made to the Department, ministers will review and consider next steps.