Asked by: Ben Goldsborough (Labour - South Norfolk)
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 improve community healthcare in rural areas.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government’s 10 Year Health Plan commits to three big shifts which includes increasingly moving services away from centralised hospitals into the wider community. Integrated care boards are responsible for the planning and commissioning of health services. In doing so ICBs must take into account the needs of their local population, which includes meeting the healthcare needs of their rural populations.Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her department's food strategy will include measures to address obesity and dietary-related diseases separate to those announced in the 10-year health plan for England.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The outcomes set out in the food strategy include an improved food environment that supports healthier and more environmentally sustainable food sales, and access to affordable, healthy food for all, particularly those on low incomes. They also include valued regional and local food cultures, with people more connected to local food systems, with the confidence, knowledge and skills to cook and eat healthily.
Defra is working closely with the Department for Health and Social Care on delivery of food-related elements of the 10 Year Health Plan. These include restricting junk food advertising, introducing mandatory reporting and targets for healthier food sales, strengthening the impact of advertising and promotions restrictions by applying the updated Nutrient Profiling Model, and uplifting the weekly value of Healthy Start by 10%.
The Government is exploring options to create and promote a vibrant food culture at a national, regional and local level, to connect people to their local food systems and better support local and place-based initiatives.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will provide emergency funding to areas with the most severe dental shortages, including Great Yarmouth.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are aware of the challenges faced in accessing a dentist, particularly in more rural and coastal areas such as Great Yarmouth.
In 2024/25, the Government invested around £3.7 billion on primary care dentistry. We want to ensure that every penny we allocate for dentistry is spent on dentistry, and that the ringfenced dental budget is spent on the patients who need it most.
The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Great Yarmouth constituency, this is the NHS Norfolk and Waveney ICB.
We have asked ICBs to commission extra urgent dental appointments across the country, with appointments more heavily weighted towards those areas where they are needed the most.
ICBs are also 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, we published the Government’s response to the public consultation on shorter term improvements to the NHS dental contract on 16 December 2025. The changes will be introduced from April 2026. These reforms will put patients with the greatest needs first while incentivising urgent care and complex treatments. Further information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has assessed the potential impact of ICB mergers on continuity and access in rural and semi-rural areas.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Across larger integrated care board (ICB) footprints there will be a renewed focus on the local level as part of our commitment to delivering care closer to home, and this includes rural and semi rural areas. As outlined in our 10-Year Health Plan, neighbourhood health plans will be created and will be brought together as part of the ICBs’ plans to improve population health locally.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, given the existing co-location of many health services with leisure centres, what assessment his Department has made of the benefits of including these facilities in neighbourhood health schemes.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Neighbourhood health sits at the heart of the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan. Our ambition is to build a service that: delivers more personalised care closer to where people live; empowers individuals to lead healthier, more independent lives; and offers genuine choice in how to access support. Further information on the 10-Year Health Plan is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/10-year-health-plan-for-england-fit-for-the-future
We are engaging with local government sector representatives, as well as the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector, to understand how neighbourhood health plans and centres can make best use of the full range of existing local assets, as well as create opportunities to co-locate and join up a broad range of health-impacting services. This includes those that are local authority commissioned and owned as well as those that are National Health Service commissioned and owned.
We will be publishing further guidance to support local areas to develop Neighbourhood Health Plans in due course. This will set out how the NHS, local authorities, and partners should work together under the leadership of Health and Wellbeing Boards to develop and implement plans.
We expect neighbourhood teams and services to be designed in a way that reflects the specific needs of local populations. While the focus on personalised, coordinated care will be consistent, that will mean the service will look different in rural communities, coastal towns, and/or deprived inner cities.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 include a) gyms, b) swimming pools, and c) leisure centres in the neighbourhood health schemes.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Neighbourhood health sits at the heart of the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan. Our ambition is to build a service that: delivers more personalised care closer to where people live; empowers individuals to lead healthier, more independent lives; and offers genuine choice in how to access support. Further information on the 10-Year Health Plan is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/10-year-health-plan-for-england-fit-for-the-future
We are engaging with local government sector representatives, as well as the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector, to understand how neighbourhood health plans and centres can make best use of the full range of existing local assets, as well as create opportunities to co-locate and join up a broad range of health-impacting services. This includes those that are local authority commissioned and owned as well as those that are National Health Service commissioned and owned.
We will be publishing further guidance to support local areas to develop Neighbourhood Health Plans in due course. This will set out how the NHS, local authorities, and partners should work together under the leadership of Health and Wellbeing Boards to develop and implement plans.
We expect neighbourhood teams and services to be designed in a way that reflects the specific needs of local populations. While the focus on personalised, coordinated care will be consistent, that will mean the service will look different in rural communities, coastal towns, and/or deprived inner cities.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average ambulance response time for Category 2 calls was in rural parts of the East Midlands in each of the last 12 months; and how this compares with response times in urban areas in the region.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We acknowledge that ambulance performance has not consistently met expectations in recent years, and we are taking serious steps to improve performance across the country, including rural and semi-urban areas. That is why we published our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26, backed by almost £450 million of capital investment, which commits to reducing ambulance response times for Category 2 incidents to 30 minutes on average this year.
The NHS Constitutional standards for ambulance response time metrics are measured with an average figure as well as a 90th centile standard which means that trusts are held to account for the response times they provide to all patients, improving the performance management of the ‘long tail’ of delayed ambulance responses that we know can particularly affect rural and semi-urban areas. In the East Midlands, the latest NHS England figures show a 22-minute improvement in the Category 2 90th centile response time compared with last year.
We have already seen improvements in ambulance response times for the East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (EMAS). The latest National Health Service performance figures for EMAS show that Category 2 incidents were responded to in 46 minutes and 55 seconds on average, over 11 minutes faster than the same period last year.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
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 ambulance response times in rural areas of the East Midlands; and what steps are being taken to improve response times in those communities.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We acknowledge that ambulance performance has not consistently met expectations in recent years, and we are taking serious steps to improve performance across the country, including rural and semi-urban areas. That is why we published our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26, backed by almost £450 million of capital investment, which commits to reducing ambulance response times for Category 2 incidents to 30 minutes on average this year.
The NHS Constitutional standards for ambulance response time metrics are measured with an average figure as well as a 90th centile standard which means that trusts are held to account for the response times they provide to all patients, improving the performance management of the ‘long tail’ of delayed ambulance responses that we know can particularly affect rural and semi-urban areas. In the East Midlands, the latest NHS England figures show a 22-minute improvement in the Category 2 90th centile response time compared with last year.
We have already seen improvements in ambulance response times for the East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (EMAS). The latest National Health Service performance figures for EMAS show that Category 2 incidents were responded to in 46 minutes and 55 seconds on average, over 11 minutes faster than the same period last year.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
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 address regional and rural-urban disparities in ambulance response times, with reference to the performance of East Midlands Ambulance Service.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We acknowledge that ambulance performance has not consistently met expectations in recent years, and we are taking serious steps to improve performance across the country, including rural and semi-urban areas. That is why we published our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26, backed by almost £450 million of capital investment, which commits to reducing ambulance response times for Category 2 incidents to 30 minutes on average this year.
The NHS Constitutional standards for ambulance response time metrics are measured with an average figure as well as a 90th centile standard which means that trusts are held to account for the response times they provide to all patients, improving the performance management of the ‘long tail’ of delayed ambulance responses that we know can particularly affect rural and semi-urban areas. In the East Midlands, the latest NHS England figures show a 22-minute improvement in the Category 2 90th centile response time compared with last year.
We have already seen improvements in ambulance response times for the East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (EMAS). The latest National Health Service performance figures for EMAS show that Category 2 incidents were responded to in 46 minutes and 55 seconds on average, over 11 minutes faster than the same period last year.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what geographic barriers there are to accessing independent advocacy services for patients in rural areas, including Wiltshire; and what steps he is taking to help tackle those barriers.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Advocacy services play an important role in helping patients' voices to be heard and in ensuring their legal rights are protected. Guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence indicates that advocacy can provide several benefits, including helping to uphold individuals’ rights, supporting vulnerable individuals, involvement in decision-making, and promoting continuity of care.
There are several different types of patient advocacy services, and it is for local commissioning bodies to plan and commission advocacy services, in line with relevant legislation.
Specifically on complaints advocacy services, whilst National Health Service organisations must have their own complaints procedures, they are not required to provide complaints advocacy services. The legal duty to provide this service rests with local authorities, who are required by the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to make arrangements for the provision of independent advocacy services in their area. Each year the Government provides approximately £15 million of grant funding to local authorities towards this service.