Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
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 reduce ambulance wait times for Category 2 calls to the national target of 18 minutes.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that in recent years ambulance performance has not met the high standards patients should expect.
In October, NHS England published the Medium Term Planning Framework which sets out ambitious targets to improve core urgent and emergency care performance to constitutional standards, including by shortening average Category 2 response times to 18 minutes. This is being supported by practical actions, including reducing avoidable ambulance dispatches and conveyances and ambulance handover delays.
The measures being taken are already improving ambulance response times, including in North East Hampshire. The latest National Health Service performance figures for the South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, which serves North East Hampshire, show that in October, Category 2 incidents were responded to in 31 minutes 54 seconds on average, over six minutes faster than the same period last year.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
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 reduce ambulance response times in North East Hampshire constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that in recent years ambulance performance has not met the high standards patients should expect.
In October, NHS England published the Medium Term Planning Framework which sets out ambitious targets to improve core urgent and emergency care performance to constitutional standards, including by shortening average Category 2 response times to 18 minutes. This is being supported by practical actions, including reducing avoidable ambulance dispatches and conveyances and ambulance handover delays.
The measures being taken are already improving ambulance response times, including in North East Hampshire. The latest National Health Service performance figures for the South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, which serves North East Hampshire, show that in October, Category 2 incidents were responded to in 31 minutes 54 seconds on average, over six minutes faster than the same period last year.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many medical appointments were missed by (a) deaf and (b) hearing impaired people due to a lack of information support (i) at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, (ii) in the North West and (c) in England over the last three years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data on medical appointments missed in the format requested. Our Elective Reform Plan sets out the focussed action we are taking to reduce missed appointments, as part of delivering the Government’s commitment to return to the constitutional standard of 92% of patients having their first treatment within 18-weeks of referral. This includes enhancing communication between hospitals and patients, using the results of artificial intelligence to predict missed appointments, and targeting support to vulnerable patient groups, saving up to one million missed appointments.
The Elective Reform Plan and the 10-Year Health Plan commit to modernising care equitably and inclusively, including ensuring consistency in the availability of information, so that patients, including those that are deaf or have hearing impairments, are supported to attend appointments and have the best possible experience of care.
As part of this, NHS England published a refreshed Accessible Information Standard (AIS) in July 2025. This sets out a specific, consistent approach to meeting the information and communication support needs of service users with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss, and requires that relevant staff are adequately trained. NHS England is supporting implementation of AIS, so that staff and organisations are aware of the importance of meeting the needs of disabled people using services.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many job vacancies there were for (a) Foundation Year 1 doctors, (b) Foundation Year 2 doctors and (c) specialty training posts in (i) England and (ii) Suffolk NHS region at the most recent date for which data is available.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold information on the number of vacancies for Foundation Year 1, Foundation Year 2, and specialty training posts in England or in the Suffolk National Health Service region.
NHS England collects and publishes data relating to the fill rates for training places in medical specialties. These are for the entry point of the initial recruitment processes for the specific training programme, rather than a measure of total vacancies at a given point in time. Further information is available at the following link:
https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment/medical-specialty-training/fill-rates
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of myalgic encephalomyelitis treatment in South West London.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We published the myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), final delivery plan on 22 July 2025. The plan focusses on boosting research, improving attitudes and education, and bettering the lives of people with this debilitating disease, including those in South West London.
The ME/CFS final delivery plan includes an action for the Department and NHS England to explore whether a specialised service should be prescribed by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for people with very severe ME/CFS across England. Officials from the Department have commenced discussions with NHS England on how best to take forward this action.
NHS England has also started its work on co-designing resources for systems to improve services for mild and moderate ME/CFS, including for patients in South West London. It will meet a group of key stakeholders to progress this in the coming weeks.
To support healthcare professionals in the diagnosis and management of ME/CFS, as set out in the final delivery plan, the Department has worked with NHS England to develop an e-learning programme on ME/CFS for healthcare professionals, with the aim of supporting staff to be able to provide better care and improve patient outcomes. All three sessions of the e-learning programme, with sessions one and two having universal access, whilst the third session is only available to healthcare professionals, are now available at the following link:
https://learninghub.nhs.uk/catalogue/mecfselearning?nodeId=7288
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
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 support people with myalgic encephalomyelitis in South West London.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We published the myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), final delivery plan on 22 July 2025. The plan focusses on boosting research, improving attitudes and education, and bettering the lives of people with this debilitating disease, including those in South West London.
The ME/CFS final delivery plan includes an action for the Department and NHS England to explore whether a specialised service should be prescribed by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for people with very severe ME/CFS across England. Officials from the Department have commenced discussions with NHS England on how best to take forward this action.
NHS England has also started its work on co-designing resources for systems to improve services for mild and moderate ME/CFS, including for patients in South West London. It will meet a group of key stakeholders to progress this in the coming weeks.
To support healthcare professionals in the diagnosis and management of ME/CFS, as set out in the final delivery plan, the Department has worked with NHS England to develop an e-learning programme on ME/CFS for healthcare professionals, with the aim of supporting staff to be able to provide better care and improve patient outcomes. All three sessions of the e-learning programme, with sessions one and two having universal access, whilst the third session is only available to healthcare professionals, are now available at the following link:
https://learninghub.nhs.uk/catalogue/mecfselearning?nodeId=7288
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
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 improve (a) diagnosis and (b) management of patients with (i) overlapping and (ii) co-existing chronic illnesses.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise the increasing prevalence of co-existing chronic illnesses and the importance of developing strategies to support people living with multiple co-morbidities. For that reason, we have appointed a dedicated National Specialty Advisor for Multi-Morbidity.
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, more tests and scans delivered in the community, better joint working between services, and greater use of technology will all support people to manage overlapping and co-existing chronic illnesses closer to home.
Neighbourhood health services will be organised around the needs of their patients and will take a joined-up, holistic approach with multi-disciplinary teams who can provide wrap-around support services to people with overlapping and co-existing chronic illnesses.
The NHS App will be enhanced to allow patients to manage appointments and medications, and view or create their own care plans. My Medicines will enable patients to manage their prescriptions, and My Health will enable patients to monitor their symptoms and bring all their data into one place. Patients will be able to self-refer to services where clinically appropriate through My Specialist on the NHS App. This will accelerate their access to treatment and support.
Our 10-Year Health Plan outlines our ambition for 95% of people with complex needs to have an agreed care plan by 2027. Care plans will be co-created with patients and cover their holistic needs. We will also expand the uptake of personal health budgets. By 2030, one million patients with long-term conditions will be offered Personal Health Budgets, which will enable them to use National Health Service resources and determine care that best suits their needs. It will provide patients with greater choice and control over their care, leading to better health outcomes and increased independence.
We will also introduce a new Single Patient Record across the NHS, which will bring together a patient’s medical records all into one place. It will mean that no matter where a patient is accessing care, in the community or in a hospital, the care provider will have a comprehensive understanding of their medical history.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
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 ensure timely access to chemosaturation for patients with metastatic ocular (uveal) melanoma.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department remains committed to ensuring that cancer patients, including those with metastatic ocular melanoma, have timely access to treatment and tailored medical support.
In 2016, NHS England concluded that there was insufficient evidence to make chemosaturation treatment available to patients on the National Health Service. NHS England is currently in the early stages of policy development for chemosaturation to treat metastatic uveal melanoma where surgery to remove or destroy affected cells and tissue in the liver is not feasible.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published an Interventional Procedure Guidance for this treatment, and while this does allow NHS trusts to offer the treatment locally, they can only do so if they put in place special arrangements for clinical governance, consent, audit, or research, because further evidence of benefit and safety is needed. The 2016 NHS England Clinical Commissioning policy is currently under review, and we expect that a new draft policy will be shared with stakeholders over the coming months. If NHS England’s clinical panel makes the treatment routinely available across the NHS in England it will require further consideration through relative prioritisation and investment before full roll out.
The development of a Clinical Commissioning policy will determine both if the evidence is now sufficient to enable making the treatment routinely available and, if it is, whether to allocate service development funding to implement it across the NHS in England.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department have made on the impact of participation in (a) gyms, (b) swimming pools, and (c) leisure centres on men’s (i) mental and (ii) physical health.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government knows that addressing physical inactivity and getting people moving more is important for improving health outcomes, well-being, reducing demand on the National Health Service, and supporting economic growth.
Our 10-Year Health Plan sets out our ambition to break down barriers and take a cross-sector approach to building movement back into everyday lives. This requires a collective effort and there is an important role for the leisure and fitness sector through providing facilities and opportunities to get people active and reap the associated health benefits.
On 19 November, to coincide with International Men’s Day, we published England’s first ever Men’s Health Strategy. The strategy includes actions to improve access to healthcare, provide the right support to enable men to make healthier choices, develop healthy living and working conditions, foster strong social, community, and family networks, address societal norms, and tackle the biggest health problems affecting men. The strategy recognises the importance of meeting men where they are and includes investment in community-based health and suicide prevention programmes and a new partnership with the Premier League to ensure men know where to go for mental health support.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
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.