theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Cameron Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help increase capacity in phlebotomy services. \p Karin Smyth: Blood tests are among the most commonly requested diagnostic investigations across primary and secondary care, and they are readily available across all 27 National Health Service pathology networks. Phlebotomy – the procedure to collect blood samples – is widely available across general practice, community health services, and secondary care phlebotomy clinics, supporting equitable access to blood testing.

Where phlebotomy services are provided by general practice, they are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs). ICBs are responsible for commissioning phlebotomy services based on local population need and are funded for these services as part of their annual funding allocations.

In January 2025, we published the Elective Reform Plan, which sets out the productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the 18-week constitutional standard by the end of this parliament. The Plan commits to transform and expand diagnostic services and speed up waiting times for tests, a crucial part of reducing overall waiting times.

Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs), including those in Gloucestershire and Herefordshire, are supporting one of the governments key strategic shifts – moving care from the hospital to the community. CDCs offer local populations a wide range of diagnostic tests, including phlebotomy, closer to home and greater choice on where and how they are undertaken.

We are continuing to invest in expanding diagnostic capacity in the NHS. As set out in the Elective Reform Plan, we plan to build up to five more CDCs in 2025/26, alongside increasing the operating hours of existing sites so that more offer services 12 hours a day, seven days a week. This is backed by part of the £600 million of capital investment for diagnostic services announced at the October 2024 Spending Review.
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to increase awareness of aerobic vaginitis. \p Karin Smyth: The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health as we build a National Health Service fit for the future.

Professional bodies, including the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, are considering how to raise awareness and make more information available about aerobic vaginitis.

Additionally, we have supported the system to improve access to more specialised and multidisciplinary teams in the community through the introduction of women’s health hubs. Women’s health hubs provide better integrated care for women with a range of different conditions.
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Liz Jarvis:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of making all asthma-related medication free on prescription for adults. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: No specific assessment has been made of the potential merits of making all asthma-related medication free on prescription for adults.

While there are no plans to amend the criteria for eligibility for free prescriptions, approximately 89% of prescription items are dispensed free of charge in the community in England, and there are a wide range of exemptions from prescription charges already in place for which those with asthma may be eligible.

Eligibility depends on the patient’s age, whether they are in qualifying full-time education, whether they are pregnant or have recently given birth, whether they have another qualifying medical condition, or whether they are in receipt of certain benefits or a war pension.

People on low incomes can apply for help with their health costs through the National Health Service Low Income Scheme, which provides help based on a comparison between a person’s income and requirements. Prescription prepayment certificates (PPCs) are also available. PPCs allow people to claim as many prescriptions as they need for a set cost, with 3-month and 12-month certificates available. 12-month PPCs can be paid for in ten monthly instalments, allowing the holder to get all the prescriptions they need for just over £2 per week.
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Gareth Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will allow London North West University Healthcare Trust to become an NHS Foundation Trust. \p Karin Smyth: As outlined in the 10-Year Health Plan, our ambition is that by 2035 all provider trusts will be foundation trusts, using their freedoms to work with others and improve population health.
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Tim Farron:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to help reduce NHS waiting times in Cumbria. \p Karin Smyth: Tackling the waiting-list is a top priority for the Government. We have exceeded our pledge to deliver over two million more elective care appointments. More than double that number, 5.2 million more appointments, have now been delivered in England.

On 6 January 2025, NHS England published the new Elective Reform Plan, which sets out a whole system approach to delivering on the commitment that 92% of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment, in line with the NHS constitutional standard, by March 2029. This includes a focus on:

Cumbria is covered by two integrated care boards (ICBs). As of August 2025, 18-week referral to treatment performance for the NHS Lancashire And South Cumbria ICB was 60.7%, and was 70.2% for the NHS North East And North Cumbria ICB. As of October 2025, there are now two CDCs in Cumbria, the Workington CDC and the Crossland Day Hospital. These community diagnostic centres will support access to earlier diagnostic tests, benefiting millions of patients.
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Shockat Adam:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the press notice entitled 100,000 more people get quicker care thanks to GP funding reform, published on 4 September 2025, whether he plans to allocate funding for advice and guidance services to (a) other areas of primary care and (b) optometry services. \p Karin Smyth: The expansion of and funding for Advice and Guidance and referral triage more broadly for 2026/27 are currently under consideration, and a decision will be confirmed later this year.
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Cameron Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will hold discussions with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on the development of guidelines for PANS and PANDAS. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: Decisions on topics for new or updated guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) are considered through an established NICE prioritisation process with decisions overseen by a prioritisation board, chaired by NICE’s Chief Medical Officer.

NICE’s prioritisation board considered the development of guidance on paediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome and paediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with streptococcus in November 2024 and concluded that there is insufficient evidence in this area to develop useful guidance.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to increase the pay of band two phlebotomists. \p Karin Smyth: Phlebotomists in England are paid on the Agenda for Change (AfC) pay scale which is underpinned by the Job Evaluation Scheme (JES). The JES is a structured method of comparing job demands as set out in the job documentation, for example the job description, to determine the appropriate AfC pay band for any given role.

Employers are responsible for correctly and consistently implementing the JES locally to ensure staff are paid correctly for the work they are asked to deliver.

Regarding AfC pay in general, the Government remitted the Pay Review Bodies on 22 July to begin the 2025 to 2026 pay round, with the target of getting uplifts into the pockets of health workers earlier next year.
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Adrian Ramsay:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many golden hellos for new dentists have been allocated to Waveney Valley constituency. \p Stephen Kinnock: Integrated care boards (ICBs) have started to recruit posts 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 do not hold Golden Hello data at a constituency level but, as of 22 September in England, 97 dentists are in post. A further eight dentists have been recruited but are yet to start in post under this scheme. A further 224 posts are currently being advertised.

ICBs continue to work with practices in their area to support recruitment to these posts.
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Munira Wilson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the transition from hospital to community care for stroke survivors. \p Karin Smyth: As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are committed to improving services for patients locally by increasing the provision of services outside of a hospital setting that are delivered closer to home in the community.

The National Stroke Quality Improvement in Rehabilitation programme is helping to transform community-based care by increasing access to specialist stroke rehabilitation at home.

Recent data shows that the percentage of patients discharged from hospital to community stroke services has now risen to 65.7%.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of funding a new hospital to replace the University Hospital of North Tees. \p Karin Smyth: Repairing and rebuilding our healthcare estate is a vital part of our ambition to create a National Health Service that is fit for the future through our 10-Year Health Plan.

We recognise that delivering high quality NHS healthcare services requires safe, sustainable, and effective infrastructure. That is why we prioritised investment in healthcare at the recent Spending Review, which delivered the largest ever health capital budget.

However, the New Hospital Programme (NHP) is the current mechanism for the delivery of hospitals and there are currently no plans to invite further schemes to join the NHP. The focus of the NHP is on delivery aligned to our Plan for Implementation. As such, the Department has made no assessment of the potential merits of funding a new hospital to replace the University Hospital of North Tees.
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Mr Paul Kohler:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of workforce shortages on the delivery of social care services to older people. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department monitors workforce levels in the adult social care sector in England at a national and local level. As part of this monitoring, the Department considers Skills for Care estimates on the number of filled posts in residential and domiciliary care. The adult social care workforce is growing. Skills for Care data shows in 2024/25 there were 1.60 million filled posts, an increase of 52,000 (3.4%) from 2023/24. This was the second largest increase seen since Skills for Care records began in 2012/13.

Local authorities in England have responsibility under the Care Act 2014 to meet social care needs and statutory guidance directs them to ensure there is sufficient workforce in adult social care.

We recognise the scale of reform needed to make adult social care attractive as a career and are determined to ensure those who work in care are respected as professionals. We are introducing a new Fair Pay Agreement for adult social care, implementing the first universal career structure for adult social care, and providing £12 million this year for staff to complete training and qualifications. These changes will help attract staff to the sector, providing proper recognition and opportunities for them to build their careers.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 4 August 2025 to Question 62005 on Care Workers: Migrant Workers, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of collecting data on visa status and ongoing employment in adult social care or UK residence. \p Stephen Kinnock: Home Office immigration statistics show the numbers of Health and Care Worker visas granted under this category for the ‘Caring Personal Services’ occupation group (613), which broadly covers occupations across social care, over time, and for the specific “care workers and home carers” occupation code (6135) from the fourth quarter of 2024. Not all visa grants will result in a worker travelling to the United Kingdom.

Skills for Care collects data on the adult social care workforce from employers on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care, with the voluntary Adult Social Care Workforce Dataset data collection. From July 2024, it added a question about the Health and Care Worker visa status of employees, supplementing existing data on nationality and, for non-UK nationals, the year of entry to the UK. However, the uncertainty of any estimate of the total number of current workers with this status would depend on how many employers have chosen to respond to that question and whether their responses could be considered representative of the workforce in its entirety. Any estimate could not be directly compared to data on visa grants from the Home Office.
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Dan Carden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the efficacy of the regulatory framework for the health and wellness sector. \p Karin Smyth: The Government has not made a recent assessment of the efficacy of the regulatory framework for the health and wellness sector.
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Patrick Hurley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that Integrated Care Boards remove the requirement for self-funded intrauterine insemination for same-sex couples. \p Karin Smyth: The Government recognises that fertility treatment across the National Health Service in England is subject to variation in access. Work continues between the Department and NHS England to better understand the offer around NHS-funded fertility services including the issue for female same sex couples.

Funding decisions for health services in England are made by integrated care boards (ICBs) and are based on the clinical needs of their population. We expect ICBs to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines ensuring equal access to fertility treatment across England.

NICE is currently reviewing the fertility guidelines and will consider whether the current recommendations for access to NHS-funded treatment are still appropriate. A consultation on revised guidelines was published on 10 September 2025, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ng10263/consultation/html-content-2

In light of broader pressures on the National Health Service and ongoing changes within NHS England, we have been looking again at achievable ambitions to improve access to fertility services and fairness for all affected couples.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will ringfence funding for general practice nursing pay in line with the NHS Agenda for Change. \p Stephen Kinnock: As self-employed contractors to the National Health Service, it is up to general practices (GPs) how they distribute pay and benefits to their staff. Funding for GP nursing pay is not ringfenced and contractual arrangements do not place any specific obligations on GPs with regard to GP nurse terms and conditions.

The Government looks to the independent pay review bodies for a pay recommendation for NHS staff, including both contractor and salaried GPs. They consider a range of evidence from organisations including the Government, the NHS, and trade unions to reach their recommendations.

The independent review body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) has recommended an uplift of 4% to the pay ranges for salaried GPs, and to GP contractor pay for 2025/26. We have provided an increase to core funding for practices to allow this 4% pay uplift to be passed on to salaried and contractor GPs. The additional funding is also intended to provide uplifts for other salaried GP staff, including nurses.

We expect GP contractors to implement pay rises to other practice staff in line with the uplift in funding they have received.

The Government has committed to a new substantive GP Contract within this Parliament, and we will continue to engage constructively with the General Practitioners Committee England on issues such as staffing.

The maximum reimbursable amounts for roles employed through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS), including practice nurses, have also been uplifted in line with the NHS Pay Review Body’s recommendations, and ARRS budgets have been increased to reflect this.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Millions more appointments as more than 2,000 extra GPs recruited, published on 24 July 2025, what proportion of additional GP appointments have been held in person. \p Stephen Kinnock: Eight million more general practitioner (GP) appointments have been delivered this year compared to last.

The General Practice Appointments Data (GPAD) does not enable us to attribute delivered appointments to individual GPs. As a result, it is not possible to determine how many of these additional appointments were delivered specifically by the 2,300 newly recruited GPs.

The GPAD provides information on the total number of appointments delivered face to face, and similarly, but not specifically, how many face-to-face appointments are delivered by individual GPs, including the 2,300 newly recruited GPs. Appointment mode, whether face to face, telephone, or online, is determined by clinical need and patient preference, and is not inherently directly linked to the number of GPs recruited.
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Dr Roz Savage:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support families with rises in care home fees for relatives with dementia; and whether he has made an assessment of the impact of those changes on the savings of older people. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department does not hold data on self-funder residential care home fees sufficient to make a comparative assessment between different local authorities. Fee rates are set by providers of adult social care. The Department does not have the power to limit the level of fees that a care home can charge. However, all businesses are required to comply with the Consumer Rights Act 2015 by ensuring that they use fair and clear terms in their standard agreements with customers.

We have launched an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. The commission will deliver recommendations for the transformation of adult social care, including how to best create a fair and affordable adult social care system.

The current system of charging for care provides funded support for those with the least financial means. Only the income and assets, including savings, of the cared for individual can be considered by the local authority when assessing their financial eligibility for support. Where individuals have assets below £14,250, they will not contribute to their care from their assets. Local authorities have the power to set a higher threshold if they choose.
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to renew the National Maternity Safety Ambition at the end of 2025. \p Karin Smyth: Our commitment to set an explicit target to close the black and Asian maternal mortality gaps has not wavered. Addressing the shocking inequalities that exist across maternity and neonatal services is fundamental to ensuring that all women and babies receive safe, personalised, and compassionate care.

We are working closely with NHS England, and the wider sector, to identify the right actions and interventions to tackle the stark inequalities that exist. The Government is committed to setting an explicit target to close the black and Asian maternal mortality gap. We are ensuring that we take an evidence-based approach, and that any targets set are women and baby centred.

It is vital that the system is supported with the right actions to meet any target or ambition set. This is why, through the national investigation and taskforce, we will work with families and stakeholders to develop further actions to meet our ambitions.
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Maya Ellis:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what targets his Department has on reducing inequalities in (a) baby deaths and (b) pregnancy loss. \p Karin Smyth: A number of interventions specifically aimed at addressing maternal and neonatal inequalities are underway. These include the Perinatal Equity and Anti-Discrimination Programme, delivery of an inequalities dashboard, and projects on removing racial bias from clinical education and embedding genetic risk equity. Additionally, all local maternity and neonatal systems have published Equity and Equality actions plans to tackle inequalities for women and babies from ethnic minorities and those living in the most deprived areas.

An important aspect of both the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation and the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce announced in June 2025, is to address inequalities in maternal and neonatal care and promote health equity in the delivery of those services.

The Government remains committed to setting an explicit target to close the Black and Asian maternal mortality gap, and is taking an evidence-based approach to ensure that any targets set are women and baby-centred.
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Jayne Kirkham:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much and what proportion of the £25 million funding for the pilot Women’s Health Hubs was allocated to the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly ICB. \p Karin Smyth: The Department invested £25 million in the establishment of Women’s Health Hubs through the two-year pilot from April 2023 to March 2025. Each integrated care board (ICB) received £595,000 of the £25 million of funding for Women’s Health Hubs.

We are supporting ICBs to continue improving their delivery of Women’s Health Hubs, in line with their responsibility to commission services that meet the needs of their local populations.
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made a comparative assessment of neonatal death rates in (a) the UK and (b) other European countries in the last ten years. \p Karin Smyth: The United Kingdom neonatal mortality rate for babies after at least 24 weeks of pregnancy decreased between 2013 and 2020, before rising in 2021 and 2022 and falling slightly in 2023.

This is similar to the trend across Europe, where rates generally decreased or fluctuated about a similar level between 2015 to 2019.

In 2019, the UK neonatal mortality rate was slightly higher than the median across Europe.
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support families who have experienced baby loss in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency. \p Karin Smyth: East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, the Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust and West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust all provide seven-day maternity bereavement care, meaning women and families can access support from a maternity professional trained in specialist bereavement care.

Watford General Hospital has a team of midwives who provide families with individualised support and specialist bereavement care when faced with the death of their baby. The hospital has also opened the Rose Room, a special space for families who experience the loss of a baby to spend time with their baby and begin to process their grief. There are facilities for families and siblings, including hand and foot casting services, to provide lasting memories.

The Hertfordshire Perinatal Trauma and Loss Care service is a psychology-led, county-wide specialist service for people who are experiencing moderate to severe mental health difficulties as a direct result of a perinatal loss of any kind, including loss by separation through safeguarding processes.

The charity Petals is also now able to provide specialist counselling support to bereaved parents who are Hertfordshire residents, no matter where their maternity care was delivered.
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to establish routine data collection on miscarriages. \p Karin Smyth: An update to digital record standards on maternity means that the National Health Service is now able to record the pregnancy outcome for any woman, including miscarriage, where they have been in contact with NHS maternity services.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2025 to Question 24721 on Dental Services: Lancashire, what recent progress he has made on delivering 700,000 additional dental appointments. \p Stephen Kinnock: We have asked the integrated care boards (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 from April 2025.

Appointments are available across the country, with specific expectations for each region. These appointments are more heavily weighted towards those areas where they are needed most. The Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB is expected to deliver 20,822 additional urgent dental appointments as part of the scheme.
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Sir Mark Hendrick:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to improve access to interpreters for pregnant women and their families who are receiving maternity and neonatal care; and whether he plans to introduce national guidance to ensure consistency of interpretation provision across all maternity and neonatal services. \p Karin Smyth: Community language translation and interpretation services are crucial for patient safety. The responsibility to commission these services sits with integrated care boards and National Health Service providers as they are better placed to make decisions about how they use their funding based on the needs of their local populations. Local commissioners are responsible for applying the highest quality standards possible.

To identify the most effective way to improve interpretation provision across all clinical services including maternity and neonatal care, NHS England has completed a strategic review, building on the recommendations of independent safety investigations.

In response, NHS England has developed a Framework for NHS action on Community Language Translation and Interpreting, to help improve interpretation services so that they meet the needs of communities and support equitable access, experience, and outcomes for all. A six-month period of engagement work ensured that issues relating to maternal and neonatal care were considered in the development of the Improvement Framework, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/improvement-framework-community-language-translation-interpreting-services/
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Dan Aldridge:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of private healthcare providers using NHS hospital facilities on NHS waiting lists. \p Karin Smyth: No specific assessment has been made as these decisions are taken locally. National Health Service trusts can utilise ‘insourcers’, private healthcare providers who operate using NHS facilities, but services must be arranged in a manner which offers value for money compared to the other options available.

NHS England published updated guidance on the use of insourcing in July 2024 to support NHS trusts in achieving value for money. This guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/guidance-for-trusts-on-the-use-of-insourcing/#

In this guidance, NHS England clearly prohibits the use of insourcing solutions where rates are not in line with, or are below, the prices in the NHS Payment Scheme, and where compliant approved frameworks are not used.
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James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NHS trusts on accountability measures for contracted NHS transport providers in instances where they repeatedly fail to meet required standards. \p Karin Smyth: No such discussions have been held.

Local integrated care boards (ICBs) hold responsibility for the implementation of patient transport services at a local level, including monitoring and improving performance against targets. ICBs are best placed to work and consult with their local stakeholders, health and care organisations and local authorities to decide how to best meet and deliver for the needs of their local population.
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Luke Taylor:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the measures outlined in the document entitled Reforming elective care for patients, published on 6 January 2025, on waiting lists for gynaecology treatment. \p Karin Smyth: Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission. We have now exceeded our pledge to deliver an extra 2 million operations, scans, and appointments, having now delivered 5.2 million more appointments. This marks a vital First Step to delivering on the commitment that 92% of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment – in line with the National Health Service constitutional standard – by March 2029.

The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the constitutional standard. Since our plan was published we have seen improvements in gynaecology, with average waits reducing from 15.9 weeks in January 2025 to 15.2 weeks in August 2025, and the number of patients waiting 18 weeks or less from referral to treatment increasing from 55.2% in January 2025 to 56.4% in August 2025. But we know there is still much more to do, and we will continue to support NHS trusts to deliver our targets through innovation, sharing best practice to increase productivity and efficiency, and ensuring the best value is delivered.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to bring forward the timeline for social care reform. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government is already delivering reform to adult social care and progressing towards a future National Care Service. This progress is built on higher standards, greater choice and control, and better join-up between services — with over £4 billion of additional funding available for adult social care by 2028/29.

We are:

To help shape medium and longer-term reforms, the Independent Commission into Adult Social Care, chaired by Baroness Casey, will report in two phases — first in 2026, and again by 2028. Implementation will follow each phase. We have been clear that addressing the complex, deep-rooted challenges facing the sector will take time. This timeline allows Baroness Casey to carry out the national conversation needed to reach broad public and cross-party consensus on reforms to build a social care system fit for the future.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure parity between pay awards for (a) practice nurses, (b) other primary care staff and (c) staff whose pay is determined by national NHS pay review bodies. \p Stephen Kinnock: As self-employed contractors to the National Health Service, it is up to GP practices how they distribute pay and benefits to their staff. General practice contractual arrangements do not place any specific obligations on GP practices with regard to general practice nurse (GPN) terms and conditions. Employers have the flexibility to set terms and conditions, for example to aid recruitment and retention, and we anticipate good employers would set wage rates that reflect the skills and experience of their staff.

The Government looks to the independent pay review bodies for a pay recommendation for NHS staff, including both contractor and salaried general practitioners (GPs). They consider a range of evidence from organisations including the Government, the NHS and trade unions to reach their recommendations.

As different NHS and primary care staff groups do not all sit under the remit of one pay review body, the Government can receive different pay award recommendations for different groups. The independent review body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) have recommended an uplift of 4% to the pay ranges for salaried GPs, and to GP contractor pay for 2025-26. To implement this through the GP contract, as the DDRB’s recommendation was higher than the assumed pay growth of 2.8%, we have provided a 1.2% top-up to the pay elements of the contract on a consolidated basis.

We have provided an increase to core funding for practices to allow this 4% pay uplift to be passed on to salaried and contractor GPs. The additional funding will also allow for pay uplifts for other salaried general practice staff, including nurses.

We expect General Practice Contractors to implement pay rises to other practice staff in line with the uplift in funding they have received.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to train more dementia specialist nurses at NHS services in Surrey Heath constituency. \p Stephen Kinnock: The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). We would expect ICBs to commission services, which may include dementia specialist nurses/admiral nurses, based on local population needs, taking account of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidelines. NICE recommends providing people living with dementia with a single named health or social care professional who is responsible for coordinating their care.

Under the 10-Year Health Plan, those living with dementia will benefit from improved care planning and better services.  We will deliver the first ever Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, expected in 2026.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 139 of his Department's 10 Year Health Plan, published on 3 July 2025, whether bridging loan capabilities will be permitted in order to allow the provision of new GP surgeries prior to the receipt of Section 106 funding. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department of Health and Social Care continues to work closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to determine how developer contributions from new housing developments can be better used towards local health services and infrastructure.

The primary care estate is a complex mix of general practice (GP) private ownership, third-party ownership and lease arrangements with approximately half of GP premises owned by general practitioners. The bridging loan capabilities referenced in the 10-Year Health Plan are based on powers that my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has to provide financing to NHS trusts and foundation trusts and thus are not permitted to GP surgeries directly.

We advise those schemes looking to utilise section 106 to work with their integrated care board (ICB), which can provide information on eligibility for bridging loan capabilities or alternatives to support delivery of health infrastructure in the area.

ICBs are responsible for commissioning, including planning, securing, and monitoring, GP services within their health systems through delegated responsibility from NHS England. The National Health Service has a statutory duty to ensure that there are sufficient medical services, including GP services, in each local area. It should take account of population growth and demographic changes.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

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Kim Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many care and support workers in England are paid the national living wage; and whether he plans to increase minimum pay for those workers. \p Stephen Kinnock: Adult social care is a historically low paid sector. In 2024/25, 22% of care workers in the independent sector were paid the National Living Wage (NLW). The median hourly pay rate for care workers was £12.00 in March 2025, 56p higher than the NLW.

We are committed to transforming adult social care and supporting adult social care workers, turning the page on decades of low pay and insecurity. That is why we plan to introduce the first ever Fair Pay Agreement in 2028, backed by £500 million of funding to improve pay and conditions for the adult social care workforce. Negotiations between employee and employer representatives will shape how this funding will be used to enhance pay, terms, and conditions.

The Spending Review allows for over £4 billion in additional funding for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26. This includes other sources of income available to support adult social care, additional grant funding, and an increase in the National Health Service’s contribution to adult social care via the Better Care Fund. This £4 billion increase includes £500 million to begin implementing the Fair Pay Agreement in 2028/29.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

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Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what criteria his Department has used to identify which areas are in greatest need of increased numbers of NHS dental professionals; and how many of those areas are in the (a) Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, (b) Tees Valley Mayoral Authority Area and (c) North East. \p Stephen Kinnock: The responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population is delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. Dental practices in specific areas, determined locally as experiencing significant dental pressures due to workforce challenges impacting patient access, were invited by their ICBs to express interest in participating in the scheme and were notified of the outcome of their application via their ICB.

ICBs have started to recruit posts 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.

As of 22 September 2025, in England there were 97 dentists in post with a further eight dentists who have been recruited but are yet to start in post under this scheme. A further 224 posts are currently being advertised.

NHS England has published findings from its dental workforce survey, including national and regional vacancy rates. The most recent publication reports the position as of the end of December 2024. This is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/dental-workforce/
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to help improve access to NHS dentistry in South Cambridgeshire constituency. \p Stephen Kinnock: The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For South Cambridgeshire constituency, this is Cambridgeshire & Peterborough ICB.

We have asked ICBs to commission extra urgent dental appointments. ICBs have been making extra appointments available from 1 April 2025. Cambridgeshire & Peterborough ICB is expected to deliver 14,195 additional urgent dental appointments as part of the scheme.

ICBs are recruiting posts 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. As of 22 September 2025, in England there were 97 dentists in post with a further eight dentists who have been recruited but are yet to start in post under this scheme. A further 224 posts are currently being advertised.

We are committed to reforming the dental contract, with a focus on matching resources to need, improving access, promoting prevention and rewarding dentists fairly, while enabling the whole dental team to work to the top of their capability. The Government is committed to achieving fundamental contract reform before the end of this Parliament.

We recently held a full public consultation on a package of changes to improve access to, and the quality of NHS dentistry, which will deliver better care for the diverse oral health needs of people across England. The consultation closed on 19 August 2025. The Government is considering the outcomes of the consultation and will publish a response in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-10-20)

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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the policy paper entitled 10 Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future, published on 3 July 2025, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of new neighbourhood GP providers on patient choice. \p Stephen Kinnock: The ambition for our Neighbourhood Health Service is to rebalance our health and care system so that it fits around people’s lives, moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach and giving people more power and choice over the care that they receive.

Neighbourhood Health Services will bring together teams of professionals, including nurses, doctors, social care workers, pharmacists, and health visitors, closer to people’s home, to work together to provide comprehensive care in the community.

This Government will bring back the family doctor for those who would benefit from seeing the same clinician regularly, for example, those living with chronic illness. In doing so, we will improve continuity of care, which is associated with better health outcomes and fewer accident and emergency department attendances. We will make sure the future of general practice is sustainable by training thousands more general practitioners and delivering a modern booking system.