theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Steff Aquarone:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve (a) data for and (b) research into coastal communities. \p Andrew Gwynne: The National Institute for Heath and Care Research (NIHR) has funded a range of research specifically focusing on coastal populations, including investing in local authority and higher education partnerships, as well as studies that focussed on health care in these areas. Further information about this research is available at the following link:

https://nihr.opendatasoft.com/pages/homepage/

The NIHR has a Research Inclusion Strategy which, amongst other objectives, aims to widen research access and participation for greater diversity and inclusion, including for populations in coastal communities. Further information on the strategy is available at the following link:

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/about-us/who-we-are/research-inclusion/strategy-2022-27

The NIHR’s research funding guidance requires researchers to show how they will make sure their research is inclusive and addresses inequalities in health and care, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/about-us/who-we-are/research-inclusion/funding-application-guidance
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Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects NHS England and NHS Improvement to publish the annual Learning from Lives and Deaths - people with a learning disability and autistic people (LeDeR) report. \p Stephen Kinnock: NHS England commissions Kings College London and its partners to analyse data from Learning from Lives and Deaths, reviews from people with a learning disability and autistic people (LeDeR). The annual LeDeR report is published by Kings College London, who are currently working on the next annual report, and will publish it in the coming months. The last report was published in November 2023, and is available at the following link:

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/ioppn/assets/fans-dept/leder-2022-v2.0.pdf
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Time to Care Programme on mental health treatment. \p Stephen Kinnock: Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust is introducing its Time to Care programme to transform the delivery of mental health inpatient services so that every patient receives high quality, personalised care to support their long-term recovery. The programme launched in 2022 and NHS England has advised that it will take five years to mobilise and embed the programme.

The results of the programme are expected to include: patients, along with their families and carers, to be involved in decision-making about the treatment, therapies and support they receive whilst they are an inpatient, and to have a clear plan for their care during their admission and after they are discharged; the average length of time that people need to spend on an inpatient mental health ward to be reduced; and the number of inappropriate out of area placements for patients needing acute mental health inpatient care in Essex to be reduced or eliminated.
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Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) recruit and (b) retain dentists in coastal areas. \p Stephen Kinnock: We are determined to rebuild National Health Service dentistry, but it will take time and there are no quick fixes. Strengthening the workforce is key to our ambitions.

Integrated care boards have started to advertise posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see up to 240 dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years, including in coastal areas.

To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
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Anna Sabine:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing qualified mental health professionals to schools. \p Stephen Kinnock: We know that waits for mental health services are far too long, including for children and young people. That is why we will recruit 8,500 additional mental health workers across child and adult mental health services, and introduce a specialist mental health professional in every school. We will set out our timeline for introducing access to specialist mental health professionals in due course.
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Munira Wilson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to (a) scale up and (b) roll out the DISCOVER workshop programme led by the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Brief Educational Workshops in Secondary Schools Trial, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, was a large school-based study of a cognitive behavioural therapy-based intervention led by the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, using the DISCOVER intervention.

The study found that the DISCOVER intervention was modestly clinically effective for reducing depressive and anxiety symptoms among 16 to 18 year olds. The study’s findings highlight that, given the importance of addressing mental health needs early in this adolescent population, additional research is warranted to explore this intervention.

There are currently no national plans to scale up and roll out the DISCOVER workshop programme.

We recognise the importance of early intervention. Nearly 500 National Health Service funded mental health support teams were operational in approximately 8,500, or 34% of, schools and colleges across England by the end of March 2024, covering 4.2 million, or 44% of, pupils or learners. These teams work with young people and parents to manage mild to moderate mental health conditions like anxiety and depression, while also assisting schools to develop a whole-school approach to positive mental health and wellbeing.

Building on this, we will provide access to a specialist mental health professional in every school so that mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression, can be identified early on and prevented from developing into more serious conditions in later life. We will also roll out Young Futures hubs in every community.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to allow up-to-date medical information to be shared between the NHS and care staff in Lincolnshire. \p Stephen Kinnock: At a national level, in partnership with NHS England, the Department is building the foundations for improved information sharing between care and health staff. Digital social care records, that contain a person’s care information, are now in use by more than 72% of Care Quality Commission-registered care providers, from a starting point of 41% in December 2021. In the recent announcement on short term reforms in adult social care, we set our ambition that all care providers will be fully digitised by the end of this Parliament.

Within the coming months, all assured digital social care records will also enable medical information to be shared with social care providers through GP Connect, which provides a restricted view of a person’s general practice (GP) record to social care staff for direct care purposes, where there is consent for the data to be shared. Currently about 2,000 care providers use GP Connect to access medical information through digital social care records and next year we will be supporting wider adoption of this functionality. Access to this information improves the quality and safety of care and saves time, currently spent on the phone waiting to speak to GP surgeries.

In Lincolnshire, the Lincolnshire Care Record enables medical information sharing for direct care purposes across health and social care. This initiative has been live for several years. There is not currently a consistent way for information held by social care providers to be shared, and from April 2025, we will begin work to establish a national shared platform that enables this essential information sharing and ensures health and care staff can access real-time social care, GP, and hospital data, providing access to essential medical information in a timely way. This could include when someone last took their medication, or whether there’s been a change to their care regimen. By linking up systems, National Health Service and care staff will have access to the latest information, speeding up and improving care both in health and in care settings.
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Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to allow (a) the General Dental Council and (b) other professional bodies to offer additional Overseas Registration Exam places to help (i) Ukrainian and (ii) other qualified refugee dentists, to practise in the UK. \p Stephen Kinnock: The General Dental Council (GDC) is the independent regulator of dentistry in the United Kingdom. Its responsibilities include setting standards that must be met by domestic and international applicants wishing to be added to the UK dental register.

Legislative changes came into effect in March 2023 that gave the GDC greater flexibility in how it operates the processes for registering overseas-qualified dentists, including its Overseas Registration Exam (ORE). The GDC is using these powers to put new ORE provider contracts in place in 2025, which will increase the availability of the exam.

On 6 December 2024, the GDC’s Council approved a policy that gives candidates with refugee or protected status priority access to ORE booking for up to two attempts each for part one and part two. The policy is being implemented in time for the April 2025 sittings of the exam. Candidates were sent an email on 13 January 2025 inviting them to submit evidence of their refugee status in order to access the exam booking system in advance of the general booking window opening.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes in the budget on dental laboratories; and if he will take steps to ensure that the dental contract reflects actual costs for dental laboratories. \p Stephen Kinnock: The independent pay review body for doctors and dentists recommended a 6% pay uplift for 2024/25. The Government accepted the recommendation and has proposed that National Health Service primary care dentistry contract values be uplifted by 4.64%, net of pay and expenses elements. Laboratory costs are part of the expenses element of this uplift.

The Government is acting to implement the overall uplift to contract values as soon as possible. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
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Jo Platt:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to standardise the use of Pathological Demand Avoidance for autism diagnosis. \p Stephen Kinnock: Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) is most often understood as a characteristic of, or observed in, some autistic people, but professional consensus on its status is still required. PDA is not a recognised and stand-alone diagnosis within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or the International Classification of Disease.

It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including assessment services for autistic people, in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.

The NICE guideline, Autism spectrum disorder in under 19s: recognition, referral and diagnosis, recommends that as part of autism assessments, healthcare workers should consider PDA, and carry out appropriate referrals.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people employed by his Department have worked on (a) the review into the New Hospital Programme and (b) the New Hospital Programme in each year since 2019. \p Karin Smyth: The review into the New Hospital Programme (NHP) was led by a Director from the NHP team in the Department of Health and Social Care. They were supported by several officials from within the NHP sponsor team in the Department of Health and Social Care along with officials in NHS England, with input from officials in HM Treasury.

The following table shows the figures for the number of people employed by the Department of Health and Social Care to work on the NHP Sponsor Team at the end of each financial year up to March 2024 and then until December 2024:

Date

Headcount

31 March 2019

Prior to the Programme being established

31 March 2020

Prior to the Programme being established

31 March 2021

21

31 March 2022

60

31 March 2023

45

31 March 2024

18

31 December 2024

22

Notes:
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he had made of the number of additional urgent dental appointments there will be in Lincolnshire in each of the next four years. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government is committed to tackling the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care. We are working to ensure that patients can start to access the 700,000 additional urgent dental appointments as soon as possible, targeting the areas that need them most, including Lincolnshire.

We will set out further information on this commitment, including how this will be measured, in due course.
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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that hospice care providers can (a) recruit and (b) retain skilled nurses in Surrey Heath constituency. \p Stephen Kinnock: Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing National Health Services. As independent organisations, charitable hospices are responsible for their own recruitment and employment terms.

The NHS has been facing chronic workforce shortages for years, and we have to be honest that bringing in the staff we need will take time. We understand that this will also impact the voluntary sector, including hospices, like those in the Surrey Heath area.

We are committed to training the staff we need to get patients seen on time. The Government will make sure the NHS has the staff it needs to be there for all of us when we need it, including at the end of life.

We will continue to proactively engage with our stakeholders, including the voluntary sector and independent hospices, on an ongoing basis, in order to understand the issues they face.
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Chris Coghlan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of shortages of GP appointments; and what plans he has to reduce such shortages. \p Stephen Kinnock: We are committed to improving capacity and access to general practice (GP) appointments. That is why, in October 2024, we provided an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, enabling the recruitment of 1,000 newly qualified GPs across England. This will increase the number of GP appointments delivered and will benefit thousands of patients. It will also secure the future supply of GPs and take pressure off those currently working in the system.

Additionally, we have announced a proposed £889 million uplift to the GP Contract for 2025/26, the largest uplift in years, with a rising share of total National Health Service resources going to GPs. We are currently consulting the profession on key proposals to improve access, continuity of care, and GP recruitment.
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Sir Oliver Dowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to tackle losses to community pharmacies arising from delays in price concessions and drug tariffs. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Drug Tariff is updated monthly and sets out reimbursement prices to be paid to pharmacy contractors for medicines dispensed. When the market price of a generic medicine suddenly increases, concessionary prices can be granted in that month, increasing the reimbursement price above the Drug Tariff price, with the aim of mitigating pharmacy contractors dispensing at a loss. If the medicine margin survey indicates that, despite a concessionary price, there was a significant under payment for a specific product, there is a provision known as a retrospective top-up payment for concessionary prices, which provides an additional payment to contractors for those products. A quarterly medicine margin survey also ensures that pharmacy contractors are reimbursed enough overall for the medicines they dispense.
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Anna Sabine:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to introduce dental provision for students in schools. \p Stephen Kinnock: We are committed to implementing a national targeted supervised toothbrushing programme to three, four, and five year olds living in our most deprived areas.
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Charlie Maynard:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of NHS dental services in (a) Witney constituency and (b) West Oxfordshire. \p Stephen Kinnock: Dental Statistics - England 2023-24, published by NHS Business Services Authority on 22 August 2024, is available from the following link:

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/dental-england/dental-statistics-england-202324

The data for Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board, which includes the Witney constituency and West Oxfordshire, shows that 36% of adults were seen by a National Health Service dentist in the previous 24 months up to June 2024, compared to 40% in England; and 57% of children were seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 12 months up to June 2024, compared to 56% in England.

The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access NHS dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
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Chris Coghlan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has for improving access to NHS dentistry in Dorking and Horley constituency. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most.

To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Dorking and Horley constituency, this is the NHS Surrey Heartlands ICB.
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Markus Campbell-Savours:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce waiting lists for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder assessments in Penrith and Solway constituency. \p Stephen Kinnock: It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards in England to make available the appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

We are supporting a taskforce that NHS England has established to look at ADHD service provision and support across sectors, and their impact on patient experience. The taskforce is bringing together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the National Health Service, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, including timely access to services and support.

Alongside the work of the taskforce, NHS England will continue to develop a national ADHD data improvement plan, carry out more detailed work to understand the provider and commissioning landscape, and capture examples from local health systems which are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services to ensure best practice is captured and shared across the system.
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Clive Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to provide an Answer to Question 21540 on General Practitioners: Recruitment, tabled on 19 December 2024. \p Stephen Kinnock: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question 21540 on 23 January 2025.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of pensioners hospitalised in winter 2024-25. \p Karin Smyth: Information on hospital admissions by pensioners, specifically, is not available. NHS England publishes information on admissions by age group, with the following table showing the latest data for those aged 65 years old and over:

Month

Admitted hospital attendances for people aged 65 years old and over, England

November 2024

160,630

December 2024 (provisional)

154,995

Source: NHS England https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/ae-attendances-and-emergency-admissions-2024-25/

Notes:
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Helen Grant:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to accelerate provision of (a) therapy services, (b) wheelchairs, (c) orthotics, (d) prosthetics and (e) other equipment for children and young people. \p Stephen Kinnock: Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of most children’s therapy services and equipment services in the National Health Service. Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) for children and young people are specialised services, and are commissioned by NHS England.

NHS England is working to reduce regional variation in the quality and provision of NHS wheelchairs, and to support ICBs to reduce delays in people receiving timely intervention and wheelchair equipment. This includes co-producing a wheelchair quality framework with key stakeholders and people with lived experience. It is due to be published by the end of 2024/25 and will set out quality standards and statutory requirements for ICBs, such as offering personal wheelchair budgets.

NHS England will shortly publish a revised service specification, Amputee Rehabilitation and Prosthetics Services for People of All Ages with Limb Loss and Limb Difference. The revised specification ensures greater emphasis on children and young people being seen with an age-appropriate setting, with greater collaboration between the young person’s acute and rehabilitation teams.

In relation to AAC services, NHS England is reviewing the current service specification, and it is anticipated that the revised service specification will be published in spring 2025.
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Adam Dance:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to improve access to training for (a) dentists and (b) dental nurses in rural areas. \p Stephen Kinnock: We are determined to rebuild National Health Service dentistry, but it will take time and there are no quick fixes. Strengthening the dental workforce, including dentists and dental nurses, is key to our ambitions.

We have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS, a central and core part of which will be our workforce. This summer we will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade.

Integrated care boards have started to recruit posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see up to 240 dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most, for three years.

To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
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Richard Tice:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has for the future of Torbay Hospital. \p Karin Smyth: My rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, set out a credible and deliverable plan for the new hospital schemes in the New Hospital Programme (NHP) on 20 January 2025, following the conclusion of the review of the NHP. The Plan for Implementation is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome/new-hospital-programme-plan-for-implementation

As confirmed in this publication, the scheme for Torbay Hospital is now part of Wave 2 of the NHP. Pre-construction activity, namely business case development and critical enabling works, is expected to continue from 2030, and construction of the main hospital build to commence between 2032 and 2034.
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Sarah Champion:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure local integrated care boards implement NHS guidance on equitable access to fertility treatment for same-sex female couples. \p Karin Smyth: Funding decisions for health services in England are made by integrated care boards (ICBs) and are based on the clinical needs of their local population. ICBs are expected to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. We are aware that compliance with these guidelines is variable for same-sex female couples and other groups.

The NICE is currently reviewing the fertility guideline and will consider whether the current recommendations for access to National Health Service-funded treatment are still appropriate. We expect this review to be published later in 2025. The Department is working with NHS England to consider future policy options to support ICBs to provide more equitable in vitro fertilization services.
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Josh Newbury:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the length of time taken to provide equipment for children with disabilities. \p Stephen Kinnock: The integrated care boards (ICBs) in England are responsible for commissioning services to meet the health needs of their local population. NHS England Specialised Commissioning commissions complex disability equipment services, including communication aids, environmental controls, and prosthetics.

We expect ICBs to follow guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). In 2022, NICE published the guidance, Disabled children and young people up to 25 with severe complex needs: integrated service delivery and organisation across health, social care and education, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng213/chapter/Recommendations-on-service-organisation-integration-and-commissioning

The Children and Families Act 2014 requires that education, health, and social care services must work together to meet the needs of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Local authorities are responsible for providing social care services for disabled children, which can include specialist equipment. The guidance on supporting disabled children and their carers is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/669e7501ab418ab055592a7b/Working_together_to_safeguard_children_2023.pdf

Further guidance on the roles and responsibilities of different organisations in meeting the needs of children with SEND can be found in the SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25

Since July 2015, NHS England has collected data quarterly from clinical commissioning groups, now ICBs, on wheelchair provision. This data looks at waiting times across the pathway to enable targeted action if improvement is required. NHS England is taking several steps to reduce regional variation in the quality and provision of National Health Service wheelchairs, and to support ICBs to reduce delays in people receiving timely intervention and wheelchair equipment.

Data on the length of time taken to provide other equipment for disabled children is not collected centrally.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's projected completion dates are for each project delivered by the New Hospital Programme. \p Karin Smyth: Expected completion dates for schemes in the New Hospital Programme will be confirmed following the approval of a Full Business Case, as set out in HM Treasury’s Green Book, and as is usual for large infrastructure projects.
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Samantha Niblett:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support people with long term physical disabilities to access secondary care including (a) hydrotherapy, (b) physiotherapy and (c) acupuncture without re-referrals. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government is committed to championing the rights of disabled people. Under the Equality Act (2010), health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged. NHS England has developed a Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag, which enables the recording of key information about a patient and their reasonable adjustment needs in their patient record, to ensure support can be tailored appropriately. Health and social care staff can also access free training to implement the Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag, helping it to become part of a standard approach to care and treatment for all disabled people.

Across England, community health services, including therapies, are locally commissioned to enable systems to best meet the needs of their communities. We are working closely with NHS England to improve access to community health services and on actions to reduce long waits.

We have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the National Health Service. The plan will set out a bold agenda to deliver on the three big shifts needed, to move healthcare from hospital to the community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention. We will ensure the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it.

The engagement process for the 10-Year Health Plan has been launched, and as we work to develop and finalise the plan, we are encouraging those concerned about care for people with long term physical disabilities to engage with that process so we can identify what the potential solutions are. Further information is available at the following link:

https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-27 conversation_218

Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to reform the NHS pay structure. \p Karin Smyth: In 2024, the Government accepted the NHS Pay Review Body’s recommendations for the 2024/25 financial year in full. One of those recommendations was to deliver a funded mandate to deliver reforms to the Agenda for Change pay structure through the NHS Staff Council.

The Government remains committed to delivering this mandate and has asked the NHS Pay Review Body to provide a view, as part of its 2025 to 2026 report, on the level of funding that should be provided.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-27 conversation_219

Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which appointments will count towards the plan to deliver 40,000 more NHS appointments a week. \p Karin Smyth: Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission, and we will deliver an additional 2 million operations, scans, and appointments during our first year in Government, which is equivalent to 40,000 per week, as a first step in our commitment to ensuring that patients can expect to be treated within 18 weeks.

Appointments will be defined as those in scope of the Value Weighted Activity metric, which is used to measure elective activity as set out in NHS Operational Planning guidance, together with the key diagnostic times from diagnostic waiting times statistics. Value Weighted Activity includes elective ordinary admissions and day cases, outpatient first appointments, and outpatient follow-up appointments with a procedure. This excludes outpatient appointments without procedure, to ensure that the appointments we are counting are high value for patients. Elective admissions for endoscopies are also excluded to avoid the double counting of diagnostics.

Further information about the delivery of the additional appointments will be published at the earliest opportunity.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-27 conversation_220

Adrian Ramsay:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to extend the New Patient Premium scheme. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government has no plans to extend the New Patient Premium scheme. The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
wrans/answers2025-01-27 conversation_221
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-27 conversation_221

Clive Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when funding will be allocated for the Royal Berkshire Hospital's rebuild under the New Hospital Programme. \p Karin Smyth: My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, set out a credible and deliverable plan for the new hospital schemes in the New Hospital Programme (NHP) on 20 January 2025, following the conclusion of the review of the NHP. The plan for implementation was laid in the House Library and published on the GOV.UK website, and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome

As confirmed in this publication, the scheme for Royal Berkshire Hospital is in wave three of the NHP and is now expected to commence construction of the main build between 2037 to 2039.

Through the business case process, the trust will set out the costs and the source of funding for their new hospital scheme, including the amounts expected to come from Public Dividend Capital as well as any charitable donations or land sales, if relevant. The standard process for confirming the total funding amount for major infrastructure projects involves the review and approval of a Full Business Case. The current estimated cost of the scheme, as of January 2025, is over £2 billion.

In the 2024 Autumn Budget, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced an increase in health capital spending, to £13.6 billion in 2025/26, including over £1 billion to make inroads into the backlog of critical maintenance and tackle dangerous Reinforced Aerated Autoclaved Concrete. Further details on this funding will follow at the earliest opportunity, including local capital allocations and national capital programmes for 2025/26, as part of the National Health Service’s planning guidance. Budgets for future years will be confirmed as part of the upcoming Spending Review. The state of the NHS estate and safety impacts will be considered as part of this.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-27 conversation_222

Sarah Olney:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much of the funding allocated for Pharmacy First has been spent as of 15 January 2025. \p Stephen Kinnock: Funding for Pharmacy First is drawn from the additional pharmacy funding announced in January 2024, to cover activity delivered across the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years.

The plan announced additional spend on blood pressure checks, contraception, and the introduction of seven clinical pathways for the supply of prescription only medicines where clinically appropriate.

NHS England and the Department are carefully monitoring the spend on all three elements that make up the full Pharmacy First service, which include minor illness referrals, urgent medicine supply, and the seven new clinical pathways.

Contractors can submit claims up to three months after delivering the activity. The Department therefore cannot provide the data requested.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-27 conversation_223

Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NHS England on which (a) straight-to-test pathways Community Diagnostic Centres and (b) hospital-based diagnostic services will be used to (i) develop and (ii) deliver its plan to reform elective care. \p Karin Smyth: Currently, the waiting list stands at 7.48 million patient pathways, with over 6 million people waiting. As set out in the Plan for Change, we will ensure that 92% of patients return to waiting no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment (RTT) by March 2029, a standard which has not been met consistently since September 2015.

The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out an expectation that performance will increase from the current 58%, as of December 2024, to 65% by March 2026, with every trust expected to deliver a minimum 5% improvement by March 2026. The plan sets out the breadth of actions necessary to deliver on the RTT standard, including the efforts which will improve productivity, reform the system, and improve patient experience.

The plan announced that the integrated care boards will make optimal use of the new diagnostic capacity by implementing the new standards for Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs), in particular, increasing direct referrals and rolling out at least 10 straight-to-test pathways by March 2026.

The Department has, and continues to hold, discussions with NHS England on the delivery of the plan, including ensuring that at least 10 straight-to-test pathways are fully developed and in place by March 2026, and will set out further detail at the earliest opportunity. Both CDC and hospital-based diagnostic services will be integral to the delivery of the Elective Reform Plan.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-27 conversation_224

Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish (a) a year by year forecast of expected investment in the New Hospitals Programme and (b) the projected total budget for that programme. \p Karin Smyth: As set out in our New Hospital Programme: plan for implementation, the exact profile of funding for the New Hospital Programme will be confirmed in rolling five-year waves at regular Spending Reviews. Further information on the plan for implementation is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome/new-hospital-programme-plan-for-implementation

Up to and including December 2024, the Department’s spend on the New Hospital Programme was £1.808 billion for capital expenditure, and £268 million for non-capital expenditure. This includes the year-to-date position for 2024/25, and as such remains provisional and subject to final audit.

The current future estimates of costs for schemes in waves two and three were published in the plan for implementation. The previous budget allocated to trusts in the New Hospital Programme was published in the annual Financial assistance under section 40 of the National Health Service Act 2006, and is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/676161a094c0d990c1ef3953/dhsc-financial-assistance-under-section-40-of-the-national-health-service-act-2006-report-2023-2024.pdf

All spend allocated to hospital trusts in the New Hospital Programme is capitalised, and as such we do not record any non-capital spend.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-01-27)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-01-27 conversation_225

Clive Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the time taken to complete the Royal Berkshire Hospital on patients in Wokingham constituency. \p Karin Smyth: My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care set out a credible and deliverable plan for the new hospital schemes in the New Hospital Programme (NHP) on 20 January 2025, following the conclusion of the review of the NHP. The plan for implementation was laid in the House Library and published on the GOV.UK website, and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome

An equality impact assessment was carried out for the review which included assessing the extent to which service users might be impacted by these delivery proposals, with specific reference to the impact that these might have on relevant protected characteristics. This was also laid in the House Library and published on 20 January, and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome/new-hospital-programme-equality-impact-assessment