theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of updating the international frozen food storage standard from –18°C to –15°C, including the potential impact on (a) energy costs for producers and retailers, (b) efficiencies in the food supply chain and (c) consumer prices; and whether the Government plans to support such a change in international standards. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government welcomes new and innovative steps taken by any businesses to produce and supply food sustainably, providing they can demonstrate the food they place on the market is safe.

There is no legal requirement for frozen food to be stored at -18°C in general, but freezing remains a critical control step in some cases, such as killing parasites in fish intended to be eaten raw, and these requirements continue to apply.

We are aware that parts of the food industry are exploring raising frozen food storage temperatures from -18°C to -15°C to reduce energy use and support sustainability goals. While this evidence has not yet been shared with the Food Standards Agency, we are engaging with food businesses to understand potential implications. The Government will continue to monitor industry trials and evidence related to international frozen food storage standards.

Raising frozen food storage temperatures could reduce energy use for food business operators, which may help lower operating costs. At present, there is no clear evidence that such changes would lead to lower prices for consumers.

Any food business considering changes to frozen food storage temperatures must ensure food safety management systems remain compliant with legal requirements.
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Johanna Baxter:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which health bodies from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland were involved in Exercise Pegasus. \p Ashley Dalton: Exercise PEGASUS, the largest simulation of a pandemic in the United Kingdom’s history, involved all four nations and thousands of participants across different parts of the exercise. Participants that are health bodies included, but were not limited to:
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Mr Calvin Bailey:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for his policies of the evidence presented in Prostate Cancer Research’s report entitled Prostate Cancer Screening: The Impact on the NHS, on targeted prostate cancer screening for high-risk men; and if he will ensure that this is considered as part of the UK National Screening Committee’s review of prostate cancer screening options. \p Ashley Dalton: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) Secretariat has noted Prostate Cancer Research’s report entitled Prostate Cancer Screening: The Impact on the NHS and has discussed it with the chair of the UK NSC.

The UK NSC is currently undertaking a new evidence review of prostate cancer screening at both a population level and for targeted high-risk groups such as black men and men with a family history of prostate cancer. We anticipate a public consultation on the findings of this review soon and a recommendation by the UK NSC in the first quarter of next year.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of ensuring that rare autoimmune rheumatic disease patients have named care coordinators. \p Ashley Dalton: We are aware there remains unmet need on coordination of care for people with rare diseases and work is underway to improve this.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for working with their local communities to understand the needs of the local populations and make decisions about how best to commission services, including for those with rare autoimmune rheumatic disease.

We are improving coordination of care for all rare diseases as a priority under the UK Rare Diseases Framework. England’s Rare Diseases Action Plans details a range of measures to improve coordination of care, including work against Action 37 on co-ordination of care for multi-system disorders. NHS England is also committed to include the definition of coordination of care in all new and revised services specifications for patients with rare diseases. The National Institute of Health and Care Research has commissioned research to provide the evidence needed to operationalise better co-ordination of care for rare diseases in the National Health Service.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has issued (a) a national strategy and (b) guidance for NHS trusts on genetic disorders linked to consanguinity. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: Genomic testing is delivered through the NHS Genomic Medicine Service and guided by the National Genomic Test Directory, which outlines the eligibility criteria for genomic testing based on specific clinical indications. These eligibility criteria support clinicians to decide whether genetic testing is appropriate, including in cases where genetic disorders may be linked to consanguinity. In addition, through the Genetic Risk Equity Project, NHS England is piloting and evaluating new models of care in nine sites to improve equity of access to genetic services for the small proportion of consanguineous couples at increased genetic risk. NHS England has published training modules about close relative marriage and genetic risk for midwives and health visitors, as well as guidance on how to submit data around consanguinity and pregnancy to the Maternity Services Dataset.
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Danny Beales:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason NHS England has not approved abiraterone for use in high-risk, non-metastatic prostate cancer. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: Abiraterone is licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for use in the treatment of high-risk hormone-sensitive metastatic prostate cancer. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published final draft guidance on 30 October and has been able to recommend abiraterone (originator and generics) for treating newly diagnosed high-risk hormone-sensitive metastatic prostate cancer. NICE reviewed its guidance to determine whether to recommend abiraterone for use in this indication following the patent expiry for the medicine.

Abiraterone is not licensed for use in the treatment of high-risk, non-metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer, and as such, it has not been evaluated by NICE through its technology appraisal programme. NICE makes recommendations for the National Health Service in England on the vast majority of new medicines and significant licence indications for existing medicines but does not evaluate medicines that are used outside their marketing authorisations, also known as “off-label”.

Funding decisions for off-label medicines are the responsibility of NHS commissioners who are required to make decisions on the basis of the available evidence. For cancer medicines, NHS England is the responsible commissioner and has an established mechanism to make funding decisions on medicines that are not evaluated by NICE through its clinical prioritisation process. NHS England considered abiraterone as an off-label treatment for hormone-sensitive, non-metastatic prostate cancer through its clinical policy development process in 2024/25. Through this process, NHS England confirmed that there was sufficient supporting evidence to support the routine commissioning of abiraterone in this indication and it was ranked as the top priority for routine commissioning.

However, NHS England has not been able to identify the necessary recurrent funding to support the commissioning of abiraterone, or any other treatments within the prioritisation round. This position in being kept under review and will be progressed as soon as recurrent funding is identified.

This position takes into account the need to ensure the affordability of introducing any new routine commissioning policies, alongside maintaining existing services for patients, and meeting their legal requirement to fund all NICE approved drugs. Abiraterone for the treatment of high-risk, hormone sensitive, non-metastatic prostate cancer remains the top priority for routine commissioning.
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Rebecca Paul:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to provide additional support for women who face additional prescription costs due to (a) menorrhagia and (b) other menstrual issues caused by (i) miscarriage and (ii) other significant traumas. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: There are no plans to review the support available to women facing these issues.

A maternity exemption certificate can be applied for as soon as a healthcare professional has confirmed that the patient is pregnant or has given birth, including still-birth, in the previous twelve months, and this provides exemption from prescription costs until 12 months after the due date. The certificate remains valid if the patient has a miscarriage. The certificate is automatically backdated one month from the date the application is received by the NHS Business Services Authority.

If a patient is not entitled to the maternity exemption, they can purchase a prescription prepayment certificate (PPC), which allows them to claim as many prescriptions as they need for a set cost. A three-monthly PPC, costing £32.05, or an annual PPC, costing £114.50, will save people money if they need four or more items in three months or 12 or more items in 12 months. To help spread the cost, people can pay for an annual PPC by ten monthly direct debits. A holder of a 12-month certificate can get all the prescriptions they need for just over £2 per week.

Approximately 40% of the population are currently liable to pay the prescription charge though approximately 89% of the items dispensed in the community are dispensed free of charge.
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Luke Murphy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that families bereaved by suicide have access to local, specialist postvention support. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: Commissioning responsibility for local suicide bereavement services, sits with integrated care boards (ICBs) and it is for them to commission appropriate services for their local population while considering their overall financial position.

The NHS Long Term Plan committed that, from 2019/20, every area of the country would receive funding for suicide prevention and bereavement services by 2023/24. £57 million was allocated from the overall investment in mental health services in three annual waves via specific System Development Funding. Local systems had the flexibility to design bereavement services to best meet the needs of their local population, which could include peer support and specialist postvention services.

From 2023/24, funding for local suicide bereavement services has been included within System Development Funding allocations for adult crisis services. ICBs are able to spend this wider allocation flexibly according to the needs of their local population and the amounts invested in local suicide prevention and bereavement services cannot be separately identified.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will allocate funding to support mental health provision in rural communities in the Autumn Budget 2025. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: We know that too many people are not receiving the mental health care they need, and we recognise that people living in rural communities may face particular challenges in accessing the mental health services they need. For 2025/26, mental health spending is forecast to amount to £15.6 billion. This represents a significant uplift of £688 million in real terms spending on mental health compared to the previous financial year.

Following publication by NHS England of the Medium Term Planning Framework on 24 October 2025, details of funding arrangements, including integrated care board allocations over the next three years, will be set out across revenue finance and contracting guidance, capital guidance, and published allocations in due course.
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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many dementia specialists there were in England in each year since 2010 by local authority. \p Stephen Kinnock: We do not hold this information centrally. Dementia care involves multiple specialties. We hold data by profession rather than by specific skills or areas of knowledge.
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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many dementia specialists were recruited in England in each year since 2010 by local authority. \p Stephen Kinnock: We do not hold this information centrally. Dementia care involves multiple specialties. We hold data by profession rather than by specific skills or areas of knowledge.
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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support the expansion of Pharmacy First services in areas with GP access pressures. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government is committed to providing more services in the community, closer to people’s homes. The 10-Year Health Plan is clear that we need to do things differently with more integrated neighbourhood health services, shifting care from hospital to community and from treatment to prevention.

Community pharmacies will have a vital role in the Neighbourhood Health Service, as the 10-Year Health Plan brings healthcare to high streets as part of a shift in care to the community. This includes exploring ways to expand the role of pharmacies and to better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians as we continue to embed the Pharmacy First service.

We continue to promote Pharmacy First to increase public awareness and engagement. This has included the recent national media campaign to promote the service, as well as coordinated communications across the healthcare system. Action is also being taken to increase referrals into Pharmacy First, with targeted engagement with integrated care boards, general practice stakeholders, and the community pharmacy sector to encourage and improve the referral pathways to support better access for patients.

For 2025/26, funding for the core community pharmacy contractual framework has been increased to £3.073 billion. This represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service, at over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. There is also additional funding available for pharmacies delivering Pharmacy First consultations and flu and COVID-19 vaccinations.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will consider the potential merits of a multi-year funding scheme for support groups for male carers. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government recognises the vital role of unpaid carers and is committed to ensuring they receive the support they need. Through measures set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are supporting carers by making them more visible, empowering their voices in care planning, joining up services, and streamlining caring tasks through a new ‘MyCarer’ section in the NHS App. We are also expanding access to mental health care through 24/7 neighbourhood services, new emergency mental health departments, and enhanced support via the NHS App, all of which will be available to carers experiencing mental ill health.

Local authorities have duties under the Care Act 2014 to support unpaid carers. To help them fulfil these duties, the 2025 Spending Review provides for an increase of over £4 billion in funding available for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26.

On 19 November, we published the Men’s Health Strategy. The strategy includes tangible 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 and address societal norms. It also considers how to prevent and tackle the biggest health problems affecting men of all ages, which include mental health and suicide prevention, respiratory illness, prostate cancer, and heart disease.

As Minister of State for Care, I also chair a regular cross-Government meeting with ministers across departments to consider how we can work together to provide unpaid carers with the recognition and support they deserve.

The Department has no current plans to introduce a multi-year funding scheme for support groups specifically for male carers, but we will continue working across government and with local authorities to ensure that unpaid carers of all genders are able to access appropriate support.
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Johanna Baxter:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what engagement did Exercise Pegasus have with providers in the procurement of adequate Personal Protective Equipment for immunocompromised patients. \p Ashley Dalton: Exercise PEGASUS, the largest simulation of a pandemic in United Kingdom history, involved thousands of participants across different parts of the exercise. Multiple other non-Governmental organisations representing the breadth of society were engaged and will continue to be in advance of phase four of the exercise in 2026. This includes engagement with partners from across the pharmaceutical industry, a focus group with those who are clinically vulnerable, and engagement with our key personal protective equipment (PPE) delivery partner SCCL on the PPE requirements across health and social care on the core anchor days of the exercise.
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Dr Simon Opher:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to publish an implementation plan to ensure that each Integrated Care Board commissions a Fracture Liaison Service. \p Ashley Dalton: Fracture liaison services are commissioned by integrated care boards, which are well-placed to make decisions according to local need.

Our 10-Year Health Plan committed to rolling out fracture liaison services across every part of the country by 2030.

Officials continue to work closely with NHS England to explore a range of options to provide better quality and access to these important preventative services.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase levels of awareness of tongue ties, also called ankyloglossia, of (a) midwives and (b) expectant mothers. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is committed to giving every child the best start in life and support for infant feeding plays an important role in achieving this.

Midwifery, health visiting, and infant feeding teams are central to supporting families with infant feeding. This includes identifying feeding challenges and providing tailored support for breastfeeding and bottle feeding. We are currently refreshing the guidance for The Healthy Child Programme, which includes health visiting services, to strengthen service quality and promote consistency in service delivery.

Dedicated paediatric surgery days are being introduced within integrated care boards, using existing NHS estate in day surgery or hub settings, to boost surgical activity for children and young people. Surgical hubs play a key role in delivering increased activity and ensuring timely access to planned care.

We are also strengthening local support for tongue-tie through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme, which is investing £18.5 million in 2025/26 to improve infant feeding services in 75 local authorities in England. Local authorities are working with local health partners to improve access to timely tongue-tie support and treatment. In some areas, new tongue-tie clinics have been set up so that more families can access timely support.

For expectant parents, the majority of NHS trusts offer free antenatal education services, including caring for the baby and feeding. We are working with NHS England to improve the quality of antenatal classes.

Information about the symptoms and treatment of tongue-tie is also available on the NHS website and the Best Start in Life email programme for parents.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to prepare for the risk of increasing flu cases amid NHS strikes. \p Ashley Dalton: The National Health Service in England has been preparing for winter with the development and better testing of winter plans with surge capacity and escalation plans in place across all NHS and urgent care services. In September NHS England ran seven regionally-led exercises to enable integrated care boards and trusts to stress test whether their plans are sufficient and robust to mitigate winter pressures from baseline, moderate, and extreme levels of respiratory illness and/or flu surge.

As set out in the 2025/26 Urgent and Emergency Care Plan, the NHS is focussing on improvements that will see the biggest impact on urgent and emergency care performance this winter. This includes expanding community access to urgent care, for example for patients to be treated in virtual wards, and improving vaccination uptake among frontline staff.

The priority is to keep patients as safe as possible during any industrial action. The NHS makes every effort through rigorous contingency planning to minimise disruption as a result of industrial action and its impact on patients and the public. Assessments are made by local trusts about the level of resourcing, and they can escalate via regions and nationally, where appropriate.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of offering CT scans to former miners. \p Ashley Dalton: No assessment has been made on the potential merits of offering computed tomography (CT) scans to former miners. As set out in the recently published Men’s Health Strategy for England, we will expand the existing Respiratory Pathways Transformation Fund initiative by investing an additional £1 million this year through the Oxfordshire Health Innovation Network to develop targeted case-finding initiatives in former coalfield areas, such as those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This will help us to identify the individuals who need support to access appropriate local services. Investigations such as CT scans will be considered for those reporting symptoms in areas in which we are targeting support, if clinically appropriate.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase access to specialist wheelchairs for children in South Holland and the Deepings constituency. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of local wheelchair services.

The Lincolnshire ICB and Lincolnshire County Council jointly commission an all-age wheelchair service. To support access to specialist wheelchairs, the Lincolnshire wheelchair service has a close working relationship with bespoke seating services who support with wheelchair fittings and assessments. In addition, the service also operates a personal wheelchair budget option that supports the provision of equipment outside of the standard service and that helps assess the equipment sourced to make sure it is appropriate and meets the patient’s needs.

NHS England is taking 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 intervention and equipment. This includes publishing a Wheelchair Quality Framework on the 9 April 2025 which sets out quality standards and statutory requirements for ICBs, such as offering personal wheelchair budgets. The framework is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/wheelchair-quality-framework/
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the closure of the Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation for Disabled Peoples on wheelchair provision for children aged under six. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: This assessment has not been made. Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the commissioning of local wheelchair services, based on the needs of their local population.

NHS England has developed policy, guidance, and legislation to support ICBs to commission effective, efficient, and personalised wheelchair services. On 9 April 2025, NHS England published the Wheelchair Quality Framework which is designed to assist ICBs and National Health Service wheelchair service providers in delivering high-quality provision that offers improved access, outcomes, and experience.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of deaths in hospital. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The Government is prioritising patient safety and a learning culture in the National Health Service to prevent harmful events from happening to patients. The NHS Patient Safety Strategy, originally published in 2019, and updated in 2021 and 2023, includes key programmes to support the NHS to improve patient safety continuously and reduce patient harm. Further information on the NHS Patient Safety Strategy is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/patient-safety/the-nhs-patient-safety-strategy/

As part of this, the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework reforms the way providers respond to patient safety incidents, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/patient-safety/patient-safety-insight/incident-response-framework/engaging-and-involving-patients-families-and-staff-following-a-patient-safety-incident/

In addition, the Learn From Patient Safety Events service also enables the NHS to learn from more than three million patient safety incidents reported annually, including through the development of machine learning and artificial intelligence tools for analysis. Further information on the Learn From Patient Safety Events service is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/patient-safety/patient-safety-insight/learning-from-patient-safety-events/learn-from-patient-safety-events-service/

Other examples of key patient safety initiatives include rollout of Martha’s Rule, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/patient-safety/marthas-rule/

From September 2024 to July 2025, this policy has resulted in changes in treatment for roughly 1,000 patients, with more than 260 patients requiring transfers of care to high dependency or intensive care units, enhanced levels of care, or a tertiary centre. The Government also introduced the statutory medical examiner system from September 2024 which means that medical examiners independently scrutinise every death in England and Wales not referred to a coroner. This is estimated as more than half a million deaths in 12 months. Medical examiners support local learning and improvement by detecting and referring concerns through established local clinical governance processes.
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Sarah Gibson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of GP accreditation coverage for Veteran Aware practices in Wiltshire, and what steps are being taken to close any gaps. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: NHS England has been working with the regional providers of Op COURAGE to ensure that they are meeting the needs of veterans. This includes reviewing the time that veterans wait for assessment and treatment. Any required changes identified through this internal review will be implemented from April 2026.

All primary care networks in Wiltshire have at least one general practice (GP) accredited as being veteran friendly. NHS England, in partnership with the Royal College of General Practitioners, are continuing to encourage GPs to participate in the Armed Forces Veteran Friendly GP accreditation scheme. This voluntary initiative is available to GPs across England and is free to access.

NHS England is working with Op COURAGE and Op RESTORE to develop more meaningful data on outcomes, patient satisfaction, and to demonstrate progress on continuous improvement in services and clinical provision. This work will focus on ensuring that future reporting is both purposeful and proportionate, to avoid detracting from the delivery of frontline services.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding his Department has made available to local authorities for (a) housing (b) other support to Gazan evacuees. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is funding local authorities, in the form of an accommodation tariff, so they can provide suitable accommodation for families from Gaza for up to two years in England.

The Department of Health and Social Care is providing local authorities a fixed flat-rate tariff to fund wraparound services to families. Local authorities are also able to claim additional funding to cover exceptional adult social care, children’s social care, and educational costs.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS trusts in areas with higher prevalence of consanguineous unions receive additional (a) funding, (b) training and (c) genetic counselling resources to help tackle related health needs. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: Genomic testing is delivered through the NHS Genomic Medicine Service and guided by the National Genomic Test Directory, which outlines the eligibility criteria for genomic testing. These criteria support clinicians to decide whether genetic testing is appropriate, including in cases where genetic disorders may be linked to consanguinity. Seventeen NHS Clinical Genetics Services are commissioned by NHS England and deliver a comprehensive clinical genetics and genetic counselling service that directs the diagnosis, risk assessment, and lifelong clinical management of patients of all ages and their families who have, or are at risk of having, a genetic condition. In addition, through the Genetic Risk Equity Project, NHS England is piloting and evaluating new models of care in nine sites to improve equity of access to genetic services for the small proportion of consanguineous couples at increased genetic risk. NHS England has published training modules about close relative marriage and genetic risk for midwives and health visitors, as well as guidance on how to submit data around consanguinity and pregnancy to the Maternity Services Dataset.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of cancer patients who could not afford to continue using their anticancer agent beyond its NHS availability. \p Dr Zubir Ahmed: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body that develops authoritative, evidence-based recommendations on whether new licensed medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service based on an assessment of clinical and cost effectiveness. The NHS in England is legally required to fund medicines in line with NICE’s recommendations.

These are very difficult decisions to make, and it is right that they are taken independently and on the basis of the evidence. NICE’s methods and processes for making its recommendations are internationally respected and have been developed through extensive consultation. NICE is able to recommend the vast majority of new licensed medicines for use on the NHS, and many thousands of patients have benefited from access to medicines as a result.

NICE’s guidance on the use of pembrolizumab for the treatment of untreated PD-L1-positive metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer recommends that treatment should be stopped at two years. This recommendation was based on the best available clinical evidence and was made in the interest of patient safety. During the development of guidance, NICE’s appraisal committee was informed by clinical experts that the optimal duration of treatment was unknown and, despite the medicine having low toxicity, long courses of intravenous infusion may be a burden to patients. Further information is set out in paragraph 3.6 of NICE’s published guidance at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta531/chapter/3-Committee-discussion

The Department and NHS England do not hold any data on the number of patients who are unable to self-fund treatment of medicines beyond any stopping rule set out in NICE’s guidance.
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Dr Caroline Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) schools, (b) nurseries and (c) early years settings have signed up to the Big Brush Club supervised toothbrushing scheme. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Big Brush Club is commissioned across seven integrated care boards (ICBs) in the National Health Service South West region in England to deliver supervised toothbrushing at schools and nurseries. The total number of schools participating is 738. The number of nurseries and early years settings are not available separately, but the total number of nurseries and early years settings participating, combined, is 462.

The national supervised toothbrushing programme now being implemented across England will reach up to 600,000 children between the ages of three and five years old in the 20% most deprived Lower Super Output Areas according to the Indices of Multiple Deprivation. This is backed by £11 million funding to local authorities in 2025/26 and a five-year partnership with Colgate-Palmolive. Where there are existing schemes in place, there is local flexibility to provide additional programmes, including those for older or younger children, those with special educational needs and disabilities and other vulnerable groups.
wrans/answers2025-11-26 conversation_166
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-26 conversation_166

Yuan Yang:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the number of registered patients per GP is (a) across Earley and Woodley constituency, (b) the south Reading area and (c) West Berkshire. \p Stephen Kinnock: As of September 2025, the number of registered patients per full time equivalent doctor in general practice was:

We cannot provide data for South Reading as it is not a formal geography.
wrans/answers2025-11-26 conversation_167
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-26 conversation_167

Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase GP appointment availability in the West Midlands; and what assessment he has made of primary care staffing levels in Walsall. \p Stephen Kinnock: West Midlands sits within the Black Country Integrated Care Board (ICB) where appointment availability in general practice (GP) has increased by 13.8% in September 2025 compared to the same period last year. In October 2024, we invested £160 million into the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme to give additional flexibilities to recruit 2,500 new GPs into primary care networks across England. We have invested an additional £1.1 billion into GPs to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service. This is the biggest increase in over a decade. Additionally, the new £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund will create additional clinical space within over 1,000 GPs across England to deliver 8.3 million more appointments each year.

As of 30 September 2025, Walsall has seen an increase of 17.4 full-time equivalent GPs compared to September 2024. The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the ICBs across England. In 2024/25, there were 57 dentists per 100,000 population in the Black Country ICB, which includes the Walsall constituency. This is above average, compared to a national average of 50 dentists per 100,000 people in England.
wrans/answers2025-11-26 conversation_168
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-26 conversation_168

Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) adults (b) children are not registered with a dentist in (1) Greater Manchester (2) Oldham. \p Stephen Kinnock: Patients in England are not registered with a National Health Service dental practice, although many NHS dental practices do tend to see patients regularly. There is no geographical restriction on which practice a patient may attend. Some dental practices may operate local waiting list arrangements. Therefore, data is not available on the number of adults and children not registered with a dentist in Greater Manchester and Oldham.

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 Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton constituency, this is the Greater Manchester ICB.
wrans/answers2025-11-26 conversation_169
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-26 conversation_169

Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients on waiting lists for dementia diagnosis have informed their GP they are receiving private treatment since 2010 in England, broken down by (a) local authority and (b) year. \p Stephen Kinnock: This information is not held centrally.
wrans/answers2025-11-26 conversation_170
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-26 conversation_170

Patrick Spencer:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the GP funding formula review plans to consider the challenges of providing primary care services in rural areas. \p Stephen Kinnock: The review of the general practice funding formula, the Carr-Hill formula, is being conducted by the National Institute for Health and Care Research. The purpose of the review is to ensure that funding for general practice is distributed equitably and is targeted towards areas that need it most. The review will consider unavoidable costs based on geographical areas, including delivering services in rural areas.

The review has commenced and will draw on a range of evidence and advice from experts. Implementation of any new funding approach will be subject to ministerial decision, in the context of the available funding and our commitment to substantively reform the General Medical Services Contract within this Parliament.
wrans/answers2025-11-26 conversation_171
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-26 conversation_171

Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will bring vision rehabilitation services under the same regulatory and monitoring framework as other adult social care services; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of doing so. \p Stephen Kinnock: Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities have the duty to shape their care market and to commission a range of high-quality, sustainable, and person-centred care and support services to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes encouraging a wide range of service provision to ensure that people, including those with sight loss, have a choice of appropriate services and equipment that maximises independence.

Although the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is not currently required to assess vision rehabilitation services, as regulated activities under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, sensory services, including vision rehabilitation, do form part of CQC’s overall assessment of local authorities’ delivery of adult social care.

CQC assessments identify local authorities’ strengths and areas for development, in their delivery of their duties under part 1 of the Care Act. This facilitates the sharing of good practice and helps us to target support where it is most needed. It may be helpful to know that the CQC will report on sensory services when there is something important to highlight, for example, something being done well, innovative practice, or an area for improvement.
wrans/answers2025-11-26 conversation_172
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-26 conversation_172

Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many referrals to dementia specialists were made in England in each year since 2010 by local authority. \p Stephen Kinnock: This data is not held centrally. While counts of patients who have received a dementia assessment and subsequently been referred to a memory clinic have been collected since the 2016/17 reporting year, the figures are not provided at an integrated care board level and are also not aggregated by local authority. This data captures the number of patients who have received such a referral, and does not capture the following:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/recorded-dementia-diagnoses

In addition, data from 2022 to 2025 can be found in the recorded dementia diagnoses publication: Primary care dementia data publication, at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/primary-care-dementia-data

The counts available in the March publication of each year will provide the number of referrals made within that reporting year.
wrans/answers2025-11-26 conversation_173
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-26 conversation_173

Dan Norris:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress is being made to ensure women in North East Somerset & Hanham have access to menopause treatments on the NHS. \p Karin Smyth: The Government recognises that women suffering from symptoms of menopause have been failed for far too long, and we acknowledge the impact it has on women’s lives, relationships, and participation in the workplace.

The number of women in Bath and North East Somerset receiving hormone replacement therapy, commonly used to relieve menopause symptoms, has increased by approximately 85%, from 15,770 women in 2021/22, to 29,140 in 2024/25. The Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire integrated care board (ICB) has also commissioned its general practices (GPs) to provide testosterone replacement to menopausal women, who are affected by low libido as a result of ongoing hormone replacement therapy treatments.

Hanham falls within the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care System area, within which seven primary care networks are trialling the use of group education and group consultations for menopause. Over 1,000 people have attended a group education session. The University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust Menopause Service is running a training clinic for six GPs with additional qualifications in menopause, to upskill further in menopause care and help reduce waiting lists.
wrans/answers2025-11-26 conversation_174
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-11-26)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-11-26 conversation_174

Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS staff were subject to Maintaining High Professional Standards procedures in each of the last five years. \p Karin Smyth: The Department does not hold data centrally on how many National Health Service staff were investigated under the Maintaining High Professional Standards framework in each of the last five years. This data is also not held by NHS England.