theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has he made of the adequacy of the mechanisms in place for ICBs to hold Swift Queue to account for faulty services. \p Karin Smyth: NHS England has not undertaken a specific assessment of the mechanisms in place for integrated care boards (ICBs) to hold Swift Queue accountable for service performance. However, ICBs, as commissioners of local health services, are responsible for ensuring that contracted service providers, including those providing digital booking systems, meet agreed performance and quality standards.

Where issues arise with faulty services, ICBs have contractual levers available to address concerns, which may include service improvement plans, financial penalties, or contract reviews. If a specific issue has been identified with Swift Queue’s service provision, affected ICBs are expected to take appropriate action to resolve the matter in the interests of patient care. Where an ICB identifies systemic failures with Swift Queue or any similar provider, they can escalate concerns through NHS England and the relevant regulatory bodies.

To note, ICBs are not always responsible for commissioning services like Swift Queue. National Health Service trusts may also directly procure and manage such contracts for their own operations. If an NHS trust has commissioned Swift Queue, then it holds responsibility for ensuring the system functions properly, using its contractual levers to address service issues. Regardless of the commissioner, ICB or trust, NHS England can provide oversight and guidance if widespread or systemic issues arise with the platform.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of prescription charges on patients with long-term health conditions; and whether he has made an estimate of the number individuals not taking prescribed medications due to cost. \p Karin Smyth: The Department has made no assessment of the impact of prescription charges on patients’ health outcomes, or the number of hospital admissions or general practice visits. The Department does not hold data on the number of individuals not taking prescribed medications due to cost.

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 to help those with the greatest need. 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 a qualifying medical condition, or whether they are in receipt of certain benefits or a war pension.

People with certain long-term medical conditions may qualify for a medical exemption, which entitles them to claim free prescriptions. Medical exemption is a long-standing exemption from prescription charges, which covers all the patient’s prescriptions, not just those for the qualifying condition. A list of the qualifying medical conditions and information on how to apply for a medical exemption certificate is available at the following link:

www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/medex

People on low incomes can apply for help with their health costs through the NHS Low Income Scheme. People who need multiple prescription items and who do not qualify for an exemption, or the NHS Low Income Scheme, could save money with a prescription prepayment certificate (PPC). PPCs allow people to claim as many prescriptions as they need for a set cost, with three-month and 12-month certificates available, and the 12-month PPC can be paid for in direct debit instalments.
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Jo Platt:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to ensure a patients right of choice is not impacted by the proposed 2025-26 NHS payment scheme. \p Karin Smyth: A patients’ right to choose is set out in legislation, and the proposed 2025/26 NHS Payment Scheme (NHSPS) makes no changes to this right. As required by the Health and Care Act 2022, NHS England has conducted an assessment of the impact of the proposed NHSPS. This is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/25-26-NHSPS-Consultation-notice-C-impact-assessment.pdf.

This impact assessment includes consideration of the impact on patient choice, as well as an assessment of the impact on patients, in line with NHS England’s public sector equality duty.

The Government is committed to patients having the right to choose their provider when referred to consultant-led treatment, or to a mental health professional, for their first appointment as an outpatient. Further information on the choices available for patients can be found on the NHS Choice Framework, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-nhs-choice-framework
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to strengthen the Orphan drug regulations to encourage research into rare diseases. \p Karin Smyth: The Human Medicines Regulations include specific incentives to support orphan medicines, designed to encourage the development of medicines for rare diseases. The regulations enable the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to grant orphan designation to a medicine intended for the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of a rare condition. This orphan designation provides the product with a period of market exclusivity for the specified condition, preventing similar competitor medicines from entering the market during this time.

The MHRA further supports developers of orphan medicines by offering a full or partial refund of the marketing authorisation fee following a positive orphan designation. There is evidence that the regulations for orphan medicines do support development, with approximately 150 medicines having been successfully developed and authorised for the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of rare diseases and given orphan designation in the United Kingdom.

The MHRA will continue to review its approach to orphan medicines and, where necessary, will propose updates to the criteria to further encourage research into rare diseases, to improve patient outcomes.
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Steve Barclay:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 14 February 2025 to Question 27517 on Hospitals: Concrete, whether he plans to publish the comprehensive report into the seven reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete schemes. \p Karin Smyth: As stated in Question 27517, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has commissioned a comprehensive report into the seven reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) schemes being delivered through the New Hospital Programme. The final contract has been awarded to Mott MacDonald and can be found in the public domain on contract finder, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder

The report is due to take a total of 19 weeks to complete. We do not expect to publish the report in its entirety as it will contain sensitive commercial information. This is in line with the approach taken with previous reports of this nature. We do, however, recognise the importance of transparency and the significant level of interest in the report outcomes, and will consider what can be released publicly once the report is complete.

We remain committed to removing RAAC fully from the National Health Service estate whilst working to keep facilities open, with patient and staff safety at the forefront of our decision making.
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Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS appointments were delivered in each month between July 2023 and June 2024. \p Karin Smyth: Information related to the baseline and methodology for the additional appointments delivered is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/rtt-waiting-times/recovery-of-elective_activity-mi/
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Amanda Pritchard will receive an exit payment. \p Karin Smyth: Amanda Pritchard led the National Health Service through the biggest health emergency for our country in modern history. Following her decision to step down as Chief Executive, any exit payment will be in line with contractual entitlements and subject to the necessary approvals.
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Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) value-weighted activity appointments and (b) diagnostic NHS appointments that will take place in (i) 2024-25, (ii) 2025-26 and (iii) by the end of this Parliament. \p Karin Smyth: As set out in the Plan for Change, we will ensure 92% of patients return to waiting no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment by March 2029, a standard which has not been met consistently since September 2015.

Thanks to funding announced in the Autumn Budget 2024, we have delivered an additional two million operations, scans, and appointments between July and November 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, as a first step in our commitment to ensuring patients can expect to be treated within 18 weeks.

NHS Operational Planning Guidance for 2025/26 sets out that systems are expected to deliver activity consistent with the national value weighted activity target of 118%. Levels beyond this period will be agreed as part of the forthcoming Spending Review process.
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Layla Moran:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many vacancies for (a) administrative staff, (b) clinical staff and (c) managers there are in the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; and what the average time was for a vacancy to be open in (i) Oxfordshire and (ii) the UK in the last five years. \p Karin Smyth: The Department does not hold information on trust level vacancies by staff groups, or information on the lengths of time that vacancies have been open at a local or national level.
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Neil Coyle:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to support self-employed midwives. \p Karin Smyth: Independent midwives make a valuable contribution to midwifery services across the country. As they are not employed by the National Health Service, we do not have any influence over their pay or terms and conditions, or how they access learning, development, and pastoral support. Many self-employed midwives are members of Independent Midwifery UK, which does offer support and mentoring.

Local employers who work with self-employed midwives are best placed to determine what additional support they can offer, in the interests of delivering high quality services.
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Julia Lopez:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with the Human Embryology and Fertilisation Authority on the regulation of surrogacy. \p Karin Smyth: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Mental Health and Women’s Health Strategy met with the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority senior team, where this issue was discussed as part of a broader introductory discussion.
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Mrs Elsie Blundell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of hospital bed availability in health trusts in the NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board. \p Karin Smyth: Hospital bed occupancy, including in Manchester, is too high. This reduces the number of beds available for patients who require hospital admission.

Greater Manchester Integrated Care System continues to take action to support bed occupancy including a concentrated focus on the implementation of strategies and services aimed at preventing unnecessary hospital admissions, particularly for vulnerable populations.
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Neil Coyle:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to facilitate access to professional indemnity insurance for self-employed midwives. \p Karin Smyth: In England, most National Health Services are covered by the state indemnity schemes administered by NHS Resolution. Therefore, midwives working in NHS trusts, other member organisations, and general practices are covered by the state indemnity schemes, namely the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts (CNST) and the Clinical Negligence Scheme for General Practice, respectively. Where self-employed midwives are not covered by state schemes, they need to obtain independent cover which is mainly through regulated insurance or via discretionary indemnity offered primarily by medical defence organisations.

In 2020, the difficulty in accessing indemnity was highlighted by self-employed midwives. Alternative arrangements were agreed via an NHS contract which enabled self-employed midwives to be covered by the state scheme, the CNST. A number use this model, although we understand some do not.

The Department is currently considering policy measures to address gaps in the clinical indemnities system. We would be happy to take further evidence from self-employed midwives to determine issues specific to them and the scale of the problem.
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Jonathan Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's policy is on supporting NHS trusts to meet their annual sickness absence targets. \p Karin Smyth: Data published by NHS England shows that during the month of October 2024, there were 317,167 full time equivalent days lost due to musculoskeletal health issues for National Health Service staff. These account for 13% of all sickness absences over the month. The published data does not allow for the identification of the specific number of staff absent from work due to musculoskeletal health issues.

On 1 March 2025, the Government and Nuffield Health announced access for 4,000 NHS staff to Nuffield Health’s Joint Pain Programme. The programme is aimed at those staff who are off work due to chronic joint pain or who are struggling with pain whilst at work.

Sickness absence is managed at an organisational level across the NHS. NHS organisations have policies and procedures to manage attendance and reduce sickness absence. Employers should develop local policies and procedures in line with Annex 26 of the NHS staff terms and conditions of service (Agenda for Change) handbook and should access NHS England’s Employer’s Sickness Absence Toolkit.

In 2023, NHS England published a strategy for the NHS and partner organisations to work together to develop and invest in occupational health and wellbeing services for NHS staff over the next five years. NHS England is currently leading a comprehensive review, the Staff Treatment Access Review, of how to deliver a more equitable and consistent offer to staff that supports their wellbeing.
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Ian Roome:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance he has issued to GP practices in England on giving patients access to copies of their records. \p Stephen Kinnock: Practices are contractually obliged to provide full prospective record access to all patients, for those aged 16 years old and above, unless exceptions apply or if the patient has informed the practice that they do not, or no longer, wish to have access.

Since 2022, functionality and supporting guidance was successfully tested with early adopter general practice (GP) sites, and was rolled out nationwide to give all patients access to new health record entries online. This guidance is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/services/nhs-app/nhs-app-guidance-for-gp-practices/guidance-on-nhs-app-features/online-access-to-gp-health-records/what-general-practice-staff-should-know/prospective-record-access-manually-enabling-patient-access#:~:text=Practices%20are%20contractually%20obliged%20to,longer%2C%20wish%20to%20have%20access.

In addition, NHS England worked with GPs and GP IT suppliers on the steps to take to restrict access to health records for vulnerable patients. NHS England has also provided guidance on its website on how anyone can request access to their GP record, using an online account such as the NHS App.
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Jonathan Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many prescription prepayment certificates have been issued in (a) England and (b) Mid Derbyshire in the last five years. \p Karin Smyth: Prescription Prepayment Certificates (PPCs) are issued by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) on behalf of the Department. The following table shows the number of three and 12 month PPCs issued in England over the last five years, as well as the current financial year up to 27 February 2025:

Financial year

Certificate type

Certificate count

2019/2020

PPC

2,521,102

2020/2021

PPC

2,505,297

2021/2022

PPC

2,685,102

2022/2023

PPC

2,900,859

2023/2024

PPC

3,000,387

2024/2025

PPC

2,872,956

Total

PPC

16,485,703

It has not been possible to collate data for the Mid Derbyshire area alone, as this would require the NHSBSA to hold postcodes for all addresses in this area, which it does not have. However, the following table shows the number of PPCs issued in the NHS Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) over the last five years, as well as the current financial year up to 27 February 2025:

Financial year

Certificate type

Certificate count

2019/2020

PPC

54,650

2020/2021

PPC

54,013

2021/2022

PPC

57,515

2022/2023

PPC

62,034

2023/2024

PPC

64,229

2024/2025

PPC

61,550

Total

PPC

353,991

In addition, the following two tables show the number of hormone replacement therapy PPCs issued since its launch, in England and the NHS Derby and Derbyshire ICB, respectively, for the financial year 2023/24 and the current financial year up to 27 February 2025:

Financial year

Certificate count

2023/2024

565,754

2024/2025

498,767

Total

1,064,521

Financial year

Certificate count

2023/2024

12,414

2024/2025

10,668

Total

23,082
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Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to accelerate the NHS employment at appropriate grades of doctors trained in (a) Australia and (b) New Zealand. \p Karin Smyth: National Health Service employers work at a local level to ensure they have the workforce they need, which includes making decisions about recruiting internationally educated doctors.

The Health and Care Worker visa offers a reduced visa fee, faster processing times, and an exemption from the Immigration Health Surcharge to eligible overseas health and social care workers who wish to work in the United Kingdom, including doctors.

All doctors wishing to practise in the UK must be registered with the General Medical Council (GMC) and hold a licence to practise. The GMC is statutorily independent of the Government and sets the standards that must be met by domestic and international applicants wishing to be added to its register. This ensures that registrants are safe to practise and that patients receive a high standard of care. Information on the process for joining the GMC’s register and tailored support for international applicants can be found on the GMC’s website.
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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure patients have access to (a) oestrogen and (b) testosterone HRT implants in the context of supply difficulties from the US. \p Karin Smyth: Oestrogen and testosterone hormone replacement therapy (HRT) implants are not licenced in the United Kingdom. The Department is working closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to ensure safe access to these products. We have also reached out to specialist importers who can source unlicensed medicines in order to find alternative sources of both HRT implants for UK patients. We will continue to work closely with the MHRA and the National Health Service to ensure suitable alternatives are available for patients.
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Mr Luke Charters:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is aware of supply issues with Felodipine medication; and whether he has had discussions with with (a) suppliers and (b) pharmacists to minimise patient impact. \p Karin Smyth: The Department is currently not aware of any supply issues affecting any strength of felodipine. While we can’t always prevent supply issues from occurring, we have a range of well-established processes and tools to manage them when they arise, to mitigate risks to patients. These include close and regular engagement with suppliers, use of alternative strengths or forms of a medicine to allow patients to remain on the same product, expediting regulatory procedures, sourcing unlicensed imports from abroad, adding products to the restricted exports and hoarding list, use of Serious Shortage Protocols, and issuing National Health Service communications to provide management advice and information on the issue to healthcare professionals, including pharmacists, so they can advise and support their patients.
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Paul Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure (a) timely adjustments of medications and (b) access to treatments for people with Parkinson's. \p Karin Smyth: Clinicians are responsible for making prescribing decisions for their patients, taking into account best prescribing practice and the local commissioning decisions of their respective integrated care boards. They are also expected to take account of appropriate national guidance on clinical and cost effectiveness, and are accountable for their prescribing decisions, both professionally and to their service commissioners.

Timely adjustment and optimisation of medicines are important to ensure patients are receiving the most clinically appropriate and effective treatment to support their health and wellbeing. It is also critical in underpinning the six rights of safe medicines management: the right person; right medicine; right route; right dose; right time; and right to decline.

The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for translating evidence into authoritative guidance for the health and care system on best practice. The NICE has produced guidance on the management of Parkinson’s disease, which includes recommendations on pharmacological management, including the timing of medicine administration. The NICE has also developed a Quality Standard for Parkinson’s disease that states that adults with Parkinson's disease who are in hospital, or a care home, should take levodopa within 30 minutes of their individually prescribed administration time. Clinicians are expected to take relevant national guidance fully into account when making clinical decisions regarding their patients, including the adjustment of medications.

The Department is aware of supply constraints with one supplier of amantadine 100 milligram capsules used in the management of Parkinson’s disease, however stocks remain available from alternative suppliers to cover demand. The Department has also been notified of a discontinuation of apomorphine (APO-go PFS) 50 milligram/10 millilitre pre-filled syringes from April 2025. Alternative formulations of apomorphine remain available for patients and management guidance has been issued to the National Health Service.
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Luke Murphy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to use volunteers to help deliver NHS (a) resilience and (b) career pathways, in the context of the forthcoming 10 Year Plan. \p Karin Smyth: The National Health Service has always benefited from the generous support of volunteers and voluntary sector organisations. Volunteers have, and will continue to have, an important and complementary role in the NHS and care system, supporting patients, families, and staff.

A central part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce and those who support our workforce, so we can ensure that the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need, when they need it.
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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the utilisation of (a) unemployed and (b) underemployed healthcare professionals in the NHS. \p Karin Smyth: Decisions about recruitment are matters for individual National Health Service trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care. That said, the Government finds it unacceptable that trained professionals are struggling to find jobs when the health system has been overworked for years. Working with NHS England, we are committed to recruiting the staff we need to get patients seen on time.

The NHS and universities can work to become anchor institutions across all our local areas, not just to drive employment opportunities through training for a career in the NHS and social care, but where we collectively work to drive growth in our economy.

Data on the number of unemployed and underemployed healthcare professionals is not held centrally. The Government has committed to recruiting over 1,000 recently qualified general practitioners (GPs) through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) over 2024/25, as part of an initiative to address GP unemployment and secure the future pipeline of GPs.

We are investing an additional £889 million through the GP Contract to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade.

Under recently announced changes to the GP Contract, in 2025/26 the ARRS will become more flexible, to allow primary care networks to respond better to local workforce needs. The two ARRS pots will be combined to create a single pot for the reimbursement of patient facing staff costs. There will be no restrictions on the number or type of staff covered, including GPs and practice nurses.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that prescription charges do not act as a barrier to treatment for people with long-term medical conditions. \p Karin Smyth: Approximately 89% of prescription items are dispensed free of charge in the community in England, and there is a wide range of exemptions from prescription charges already in place to help those with the greatest need. 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 a qualifying medical condition, or whether they are in receipt of certain benefits or a war pension.

People with certain long-term medical conditions may qualify for a medical exemption, which entitles them to claim free prescriptions. The medical exemption is a long-standing exemption from prescription charges, which covers all the patient’s prescriptions, not just those for the qualifying condition. A list of the qualifying medical conditions and information on how to apply for a medical exemption certificate is available at the following link:

www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/medex

People who do not qualify for an exemption and who need many prescription items could save money with a prescription prepayment certificate (PPC). PPCs allow people to claim as many prescriptions as they need for a set cost, with three-month and 12-month certificates available, and the 12-month PPC can be paid for in instalments.
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Gregory Stafford:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has considered making the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority a surrogacy regulator. \p Karin Smyth: The Law Commissions of England, Wales, and Scotland published a review of surrogacy in March 2023. One of the recommendations in the report was for the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority to have a new regulatory role for surrogacy organisations.

The Government is considering the Law Commissions’ report and will publish a response as time allows.
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help improve equity of access to CAR-T therapy; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making it available as a first-line treatment for eligible leukaemia patients. \p Karin Smyth: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the body responsible for developing independent, evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service on whether licensed medicines should be routinely funded by the NHS, based on an assessment of their costs and benefits. The NICE only makes recommendations on medicines within their licensed indications through its technology appraisals programme. There are currently no CAR-T therapies licensed as first-line treatments for leukaemia, and the NICE has therefore not made recommendations on their use at that stage in the treatment pathway.

The NICE has evaluated and recommended several CAR-T therapies for blood cancers, including leukaemia, within their licensed indications. CAR-T therapy is available in line with the NICE’s recommendations.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of changes to the level of  operating costs for (a) end-of-life nursing, (b) mental health support services, (c) home care, (d) assisted living facilities and (e) other social care and support services due to increases to employer National Insurance contributions and the forthcoming increase in the National Living Wage from April 2025 in Devon. \p Karin Smyth: We took necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at Autumn Budget 2024, which enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26.

The Employer National Insurance rise will be implemented from April 2025. The Government will provide support for departments for additional Employer National Insurance Contributions costs for public sector employers only, and the level of funding will be confirmed at main estimates shortly. The approach to National Health Service commissioned end-of-life nursing, community and mental health support services has been set out in NHS Planning Guidance and will be subject to local negotiation with providers.

For staff on Agenda for Change (AfC) dynamic contracts, as the 2025/26 pay round will not have concluded by 1 April 2025, it will be necessary to implement an increase to AfC entry pay from 1 April 2025 to maintain compliance with the National Minimum Wage. This will be an advance payment of the 2025/26 pay recommendations, and the final pay award will be given following the conclusion of the Pay Review Body process. This advance will apply to approximately 250,000 AfC staff across band 1 (closed grade), both pay points in band 2 and the entry point of band 3 to ensure NHS pay sits above the National Living Wage. These pay points will receive an advance pay uplift of 28p per hour, representing a temporary 2.3% pay uplift.

The Government considered the cost pressures facing adult social care as part of the wider consideration of local government spending within the Spending Review process. The Government is making available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which can be used to address the range of pressures facing the adult social care sector. Overall, core local government spending power will increase by 6.8% in cash terms in 2025/26.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

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Alex Ballinger:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to stop the provision of (a) clinical and (b) therapy services by (i) unregulated and (ii) unregistered individuals. \p Karin Smyth: The Government has no plans to stop the provision of clinical or therapy services by either unregulated and/or unregistered individuals.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

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Mike Martin:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential (a) merits of including Tunbridge Wells in the High Cost Area Allowance and (b) impact of these proposals on staff (i) recruitment and (ii) retention for the NHS Trust. \p Karin Smyth: It is part of the Pay Review Bodies’ remit to look at and, if necessary, make recommendations on the future geographic coverage of high-cost area supplements, and on the value of such supplements. As these provisions are reflected in staff terms and conditions of service, any recommended changes would need to be collectively agreed between employers and trade unions.

Alternatively, National Health Service employers or staff organisations in a specified geographic area can propose an increase in the level of high-cost area supplement, or can request the introduction of a supplement where no supplement exists. There must be evidence to support its introduction, and this would be down to local determination.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

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Blair McDougall:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of (a) information and (b) support available to men living with incontinence. \p Karin Smyth: No such assessment has been made. NHS England published Excellence in Continence Care on 23 July 2018, bringing together evidence-based resources and research for guidance for commissioners, providers, and health and social care staff. This guidance covers both urinary and bowel, also known as faecal, incontinence. The guidance states that “pathways of care should be commissioned that ensure early assessment, effective management of incontinence, along with other bladder and bowel problems such as constipation and urinary tract infections and their impact on social, physical and mental well-being.” NHS England will consider the next steps for Excellence in Continence Care, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/excellence-in-continence-care/

The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence has produced guidance on the management of faecal incontinence in adults, which healthcare professionals and commissioners are expected to take fully into account when delivering services for people with bowel incontinence. The guidance aims to improve the physical and mental health and quality of life of people with faecal incontinence.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

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Robin Swann:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS Central Alerting System notification entitled Shortage of Pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) - Additional actions, published on 18 December 2024, what steps his Department his taking with the devolved Administrations to tackle shortages in pancreatic enzyme replacement therapies. \p Karin Smyth: The Department has worked in close partnership with the devolved administrations in the management of this supply issue. The Department is continuing to engage with all suppliers of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) to mitigate the supply issue that is affecting the whole of the United Kingdom. Through this work, we have managed to secure additional volumes of PERT for 2025 for the UK. The Department has also reached out to specialist importers who have sourced unlicensed stock to assist in covering the remaining gap in the market.

In December 2024, the Department issued further management advice to healthcare professionals, which was then discussed with and cascaded to all the devolved administrations. This directs clinicians to consider these unlicensed imports when licensed stock is unavailable, and includes actions for integrated care boards to ensure local mitigation plans are put in place and implemented. The Department, in collaboration with NHS England, has created a webpage to include the latest updates on PERT availability and easily accessible advice on the prescribing and ordering of alternative PERT products.

The Department has frequent conversations with representatives from the impacted patient groups, so that they are informed of the supply situation and the mitigation actions being taken.

The Department will also continue to meet with suppliers, patient groups, and other relevant stakeholders across the supply chain to provide updates on the supply position and the actions being taken to address them.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

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Dr Simon Opher:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce the average response time for the NHS 111 service. \p Karin Smyth: The Government is committed to continuing to improve NHS 111 to ensure that patients can access the right care the first time, only visiting accident and emergency services when necessary. This includes through growing the clinical workforce, making urgent mental health support universally available, and expanding and promoting NHS 111 online.

The latest National Health Service published data showed that in December 2024, 77.4% of NHS 111 calls were answered within 60 seconds, which compares to 60% in December 2023. However, we know there is more to do. We will shortly set out further actions to support improvements to urgent and emergency care services during 2025/26.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to reduce endometriosis diagnosis times in (a) Slough and (b) Berkshire. \p Karin Smyth: Patients have been let down for too long whilst they wait for the care they need. At the end of December 2024, the Referral to Treatment (RTT) gynaecology waiting list, which includes those waiting for endometriosis treatment, stood at 586,013 across England, with 55.4% of patient pathways waiting within 18 weeks.

As set out in the Plan for Change, we have committed to return to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients, including those waiting for endometriosis treatment, wait no longer than 18 weeks from RTT by March 2029. We provided additional investment in the Autumn Budget that has enabled us to deliver an additional two million appointments as a First Step to achieving this, seven months ahead of schedule.

There are a range of efforts underway, nationally and in Slough and Berkshire, to reduce the time patients spend waiting for gynaecological care, as set out in the Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025.

For diagnostics, this includes innovative models that offer care closer to home and in the community, and piloting gynaecology pathways in community diagnostic centres (CDC) for patients with post-menopausal bleeding. In Berkshire there are four CDCs delivering activity. We have committed to build up to five additional CDCs by March 2026.

We have also committed to increasing the relative funding available to support the gynaecology procedures with the largest waiting lists, including for certain endometriosis pathways, and reviewing support options from the independent sector.

NHS England is also improving pathways by rolling out a series of educational webinars for primary care staff, delivered jointly by the women’s health clinical lead and specialist consultants, to embed improved management. This will support better management in primary care and appropriate referrals to specialist consultants.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

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Sir Geoffrey Cox:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to ensure the provision of (a) safe and (b) effective care for patients in Torridge and North Devon, in the context of the new timetable for the redevelopment of North Devon District Hospital. \p Karin Smyth: An equality impact assessment was carried out for the review into the New Hospital Programme, 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 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

We know that delivering high quality National Health Service healthcare services requires safe and effective infrastructure. That is why repairing and rebuilding our hospital estate is a vital part of our ambition to create an NHS that is fit for the future. The Devon Integrated Care Board (ICB), responsible for the North Devon District Hospital, has been allocated £104 million in operational capital for 2025/26 which will be managed locally, with funds allocated according to local priorities, including ensuring safety at hospital sites. Recently published NHS planning guidance set out a £750 million estates safety fund for 2025/26 to help ensure hospitals are safe and sustainable, £11 million of which has been provisionally allocated to the Devon ICB.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with pharmaceutical manufacturers on resolving supply chain issues with pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy medications; and what his planned timetable is for the restoration of normal supply levels. \p Karin Smyth: The Department is continuing to engage with all suppliers of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) to boost production to mitigate the supply issue. Through this work we have managed to secure additional volumes of PERT for 2025. The Department has also reached out to specialist importers who have sourced unlicensed stock to assist in covering the remaining gap in the market. In December 2024, the Department issued further management advice to healthcare professionals. This directs clinicians to consider these unlicensed imports when licensed stock is unavailable and includes actions for integrated care boards to ensure local mitigation plans are put in place and implemented. The Department, in collaboration with NHS England, has created a webpage to include the latest update on PERT availability and easily accessible advice on the prescribing and ordering of alternative PERT products.

We expect normal supply to resume in 2026 but will remain focused on pushing manufacturers to shorten this timeline. The Department also has frequent conversations with representatives from the impacted patient groups so that they are informed on the supply situation and the mitigation actions being taken.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-07)

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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average cost per patient for (a) in centre and (b) home therapies dialysis treatment was in each of the last three years. \p Karin Smyth: The national average patient cost for home-based renal dialysis for the last three years was £280 in 2023/24, £231 in 2022/23, and £213 in 2021/22. The national average patient cost for hospital-based renal dialysis for the last three years was £223 in 2023/24, £220 in 2022/23, and £192 in 2021/22.