theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Dr Caroline Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on the confidentiality of NHS data for serving personnel. \p Stephen Kinnock: My Rt. Hon. friends, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and the Secretary of State for Defence, are united in their commitment to ensuring serving military personnel receive excellent health services through the Defence Medical Service working in partnership with the National Health Service.

The Defence Medical Services provide primary healthcare for serving personnel. Secondary care for Armed Forces personnel is provided by the NHS in England or by the devolved administrations outside of England, working with the Defence Medical Services to ensure that specific defence requirements are met.

All serving personnel will have a Defence Health Record which records their healthcare through their military service, whether provided by the Defence Medical Services or the NHS. The principles that underpin the handling of such sensitive records are patient privacy, confidentiality, integrity, and availability. There is an existing process for the transfer of healthcare information to the NHS when people leave the Armed Forces. Serving personnel are provided with a medical care summary and a patient’s full Defence Health Record can be provided upon request from their NHS general practitioner.
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Laurence Turner:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to raise public awareness of dyspraxia. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government is committed to creating a more inclusive society where neurodiverse people, including those with dyspraxia, are supported to thrive.

Dyspraxia, also known as developmental co-ordination disorder or DCD, is a common disorder that affects movement and co-ordination. Information on dyspraxia assessments and treatment is available to the public on the NHS.UK website, at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/developmental-coordination-disorder-dyspraxia-in-adults/

The Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with the Department for Education on reforms to the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) system to improve inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools as well as to ensure that special schools cater to those with the most complex needs. The Government is also supporting earlier intervention for children with SEND through Mental Health Support Teams, as well as the Early Language Support for Every Child and the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools programmes.
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Sarah Gibson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the implementation plan for the upcoming 10-year health plan will include steps to reform NHS dental contracts. \p Stephen Kinnock: The 10-Year Health Plan will set out the next steps the Government will take 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 National Health Service dentists. There are no perfect payment systems, and careful consideration needs to be given to any potential changes to the complex dental system so that we deliver a system better for patients and the profession.

We are continuing to meet the British Dental Association and other representatives of the dental sector to discuss how we can best deliver our shared ambition to improve access for NHS dental patients.
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Rachael Maskell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to integrate the health and social care (a) workforce and (b) terms and conditions. \p Stephen Kinnock: Much of the responsibility of the adult social care (ASC) workforce, including their terms and conditions, rests with ASC employers, who are largely private providers. The terms and conditions for National Health Service staff, including those on the Agenda for Change contract, are agreed in partnership by the relevant joint negotiating committees.

The Government is introducing the first ever Fair Pay Agreement to the ASC sector so that care professionals are recognised and rewarded for the important work that they do. The scope of fair pay agreements is yet to be determined. Following engagement and consultation with the sector, further detail will be set out in secondary legislation with regards to the negotiating body’s remit.

The Department has launched an independent commission into ASC as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. The commission forms a key part of the Government’s Plan for Change, recognising the importance of ASC in its own right, as well as its role in supporting the NHS.
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Munira Wilson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that statutory duties for safeguarding (a) children with special educational needs and disabilities and (b) other children are met, in the context of the NHS England model framework for integrated care boards. \p Stephen Kinnock: NHS England has asked the integrated care boards (ICBs) to act primarily as strategic commissioners of health services and to reduce the duplication of responsibilities within their structure. NHS England provided additional guidance to ICBs, National Health Service trusts, and NHS foundation trusts in a letter on 1 April 2025, where ICBs were tasked with developing plans setting out how they will manage their resources to deliver across their priorities. This letter is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/working-together-in-2025-26-to-lay-the-foundations-for-reform/

NHS England is actively engaged with ICB executive leads for special educational needs and disability (SEND) across the system, to ensure that ICBs continue to ensure that statutory duties and accountabilities for children with SEND are met. We will be working with a range of partners and stakeholders to review the proposals to ensure that statutory duties, as laid out in legislation, continue to be met for children with SEND.

NHS England is actively engaging with safeguarding professionals across the system, including those in local government, ICBs, and provider organisations, to ensure that safeguarding responsibilities are not compromised.

This engagement is being supported by the NHS Safeguarding Accountability and Assurance Framework 2024 and the National Safeguarding Steering Group ICB Safeguarding Protocols, which outline the roles, accountabilities, responsibilities, and expectations for safeguarding across NHS-funded care. NHS England is also setting up a joint working group with the Local Government Association to carefully consider issues relating to safeguarding.

Ministers and the Department will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England to ensure ICBs continue to fulfil their functions effectively within the running costs cap and unlock the benefit of working at scale to deliver better care for their population.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15 May 2025 to Question 47803 on Mental Health Services: Recruitment, what his planned timetable is for recruiting 8,500 mental health workers. \p Stephen Kinnock: As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future and that is there when people need it, we are recruiting 8,500 mental health workers across child and adult mental health services to help ease the pressure on busy services.

We continue to work with NHS England to consider options to deliver this commitment alongside publishing a refreshed workforce plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade. There are a wide range of factors that will affect this future growth of the NHS mental health workforce, and we will provide an update in due course.
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Chris Coghlan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's planned timetable is for its public consultation on the application of mental capacity law. \p Stephen Kinnock: On 4 June 2025, I wrote to Fiona Laskaris and the Hon. Member for Dorking and Horley, Chris Coghlan MP to confirm my commitment to review the full range of policy and legislative levers in relation to the practical application of mental capacity law. This important work requires careful consideration. The most recent meeting with officials was on 17 June, and we will set out our plans in due course.
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Katie White:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting lists for ADHD treatment in Leeds North West constituency. \p Stephen Kinnock: It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICBs) in England to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including providing access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessment and treatment, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

NHS England has established an ADHD taskforce which is bringing together those with lived experience with experts from the National Health Service, education, charity, and justice sectors to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including in accessing services and support, with the report expected in the summer.

For the first time, NHS England published management information on ADHD waits at a national level on 29 May 2025 as part of its ADHD data improvement plan, and has released technical guidance to ICBs to improve the recording of ADHD data, with a view to improving the quality of ADHD waits data.

The West Yorkshire ICB advises that it is taking steps to increase local capacity for ADHD assessments, including by having introduced new service standards and accreditation to ensure quality and consistency across its services. The ICB is also rolling out a new ADHD support offer, including a care navigator team working with individuals to understand their needs, suggest interventions, and connect them with appropriate services, so that people don’t need to wait for a formal diagnosis to access support and information.
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Adrian Ramsay:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of the additional NHS revenue funding allocated in the Spending Review will go to NHS dentistry. \p Stephen Kinnock: The details of budget allocations within departments are still being determined. The Department of Health and Social Care is working to provide the detail and certainty needed on future funding and spending plans, including for National Health Service dentistry.
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Antonia Bance:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a recovery mechanism in incidents of NHS pay uplifts not being provided to (a) nursing staff and (b) other general practice staff by general practice employers. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government looks to the independent pay review bodies for a pay recommendation for National Health Service staff, including both contractor and salaried general practitioners (GPs). They consider a range of evidence from organisations including the Government, the NHS, and trade unions to reach their recommendations.

The independent review body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) has recommended an uplift of 4% to the pay ranges for salaried GPs, and to GP contractor pay. As with last year, we are accepting the DDRB’s pay recommendation and we will provide a 4% uplift to the pay elements of the GP Contract. As self-employed contractors to the NHS, it is up to GP practices how they distribute pay and benefits to their staff. We expect this funding to be passed on to salaried practice staff, including nursing staff.

This award is above forecast inflation over the 2025/26 pay year, meaning that the Government is delivering a real-terms pay rise, on top of the one provided last year, underlining the extent to which we value our GPs, practice nurses, and other GP staff.

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

Following the DDRB’s recommendation, we will provide a further uplift to the pay elements of the contract on a consolidated basis, on top of the provisional 2.8% uplift already provided, to bring it up to 4%.

The Government has committed to a new substantive GP Contract within this Parliamentary cycle, and we will continue to engage constructively with the General Practitioners Committee England on issues such as staffing.
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that total triage systems in primary care do not compromise the continuity of care for patients with (a) Parkinson’s disease and (b) other chronic neurological conditions. \p Stephen Kinnock: The triage process is designed to direct patients to the most appropriate healthcare professional based on their individual needs. This includes those who request or require continuity of care with the same general practitioner (GP), such as patients with Parkinson’s or other neurological conditions, as well as those who may be more appropriately supported by accident and emergency or pharmacy services. The system aims to accommodate a wide range of patient needs and enhance access across the broader healthcare network.

To prevent digital exclusion, the GP contract clearly states that patients must always have the option to telephone or visit their practice in person. Online tools that are utilised to support ‘total triage’ should complement, not replace, traditional methods of access. Practice receptions must remain open to ensure that patients without access to telephone or digital services are not disadvantaged, especially those with conditions that require in-person support.
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Andrew George:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the (a) annual capacity of the Overseas Registration Examination system and (b) number of fully trained overseas dentists already in the UK who are on the waiting list for this examination. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Overseas Registration exam (ORE) is operated by the General Dental Council (GDC), which is independent of the Government. The Department does not hold data on exactly how many candidates are waiting to sit the GDC’s ORE, or their residency status.

We understand from the GDC that, in April 2025, there were approximately 5,000 candidates on the combined waiting lists for both Part 1 and Part 2 of the ORE exam.

In April 2025, there was one sitting of the ORE Part 1, with 600 places available, and three sittings of the ORE Part 2 between January and April 2025, with 144 places on each. Between August 2025 and April 2026, there will be three sittings of ORE Part 1, with 600 places available on each sitting, and four sittings of ORE Part 2, with 144 places available on each sitting. In total, this provides 2,400 places for ORE Part 1, and 1,008 places for ORE Part 2 between April 2025 and April 2026.

The GDC’s procurement of new ORE provider contracts is ongoing, and the GDC expects to be able to announce the new providers this autumn. Officials will continue to discuss the new arrangements with the GDC, with a focus on understanding how they will further increase the availability of the ORE exam.

Whilst the GDC holds contact details for candidates on the waiting list for the ORE, they do not hold data on residency. It is the role of the GDC to approve eligibility criteria for the ORE. There are no restrictions on accessing the exam based on the residency status of the candidate.
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the difference in patient care outcomes between (a) assigning a named GP for accountability and (b) ensuring continuity of care through an own doctor system for patients with long-term conditions. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government is bringing back the family general practitioner (GP) because we know that continuity of care is essential to person-centred healthcare. While all patients have the legal right to choose their GP practice and must be assigned a named GP, the current system does not guarantee that they will see the same doctor at each visit. Although practices must make reasonable efforts to accommodate patient preferences, there is currently no formal assessment of the impact of assigning a named GP on outcomes.

That is why we are going further, by improving continuity of care, we aim to make it easier for patients to see the same doctor at each appointment, which is key to managing and supporting patients with long-term conditions.
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Sarah Gibson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the minimum unit of dental activity value to £35; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of doing so on incentivising dentists to stay in the NHS while a new dental contract is being developed. \p Stephen Kinnock: From 1 April 2024, the Department raised the minimum Unit of Dental Activity (UDA) rate to £28 to support practices with historically low UDA rates, benefitting 876 contracts. Integrated care boards (ICBs) have the flexibility to influence the UDA rate locally, which may help to support local interventions, and there are differential UDA rates across England. Differential UDA rates allow providers to use differing pay rates to reflect the local market rates.

More broadly, the Government is committed to reforming the dental contract and will not wait to make improvements to the current system where these can increase access and incentivise the workforce to deliver more National Health Service care.
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Sarah Gibson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish waiting times for ADHD assessment by region; and what steps he is taking to help Integrated Care Boards with the longest waits reduce those waiting times. \p Stephen Kinnock: There is, at present, no single, established dataset that can be used to monitor waiting times for assessment and diagnosis for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) for individual organisations by regions in England. Although the data requested is not held centrally, it may be held locally by individual National Health Service trusts or commissioners.

For the first time, NHS England published management information on ADHD waits at a national level on 29 May 2025 as part of its ADHD data improvement plan; it has also released technical guidance to integrated care boards (ICBs) to improve recording of ADHD data, with a view to improving the quality of ADHD waits data and publishing more localised data in future.

NHS England has established an ADHD taskforce which is bringing together those with lived experience with experts from the NHS, education, charity and justice sectors to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including in accessing services and support. An interim report is expected to be published shortly, with the final report expected in the summer. NHS England has also captured examples from ICBs who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services and is using this information to support local systems to tackle ADHD waiting lists and provide support to address people’s needs.
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Sarah Gibson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of trends in waiting times for ADHD assessments in (a) children and (b) adults in the last five years; and what steps he is taking to reduce these delays. \p Stephen Kinnock: Lord Darzi’s independent review of the National Health Service, published in September 2024, highlighted the severe delays for accessing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments and that demand for assessments for ADHD has grown significantly in recent years.

NHS England has established an ADHD taskforce which is bringing together those with lived experience with experts from the NHS, education, charity and justice sectors to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including in accessing services and support. An interim is expected to be published shortly, with the final report expected in summer 2025.

For the first time, NHS England published management information on ADHD waits at a national level on 29 May 2025 as part of its ADHD data improvement plan; it will soon release technical guidance to integrated care boards (ICBs) to improve recording of ADHD data, with a view to improving the quality of ADHD waits data. NHS England has also captured examples from ICBs who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services and is using this information to support systems to tackle ADHD waiting lists and provide support to address people’s needs.
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Tracy Gilbert:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people waiting to sit a Dental Overseas Registration Examination. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department does not hold data on exactly how many candidates are waiting to sit the General Dental Council’s (GDC) Overseas Registration Exam (ORE), as this data is held by the GDC.

In April 2025, we understand from the GDC that there were approximately 5,000 candidates on the combined waiting lists for both parts of the ORE exam.
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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the affordability of NHS dental treatment for pensioners not in receipt of Pension Credit. \p Stephen Kinnock: There are a range of exemptions to National Health Service dental patient charges for those who need the most financial support. 48.6% of courses of dental treatment were delivered to adults and children who were exempt from charges in 2023/24.

Eligibility for free NHS dental care includes people who are being treated in an NHS hospital by the hospital dentist, although patients may have to pay for any dentures or bridges. Treatment is also free for people receiving certain benefits, including Income Support and Pension Credit. Support is available through the NHS Low Income Scheme for those patients who are not eligible for an exemption or a full remission of dental patient charges. Further information about support with NHS dental patient charges is available from the following link:

www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/dentists/dental-costs/get-help-with-dental-costs
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 22 May 2025 to Question 51548 on Primary Care: Lancashire, whether the pilot programme to screen patients for cardiovascular disease within optometry practices will take place in Fylde constituency. \p Ashley Dalton: The optometry pilot is an NHS England programme. The pilot is not taking place in Fylde; in Lancashire and South Cumbria four areas are participating in the pilot which will run until September 2025 (Fleetwood in Wyre; Burnley in East Lancashire; Blackburn in Blackburn with Darwen; and Central Preston).

Expressions of interest were open to all areas and the final pilot areas were chosen by NHS England based on prevalence of hypertension and deprivation (IMD 1&2).

Further roll out will be dependent on the outcomes of the pilot and future funding.
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Steve Barclay:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve access to new innovations for people living with inherited cardiac conditions in East England. \p Ashley Dalton: Inherited cardiac conditions (ICCs) are a group of largely monogenic disorders affecting the heart, its conducting system and vasculature. Waiting times data for ICCs is not available nationally in the Waiting List Minimum Data Set (WLDMS). Diagnosis codes, which could be used to identify patients with ICCs, are not collected in the WLMDS. While treatment codes are collected, there are no individual treatment codes for ICCs that could alternatively be used to identify patients waiting for treatment for an ICC. We are therefore unable to separate patients with an ICC from wider cardiac patients in England at a national or regional level.

The NHS England East of England Cardiac Network team for 2025/26 focuses on improving referral to treatment times across cardiology, improving access to cardiac diagnostics and ensuring patients access the specialists service that is required such as the ICC services across Royal Papworth Hospital and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.

We are taking steps to improve access to diagnostic equipment and other services for ICC in East England, including new innovations wherever possible. For example, James Paget University Hospital has piloted a scheme that focuses echocardiograms in heart failure referral pathways. This streamlines echocardiogram waits across all conditions. The scheme is now being planned in Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn and being considered in Milton Keynes University Hospital as well as in Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board.

NHS England is also piloting the ‘Beat to Treat’ programme at Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn, which uses handheld, AI assisted echocardiograms in clinic and point of care testing for blood tests that are used to assess for heart failure. This will enable results to be received on the day and will allow for treatment to start at the first clinic appointment. This scheme will improve the accuracy of referrals for echocardiogram, refining the waiting list for this scan across all conditions, including ICC.

There are plans to introduce a single point of access for all referrals to the ICC service in Cambridgeshire, namely Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Royal Papworth Hospital. Referrals will be triaged by both teams, to either the Royal Papworth Hospital or Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust element of the service and that there would be a clear standard operating procedure for how this would work and be managed, moving therefore to both sites operating as a joint service for these conditions. A multi-disciplinary team is already in place to support this, as well as access to newer therapies.
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Peter Dowd:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the abolition of NHS England on people with rare conditions. \p Ashley Dalton: Working under the UK Rare Diseases Framework, the Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases.

We are currently in the initial phases of scoping and designing a new integrated Department that aims to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our healthcare system. Ministers and senior Department officials will work with the new executive team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to lead the formation of a new joint centre. As we work to bring the two organisations together, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the abolition of NHS England on the level of risk in medical care. \p Ashley Dalton: As we work to return many of NHS England’s current functions to the Department, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds.

Patient safety will remain paramount over this transformation period. We will put plans in place to ensure continuity of care and that there are no risks to patient safety.
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Steve Barclay:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to tackle inequalities in (a) waiting times and (b) access to treatment for cardiovascular disease patients in East England. \p Ashley Dalton: Patients have been let down for too long whilst they wait for the care they need, including patients awaiting cardiology care. The Government has committed to returning to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment (RTT), a standard which has not been met for almost a decade. As a first step, we have set a national target that 65% of patients wait 18 weeks or less by March 2026.

The Elective Reform Plan commits to reforming elective care equitably and inclusively for all adults, children, and young people. The plan sets out the expectations for ICBs and providers to set a clear local vision for how health inequalities will be reduced as part of elective care reform, and to ensure interventions are in place to reduce disparities for groups who face additional waiting list challenges. To support this work, we have committed to improving the submission and quality of demographics data to increase understanding and insight into health inequalities.

Cardiology is one of five priority specialties identified for significant elective reform in the Elective Reform Plan. Reforms include increasing specialist cardiology input earlier in patient care pathways, and improving access to cardiac diagnostic tests. These improvements to common cardiology pathways help standardise patient care, reduce inequalities, and improve access to care, especially in the early stages of pathways, for patients across England.

In the East of England, performance against the 18-week RTT standard for cardiology is 58.1%, compared to 60.9% for cardiology nationally. Regionally, NHS England’s East of England Cardiac Network team is taking focussed action to reduce RTT waiting times, improve access to cardiac diagnostics such as echo and computed tomography coronary angiography, and ensure patients can readily access specialist services as required, such as the Inherited Cardiac Conditions services across the Royal Papworth Hospital and Norfolk, and the Norwich University Hospital.
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Steve Barclay:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 14 May 2025 to Question 48901 on Motor Neurone Disease: Research, by what date he expects the total allocated to motor neurone disease research since the start of 2022-23 to exceed £50 million. \p Ashley Dalton: Government responsibility for delivering motor neurone disease research is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and in particular the Medical Research Council.

The commitment to allocate £50 million to motor neurone disease research was introduced by the previous administration. Since the last parliamentary question on the commitment on 14 May, an additional contract is now public information, which confirms that a total of £50.2 million has been committed to motor neurone disease research since the start of the 2022/23 financial year. We will continue to invest in motor neurone disease research via open competition, with no maximum funding limit.

The NIHR and UKRI will continue to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including motor neurone disease. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.

Welcoming applications on motor neurone disease to all NIHR and UKRI programmes enables maximum flexibility both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.
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Kate Osborne:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the recommendations of the report by the Taskforce for Lung Health entitled A National Five Year Plan for Lung Health. \p Ashley Dalton: The taskforce’s Five Year Plan was published in 2018, and the taskforce has subsequently published a reflection on the progress of the missions within the taskforce plan, which is available at the following link:

https://www.taskforceforlunghealth.org.uk/progress/

The Government has committed to delivering three big shifts that our National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention. All of these are relevant to improving respiratory health in all parts of the country.

This will support earlier diagnosis and better joint working between services, and greater use of apps and wearable technology will all help people manage their long-term conditions, including respiratory conditions, closer to home. Earlier diagnosis of conditions will help prevent deterioration and improve survival rates. Taking action to reduce the causes of the biggest killers, such as enabling a smoke free generation, can further help prevent lung conditions.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-19)

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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to monitor health outcomes linked to water pollution in West Dorset. \p Ashley Dalton: The UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) South West Health Protection Regional team provides specialist advice and guidance on a range of public health threats to system partners across the South West region, which includes rivers and coastal waters of the West Dorset Constituency.

The UKHSA’s South West Health Protection Regional team monitors outbreaks, clusters, and statistical exceedances of gastro-intestinal illness. This includes risk and needs assessments and includes routine surveillance to detect and manage exceedances of gastro-intestinal and other illnesses across the South West.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-19)

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Carla Lockhart:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) increase funding and support for research into rare diseases and (b) improve early diagnosis pathways for patients. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases through the UK Rare Diseases Framework. Pioneering research is an underpinning theme of the framework. In the 2025 England Rare Diseases Action Plan we introduced a new action to support rare disease research through changes to clinical trial regulations. We have also made significant investments to support rare disease research. This includes the Rare Disease Research UK Platform, a £14 million investment over five years from the Medical Research Council and the National Institute for Health and Care Research, announced in 2023, which is now established and positioned well within the rare disease research landscape. Further information on the Rare Disease Research UK Platform is available at the following link:

https://rd-research.org.uk/platform/

The first priority of the framework is to help patients get a final diagnosis faster. The 2025 England Rare Diseases Action Plan updates on progress, including: research we have commissioned to better understand what causes delays in diagnosis; the Generation Study, to pilot whole genome sequencing of newborns in the National Health Service; and the work of the NHS Genomic Medicine Service.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-19)

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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to increase funding for the research and development of diagnostic (a) tests and (b) tools to help support GPs to (i) diagnose and (ii) detect less survivable cancers (A) earlier and (B) faster. \p Ashley Dalton: Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department invests over £1.6 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was £133 million in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority.

The level of funding for research and development generally depends on funding applications received. The NIHR continues to welcome high quality, high impact funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including less survivable cancers.

In September 2024, the NIHR awarded £2.4 million to develop an artificial intelligence tool to support general practitioners (GPs) to identify suspected cancer faster and more effectively. It will use lung and pancreatic cancers as the first test cases. The NIHR also funded recently completed, January 2025, research into understanding how GPs use existing national guidance for urgent suspected cancer referral in primary care, with the findings expected to be published later this year.

It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer earlier and to treat it faster, to improve outcomes for all patients across England. We are improving public awareness of cancer signs and symptoms, streamlining referral routes, and increasing the availability of diagnostic capacity through the roll-out of more community diagnostic centres.

We are also investing an additional £889 million in GPs 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. We are committed to ensuring that GPs have the right training and systems to identify cancer. The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients. It will aim to speed up diagnosis and treatment and ensure all patients have access to the latest treatments and technology.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-19)

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Terry Jermy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of eligible families are receiving Healthy Start in (a) England, (b) East Anglia and (c) South West Norfolk constituency. \p Ashley Dalton: The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. Monthly figures for the number of people on the digital Healthy Start scheme are published on the NHS Healthy Start website, at the following link:

https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/healthcare-professionals/

The NHSBSA does not hold data on the number of families receiving Healthy Start and does not currently hold data on the number of people eligible for Healthy Start. In addition, the NHSBSA does not hold data on local constituencies. The following table shows the number of people on the digital scheme in England as of 23 May 2025:

Country

Number of people on the digital scheme

England

328,685

East Anglia is not defined as specific geographical region within the Office for National Statistics’ Open Geography Portal, which the NHSBSA uses to define geographical regions. Therefore, the following table shows the number of people on digital scheme in the East of England region, which comprises of 45 local authorities, as of 23 May 2025:

Region

Number of people on digital scheme

East of England

30,892

In addition, South West Norfolk consists of two local authorities, namely Breckland, and King’s Lynn and West Norfolk. Therefore, the following table shows the number of people on the digital scheme in Breckland, and King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, as of 23 May 2025:

Local authority

Number of people on the digital scheme

Breckland

706

King's Lynn and West Norfolk

734
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-19)

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Laurence Turner:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what sensitivity NHS BMI assessments allow for persons of mixed (a) South Asian and (b) non-South Asian heritage. \p Ashley Dalton: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published guidance on the management of overweight and obesity. This specifies that a lower body mass index (BMI) threshold should be used as a practical measure of overweight and obesity for some adults from ethnic minority backgrounds, including South Asian, as they are prone to higher levels of abdominal fat and have an increased risk of developing certain health conditions at a lower BMI.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-19)

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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the supply for blood donation. \p Ashley Dalton: NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for blood services in England. Blood donation in the devolved nations is run by the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, the Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service, and the Welsh Blood Service

The National Blood Transfusion Committee's shortage plans for red cells and platelets outlines four phases for the supply of blood to hospitals, supported by a framework of actions for NHSBT and hospitals at each phase. Further information on the shortage plans for red cells and platelets is available at the following link:

https://nationalbloodtransfusion.co.uk/recommendations

There has been an Amber Alert, when there is reduced availability of blood for a short or a prolonged period which impacts on clinical activity, in place in England for O group blood since July 2024, due to high hospital demand following a cyber-attack on pathology services in South-East London.

NHSBT has been using a number of initiatives to increase blood donations and in turn improve blood stocks, particularly to increase the diversity of the donor base to meet demand for Ro blood needed by sickle cell patients. The opening and reopening of the Brixton and Southampton donor centres respectively have increased NHSBT’s capacity to collect blood, and communications during National Blood Week have pushed for a million people to become regular donors via local, national, and online channels. The Department continues to work closely with NHSBT to ensure there is the right mix of donors across blood groups to meet hospital demand.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-19)

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Clive Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2025 to Question 57594 on Urinary Tract Infections: Vaccination, whether the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (a) is reviewing and (b) plans to review available vaccines for Urinary Tract Infection for use in the UK. \p Ashley Dalton: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has identified vaccines to prevent recurrent urinary tract infections (UTI). These are currently in development.

During a sub-committee meeting of the JCVI held on 25 November 2024, the pipeline vaccine against recurrent UTIs, known as uromune-MV140, was presented by its manufacturer, Inmunotek. Therapeutic vaccines are considered by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). The committee awaits advice on whether the NICE will review this product. The minutes of the JCVI’s subcommittee meeting have been published on the JCVI website, at the following link:

https://app.box.com/s/wv2uxkv7v9bisuf8ml8mdb19iemnzmv8/file/1808036070368