theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-16)

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Cameron Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to support unpaid carers. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government is committed to ensuring that families have the support they need. On the 7 April 2025 the Government increased the Carer's Allowance weekly earnings limit from £151 a week to £196, the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage. This represents the largest increase in the earnings limit since the Carer’s Allowance was introduced in 1976.

Lord Darzi’s independent review of the National Health Service highlighted the need for a fresh approach to supporting and involving unpaid carers, to improve outcomes across the board for carers, for those they care for, and for the NHS itself. These findings will be carefully considered as part of our 10-year plan to reform and modernise the NHS, and as we continue to shape our plans to reform adult social care, including through the National Care Service.

We have launched an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. The commission will start a national conversation about what care and support working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers who provide vital care and support.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-16)

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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it remains his Department's policy to introduce mobile dental vans in areas of need. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and to recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

The decision about whether to commission dental vans should be made locally by integrated care boards. Local areas know the needs of their population best and are best placed to make decisions about whether or how mobile dental vans can contribute to meeting the dental care needs of their population.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-16)

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Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England plans to remove the minimum age of referral to specialist gender identity clinics. \p Karin Smyth: On 7 August 2024, NHS England published a new service specification that describes the pathway onto the waiting list for NHS Children and Young People's Gender Services in line with the recommendations of the Cass Review. The service specification does not describe a minimum age, recognising that there may be underlying reasons for children questioning their gender and that accessing mental health and counselling services would be beneficial. Denying parents and children access to professional support risks driving people to unregulated online sources.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-16)

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Cameron Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to (a) improve training on dementia care and (b) financially support family carers. \p Stephen Kinnock: In September 2024, we launched the Adult Social Care Learning and Development Support Scheme, which allows employers to claim funding for training courses and qualifications on behalf of eligible staff. The scheme is backed by up to £12 million for the financial year 2025/26, and funding is available for a range of dementia-related qualifications.

We know that many people wish to play a role in caring for their family and friends and we are committed to ensuring that families have the support that they need. This is why, on 7 April 2025, the Government increased the Carer's Allowance weekly earnings limit from £151 a week to £196, the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage. This represents the largest increase in the earnings limit since the Carer’s Allowance was introduced in 1976.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-16)

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Caroline Voaden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that care home fee rates set by local authorities include (a) the economic situation, (b) workforce and (c) inflation. \p Stephen Kinnock: We recognise the importance of local authority fee rates to adult social care providers, which meet the costs of delivering care and enable providers to recruit and retain staff. We have therefore provided the Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund to local authorities since 2023/24, with one of the three target areas that local authorities can spend their allocations on being to improve fee rates to providers.

A letter sent out to council leaders in January set out the expectation that in 2025/26, when commissioning services, local authorities should ensure fee levels for care and support services take account of the actual costs of care in their area, including inflationary and all other pressures, such as the rise in National Living Wage and the changes to employers National Insurance contributions.

As part of our monitoring of the Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund grant conditions, and to understand fee rates more generally, local authorities are required to provide an annual return to the Department, including data on the fee rates they pay care providers. The Government publishes this data annually, with the latest data being available to view at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/market-sustainability-and-improvement-fund-2024-to-2025-care-provider-fees/market-sustainability-and-improvement-fund-msif-provider-fee-reporting-2024-to-2025
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-16)

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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England has set formal (a) criteria and (b) guidance on the key functions Integrated Care Boards will be expected to provide under the proposed cost envelope. \p Karin Smyth: NHS England has asked integrated care boards (ICBs) to act primarily as strategic commissioners of health and care services and to reduce the duplication of responsibilities within their structure with the expectation of achieving a reduction in their running cost allowance. NHS England provided additional guidance to ICBs, National Health Service trusts, and NHS foundation trusts in a letter on 1 April 2025. 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 has circulated the document, Model Integrated Care Board – Blueprint v1.0, to all ICBs to assist them in shaping their plans. The document identifies the functional changes that ICBs will have to manage and indicates the responsibilities they may look to grow, adapt, or review for transfer, including the functions and activities that might be safely transferred to other parts of the system over time, such as national bodies, regional teams, or providers.

NHS England’s transformation team will continue to work with ICBs to develop their plans, including how the key functions will be delivered within the revised running cost allocations, ensuring a focus on delivering NHS statutory functions in line with the legislation.
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Rachael Maskell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of (a) the level of future social care need and (b) the potential impact tof this level of need on the social care (a) estate and (b) workforce. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department uses estimated future demand for adult social care (ASC) over a 20 year period, which is published by the Care Policy and Evaluation Centre at the London School of Economics.

The Department uses these published estimates when assessing ASC cost pressures, which are shared with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to inform the Local Government Finance Settlement. The departments’ estimates of cost pressures reflect a range of inputs into social care services, including estates and the workforce.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-16)

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James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce hospital backlogs in Nottinghamshire. \p Karin Smyth: Tackling waiting lists is a key priority for the Government, including in Nottinghamshire. We have now exceeded our pledge to deliver an additional two million appointments, tests, and operations, having delivered 3.6 million more since July. As announced in the Spending Review, annual National Health Service day-to-day spending will increase by £29 billion in real terms from 2023/24, taking spending to £226 billion by 2028/29.

Waiting lists are expected to reduce significantly over the Spending Review period, as the Government works towards delivery of the Plan for Change commitment that 92% of patients will start consultant-led treatment within 18 weeks of referral by the end of Parliament.

This is supported by record capital investment for health which will help to repair NHS estates, enable productivity improvements, and deliver additional capacity, as well as the Government’s Elective Reform Plan, published in January. The plan includes wide ranging reforms to improve patients’ access to and experience of care, from reducing unnecessary appointments to faster and more local diagnostics.

Community diagnostic centres (CDC) are providing a broad range of elective diagnostics away from acute facilities, reducing pressure on hospitals and giving patients quicker and more convenient access to tests. Both the Nottingham City CDC and the Mansfield CDC are already delivering key diagnostic tests ahead of opening new facilities in 2026.

It is encouraging to see that local systems, including the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, are taking action to make efficiencies and improve productivity, including through their digital workstream and improvements to the estate. We look forward to following progress and seeing real benefits for patients.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-16)

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Ian Roome:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2025 to Question 55942 on Drugs, what steps his Department is taking to source medications from other manufacturers; and for what reason there has been a shortage of Trandolapril since 2024. \p Karin Smyth: Trandolapril is supplied by two suppliers in the United Kingdom who are both currently experiencing manufacturing issues. The Department issued comprehensive management plans, including advice on alternative medicines, on 17 September 2024 to the National Health Service, general practitioners, and community pharmacies. This included advice on alternatives, and how to manage affected patients. Resupply of this medicine is expected on 3 October 2025.

The Department and NHS England work closely with all relevant manufacturers to resolve supply issues when they arise through a range of actions. This includes expediting future deliveries, diverting stock from other countries, and requesting that suppliers increase manufacturing capacity in the short and longer term to prevent and mitigate the impact on patients as much as possible.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-16)

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Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to support medical students with the cost of living. \p Karin Smyth: For the 2025 to 2026 academic year, the Government will increase the NHS Bursary tuition fee contributions, maintenance grants, and all allowances by 3.1%. This is the second consecutive year the Government has increased support for medical students through the NHS Bursary. Prior to this, the maintenance grants had not been uplifted since 2015.

The Government has also announced that maximum loans for living costs from Student Finance England, including reduced rate non-means tested loans for students in NHS Bursary years, will increase by 3.1%.

The NHS Bursary scheme is reviewed annually at the start of each academic year. At all times the Government must balance the level of support students receive with the need to deliver as much value as possible from taxpayers’ money.
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Leigh Ingham:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made a comparative assessment of the effectiveness of (a) Urgent Treatment Centres and (b) Accident and Emergency Departments. \p Karin Smyth: Urgent treatment centres and emergency departments, also known as accident and emergency, provide a different range of services to patients.

Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for this year will continue the expansion of urgent treatment centres that are co-located with emergency departments. This allows for the effective streaming of patients away from emergency departments, helping to reduce the number of people who spend time there, and overcrowding.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-16)

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Sir Ashley Fox:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that newly qualified nursing associates are (a) guaranteed appropriate Band 4 roles and (b) are not left without employment opportunities after completing their training. \p Karin Smyth: Decisions on the availability of job opportunities for newly qualified nursing associates and other healthcare professionals trained in the United Kingdom are a matter 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.

We will publish a refreshed workforce plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and treat patients on time again.
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Sir Ashley Fox:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to introduce (a) clear and (b) nationally-recognised progression pathways for nursing associates for (i) leadership, (ii) specialist and (iii) educational roles beyond top-up registered nurse training. \p Karin Smyth: The Government is committed to supporting flexible progression opportunities to ensure that nursing associates (NAs) can grow their careers across the National Health Service. NAs are trained to work across a range of health and care settings. Once qualified, NAs are supported to continue to build their skills and knowledge within their chosen specialist area. Besides the opportunity to complete a shortened nursing degree or nursing degree apprenticeship, NHS England funds a range of post-registration education programmes, including leadership development.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the discontinuation of the NHS and Care Volunteer Responders on other parts of the NHS. \p Karin Smyth: The NHS and Care Volunteer Responders (NHSCVR) programme was first established as part of the COVID-19 response and then adapted to respond to other organisational pressures. Most patients were referred into the programme by a health professional for short-term support through the NHSCVR programme. However, a model that worked well in a national crisis is no longer the most cost-effective way of facilitating the important contribution of our much-valued volunteers. Referrers have been informed of the change in service, so that they can source alternative support for their patients if needed, and those that used the Pick up and Deliver service most frequently have been offered support from the NHS England team to identify alternative forms of support.

The NHSCVR programme is just one part of a volunteering system that supports people’s health and care needs, and there are many local voluntary sector organisations that provide other forms of support. Whilst the NHSCVR service is ending, volunteers are being redirected to other National Health Service and voluntary sector organisations to ensure patients continue to be supported.

The NHS Volunteer recruitment portal is already available, with 70 health and care organisations advertising opportunities. As the service grows, every NHS or voluntary organisation in health will be able to post opportunities and recruit volunteers to support their local communities, with a full launch of the service planned for later this year.

In addition, there are over 72,000 volunteers who continue to support NHS trusts directly in over 300 different volunteer roles, which are unaffected by the closure of the NHSCVR.

The decision to close the NHSCVR was based on NHS England’s assessment that the programme was not delivering value for money. The Department will continue to work with NHS England colleagues following the closure of the programme to mitigate risks to national health volunteer resilience.
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Perran Moon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve implementation of the Accessible Information Standard to support deaf people. \p Stephen Kinnock: Employers in the health system are responsible for ensuring that their staff are trained to the required standards to deliver safe and effective treatment for patients, and to deploy their staff in the best way to ensure the delivery of health services to their local populations.

Since 2016, all National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers are expected to meet the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), which details the recommended approach to supporting the information and communication support needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss, including deaf people.

NHS England is working to support implementation of the AIS with awareness raising, communication, and engagement, and with a review of the current e-learning modules on the AIS. The intention is to ensure that staff, providers, and commissioners of services are aware of the AIS and the importance of meeting the information and communication needs of the disabled people using these services.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2025 to Question 45881 on NHS England: Redundancy Pay, what his planned timetable is for providing further details on the (a) costs and (b) benefits of abolishing NHS England. \p Karin Smyth: Detailed plans are being formulated by a joint Department and NHS England programme team. Work is progressing to develop the design and operating model for the new integrated organisation, and to plan for the smooth transfer of people, functions, and responsibilities. The remit of work includes formulation of the relevant costs.

Further detail on the costs and funding mechanisms will be provided as this work develops.
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Adam Dance:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve (a) funding and (b) support for GP surgeries in Yeovil constituency. \p Stephen Kinnock: We recently announced schemes which will benefit from the £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund (PCUMF), to deliver upgrades this financial year to more than a thousand general practice surgeries across England. These schemes will create additional clinical space within existing building footprints to enable practices to see more patients, boost productivity, and improve patient care.

This will directly address the issue of staff who cannot work at full capacity due to space limitations and will enable practices to offer more appointments with their existing workforce through better use of space. The Government has already hired more than 1,500 extra general practitioners and announced an £889 million funding boost, the biggest for the sector in years.

The Somerset Integrated Care Board has prioritised 16 schemes to support with its £1 million allocation from the PCUMF, two of which are in the Yeovil Constituency. The Somerset Integrated Care Board has also been provisionally allocated the following amounts from capital programmes and operational capital for 2025/26:
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what statutory basis NHS England has required Integrated Care Boards to reduce their running cost allowances by 50% by Quarter 3 of the 2025-26 financial year. \p Karin Smyth: The National Health Service Act 2006, as amended by The Health and Care Act 2022, grants NHS England powers to establish integrated care boards (ICBs) as statutory bodies for commissioning the majority of health and care services in England. The National Health Service Act 2006 also grants NHS England powers to ensure that expenditure incurred by ICBs does not exceed the aggregated sum allocated to them in a financial year.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to to transfer (a) statutory duties and (b) functions from Integrated Care Boards to other bodies. \p Karin Smyth: NHS England has asked the integrated care boards (ICBs) to act primarily as strategic commissioners of health and care services and to reduce the duplication of responsibilities within the health and care structure.

To deliver on this commitment, NHS England rapidly convened a group of ICB leaders, including clinical representatives, in order to start developing the blueprint. The work was split into three areas: defining a vision and the future functions of ICBs; mapping functions and duties across the system; and managing a safe transition.

We recognise that not all function transferrals can be done this year, particularly those rooted in ICB statutory duties. For the areas which will be reviewed for transfer, we recognise that further work and engagement is required, and we acknowledgment that, even with this flexibility, transferring functions requires careful consideration of interdependencies with other functions and the readiness of partner organisations to receive the function.

The Department is working with NHS England and the ICBs to develop these plans to ensure the timely implementation of the changes, whilst expecting ICBs to continue to deliver on their statutory responsibilities.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 May 2025 to Question 52406 on Pharmacy, what proportion of people do not have access to a pharmacy within two miles in Newton Abbot constituency. \p Stephen Kinnock: The estimated travel distance to a pharmacy referenced in the previous response was based on a published analysis, commissioned by the Department, and available at the following link:

https://postcode-pharmacy-dhsc-nhsgisscw.hub.arcgis.com/

The analysis presents estimates at the national, regional, integrated care board, and parliamentary constituency levels. The estimate that 7.4% of the residents of the Newton Abbot constituency live more than two miles from a pharmacy is similar to the national estimate of 7.2%. This estimate is based on the pharmacies included on the NHS Pharmaceutical list in June 2024, and no pharmacies have closed in the Newton Abbot constituency since then.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take legislative steps to improve the regulatory oversight of the non-surgical cosmetic sector. \p Karin Smyth: The Government is committed to taking action to address the longstanding concerns about the safety of the cosmetics sector and is exploring options for further regulation in this area. We will set out the details of our approach in our response to the consultation on the licensing of non-surgical cosmetic procedures in England, which we will publish at the earliest opportunity.
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the NHS Agenda for Change Pay Scale for reflecting trends in the level of workloads faced by medical professionals in the NHS. \p Karin Smyth: The management of staff workloads is a matter for local employing organisations, and is not considered to be a national pay, terms, and conditions issue.

The Agenda for Change pay scale, and the national terms and conditions of service, are used to support the employment of non-medical staff in the National Health Service. The NHS Staff Council has overall responsibility for the maintenance of the pay scales and the conditions of service.

The Job Evaluation Scheme underpins the Agenda for Change system of pay and supports the principle of equal pay for work of equal value. Pay bands are assigned based on the requirements of the role, such as skills and knowledge.
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Kevin McKenna:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what safeguards his Department has put in place to protect patients being transported to hospital by private patient transport companies on behalf of local NHS integrated care boards. \p Karin Smyth: Health and social care service providers that carry out a regulated activity in England must be registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Providers of ambulance and other transport services usually need to register for the regulated activity ‘Transport services, triage and medical advice provided remotely’.

CQC registration for providers of ambulance and other transport services requires a stringent assessment of suitability to deliver safe and high quality care, and registered organisations have ongoing monitoring and assessments. The CQC can take enforcement action against providers that are carrying out regulated activity without registration.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the (a) national minimum wage and (b) national living wage for care workers. \p Stephen Kinnock: Adult social care is a historically low paid sector, and most care workers are paid at or just above the National Living Wage. In 2023/24, approximately 70% of care workers in the independent sector earned within £1 of the National Living Wage.

The Government is introducing the first ever Fair Pay Agreement to the adult social care sector so that care professionals are recognised and rewarded for the important work that they do. Fair Pay Agreements will empower worker representatives, employers, and others to negotiate pay, and terms and conditions in a responsible manner. This will help to address the recruitment and retention crisis in the sector, in turn supporting the delivery of high-quality care.
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Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when was data added to the NHS Federated Data Platform for (a) NHS trusts and (b) integrated care systems. \p Karin Smyth: The NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP) began rolling out to National Health Service trusts in April 2024, following a pilot phase from 2022. Integrated care boards began receiving their local instances from September 2024. Each organisation controls its own instance, enabling secure data sharing, where permitted by data protection law and supported by the appropriate governance. Information on uptake and benefits is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/digitaltechnology/nhs-federated-data-platform/impact/fdp-uptake-and-benefits/
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Dr Neil Hudson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on when the rebuilding of (a) Whipps Cross Hospital and (b) Princess Alexandra Hospital will be completed. \p Karin Smyth: As set out in the New Hospital Programme Plan for Implementation, the new hospital schemes for Whipps Cross Hospital and Princess Alexandra Hospital are in Wave 2 and are expected to commence construction between 2032 and 2034. Completion dates for all schemes will be confirmed following the approval of a Full Business Case, as set out in HM Treasury Green Book and as is usual for large infrastructure projects. Further information on the New Hospital Programme Plan for Implementation is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome/new-hospital-programme-plan-for-implementation
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Amanda Hack:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to use community pharmacies to support people with (a) asthma and (b) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to better manage their condition. \p Stephen Kinnock: The New Medicine Service is an advanced service offered by community pharmacies, providing patients with advice to address any possible side effects, issues, or questions that patients who are prescribed a new medicine may have. The service focuses on treatments for long-term conditions, including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Community pharmacies are further funded to support patients with asthma through the Pharmacy Quality Scheme, providing additional support to patients aged between five and 15 years old using a spacer, and patients using short-acting bronchodilators.
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Cameron Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to help recognise (a) the skills of phlebotomists and (b) their contribution to the NHS. \p Karin Smyth: The Government greatly values the expertise and contribution of all health professionals, including phlebotomists.

A central part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the National Health Service needs to care for patients across our communities.
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Stuart Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve access to healthcare facilities in rural areas. \p Karin Smyth: Since June 2022, the 42 integrated care boards (ICBs) across England have been responsible for arranging National Health Service healthcare services which meet the needs of their respective populations, reflecting the diversity of need within these. The local ICB is therefore responsible for ensuring that NHS services are accessible in their area.

NHS England is responsible for funding allocations to ICBs. This process is independent of the Government, and NHS England takes advice on the underlying formula from the independent Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA).

The ACRA endorsed the introduction of a new community services formula, that they believe will better recognise needs for much older populations with higher needs for certain community services which on average tend to be in some rural, coastal, and remote areas.

Work is also underway across the Department and with NHS England and the regional directors of public health to develop approaches to address regional health inequalities. In line with the Government’s Health Mission, the Department’s goal is to create a more equitable healthcare system that leaves no person or community behind.
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Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to publish the findings of the 2023-24 Learning from Lives and Deaths – People with a Learning Disability and Autistic People report. \p Stephen Kinnock: NHS England commissions Kings College London and its partners to analyse data from the Learning from Lives and Deaths - people with a learning disability and autistic people (LeDeR) reports. The annual LeDeR report is published by Kings College London, who are currently working on the next annual report, which NHS England advises will be published shortly. The last report was published in November 2023, and can be found at the following link:

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/ioppn/assets/fans-dept/leder-2022-v2.0.pdf
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-16)

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Mike Martin:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve ambulance response times in Tunbridge Wells. \p Karin Smyth: The Government recognises the pressures on the National Health Service and the impact this is having on ambulance response times, including in Tunbridge Wells.

We are determined to turn things around, and our 10-Year Health Plan will be published in the summer, setting out major NHS reforms to move healthcare from the hospital to the community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention.

The NHS Urgent and Emergency care plan 2025/26, published on 6 June 2025, requires health systems to focus on those areas likely to have the biggest impact on urgent and emergency care services this year. The plan includes actions that will reduce category 2 ambulance response times to 30 minutes and reduce ambulance handovers to 45 minutes, helping to get 550,000 more ambulances back on the road.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-16 conversation_74

Liz Jarvis:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help improve the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of staff in the NHS cancer workforce. \p Karin Smyth: Recruitment to National Health Service roles is managed locally by trusts and systems. However, NHS England is taking a range of actions to support the recruitment and retention of staff in the NHS cancer workforce.

To grow the workforce, NHS England has been expanding specialty training places in key cancer professions, including histopathology, clinical radiology, and gastroenterology. Targeted national campaigns and outreach activities, for example in clinical oncology, also promote cancer career pathways, with a focus on increasing applications.

To improve retention, NHS England is investing in structured career development and education support. The Aspirant Cancer Career and Education Development programme provides a nationally agreed framework for capability, career development, and education for nurses, allied health professionals, and the support workforce working in cancer care.
wrans/answers2025-06-16 conversation_75
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-16 conversation_75

Aphra Brandreth:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what training is provided to healthcare professionals to (a) identify and (b) help tackle the causes of mental distress. \p Stephen Kinnock: Individual health care providers are responsible for ensuring that their staff have the knowledge, skills, and competence to meet the specific needs of the communities they serve. To support this, NHS England offers a wide range of training opportunities designed to help mental health professionals identify and address the possible causes of mental distress.

These programmes cover a variety of settings, from early intervention and preventative psychological therapies services, such as Mental Health Support Teams in schools and colleges and Talking Therapies for adults, to crisis services for individuals with severe mental health conditions who may be at risk of harming themselves or others. In addition, NHS England provides training for staff working in physical health, accident, and urgent care centres, ensuring they are equipped to support individuals presenting with mental distress across demographics.
wrans/answers2025-06-16 conversation_76
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-16 conversation_76

Manuela Perteghella:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to hold (a) NHS and (b) water providers to account for hospital sewage leaks. \p Karin Smyth: National Health Service trusts are legally responsible for maintaining their estates and facilities, to ensure they support high-quality health and care services and minimise the risk of infrastructure-related incidents impacting delivery, including sewage leaks. They should work with all necessary partners to achieve this, including water providers. To support this, the Government has provided £750 million of capital funding in 2025/26 to address critical infrastructure and safety risks in NHS buildings, on top of the £4 billion in operational capital for systems to allocate to local priorities, including investment in maintenance and repairs. Information on clinical service incidents relating to infrastructure failure at individual NHS trusts, which would include incidents relating to sewage leaks, is collected and published by NHS England through the Estates Returns Information Collection, which is available online at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/estates-returns-information-collection/summary-page-and-dataset-for-eric-2023-24
wrans/answers2025-06-16 conversation_77
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-16 conversation_77

Shivani Raja:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, How much (a) NHS England and (b) NHS Trusts spent on postage in the 2024–25 financial year; and what steps he is taking to help reduce these costs. \p Karin Smyth: Data on National Health Service total spend on postage for the 2024/25 financial year in England is not held centrally, and will be held locally by individual trusts.
wrans/answers2025-06-16 conversation_78
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-16 conversation_78

Kim Leadbeater:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will have discussions with the Nursing and Midwifery Council on streamlining the registration process for nurses who are registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland but obtained their initial qualifications outside of the EEA. \p Karin Smyth: The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the independent regulator of nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom, and nursing associates in England. The NMC sets the standards that must be met by domestic and international applicants wishing to be added to its registers, and the required routes to registration. Whilst we do discuss matters of registration with regulators, the UK's model of healthcare professional regulation is founded on the principle of regulators operating independently from the Government, and as such decisions on registration processes remain their responsibility.
wrans/answers2025-06-16 conversation_79
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-16 conversation_79

Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to retain workers in the health system. \p Karin Smyth: The Government is committed to making the National Health Service the best place to work, to ensure the retention of our hardworking and dedicated staff. We will publish a refreshed workforce plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and treat patients on time again.

NHS England is leading work nationally through its retention programme to drive a consistent, system-wide approach to staff retention across NHS trusts. This ensures trusts have access to proven retention strategies, data-driven monitoring, and can foster a more stable, engaged, productive, and supported workforce.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-16 conversation_80

James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce A&E waiting times in Nottinghamshire. \p Karin Smyth: The Government recognises that urgent and emergency care performance has fallen short in recent years and is committed to restoring accident and emergency waiting times to the NHS Constitutional standard across England, including in Nottinghamshire.

Our new Urgent and Emergency care plan, published on 6 June, sets out a fundamental shift in the approach to urgent and emergency care. It will drive collaboration across the system to deliver improvements for patients this year, backed by nearly £450 million of capital investment.

The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan will be published later this summer, setting out major National Health Service reforms moving healthcare from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-16 conversation_81

Manuela Perteghella:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding he is allocating to repair NHS estates in Warwickshire. \p Karin Smyth: In 2025/26, the Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) will benefit from the £750 million estates safety fund. The estates safety fund will begin addressing the poorest quality estates, delivering vital safety improvements, enhancing patient and staff environments, and supporting National Health Service productivity. Funding will be issued to NHS trusts on the basis of individual schemes. Descriptions of the planned works and funding allocations, including those in Warwickshire, can be found at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68398c46c99c4f37ab4e86ef/estates-safety-fund-2025-to-2026.csv/preview

This investment is in addition to the £38.6 million of operational capital provisionally allocated to the Coventry and Warwickshire ICB for 2025/26 to allocate to local priorities, including investment in maintenance and repairs.

Funding for repairs to the NHS estate for future years will be confirmed following planning, allocation, and approval processes.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-16 conversation_82

Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of community care staffing levels on hospital bed occupancy levels in Surrey. \p Karin Smyth: No specific assessment has been made. Integrated care board are responsible for commissioning services to meet the needs of their local communities, including in Surrey, as they are best placed to take those decisions.

The Government is committed to building a health service fit for the future. We will shortly publish a 10-Year Health Plan which will set out the radical reforms needed to make the National Health Service fit for the future. This will include a focus on shifting care from the hospital to the community, to bring care closer to where people live.
wrans/answers2025-06-16 conversation_83
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-16 conversation_83

Mark Pritchard:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the hacking group Salt Typhoon on the (a) public sector, (b) private sector and (c) UK global information service providers. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: While we cannot comment on ongoing incidents and operational matters, we continuously monitor any potential UK impact and will activate our cyber incident management structures as required.

The UK’s approach to mitigating cyber risks facing telecoms providers in the UK is set out in law by the Telecommunications Security Act (TSA) and the associated Code of Practice. UK telecommunications operators should remain vigilant to cyber threats and are encouraged to take action by meeting the requirements of the Act, even ahead of full implementation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-16)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-16 conversation_84

Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Prime Minister met with any of the candidates shortlisted for the Cabinet Secretary position before the appointment. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The Cabinet Secretary was appointed through a fair and open competition, in line with longstanding process.