Written questions by McMurdock.

If he will set out the guidance on the frequency of re-triage for patients whose condition may deteriorate while waiting for treatment.

Patients are triaged upon their initial entry to accident and emergency departments, after which their condition and any deterioration is monitored through observation at clinically appropriate intervals. How this happens and how often it happens is down to local clinical decision making and governance.There is a national target that patients receive an initial assessment within 15 minutes of arrival in accident and emergency. This assessment considers patient acuity, ensuring that those most unwell and at greatest risk are identified and prioritised, so that clinical oversight can be adjusted accordingly, and to ensure the sickest patients are seen first.

What discussions he has had with NHS England on ensuring escalation protocols for deteriorating patients are consistently applied across trusts.

Patients are triaged upon their initial entry to accident and emergency departments, after which their condition and any deterioration is monitored through observation at clinically appropriate intervals. How this happens and how often it happens is down to local clinical decision making and governance.There is a national target that patients receive an initial assessment within 15 minutes of arrival in accident and emergency. This assessment considers patient acuity, ensuring that those most unwell and at greatest risk are identified and prioritised, so that clinical oversight can be adjusted accordingly, and to ensure the sickest patients are seen first.

What assessment he has made of whether current levels of community-based urgent care services have capacity to offset ambulance demand in the East of England.

Between January and December 2025, a total of 121,305 emergency 999 calls were successfully redirected away from a traditional ambulance dispatch in the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (EEAST) and into alternative care pathways.These diversions were achieved either through clinical triage and decision‑making provided by EEAST clinicians working within its emergency control rooms, or through further assessment carried out by clinicians based in the Unscheduled Care Hub. EEAST is in discussion with community partners to identify patients that have the potential to be managed in the community without the requirement for an ambulance response.Overall, this means that 19.1% of all 999 calls received during 2025 were managed through these alternative clinical pathways rather than requiring a frontline ambulance response. Integrated care boards continue to monitor the effectiveness of these measures and are working on further opportunities to expand capacity in community urgent care, ensuring patients receive the right care in the right setting and offsetting ambulance demand.

What proportion of ambulance call-outs were assessed as avoidable or suitable for alternative pathways in the East of England during the last 12 months.

Between January and December 2025, a total of 121,305 emergency 999 calls were successfully redirected away from a traditional ambulance dispatch in the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (EEAST) and into alternative care pathways.These diversions were achieved either through clinical triage and decision‑making provided by EEAST clinicians working within its emergency control rooms, or through further assessment carried out by clinicians based in the Unscheduled Care Hub. EEAST is in discussion with community partners to identify patients that have the potential to be managed in the community without the requirement for an ambulance response.Overall, this means that 19.1% of all 999 calls received during 2025 were managed through these alternative clinical pathways rather than requiring a frontline ambulance response. Integrated care boards continue to monitor the effectiveness of these measures and are working on further opportunities to expand capacity in community urgent care, ensuring patients receive the right care in the right setting and offsetting ambulance demand.

What proportion of NHS 111 calls resulted in an ambulance dispatch in the East of England in each of the past three years.

The Government is committed to continuing to improve NHS 111 to ensure patients can access the right care first time, in a timely manner, thereby only visiting accident and emergency when necessary.The data is not published in the requested format. However, in the East of England in 2022/23, 10.9% of 111 calls were referred to the ambulance service. In 2023/24, 11.9% of 111 calls were referred to the ambulance service. Finally, in 2024/25, 12.7% of 111 calls were referred to the ambulance service.

With reference to his press release entitled New fund to tackle cancer screening inequalities and save lives, published on 29 January 2026, what proportion of the funding will be allocated to cancer screening services in Essex.

The allocation for the Neighbourhood Early Diagnosis Fund is led by the Cancer Alliances. Further details and allocations will be set out for 2026/27 in due course. Local communities across England, including Essex, will benefit from the major investment, aimed at reducing cancer screening inequalities and catching more cancers early.

What steps he is taking to help reduce delays between triage and clinical assessment in Accident and Emergency departments.

The Government recognises that urgent and emergency care performance has fallen short in recent years. We are committed to restoring accident and emergency waiting times to the NHS Constitutional standard.Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 sets out clear actions to deliver improvements this winter and make services better every day. This plan set out our aim for 78% of patients to be seen in four hours this year, meaning over 800,000 people will receive more timely care.The plan is backed by almost £450 million of capital investment for Same Day Emergency Care, Mental Health Crisis Assessment Centres, and new ambulances, avoiding unnecessary admissions to hospital and supporting the diagnosis, treatment, and discharge for patients.There is a target for initial assessment to take place within 15 minutes of patients’ arrival in accident and emergency, and part of this clinical assessment should be determining their priority. Therefore, patients who are most unwell and at most risk should be identified during this process and clinical oversight adjusted accordingly.

What estimate he has made of the potential impact of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy on the level of sugar intake by children.

The Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) came into law on 5 April 2018, having been announced in 2016. Between 2015 and 2024 sugar levels in drinks in scope of the levy reduced by 47%, and while no formal assessment of the impact on children has been undertaken, the scale of reduction will have an impact on the sugar intake of children.Data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS), an ongoing Government survey of food consumption, nutrient intake, and nutrient status in the United Kingdom, showed a fall in sugar intakes between 2014 to 2019, in older children and adolescents. This appears to be partly driven by soft drinks contributing less to sugar intakes, likely as a result of the changes made to drinks in scope of the SDIL.The latest results for 2019 to 2023 show that sugar intakes in children remain approximately double the maximum recommendation and children aged 11 to 18 years old are the highest consumers of sugar sweetened soft drinks. Diets high in sugar increase the risk of dental caries as well as weight gain, which can ultimately result in living with overweight and obesity and related adverse health outcomes. The NDNS will continue to monitor sugar intakes following reformulation of drinks in scope of the SDIL.Academic modelling indicates that reductions in sugar from drinks subject to the SDIL may have prevented 5,000 cases of obesity in girls aged ten to 11 years old, with greater impact on those attending schools in the most deprived areas. Modelling data also suggests that the changes resulting from the SDIL may have reduced hospital admissions for dental caries related tooth extractions in those aged zero to nine years old and for asthma related issues in those aged five to 18 years old.Following formal consultation, two changes to the SDIL were announced in the 2025 Autumn Budget which will apply from 1 January 2028:reducing the lower sugar threshold at which the levy applies from 5 grams to 4.5 grams of sugar per 100 millilitres; andremoving previous exemptions for pre-packed added sugar milk-based and milk substitute, for example oat, soya, and/or almond, drinks.The Department carried out a health benefits assessment to estimate the sugar and calorie reduction from these changes through product reformulation and consumer substitution to alternative drinks.This analysis estimates a sugar reduction equivalent to per person per day calorie reductions of 0.3 kcal in five- to ten-year-olds, 0.4 kcal in 11- to 18-year-olds, 0.3 kcal in 19- to 64-year-olds, and 0.2 kcal in those aged 65 years old and over. This is equivalent to approximately four million kcal per day in children and 13 million kcal per day in adults.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled Landmark junk food ad ban to protect kids’ health, published on published 5 January 2026, on what evidential basis will new regulations remove up to 7.2 billion calories from UK children’s diets each year.

Our 10-Year Health Plan for England set out the decisive action we are taking on the obesity crisis, to ease the strain on our National Health Service and create the healthiest generation of children ever. As part of this, we have already implemented United Kingdom-wide restrictions on the advertising of less healthy food and drink on television and online from 5 January 2026.A detailed impact assessment on these advertising restrictions is published on the GOV.UK website. Evidence suggests that dietary choices and behaviour are influenced by the food environment and that advertising of less healthy products increases the preference, purchase, and consumption of these foods. It is estimated that 6.4% of UK childhood obesity and 5% of overweight is attributable to junk food television advertising.The Impact Assessment also estimated reductions in exposure to less healthy products by implementing the restrictions and the subsequent daily reduction in calories. This translates to a total of 7.2 billion calories being removed from children’s diets every year and 20,000 fewer children living with obesity in the UK because of these restrictions. This lower calorie consumption by children over their lifetimes is expected to generate health benefits of approximately £2 billion.We have already committed to strengthening the advertising restrictions and our promotions restrictions for less healthy food and drinks by updating the underpinning standards to reflect the latest dietary advice. This will enable both sets of restrictions to more effectively target the products of concern to childhood obesity.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled Landmark junk food ad ban to protect kids’ health, published on 5 January 2026, on what evidential basis will the new regulations to reduce the number of children living with obesity by 20,000.

Our 10-Year Health Plan for England set out the decisive action we are taking on the obesity crisis, to ease the strain on our National Health Service and create the healthiest generation of children ever. As part of this, we have already implemented United Kingdom-wide restrictions on the advertising of less healthy food and drink on television and online from 5 January 2026.A detailed impact assessment on these advertising restrictions is published on the GOV.UK website. Evidence suggests that dietary choices and behaviour are influenced by the food environment and that advertising of less healthy products increases the preference, purchase, and consumption of these foods. It is estimated that 6.4% of UK childhood obesity and 5% of overweight is attributable to junk food television advertising.The Impact Assessment also estimated reductions in exposure to less healthy products by implementing the restrictions and the subsequent daily reduction in calories. This translates to a total of 7.2 billion calories being removed from children’s diets every year and 20,000 fewer children living with obesity in the UK because of these restrictions. This lower calorie consumption by children over their lifetimes is expected to generate health benefits of approximately £2 billion.We have already committed to strengthening the advertising restrictions and our promotions restrictions for less healthy food and drinks by updating the underpinning standards to reflect the latest dietary advice. This will enable both sets of restrictions to more effectively target the products of concern to childhood obesity.

What estimate he has made of the potential impact of banning the advertisement of unhealthy foods on TV before 9pm on levels of childhood obesity over.

Our 10-Year Health Plan for England set out the decisive action we are taking on the obesity crisis, to ease the strain on our National Health Service and create the healthiest generation of children ever. As part of this, we have already implemented United Kingdom-wide restrictions on the advertising of less healthy food and drink on television and online from 5 January 2026.A detailed impact assessment on these advertising restrictions is published on the GOV.UK website. Evidence suggests that dietary choices and behaviour are influenced by the food environment and that advertising of less healthy products increases the preference, purchase, and consumption of these foods. It is estimated that 6.4% of UK childhood obesity and 5% of overweight is attributable to junk food television advertising.The Impact Assessment also estimated reductions in exposure to less healthy products by implementing the restrictions and the subsequent daily reduction in calories. This translates to a total of 7.2 billion calories being removed from children’s diets every year and 20,000 fewer children living with obesity in the UK because of these restrictions. This lower calorie consumption by children over their lifetimes is expected to generate health benefits of approximately £2 billion.We have already committed to strengthening the advertising restrictions and our promotions restrictions for less healthy food and drinks by updating the underpinning standards to reflect the latest dietary advice. This will enable both sets of restrictions to more effectively target the products of concern to childhood obesity.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the ban on advertising unhealthy food on TV before 9pm on food choices made for children on their behalf.

Our 10-Year Health Plan for England set out the decisive action we are taking on the obesity crisis, to ease the strain on our National Health Service and create the healthiest generation of children ever. As part of this, we have already implemented United Kingdom-wide restrictions on the advertising of less healthy food and drink on television and online from 5 January 2026.A detailed impact assessment on these advertising restrictions is published on the GOV.UK website. Evidence suggests that dietary choices and behaviour are influenced by the food environment and that advertising of less healthy products increases the preference, purchase, and consumption of these foods. It is estimated that 6.4% of UK childhood obesity and 5% of overweight is attributable to junk food television advertising.The Impact Assessment also estimated reductions in exposure to less healthy products by implementing the restrictions and the subsequent daily reduction in calories. This translates to a total of 7.2 billion calories being removed from children’s diets every year and 20,000 fewer children living with obesity in the UK because of these restrictions. This lower calorie consumption by children over their lifetimes is expected to generate health benefits of approximately £2 billion.We have already committed to strengthening the advertising restrictions and our promotions restrictions for less healthy food and drinks by updating the underpinning standards to reflect the latest dietary advice. This will enable both sets of restrictions to more effectively target the products of concern to childhood obesity.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reducing the level of TV advertisements for fast food after 9pm.

Our 10-Year Health Plan for England set out the decisive action we are taking on the obesity crisis, to ease the strain on our National Health Service and create the healthiest generation of children ever. As part of this, we have already implemented United Kingdom-wide restrictions on the advertising of less healthy food and drink on television and online from 5 January 2026.A detailed impact assessment on these advertising restrictions is published on the GOV.UK website. Evidence suggests that dietary choices and behaviour are influenced by the food environment and that advertising of less healthy products increases the preference, purchase, and consumption of these foods. It is estimated that 6.4% of UK childhood obesity and 5% of overweight is attributable to junk food television advertising.The Impact Assessment also estimated reductions in exposure to less healthy products by implementing the restrictions and the subsequent daily reduction in calories. This translates to a total of 7.2 billion calories being removed from children’s diets every year and 20,000 fewer children living with obesity in the UK because of these restrictions. This lower calorie consumption by children over their lifetimes is expected to generate health benefits of approximately £2 billion.We have already committed to strengthening the advertising restrictions and our promotions restrictions for less healthy food and drinks by updating the underpinning standards to reflect the latest dietary advice. This will enable both sets of restrictions to more effectively target the products of concern to childhood obesity.

What recent discussions he has had with the NHS in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency on patient safety for people experiencing long waits in Accident and Emergency.

The Government recognises that urgent and emergency care performance has fallen short in recent years. We are committed to restoring accident and emergency waiting times to the National Health Service constitutional standard.Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 sets out clear actions to deliver improvements and make services better. The plan commits to reducing the number of patients waiting over 12 hours for admission or discharge to less than 10% of the time. This is supported by almost £450 million of capital investment for Same Day Emergency Care, Mental Health Crisis Assessment Centres, and new ambulances, avoiding unnecessary admissions to hospital and supporting the faster diagnosis, treatment, and discharge for patients.The NHS Medium-Term Planning Framework sets out a further trajectory to improve urgent and emergency care performance year-on-year toward the constitutional standard, reducing long waits and improving patient experience. The plan focuses on practical steps such as expanding urgent treatment centres, improving patient flow, and reducing 12-hour waits, to make emergency departments safer and more efficient.NHS England provides regional oversight to support local delivery of services and improvement. The Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust’s One Team Improvement Plan has a focus on improving urgent and emergency care outcomes. The programme group looking at quality and patient safety has been focusing on reviewing processes and the fundamentals of care in wards and in the trust’s emergency departments. The trust has also introduced additional consultant cover during the weekends to increase the number of people discharged at the weekend. This helps to keep the emergency department safe as it allows for the movement of people who need to be admitted into the right beds.

What steps he is taking to help improve triaging by Accident and Emergency departments at Basildon Hospital.

The Government recognises that urgent and emergency care performance has fallen short in recent years. We are committed to restoring accident and emergency waiting times to the National Health Service constitutional standard.Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 sets out clear actions to deliver improvements and make services better. The plan commits to reducing the number of patients waiting over 12 hours for admission or discharge to less than 10% of the time. This is supported by almost £450 million of capital investment for Same Day Emergency Care, Mental Health Crisis Assessment Centres, and new ambulances, avoiding unnecessary admissions to hospital and supporting the faster diagnosis, treatment, and discharge for patients.The NHS Medium-Term Planning Framework sets out a further trajectory to improve urgent and emergency care performance year-on-year toward the constitutional standard, reducing long waits and improving patient experience. The plan focuses on practical steps such as expanding urgent treatment centres, improving patient flow, and reducing 12-hour waits, to make emergency departments safer and more efficient.NHS England provides regional oversight to support local delivery of services and improvement. The Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust’s One Team Improvement Plan has a focus on improving urgent and emergency care outcomes. The programme group looking at quality and patient safety has been focusing on reviewing processes and the fundamentals of care in wards and in the trust’s emergency departments. The trust has also introduced additional consultant cover during the weekends to increase the number of people discharged at the weekend. This helps to keep the emergency department safe as it allows for the movement of people who need to be admitted into the right beds.

What steps he is taking to help reduce the number of patients waiting over 12 hours to be admitted to, or discharged from, Basildon Hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department.

The Government recognises that urgent and emergency care performance has fallen short in recent years. We are committed to restoring accident and emergency waiting times to the National Health Service constitutional standard.Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 sets out clear actions to deliver improvements and make services better. The plan commits to reducing the number of patients waiting over 12 hours for admission or discharge to less than 10% of the time. This is supported by almost £450 million of capital investment for Same Day Emergency Care, Mental Health Crisis Assessment Centres, and new ambulances, avoiding unnecessary admissions to hospital and supporting the faster diagnosis, treatment, and discharge for patients.The NHS Medium-Term Planning Framework sets out a further trajectory to improve urgent and emergency care performance year-on-year toward the constitutional standard, reducing long waits and improving patient experience. The plan focuses on practical steps such as expanding urgent treatment centres, improving patient flow, and reducing 12-hour waits, to make emergency departments safer and more efficient.NHS England provides regional oversight to support local delivery of services and improvement. The Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust’s One Team Improvement Plan has a focus on improving urgent and emergency care outcomes. The programme group looking at quality and patient safety has been focusing on reviewing processes and the fundamentals of care in wards and in the trust’s emergency departments. The trust has also introduced additional consultant cover during the weekends to increase the number of people discharged at the weekend. This helps to keep the emergency department safe as it allows for the movement of people who need to be admitted into the right beds.

What steps he is taking to ensure the adequacy of primary care estates to support workforce expansion.

It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards to ensure that the National Health Service estate is fit for purpose, in order to meet the needs of the local population.At the Autumn Budget, we announced our commitment to deliver 250 Neighbourhood Health Centres (NHCs) through the NHS Neighbourhood Rebuild Programme. This will deliver NHCs through a mixture of refurbishments to expand and improve sites over the next three years and new-build sites opening in the medium term. The first 120 NHCs are due to be operational by 2030 and will be delivered through public private partnerships and public capital.The Government is providing £426 million over four years through the Utilisation and Modernisation Fund, upgrading general practice (GP) estate and supporting delivery of 40 to 50 NHCs this Parliament through refurbishment of existing buildings.In Spring we will publish the 10 Year Workforce Plan, which will set out the high-level vision for how we can prepare our workforce to deliver the three shifts set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.The Government has committed to training thousands more GPs, which will support the delivery of the left shift and focus more resources in the community. Our work on this has already started, with the number of available GP training places increasing by an additional 250 places to 4,250 for 2025/26 and again to 4,500 for 2026/27.

What proportion of GP trainees qualified as GPs in each of the last three years.

General practice (GP) speciality training has maintained a low rate of attrition over the last three years of approximately 1.3% to 1.5%, and the average length of time to complete GP training has remained at 3.8 years.A proportion of trainees achieving a Certificate of Completion of Training is difficult to provide as programme length can vary due to individual circumstances, such as changes in working hours, maternity/paternity leave, sick leave, and out of programme activities.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of A&E waiting times on post-discharge outcomes for older patients.

No assessment has been made of the impacts of accident and emergency waiting times on post-discharge outcomes. There have been studies on the impact of waiting times on clinical outcomes in general, which inform the targets the National Health Service sets for accident and emergency waiting times.

Whether he plans to publish data on cases where patients deteriorate or die in Accident and Emergency waiting rooms before being seen by a doctor.

This data is not available in the format requested and there is no plan to publish this. Patients are reviewed at the front door and are seen by a clinical member of staff and streamed to the right service for them. If there is an incident around care processes, this is logged.The National Health Service and the Department have taken significant steps forward to improve patient safety, including by implementing significant programmes under the NHS Patient Safety Strategy from 2019.We are also introducing new clinical operational standards for the first 72 hours of care, setting clear expectations for timely reviews and specialist input, including guidance on monitoring patients with frailty. This supports the early identification of deterioration and helps ensure patients waiting in accident and emergency departments are appropriately monitored.