Written questions by Dillon.

Whether he plans to implement Hospice UK’s four-point plan for fair hospice funding.

Hospice UK’s four-point plan highlights key challenges faced by the hospice sector. We are addressing these concerns through wider reforms. The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England. The MSF will drive improvements in the services that patients and their families receive at the end of life and enable integrated care boards (ICBs) to address challenges in access, quality, and sustainability through the delivery of high-quality, personalised care. This will be aligned with the ambitions set out in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan.Through our MSF, we will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative care and end-of-life care services to ensure that services reduce variation in access and quality. Contracting and commissioning arrangements will be considered as part of this work. We recognise there is currently a mix of contracting models across the hospice sector, and by supporting ICBs to commission more strategically, we can move away from grant-based and block-contract models and help hospices’ ability to plan ahead.As part of the MSF’s development, we have invited colleagues from a range of organisations, including Hospice UK, to engage in this process. It would not be right to pre-empt exactly what will be in the final MSF at this time, as we develop it with our palliative care and end-of-life care stakeholders.Additionally, the Government has also invested significantly in the hospice sector, including £125 million of capital funding for adult and children and young people’s hospices in 2024/25 and 2025/26, with a further approximately £80 million of revenue funding support for children and young people’s hospices over the next three years in England.

Whether his Department plans to introduce a public health campaign on air pollution.

Our 10-Year Health Plan sets out how the Government will take action to reduce exposure to harmful emissions, including commitments to increase public understanding of air pollution and to enhance communication of air quality information.The Department of Health and Social Care continues to work with partners across the Government and the health system to ensure that the public has access to clear, evidence-based information. This includes working with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to deliver commitments in the Environmental Improvement Plan, helping to ensure that air quality becomes part of everyday public conversations.

If he will establish an inquiry into delays in the NHS providing (a) Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and (b) any other services related to children's mental health.

We recognise that many children and young people are currently experiencing significant delays in accessing mental health support and we are taking action to address this, as committed to in the 10-Year Health Plan. This includes providing mental health support for almost one million more young people in school this year and an extra £688 million in Government funding this year to transform mental health services, to hire more staff, deliver more early interventions, and get waiting lists down. 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, the Government is recruiting an additional 8,500 mental health workers by the end of this Parliament. Almost 8,000 of these workers have been recruited since July 2024, which will help to ease pressure on busy mental health services. We will publish a refreshed workforce plan later this year to ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places to care for patients when they need it. Additionally, we are also accelerating the rollout of Mental Health Support Teams in schools to achieve full national coverage by 2029. This includes investing £13 million to pilot enhanced training for staff, so that they can offer more support to young people with complex needs, such as trauma, neurodivergence, and disordered eating.

What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle health disparities amongst people who live in the most deprived areas.

It is a priority for the Government is to increase the amount of time people spend in good health and prevent premature deaths, with a vision of ensuring that all individuals, regardless of background or location, live longer, healthier lives. Our 10-Year Health Plan for the National Health Service in England sets out a reimagined service designed to tackle inequalities in both access and outcomes, as well as to give everyone, no matter who they are or where they come from, the means to engage with it on their own terms. Delivering the plan is a cross-Government effort.For example, we know that the Carr-Hill formula is considered outdated, and evidence suggests that general practices (GPs) serving in deprived parts of England receive on average 9.8% less funding per needs-adjusted patient than those in less deprived communities, despite having greater health needs and significantly higher patient-to-GP ratios. This is why we are currently reviewing the formula to ensure that resources are targeted where they are most needed.We also recognise that much of what determines of health and wellbeing in influenced by factors other than health services. Recent cross-Government action has included the introduction of Awaab’s Law and reform of the Decent Homes Standard for the social and private rented sector, the English Devolution Bill, and a new statutory heath inequalities duty for strategic authorities.

What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to provide support for women who are disproportionately affected by long-term health conditions like arthritis.

The Government is committed to supporting women with long-term conditions like arthritis. Through the 10-Year Health Plan’s three big shifts, we will ensure more tests are delivered in the community, improved working between services, and greater use of technology to support women managing their long-term conditions. Delivering these shifts will be a cross-Government effort.We are renewing the women’s health strategy, to tackle enduring challenges and build on vital progress in women’s health.For those with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, including women with arthritis, we are working to deliver the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) MSK Community Delivery Programme. GIRFT teams are working with health system leaders to reduce MSK community waiting times, which are the highest of all community waits, and improve data, metrics, and referral pathways to wider support services.

What progress his Department has made in developing independently verified, modelled projections of the number of NHS staff required to meet future population demand, as set out in the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.

We have committed to publishing regular workforce planning. This will start with the 10 Year Workforce Plan, which will include updated workforce modelling and its underlying assumptions when published in spring 2026. The updated workforce modelling will be supported by independent external scrutiny to assess and test it.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of repealing section 2(4) of the Law Reform (Personal Injuries) Act 1948.

The rising costs of clinical negligence claims against the National Health Service in England are of great concern to the Government. Costs have more than doubled in the last ten years and are forecast to continue rising, putting further pressure on NHS finances.Although forecasts remain uncertain, it is likely that the costs of clinical negligence will continue to grow substantially. The Government Actuary’s Department forecasts that annual payments for compensation and legal costs will increase from £3 billion in 2024/25 to £4.1 billion by 2029/30.As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan for England, David Lock KC is providing expert policy advice on the rising costs of clinical negligence and how we can improve patients’ experience of claims. The review is ongoing, following initial advice to ministers and the recent National Audit Office report.We welcome the report by the National Audit Office. The results of David Lock’s work will inform future policy making in this area. No decisions on policy have been taken at this point, and the Government will provide an update on the work done and next steps in due course.

What steps he is taking to address rising legal costs associated with clinical negligence claims.

The rising costs of clinical negligence claims against the National Health Service in England are of great concern to the Government. Costs have more than doubled in the last ten years and are forecast to continue rising, putting further pressure on NHS finances.Although forecasts remain uncertain, it is likely that the costs of clinical negligence will continue to grow substantially. The Government Actuary’s Department forecasts that annual payments for compensation and legal costs will increase from £3 billion in 2024/25 to £4.1 billion by 2029/30.As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan for England, David Lock KC is providing expert policy advice on the rising costs of clinical negligence and how we can improve patients’ experience of claims. The review is ongoing, following initial advice to ministers and the recent National Audit Office report.We welcome the report by the National Audit Office. The results of David Lock’s work will inform future policy making in this area. No decisions on policy have been taken at this point, and the Government will provide an update on the work done and next steps in due course.

When he plans to announce the next phase of the National Service Frameworks.

Early priorities for Modern Service Frameworks will include cardiovascular disease, sepsis, severe mental illness and the first ever service framework for frailty and dementia. As advised by the National Quality Board, the Government will consider other conditions for future phases of MSFs and has recently announced an MSF on palliative and end-of-life care.

Whether he is taking steps to establish staff treatment hubs.

Following the publication of the 10-Year Health Plan on 3 July 2025, work is underway to develop implementation and operational plans for the Staff Treatments Hubs. This will determine factors such as location, budgets, timeframes, and capacity.

What steps he is taking to reduce elective care waiting times for (a) joint replacement surgery and (b) other surgeries.

Reducing elective waiting times across all specialties is a key part of the Government’s Health Mission, and this includes waiting times for trauma and orthopaedics. We exceeded our pledge to deliver an extra two million appointments, tests, and operations in our first year of Government, delivering 5.2 million additional appointments between July 2024 and June 2025. This marked a vital First Step to delivering on our commitment to return to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029.As of the end of November 2025, the number of trauma and orthopaedic pathways within 18 weeks stood at 59.2%, an improvement of 3.1% since the start of July 2024.However, we know there is more to do, and have confirmed over £6 billion of additional capital investment to expand capacity across diagnostics, electives, and urgent care. This includes increasing the number of surgical hubs, which provide protected surgical capacity across elective specialities, including trauma and orthopaedics.By separating elective services from urgent and emergency care, hubs improve patient outcomes and reduce hospital pressures. Almost three quarters of the 124 operational elective surgical hubs in England currently provide trauma and orthopaedics services.

With reference to the Elective Recovery Plan, what progress his Department has made on the 18-week referral-to-treatment targets.

As set out in the Plan for Change and the Elective Reform Plan, we are committed to returning by March 2029 to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment.We have already made significant progress on this. As of November 2025, the waiting list has reduced by over 312,000 since the Government came into office, and performance against the referral to treatment standard has improved by 2.9%, reaching 61.8%.We’ve made this progress through setting ambitious targets, investing in modernisation, reforming and simplifying pathways, increasing surgical and diagnostic capacity, and empowering patients with faster and more convenient access to care.This has been supported by the delivery of 5.2 million additional appointments between July 2024 and June 2025 compared to the previous year, more than double the Government’s pledge of two million. This marked a vital First Step towards delivering the constitutional standard.

Whether he is taking steps to improve workplace (a) catering and (b) rest facilities for healthcare workers.

Good physical working environments are important for staff wellbeing and retention. Staff need to be given the time and space to rest and recover from their work, particularly when working on-call or overnight. This is recognised as a priority in the NHS People Promise which sets out the importance of employers prioritising spaces for staff to rest and recuperate, and ensuring access to hot food and drinks.In May 2024, NHS England and NHS Charities Together launched a £10 million Workforce Wellbeing Programme to support National Health Service staff in England. It will provide tailored health and wellbeing support to NHS staff, including grants to improve facilities. A three-year programme of work named Great Food, Good Health, led by NHS England, aims to improve the experience and quality of nutritious food that patients, staff, and visitors receive in hospital. As part of this, the NHS made clear that NHS organisations must be able to demonstrate they have suitable 24/7 food service provision.

Whether his Department has plans to extend business rates reimbursement to community pharmacies on the same basis as GP practices and NHS dental surgeries.

In the 2025 Autumn Budget, the Government took the hard choices to protect the National Health Service in England and to continue to prioritise reducing waiting times. We have also stepped in to cap bills and help businesses, as part of a £4.3 billion support package.This year, we have also increased funding to community pharmacies to almost £3.1 billion, the largest uplift in funding for any part of the NHS across 2024/25 and 2025/26.The Department will consult Community Pharmacy England on any proposed changes to reimbursement and remuneration of pharmacy contractors for 2026/27 shortly.

What steps he is taking to reduce the number of patients waiting for longer than 12 hours in A&E.

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.Provisional NHS England data for November 2025 shows that 7.2% of patients in England waited over 12 hours from arrival, an improvement from 10.8% in November 2024. Please note that these figures are provisional and may be subject to revision with finalised data published the following month. Both provisional and finalised data can be accessed at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/ae-attendances-and-emergency-admissions-2025-26/Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 sets out a fundamental shift in the approach to urgent and emergency care, aiming to reduce the number of patients waiting over 12 hours for admission or discharge to less than 10%. This is supported by nearly £450 million of capital investment to expand urgent and emergency care services across the country.

What steps he is taking to ensure adequate supporting services to enable swift discharges from hospital in winter 2025-26.

The Urgent and Emergency Care plan for 2025/26 identifies reducing delays in hospital discharge as a key priority. Hospitals are expected to eliminate discharge delays of more than 48 hours caused by in-hospital issues, to work with local authorities to tackle the longest delays, starting with those over 21 days, and to profile discharges by pathway to support local planning. Further information on the Urgent and Emergency Care plan for 2025/26 is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/urgent-and-emergency-care-plan-2025-26/In addition, the 2025/26 policy framework for the £9 billion Better Care Fund requires the National Health Service and local authorities to jointly agree local goals for reducing discharge delays. This can include intermediate care and reablement support services which primarily focus on providing individuals with a short-term period of rehabilitation or reablement to maximise independence. These services can either follow a discharge from hospital, known as step-down, or provide an alternative to hospital or care home admission, known as step-up. Further information on the Better Care Fund policy framework is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/better-care-fund-policy-framework-2025-to-2026

What steps his Department is taking to (a) improve capacity within the social care system and (b) reduce delayed discharges.

The Department is working closely with NHS England and local authorities to improve social care capacity and reduce delayed discharges.The Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund (MSIF) provided over £1 billion to local authorities for adult social care over 2025/26, based on their areas’ needs, to target increasing fee rates paid to adult social care providers, increasing adult social care workforce recruitment and retention, and reducing waiting times for care.We are also supporting the digitisation of adult social care, which can strengthen capacity within the social care system through productivity improvements. 80% of registered care providers now have digitised care records, benefitting 89% of people who draw on care. Digital care records can save time spent on administrative tasks, releasing over 20 minutes per care worker, per shift.The Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 identifies reducing delays in hospital discharge as a key priority. Hospitals are expected to eliminate discharge delays of more than 48 hours caused by in-hospital issues, to work with local authorities to tackle the longest delays, starting with those over 21 days, and to profile discharges by pathway to support local planning. In addition, the 2025/26 policy framework for the £9 billion Better Care Fund requires the National Health Service and local authorities to jointly agree local goals for reducing discharge delays.Starting in the financial year 2026/27, we will reform the Better Care Fund. This reform will provide a sharper focus on ensuring consistent joint NHS and local authority funding for those services that are essential for integrated health and social care, such as hospital discharge, intermediate care, rehabilitation and reablement. We will set out further details in due course.

What steps he is taking to improve access to routine tissue freezing for brain cancer patients in Newbury.

Information on the number of National Health Service trusts in England that have facilities for fresh freezing brain cancer tissue samples is not currently collected and no recent assessment has been made on the adequacy, extent, or capacity of procedures for freezing brain cancer and general cancer tissue samples across NHS trusts in England.Pathology services in England are delivered through 27 regional pathology networks, and offer a comprehensive range of tests, including the analysis of brain tissues. Individual pathology services maintain their own standard operating procedures (SOPs) for fresh, or snap-freezing, of tissue samples. These SOPs outline local capabilities and practices.In addition, the Department invests over £1.6 billion each year in research through the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR’s investments for capital equipment, technology, and modular buildings support NHS trusts across England to deliver high-quality research to improve the health of the population. This investment includes cutting edge research equipment and fixed assets such as ultra-low and cryogenic freezers, to strengthen research capacity and improve access to samples for research.

Whether he is taking steps to ensure that cancer patients in Newbury are treated within 62 days.

We have now exceeded our pledge to deliver an extra two million appointments across elective, diagnostic, and cancer care, having now delivered over five million more appointments as the first step to ensuring earlier and faster access to treatment.Between November 2024 to October 2025, approximately 110,000 more patients were diagnosed or had cancer ruled out within 28 days compared to the previous 12 months. This supports the achievement of the 62-day treatment standard, as faster diagnosis means that patients can begin treatment sooner.The latest available data shows that the 62-day treatment standard for the NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board has improved by 3.5% between October 2024 and October 2025.However, we recognise that there is more to do, including for patients in Newbury.To ensure that the most advanced treatment is available to the patients who need it, and so that patients can be treated sooner, the Government has also invested £70 million of central funding to replace outdated radiotherapy machines, including one at the Royal Berkshire Hospital.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of integrating AI into audiology care and diagnoses.

The Department recognises the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve patient care across a range of clinical areas, including audiology. While there is currently no dedicated programme focused solely on AI in audiology, the Government’s wider strategy for AI in health and care sets out how emerging technologies will be evaluated and adopted where they demonstrate clear benefits for patients and clinicians.Under the AI in Health and Care Award, the Department and NHS England have invested over £100 million to support real-world testing of AI technologies in high-impact areas such as diagnostics and screening. Lessons from these programmes, such as the need for robust clinical validation, regulatory compliance, and integration into National Health Service workflows will inform future consideration of AI applications in audiology.