Written questions by Evans.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for his Department's policies of the statistics, published by Sky News, showing that the Care Quality Commission has inspected 3.6% of the 67,778 concerns it received between October 2022 and 2024 about elderly care homes.

No such assessment has been made. The number of concerns raised with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), and highlighted by Sky News, include those which are being handled by another body, for example, a local authority or the police. It may also include duplicates, that is, where a number of concerns have been raised about the same incident.While not all information shared with the CQC would necessarily result in an inspection, it does inform ongoing monitoring and will result in action where there are indications that people are at risk of harm.

How many Remedial Service Statements (a) are required in total (b) have been issued to date (c) are calculated and awaiting fulfilment and (d) still outstanding.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), the scheme administrator, has identified that 381,920 remedial service statements are required for affected members who have retired. Of these, 21 statements have been issued and 393 have been calculated and are awaiting fulfilment, and 381,506 are outstanding.A revised delivery plan for remedial service statements is currently in production and will be communicated with affected individuals within the coming weeks. The Department recognises the importance of issuing the remedial service statements to members in a timely way and is working with the NHSBSA to increase delivery.

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2025 to Question 23858 on NHS Business Services Authority: Workplace Pensions, how many remedial pension savings statements (a) were required in total, (b) had been issued to date, (c) were calculated and awaiting fulfilment and (d) were still outstanding in the latest period for which data is available.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), the scheme administrator, has identified that 137,694 remedial pension savings statements are required. Of these, 60,630 statements have been calculated and issued, and 1,887 statements have been calculated and are awaiting fulfilment. The 75,177 statements outstanding include statements that require calculations and statements that require re-calculations.The NHSBSA had previously reported a higher number of statements issued due to a batch of remedial pension savings statements being categorised as “issued” when they were still undergoing their quality assurance process. The current figures only consider remedial pension savings statements as “issued” once they have passed the NHSBSA’s quality assurance and have been fulfilled.

When (a) he and (b) the Minister of State for Care last met with Community Pharmacy England.

I last met with Community Pharmacy England on 25 February 2025.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2025 to Question 23859 on General Practitioners: Recruitment, what his planned timetable is for collecting that data.

Data on numbers of general practitioners (GPs) employed through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme is not currently published. Information on the number of recently qualified GPs for which primary care networks are claiming reimbursement via the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme is currently being collated. We are working to verify the data and establish its reliability, which is necessary before any dataset can be published.

If he will publish the NHS-commissioned independent economic analysis of pharmacy funding before the conclusion of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework contract negotiations.

NHS England commissioned Frontier Economics to undertake an independent economic analysis of National Health Service pharmacy funding in 2024. Both the interim and draft final reports of the economic analysis have been shared with Ministers and Community Pharmacy England and are informing the current consultation.This work is nearing completion and will be published soon.

How many NHS appointments were lost due to strike action between July to November (a) 2023 and (b) 2024.

NHS England publishes data on the number of rescheduled appointments due to industrial action, which is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/preparedness-for-potential-industrial-action-in-the-nhs/We are pleased that a deal was agreed in summer 2024 between the Government and the British Medical Association Resident Doctors Committee bringing an end to its prolonged strike action. The Government can now work with resident doctors to get on with its mission of fixing the health service for patients, including tackling waiting lists.As set out in the Plan for Change, we have committed to return to the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment by March 2029. We have already supported this with additional investment in the Autumn Budget 2024, which has enabled us to deliver an additional two million appointments, seven months ahead of schedule.

What recent discussions he has had with the Care Quality Commission on trends in the quality of patient hospital care.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is not operationally fit for purpose and has been subject to a review from Penny Dash. It has itself commissioned reviews from Mike Richards and Vic Rayner to support recovery of the organisation. It is working at pace to improve its performance, and the Department is holding the CQC to account to ensure that it oversees safe care of patients, in all settings.Ministers regularly meet with arms-length bodies, external stakeholders and key organisations to discuss a variety of issues, including but not limited to the quality of patient hospital care. There have also been discussions with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) at official level on the trends in maternity and urgent and emergency care.Patient safety is a top priority for the Government, and the CQC plays an important role in ensuring that providers meet the standards of care expected by patients, carers, families and loved ones.

What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Care Quality Commission's ability to oversee safe care of patients in hospital premises.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is not operationally fit for purpose and has been subject to a review from Penny Dash. It has itself commissioned reviews from Mike Richards and Vic Rayner to support recovery of the organisation. It is working at pace to improve its performance, and the Department is holding the CQC to account to ensure that it oversees safe care of patients, in all settings.Ministers regularly meet with arms-length bodies, external stakeholders and key organisations to discuss a variety of issues, including but not limited to the quality of patient hospital care. There have also been discussions with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) at official level on the trends in maternity and urgent and emergency care.Patient safety is a top priority for the Government, and the CQC plays an important role in ensuring that providers meet the standards of care expected by patients, carers, families and loved ones.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that concerns raised regarding elderly care homes are dealt with appropriately.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator for health and social care in England. The CQC monitors, inspects, and regulates adult social care services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety. Where concerns on quality or safety are identified, the CQC uses the regulatory and enforcement powers it has available, and will take action to ensure the safety of the people drawing on care and support.By law, all health and social care services must have a procedure for dealing efficiently with complaints, and anyone who has seen or experienced poor-quality care has the right to complain to the organisation that provided or paid for the care. If an individual is not satisfied with the way a provider or local authority has dealt with a complaint, they may escalate it to the local government and Social Care Ombudsman who can investigate individual concerns.The CQC also encourages the public to share their experience through an online feedback mechanism which allows them to raise concerns about the services they receive from providers. Although the CQC is not able to take forward individual complaints, all information given helps protect others from going through the same experience.Following the publication of the Dash Review into the operational effectiveness of the CQC, the Department is working closely with the CQC to ensure operational performance improves, by understanding how they will be implementing their recommendations, including those for adult social care. The Government has also launched an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for his policies of the Sky News investigation into UK care homes.

These are damning reports which the Government takes incredibly seriously. Everyone deserves to live an independent, dignified life.Dr Penny Dash’s report into the operational effectiveness of the Care Quality Commission (CQC), published on 15 October 2024, showed that the CQC needs to make significant improvements.My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has asked Dr Dash to carry out a second review looking at patient safety across the health and care landscape in England, within the context of wider regulation and improvement of quality of care.The CQC has a new Chief Executive, Julian Hartley, who has a record of delivering transformational change. Julian is prioritising improvements following Dr Dash’s report and the Department is monitoring the CQC’s progress closely.

How many times the Minister for Care has met with leadership at the Care Quality Commission to discuss social care provision since July 2024.

Ministers regularly meets with external stakeholders and key organisations to discuss a variety of issues, including but not limited to social care provision. I met with the Care Quality Commission on Friday 14 March 2025.

What recent discussions he has had with leadership at the Care Quality Commission on ensuring concerns raised regarding elderly care homes are dealt with appropriately.

Ministers regularly meets with external stakeholders and key organisations to discuss a variety of issues, including but not limited to social care provision. I met with the Care Quality Commission on Friday 14 March 2025.

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2025 to Question 23858 on NHS Business Services Authority: Workplace Pensions, whether additional resources have been allocated to help tackle the backlog in remedial pension savings statements required to be issued by the NHS Business Services Authority.

The Department is working closely with the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) to ensure that issuance of remediable pension savings statements is prioritised and that affected members do not suffer financial detriment as a consequence of these delays.The NHSBSA is increasing service delivery capacity within the NHS Pensions team. They are taking measures such as overtime, recruiting additional staff, and upskilling and redeploying current staff within the organisation.

How many times he has met with the leadership of the NHS Business Service Authority since 4 July 2024.

The Minister of State for Health met with the leadership of the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) on 9 December 2024, and regular meetings are now being scheduled.As a Special Health Authority and Arm’s-Length Body of the Department, there are quarterly accountability reviews between NHSBSA leadership and Department officials. Department officials also attend the NHSBSA’s Audit and Risk Committee and Board meetings, and there is less formal engagement in the form of regular one-to-ones with senior managers.

If he will conduct a review into the performance of the NHS Business Services Authority.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) underwent an independent review in 2023 as part of the Cabinet Office led Public Body Review programme, and was assessed as ‘a high performing Arm’s-Length Body’. The review is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-business-services-authority-review-report/independent-review-of-the-nhs-business-services-authority-final-report-and-recommendationsAs a Special Health Authority and Arm’s-Length Body of the Department, performance is reviewed regularly by Departmental policy teams who sponsor individual services, and a quarterly accountability meeting is held to assess the NHSBSA’s performance across all its services.

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2025 to Question 23858 on NHS Business Services Authority: Workplace Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to help tackle the backlog.

The Department is working closely with the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) to ensure that issuance of remediable pension savings statements is prioritised and that affected members do not suffer financial detriment as a consequence of these delays.The NHSBSA is increasing service delivery capacity within the NHS Pensions team. They are taking measures such as overtime, recruiting additional staff, and upskilling and redeploying current staff within the organisation.

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2025 to Question 23852 on Surgery: Reform, which straight-to-test pathways are being considered for Community Diagnostic Centres.

The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, announced that integrated care boards (ICBs) will make optimal use of the new diagnostic capacity by implementing the new standards for Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs), in particular, increasing direct referrals and rolling out at least 10 straight-to-test pathways by March 2026.To date, NHS England has agreed three national CDC diagnostic pathways which ICBs will be expected to implement by March 2026. These are: breathlessness; children and young people’s asthma; and unscheduled bleeding on hormone replacement therapy. NHS England is working with clinicians to best determine other priority pathways in CDCs, where clinically appropriate. Implementation of these pathways will be determined by population need, and where there is a clear opportunity for improving timescales and journeys to diagnosis. As well as these three priority CDC pathways, a number of other pathway developments are underway in CDCs across the country, including: lower gastrointestinal; liver; lung; head and neck; and adult hearing loss.The Elective Reform Plan also set out clear expectations for significant elective care reform to be delivered in at least five specialties: ear nose and throat; gastroenterology; respiratory; and urology and cardiology. Clinical pathway optimisation work, including in CDCs, will centre around these.

Pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2025 to Question 23855 on General Practitioners: Hospitals, if he will publish data on the variation in the use of Advice and Guidance.

Data on the variation in Advice and Guidance by integrated care board (ICB) and provider is published monthly by NHS England and is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/outpatient-transformation/specialist-advice/Data by ICB and provider is available for the total number of requests made by general practitioners, by the number of requests that have been responded to in secondary care, known as processed requests, and by the number of processed requests that have been returned to the sender with advice for management in general practice, known as diverted requests.The proposals in the Elective Reform Plan to significantly increase Advice and Guidance were in recognition of the significant variation that exists in use, and the benefit we know it can have on patients to receive more timely care in the right place. We will be closely monitoring progress throughout 2025/26.

Pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2025 to Question 23853 on Pharmacy: Contracts, when he expects to conclude the consultation on the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework's 2025 to 2026 funding contract.

The Government recently resumed its consultation on the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework regarding funding arrangements for 2024/25 and 2025/26. As is custom and practice, we expect to announce the outcome in a joint letter to contractors in due course.