Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of the level of pay of NHS staff in Newton Abbot constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Pay for most staff employed by National Health Service organisations is set at a national level. The Government has remitted the independent NHS Pay Review Body and the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration to make recommendations on headline pay for NHS staff. Within their reports they make an assessment of the level of pay to recommend, with regard to various factors such as recruitment and retention. The process for the 2026/27 pay round is already underway, with the Department publishing its evidence to the Pay Review Bodies on 30 October.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase early detection of mouth cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
To help increase the early detection of cancer, the Government has recently launched Jess’s Rule, an initiative that asks general practitioners (GPs) to think again if, after three appointments, they have been unable to diagnose a patient, or if their symptoms have escalated.
The Department is also investing an additional £889 million in GPs, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This will help to ensure the National Health Service has a well-trained and well-equipped primary care service that can take the time to provide quality care to patients around the country.
Dentists and other dental professionals, including hygienists, routinely check the soft tissues of a patient’s mouth for signs of cancer during dental visits and as part of the check-up will make an assessment and record an individual’s oral cancer risk. Dentists will prioritise patients at a higher risk of oral cancer for more frequent recall and review in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance.
Additionally, NHS England is working in partnership with major supermarket chains to include messages about common cancer symptoms onto the packaging of relevant products. This has included specific messaging on mouth cancer symptoms on toothpaste and mouthwash packaging.
To support earlier and faster cancer diagnosis, the NHS is now delivering additional checks, tests, and scans at 170 community diagnostic centres.
Cancer incidence, including mouth cancer, is increasing. The Government is taking action, including raising awareness of signs and symptoms and focusing on prevention, such as the introduction of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce cases of mouth cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
To help increase the early detection of cancer, the Government has recently launched Jess’s Rule, an initiative that asks general practitioners (GPs) to think again if, after three appointments, they have been unable to diagnose a patient, or if their symptoms have escalated.
The Department is also investing an additional £889 million in GPs, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This will help to ensure the National Health Service has a well-trained and well-equipped primary care service that can take the time to provide quality care to patients around the country.
Dentists and other dental professionals, including hygienists, routinely check the soft tissues of a patient’s mouth for signs of cancer during dental visits and as part of the check-up will make an assessment and record an individual’s oral cancer risk. Dentists will prioritise patients at a higher risk of oral cancer for more frequent recall and review in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance.
Additionally, NHS England is working in partnership with major supermarket chains to include messages about common cancer symptoms onto the packaging of relevant products. This has included specific messaging on mouth cancer symptoms on toothpaste and mouthwash packaging.
To support earlier and faster cancer diagnosis, the NHS is now delivering additional checks, tests, and scans at 170 community diagnostic centres.
Cancer incidence, including mouth cancer, is increasing. The Government is taking action, including raising awareness of signs and symptoms and focusing on prevention, such as the introduction of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Integrated Care Boards are implementing NICE guidance on intermediate care for patients experiencing homelessness.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises the importance of ensuring that people experiencing homelessness have access to appropriate intermediate care. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guideline NG214 on integrated health and social care for people experiencing homelessness sets out clear expectations for services to be accessible and tailored to the needs of individuals experiencing homelessness. This guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng214/chapter/Recommendations#intermediate-care
The intermediate care framework, published in 2023, stipulates that intermediate care services should be available to all eligible individuals, including those experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. The intermediate care framework is available at the following link:
Guidance on discharging people at risk of or experiencing homelessness, published in 2024, further states that specialist and bespoke homeless intermediate care services should be developed in response to needs and should be integrated so that ‘mainstream’ and ‘specialist’ services work seamlessly together. The guidance on discharging people at risk of or experiencing homelessness is available at the following link:
The Better Care Fund supports local systems to integrate health, housing, and social care in ways that deliver person-centred care. One of the conditions is that Health and Wellbeing Boards are required to submit plans showing projected demand and planned capacity for intermediate care services with due regard to the need to reduce inequalities in access to and outcomes achieved by National Health Services.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients have been recruited into studies of personalised cancer vaccines as part of the Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad (CVLP) is a platform set up to accelerate the development of cancer vaccines and speed up access to mRNA personalised cancer vaccine clinical trials for cancer patients. The 10-Year Health Plan, published in July 2025, commits to delivering 10,000 cancer vaccines to patients in clinical trials over this Parliament. To date, 350 patients have been recruited through the CVLP into a personalised vaccine clinical trial. These patients have then undergone further screening as part of the trial to assess their eligibility for the cancer vaccine.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether there is a target for the number of virtual wards in the NHS across England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In October 2025, there were 12,588 virtual ward beds across England, with 10,049 being occupied by patients.
Whilst there is currently no specific national target for the number of virtual ward beds, the NHS England 2025/26 operational planning guidance includes a priority to improve access to care services at home or in the community, including virtual wards.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many virtual wards there are in the NHS across England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In October 2025, there were 12,588 virtual ward beds across England, with 10,049 being occupied by patients.
Whilst there is currently no specific national target for the number of virtual ward beds, the NHS England 2025/26 operational planning guidance includes a priority to improve access to care services at home or in the community, including virtual wards.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the target number of virtual wards is in the NHS across England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In October 2025, there were 12,588 virtual ward beds across England, with 10,049 being occupied by patients.
Whilst there is currently no specific national target for the number of virtual ward beds, the NHS England 2025/26 operational planning guidance includes a priority to improve access to care services at home or in the community, including virtual wards.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of medically fit patients occupying hospital beds due to delayed discharges.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to tackling delayed discharges.
The policy framework for the £9 billion Better Care Fund, published in January 2025, gives the National Health Service and local authorities accountability for setting and achieving joint goals for reducing discharge delays and preventing avoidable emergency admissions and care home admissions. Some areas are receiving targeted support from the Better Care Fund support programme.
The Urgent and Emergency Care plan for 2025/26 sets as a priority that hospitals should tackle the delays in patients waiting to be discharged. They should eliminate discharge delays of more than 48 hours caused by in-hospital issues, and 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.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has commissioned research into the potential impact of occupational exposure to hazardous medicinal products among nursing staff on (a) reproductive and (b) other long‑term health; and what assessment he has made of the cost to the NHS of sickness absence related to such exposure.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As per our response to questions PQ87515, PQ84145, and PQ84445 on 11 November 2025, the Government has not commissioned any research on the reproductive health outcomes or long-term health effects of the occupational exposure of nursing staff to hazardous medicinal products. No assessment has been made of the cost to the National Health Service of sickness absence related to this.