Department of Health and Social Care

Community pharmacy already plays an important role in cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention through the hypertension case finding service which offers free, walk-in blood pressure checks to over 40 year olds. Since October 2021, 40 pharmacies have delivered nearly 4.2 million blood pressure and ambulatory monitoring checks.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, community pharmacies will have a vital role in the Neighbourhood Health Service, working closely with other primary care providers at a neighbourhood level and delivering more clinical services.

NHS England continues to keep the clinical scope of pharmacy services under review. On Wednesday 25 February, the Department began the 2026/27 Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework consultation with Community Pharmacy England, to consider any proposed changes to the reimbursement and remuneration of pharmacy contractors in 2026/27. This includes reimbursement and remuneration for any current or proposed clinical services.

To support the Government’s ambition to reduce premature deaths from heart disease and stroke by 25% within a decade, we will publish a new cardiovascular disease Modern Service Framework (CVD MSF) this spring.

The Department and NHS England are engaging widely with stakeholders to co-produce the CVD MSF, ensuring that experts, people, and communities are at the heart of its development, and this has included engagement with the pharmacy sector.

The CVD MSF will focus on the interventions that will have the greatest impact on reducing premature mortality from heart disease and stroke, whilst supporting consistent, high quality and equitable care across the CVD pathway.

The Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) commitment to support United Kingdom businesses in meeting European Union regulatory requirements for food-grade recycled plastics is not a deregulatory policy. It reflects a facilitative and proportionate approach that supports economic growth and international trade while maintaining high standards of food safety.

Following the UK’s exit from the European Union, EU requirements for food grade recycled plastics do not apply directly in Great Britain as domestic law. However, they apply in practice where UK operators choose to place recycled plastic food contact materials, or food packaged in such materials, on the EU market. In Northern Ireland, relevant EU food contact materials legislation continues to apply under the Windsor Framework, including the EU rules on recycled plastic food contact materials.

The EU regulation on recycled plastic food contact materials requires specified “national authority” functions to be carried out. These functions are obligatory to support Northern Ireland-based operators in achieving full compliance with EU law. The FSA, together with Food Standards Scotland, has committed to act as the competent authority for food grade recycled plastic in respect of UK operators, enabling Northern Ireland obligations to be met and supporting Great Britain-based operators where they choose to access the EU market.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is carrying out research to understand if there are potential health risks from exposure to micro and nano plastics through inhalational and oral routes. This work is in collaboration with Imperial College under the Health Protection Research Unit Environmental Exposures and Health. These research projects assist in the understanding of the potential risks from exposure to micro- and nano plastics through inhalational and oral routes and enhance UKHSA capability in understanding the risks from microplastics.

The potential impact of microplastic materials on human health has been assessed by the UK Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment. The most recent statement was published in 2024 and can be found at the following link:

https://cot.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2024-02/Microplastics%20inhalation%20final%20draft%20statement%20Acc%20V%20SO.pdf

In October 2025, the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants published a statement summarising the evidence for a potential risk to health from exposure to airborne nano- and microplastics, and the uncertainty and gaps in this evidence. This statement can be found on the GOV.UK website at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/comeap-statement-on-airborne-nano-and-microplastic-particles-and-fibres

The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The primary aim of the national COVID-19 vaccination programme remains the prevention of serious illness, resulting in hospitalisations and deaths, arising from COVID-19.

The focus of the JCVI advised programme is targeted vaccination of the two groups who continue to be at higher risk of serious disease, including mortality. These are older adults and individuals who are immunosuppressed.

Health is largely devolved and decisions about the organisation and delivery of vaccination services, including who to vaccinate, are matters for each nation to decide. For England, the Government has accepted the JCVI advice for spring 2026 and in line with the advice, a COVID-19 vaccination is being offered to the following groups:

- adults aged 75 years old and over;

- residents in care homes for older adults; and

- individuals aged six months old and over who are immunosuppressed.

The COVID-19 chapter of the UK Health Security Agency Green Book on vaccination and immunisation sets out details of who should be included in these categories. The eligibility criteria for immunosuppression include immunosuppression due to disease or treatment. This includes patients undergoing chemotherapy leading to immunosuppression and patients undergoing radical radiotherapy.

As with all vaccination programmes, the JCVI continues to keep the COVID-19 vaccination programme under review.

The Department supports the use of validated laboratory methods to ensure accurate diagnosis, effective treatment, and robust surveillance, while encouraging the development and adoption of suitable alternatives where these can be used safely and effectively. These methods and alternatives include:

- bacterial culture, in which animal blood‑enriched agar is commonly used in clinical laboratories to help bacteria grow so that infections can be identified accurately. Some bacteria require enriched growth conditions, and the appearance of the growth on these media can help distinguish between different types of bacteria;

- antimicrobial susceptibility testing, where, in certain cases, blood‑enriched agar is required to test whether specific bacteria remain sensitive to particular antibiotics. This ensures that test results are reliable and supports clinicians in choosing the most effective treatment for patients;

- antimicrobial resistance surveillance, where laboratory results are generated using established culture and susceptibility testing methods, including blood‑enriched agar where clinically appropriate, contribute to national antimicrobial resistance surveillance. This information helps monitor resistance trends and informs public health policy and clinical guidance; and

- the recent meningitis outbreak, during which blood‑enriched agar was used, as a standard laboratory medium, in the identification of bacteria that can cause meningitis. It forms part of routine diagnostic and public health laboratory practice and supports the timely confirmation and investigation of cases during outbreaks. During the recent outbreak, such media formed part of the standard range of laboratory methods available to support diagnosis where clinically appropriate.

The Government is aware of the need for robust digital case management systems to identify, monitor, and track individuals who are at risk or who are living with cardiovascular disease.

As stated in the 10-Year Health Plan, to accelerate progress on the Government’s ambition to reduce premature mortality from heart disease and stroke by 25% in the next 10 years, a new Cardiovascular Disease Modern Service Framework will be published in spring. The framework will support consistent, high quality, and equitable care, whilst fostering innovation across the cardiovascular disease pathway in line with the Government’s three key shifts, from hospital to community, from sickness to prevention, and from analogue to digital.

We are engaging with key stakeholders, including National Health Service leaders, on priorities for the modern service framework, such as the role digital case management systems could play to support efforts to tackle cardiovascular disease.

The Government is aware of the need for robust digital case management systems to identify, monitor, and track individuals who are at risk or who are living with cardiovascular disease.

As stated in the 10-Year Health Plan, to accelerate progress on the Government’s ambition to reduce premature mortality from heart disease and stroke by 25% in the next 10 years, a new Cardiovascular Disease Modern Service Framework will be published in spring. The framework will support consistent, high quality, and equitable care, whilst fostering innovation across the cardiovascular disease pathway in line with the Government’s three key shifts, from hospital to community, from sickness to prevention, and from analogue to digital.

We are engaging with key stakeholders, including National Health Service leaders, on priorities for the modern service framework, such as the role digital case management systems could play to support efforts to tackle cardiovascular disease.

We are aware of the need for robust digital case management systems to identify, monitor, and track individuals who are at risk or are living with cardiovascular disease, including opportunities systems such as the Pedigree and Cascade Screening System may present.

To accelerate progress on the Government’s ambition to reduce premature mortality from heart disease and stroke by 25% in the next ten years, a new Cardiovascular Disease Modern Service Framework will be published in spring. The framework will support consistent, high quality, and equitable care, whilst fostering innovation across the cardiovascular disease pathway.

We are engaging with key stakeholders, including National Health Service leaders, on priorities for the modern service frameworks, to support efforts to tackle cardiovascular disease.

NHS England commissions the specialised elements of motor neurone disease (MND) care that patients may receive from 27 specialised neurology centres across England. Within these specialised centres, neurological multidisciplinary teams ensure that patients can access a range of health professionals and specialised treatment and support, according to their needs.  In August 2025, NHS England updated its service specification for specialised adult neurology services. It outlines a number of minimum service requirements for key specialties, including neuromuscular disorders like MND.

At the national level, there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with MND, including the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Programme for Neurology and the RightCare Progressive Neurological Conditions Toolkit.  The GIRFT Programme has produced a Further Faster handbook for neurology, which provides resources and best practice guidance to help support clinical teams go faster and further in reducing neurology waiting times, including for patients with MND.

Neurology waiting times are coming down. Between December 2024 and December 2025, the average waiting time for neurology services was reduced from 16.2 to 15.2 weeks. Additionally, 57% of patients referred were seen within 18 weeks, up from 54.2% at the same point last year. We are continuing efforts to improve this, recognising this is a challenged specialty.

Baroness Casey has set out that the Government must take immediate action on MND. Where someone has a severe, reasonably predictable, and life-limiting condition, it is essential that we provide rapid access to the support they need, and we will take forward immediate work to develop a fast-track process, or “passport”, that speeds up assessments and access to care for people diagnosed with MND. We will consider how best to safely implement a process that expedites assessments and gets people with MND the care and support they need more quickly.

NHS England commissions the specialised elements of motor neurone disease (MND) care that patients may receive from 27 specialised neurology centres across England. Within these specialised centres, neurological multidisciplinary teams ensure that patients can access a range of health professionals and specialised treatment and support, according to their needs.  In August 2025, NHS England updated its service specification for specialised adult neurology services. It outlines a number of minimum service requirements for key specialties, including neuromuscular disorders like MND.

At the national level, there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with MND, including the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Programme for Neurology and the RightCare Progressive Neurological Conditions Toolkit.  The GIRFT Programme has produced a Further Faster handbook for neurology, which provides resources and best practice guidance to help support clinical teams go faster and further in reducing neurology waiting times, including for patients with MND.

Neurology waiting times are coming down. Between December 2024 and December 2025, the average waiting time for neurology services was reduced from 16.2 to 15.2 weeks. Additionally, 57% of patients referred were seen within 18 weeks, up from 54.2% at the same point last year. We are continuing efforts to improve this, recognising this is a challenged specialty.

Baroness Casey has set out that the Government must take immediate action on MND. Where someone has a severe, reasonably predictable, and life-limiting condition, it is essential that we provide rapid access to the support they need, and we will take forward immediate work to develop a fast-track process, or “passport”, that speeds up assessments and access to care for people diagnosed with MND. We will consider how best to safely implement a process that expedites assessments and gets people with MND the care and support they need more quickly.

NHS England is focused on improving long‑term, holistic follow‑up and rehabilitation after cardiac arrest. In December 2024, to support local systems to commission high quality cardiac rehabilitation, NHS England published Commissioning standards for cardiac rehabilitation, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/commissioning-standards-for-cardiovascular-rehabilitation/

Access to prescribed medicines is determined through existing medicines and prescribing policy.

The Department is committed to improving outcomes and experiences of children and young people with cancer and recognises the importance of supporting and maintaining their right to play in healthcare settings.

The NHS England and Starlight Play Well Toolkit, published in June 2025, includes the first national guidelines and standards for commissioning and delivering health play services in England. It aims to improve access to child-friendly care and specialised health play services across paediatric healthcare.

Through the National Cancer Plan, the Department will improve the experience of staying in hospital for children and young people with cancer. More tangibly, the Department is committed to ensure uptake of NHS England and Starlight’s Play Well toolkit across regions and integrated care boards. This ensures young cancer patients have access to activities and therapeutic care that support their emotional wellbeing.

In addition, NHS England is promoting the toolkit to managers of health play services across a wide range of settings, including community clinics, emergency departments, children’s hospices, and acute paediatric wards. The toolkit provides clear guidance on supporting practical training and mentorship in healthcare settings.

Operators of Food Standards Agency (FSA) approved slaughterhouses may use any legally permitted method of slaughter to meet their customer needs, provided all relevant legislative and animal welfare requirements are met. There is no legal requirement for operators to seek approval from the FSA for a particular slaughter method. As a result, slaughterhouses may lawfully carry out stunned slaughter, non‑stunned slaughter, or a combination of both.

The FSA does not record Official Veterinarian or Official Auxiliary time, associated costs, or enforcement activity by slaughter method. Consequently, the FSA does not hold data that would allow a direct comparison between stunned and non‑stunned slaughter in respect of supervision time, inspection or enforcement costs, or animal welfare non‑compliances.

Data regarding the volume of meat resulting from animals slaughtered without stunning is not collected.

Operators of Food Standards Agency (FSA) approved slaughterhouses may use any legally permitted method of slaughter to meet their customer needs, provided all relevant legislative and animal welfare requirements are met. There is no legal requirement for operators to seek approval from the FSA for a particular slaughter method. As a result, slaughterhouses may lawfully carry out stunned slaughter, non‑stunned slaughter, or a combination of both.

The FSA does not record Official Veterinarian or Official Auxiliary time, associated costs, or enforcement activity by slaughter method. Consequently, the FSA does not hold data that would allow a direct comparison between stunned and non‑stunned slaughter in respect of supervision time, inspection or enforcement costs, or animal welfare non‑compliances.

Data regarding the volume of meat resulting from animals slaughtered without stunning is not collected.

Operators of Food Standards Agency (FSA) approved slaughterhouses may use any legally permitted method of slaughter to meet their customer needs, provided all relevant legislative and animal welfare requirements are met. There is no legal requirement for operators to seek approval from the FSA for a particular slaughter method. As a result, slaughterhouses may lawfully carry out stunned slaughter, non‑stunned slaughter, or a combination of both.

The FSA does not record Official Veterinarian or Official Auxiliary time, associated costs, or enforcement activity by slaughter method. Consequently, the FSA does not hold data that would allow a direct comparison between stunned and non‑stunned slaughter in respect of supervision time, inspection or enforcement costs, or animal welfare non‑compliances.

Data regarding the volume of meat resulting from animals slaughtered without stunning is not collected.

Operators of Food Standards Agency (FSA) approved slaughterhouses may use any legally permitted method of slaughter to meet their customer needs, provided all relevant legislative and animal welfare requirements are met. There is no legal requirement for operators to seek approval from the FSA for a particular slaughter method. As a result, slaughterhouses may lawfully carry out stunned slaughter, non‑stunned slaughter, or a combination of both.

The FSA does not record Official Veterinarian or Official Auxiliary time, associated costs, or enforcement activity by slaughter method. Consequently, the FSA does not hold data that would allow a direct comparison between stunned and non‑stunned slaughter in respect of supervision time, inspection or enforcement costs, or animal welfare non‑compliances.

Data regarding the volume of meat resulting from animals slaughtered without stunning is not collected.

The number of health visits which must be offered to families in England has remained the same since 2015, with additional support provided according to need. Families must be offered at least five health visits, with four of these taking place post birth.

Health visiting service delivery data for England is published annually. The latest published data shows that, at a national level, a greater percentage of children received each post-birth health visit in 2024/25 compared to 2023/24, with the datasets and statistical commentaries available at the following two links:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/health-visitor-service-delivery-metrics-april-2023-to-march-2024-annual-2023-to-2024

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/health-visitor-service-delivery-data-for-2024-to-2025

However, we recognise there is unwarranted regional variation in delivery, and we are working to reduce this. In line with the Government’s commitment to strengthening health visiting, set out in the Best Start in Life Strategy, we have recently published refreshed guidance for the Healthy Child Programme, which specifies requirements for health visiting services, in order to strengthen delivery and promote consistency in service quality. We are working closely with regional colleagues to support the implementation of this guidance across the country.

Weight loss medicines are available through National Health Service specialist weight management services and, from June 2025 tirzepatide, brand name Mounjaro, is being made available in primary care through a phased approach.

In specialist services, patients receive wraparound care from a multidisciplinary team providing nutritional, psychological, and medical support, tailored to individual need. In primary care, clinical oversight is provided by general practitioners and other prescribing healthcare professionals, with behavioural support delivered through locally commissioned services or via the national Healthier You: NHS Behavioural Support for Obesity Prescribing service.

NHS England does not routinely hold information on the specific professional groups included in local clinical pathways. National guidance to support prescribing and clinical oversight includes:

• the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Technology Appraisal 1026 Tirzepatide for managing overweight and obesity;
• NICE’s Practical guide to using medicines to manage overweight and obesity; and
• NHS England’s interim commissioning guidance.

Integrated care boards are responsible for ensuring robust clinical governance of these pathways.

The Government has a commitment to ban the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under 16 years old. This has been subject to a consultation which we ran for 12-weeks from 3 September to 26 November 2025.

In the consultation, we proposed using powers under the Food Safety Act 1990 to introduce the ban, to protect children’s health, and reduce health inequalities from the negative outcomes associated with high-caffeine energy drink consumption.

We considered the range of available evidence when developing the proposals. Our assessment is available in the consultation document, with further detail set out in the accompanying impact assessment. The impact assessment includes consideration of devolved governments’ policy on high-caffeine energy drinks.

The impact assessment also estimates the impact of our proposals, including on the vending sector. The Department engaged with relevant stakeholders, including representatives for the vending sector, to inform this. If additional information or evidence provided through the consultation or published online becomes available, we will update our final impact assessment.

The Government is considering all consultation responses and will publish its response in due course.

Any legislation proposed following the consultation outcome would depend on ministerial decisions following the consultation, impact assessment requirements, and the necessary parliamentary scrutiny.

The Government has a commitment to ban the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under 16 years old. This has been subject to a consultation which we ran for 12-weeks from 3 September to 26 November 2025.

In the consultation, we proposed using powers under the Food Safety Act 1990 to introduce the ban, to protect children’s health, and reduce health inequalities from the negative outcomes associated with high-caffeine energy drink consumption.

We considered the range of available evidence when developing the proposals. Our assessment is available in the consultation document, with further detail set out in the accompanying impact assessment. The impact assessment includes consideration of devolved governments’ policy on high-caffeine energy drinks.

The impact assessment also estimates the impact of our proposals, including on the vending sector. The Department engaged with relevant stakeholders, including representatives for the vending sector, to inform this. If additional information or evidence provided through the consultation or published online becomes available, we will update our final impact assessment.

The Government is considering all consultation responses and will publish its response in due course.

Any legislation proposed following the consultation outcome would depend on ministerial decisions following the consultation, impact assessment requirements, and the necessary parliamentary scrutiny.

The Government has a commitment to ban the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under 16 years old. This has been subject to a consultation which we ran for 12-weeks from 3 September to 26 November 2025.

In the consultation, we proposed using powers under the Food Safety Act 1990 to introduce the ban, to protect children’s health, and reduce health inequalities from the negative outcomes associated with high-caffeine energy drink consumption.

We considered the range of available evidence when developing the proposals. Our assessment is available in the consultation document, with further detail set out in the accompanying impact assessment. The impact assessment includes consideration of devolved governments’ policy on high-caffeine energy drinks.

The impact assessment also estimates the impact of our proposals, including on the vending sector. The Department engaged with relevant stakeholders, including representatives for the vending sector, to inform this. If additional information or evidence provided through the consultation or published online becomes available, we will update our final impact assessment.

The Government is considering all consultation responses and will publish its response in due course.

Any legislation proposed following the consultation outcome would depend on ministerial decisions following the consultation, impact assessment requirements, and the necessary parliamentary scrutiny.

The Government and the National Health Service are taking crucial steps to improve cancer experience for patients across England, including for bowel cancer.

NHS England aims to empower individuals with choice and control over their health and care through personalised care, focusing on promoting independence, good health, and well-being. This includes provision of information, empowering people to manage their care and the impact of their cancer. Where appropriate, every person diagnosed with bowel cancer will have access to personalised care, including a needs assessment, a care plan, and health and wellbeing information and support.

The recently published National Cancer Plan aims to redesign cancer services around people’s lives, not just around hospitals, recognising that more people are living for longer with and beyond cancer and need ongoing, coordinated support. We will ensure patients have a named neighbourhood lead to help coordinate their care locally, working alongside hospital specialists to provide continuity, reduce fragmentation, and make it easier for people to navigate services. More cancer care and support will be delivered closer to home, including a universal digital-first prehabilitation offer, expanded supportive oncology, greater use of virtual monitoring, and growing opportunities for treatment and follow-up in community settings where safe and appropriate.

The Government is determined to cut waiting times and improve outcomes for all cancers, including bowel cancer. The National Cancer Plan was published on 4 February 2026, which will ensure that three in every four people diagnosed with cancer are either cancer‑free or living well five years after diagnosis.

Early diagnosis is a key priority and the plan commits to develop and deliver more proactive approaches to identifying people at risk of cancer through symptomatic case finding, additional support for general practitioners (GPs), and genomic testing. The Department will continue to support the Gateway C digital training platform, and a new generation of digital support tools will help to flag concerning symptoms or test results to GPs for all cancers. As part of this, NHS England will pilot an incentive which encourages the use of electronic safety netting to increase the number of people who complete checks for bowel cancer.

Further actions to improve early diagnosis of bowel cancer includes rolling out increased faecal immunochemical test sensitivity aimed at catching more cancers earlier. The programme, with lowered threshold and combined with increased uptake, will deliver 17,000 earlier diagnoses by 2035.

The NHS Bowel Cancer screening Programme already offers people aged 50 to 74 years old screening every two years. The programme is undergoing several updates to its standards aimed at improving coverage, accessibility, and early detection. This includes updated performance thresholds, and improved accessibility of bowel cancer screening kits.

The NHS Cancer Programme commissioned the Royal College of Surgeons to deliver new cancer clinical audits, which included an audit for bowel cancer, with the aim to strengthen cancer services by looking at all treatments and patient outcomes across England and Wales and reduce inequalities across the country.

Finally, on raising awareness, NHS England also runs national campaigns, most recently in early 2025, to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms, address barriers to acting on them, and to encourage people to see their GP as soon as possible if they notice a change in their health. The campaigns cover bowel cancer and have focused on increasing awareness of a range of symptoms, as well as encouraging general body awareness, to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers at an earlier point.

The Government is determined to cut waiting times and improve outcomes for all cancers, including bowel cancer. The National Cancer Plan was published on 4 February 2026, which will ensure that three in every four people diagnosed with cancer are either cancer‑free or living well five years after diagnosis.

Early diagnosis is a key priority and the plan commits to develop and deliver more proactive approaches to identifying people at risk of cancer through symptomatic case finding, additional support for general practitioners (GPs), and genomic testing. The Department will continue to support the Gateway C digital training platform, and a new generation of digital support tools will help to flag concerning symptoms or test results to GPs for all cancers. As part of this, NHS England will pilot an incentive which encourages the use of electronic safety netting to increase the number of people who complete checks for bowel cancer.

Further actions to improve early diagnosis of bowel cancer includes rolling out increased faecal immunochemical test sensitivity aimed at catching more cancers earlier. The programme, with lowered threshold and combined with increased uptake, will deliver 17,000 earlier diagnoses by 2035.

The NHS Bowel Cancer screening Programme already offers people aged 50 to 74 years old screening every two years. The programme is undergoing several updates to its standards aimed at improving coverage, accessibility, and early detection. This includes updated performance thresholds, and improved accessibility of bowel cancer screening kits.

The NHS Cancer Programme commissioned the Royal College of Surgeons to deliver new cancer clinical audits, which included an audit for bowel cancer, with the aim to strengthen cancer services by looking at all treatments and patient outcomes across England and Wales and reduce inequalities across the country.

Finally, on raising awareness, NHS England also runs national campaigns, most recently in early 2025, to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms, address barriers to acting on them, and to encourage people to see their GP as soon as possible if they notice a change in their health. The campaigns cover bowel cancer and have focused on increasing awareness of a range of symptoms, as well as encouraging general body awareness, to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers at an earlier point.

Well-established cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors such as smoking, excess weight, diabetes, and heart failure are also associated with an increased risk of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and the Government is taking wide-ranging action to tackle these underlying risk factors. This includes delivering a smokefree generation through the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, expanding access to weight management support through National Health Services, and investing in prevention and treatment programmes such as the NHS Digital Weight Management Programme and the Healthier You NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme, which support people to reduce their risk of developing CVD and related conditions.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will publish a new CVD Modern Service Framework (CVD MSF) this spring. The CVD MSF will focus on the interventions that will have the greatest impact on reducing premature mortality from heart disease and stroke in the next decade, whilst supporting consistent, high quality, and equitable care across the CVD pathway.

On World AIDS Day, 1 December 2025, the Department published the new HIV Action Plan, which was developed in collaboration with the UK Health Security Agency and NHS England. The plan is backed by over £170 million in funding and sets out five core priorities needed to reach our ambition to end new HIV transmissions within England by 2030. One of these priorities is to address stigma and improve the quality of life for people living with HIV, highlighting several initiatives health and care organisations can join to tackle stigma and discrimination.

This includes HIV Confident, a national initiative led jointly by the National AIDS Trust, aidsmap, Positively UK, and Fast Track Cities, which provides a charter mark for businesses and organisations to ensure that people living with HIV can work for them and access any services they provide with confidence.

NHS England also promotes an e-learning module, Tackling HIV Stigma and Discrimination, available via the NHS Learning Hub and Electronic Staff Record, aimed at equipping healthcare professionals to explore and counter stigma and discrimination in clinical settings.

Currently, NHS England promotes and funds HIV peer support services in the Blood Borne Virus (BBV) emergency department opt-out testing programme, recognising the role of lived-experience facilitators in reducing isolation and stigma. NHS England is in the process of commissioning new HIV anti‑stigma training as part of delivery of the HIV Action Plan, for trusts participating in the BBV emergency department opt‑out testing programme.

The action plan also includes actions for local and regional partners to ensure all health and social care staff have the right knowledge on HIV and can tackle stigma and discrimination. This includes encouraging commissioned services to implement HIV anti-stigma and discrimination training and ensuring staff receive training on HIV awareness, stigma reduction and inclusive care by embedding HIV education into workforce development programmes, safeguarding training, and induction processes.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Yeovil on 30 March 2026 to Question 122582.

The Health Data Research Service (HDRS) will deliver a single point of access to health data from multiple sources which will bring new treatments and cures to patients by safely enabling the use of patient data to super-charge research.

Over the past year a Department led team, with support from the Office for Life Science and NHS England colleagues, has been working to set up the service.

HDRS is being established as a Government Company, and Dr Melanie Ivarsson has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer and Baroness Nicola Blackwood as Chair. Work is now underway to incorporate and develop the service to ensure it is up and running as quickly as possible to deliver benefits for patients and researchers.

We are committed to the service being operational by December 2026, with new capabilities being progressively rolled out.

Government responsibility for delivering motor neurone disease (MND) research is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation, primarily by the Medical Research Council.

The Government is investing in MND research across a range of areas, including possible treatments. For example, the MND Translational Accelerator, supported by £6 million of Government funding, has twelve projects all aimed at speeding up the development of treatments for MND.

The NIHR has also invested £8 million into EXPERTS-ALS, a pre-clinical study which is designed to accelerate the identification and testing of the most promising treatment candidates for treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the most common form of MND. This will connect to the later phase platform trial, MND SMART.

In August 2025, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency approved Tofersen to treat SOD1-ALS, a rare form of MND. Research into Tofersen was supported by NIHR’s Sheffield Biomedical Research Centre, and all three trial phases were delivered by the NIHR’s Research Delivery Network, demonstrating tangible impact of NIHR funded research into MND.

The NIHR continues to welcome high quality applications for research into MND. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to the public and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.

Welcoming applications on MND to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.

The Department is aware of the discontinuation of hydrocortisone sodium phosphate 100 milligram/one millilitre solution for injection, and we continue to work with industry to find a longer-term solution.

Hydrocortisone sodium succinate 100 milligram powder and solvent for solution for injection vials remains available for patients. We have issued comprehensive management guidance to healthcare professionals on how to manage patients while supply is disrupted. The guidance highlighted the differences between the two hydrocortisone injections. It also included resources for patients and healthcare professionals on how to administer the alternative hydrocortisone injection.

We also understand that The Addison’s Self Help Group have also published information on this discontinuation to keep patients informed along with resources for patients on how to administer the alternative hydrocortisone.

Children and young people’s hospices will receive at least £26 million, adjusted for inflation, in revenue funding for 2026/27. NHS England has recently communicated the details of this funding allocation and dissemination to 35 individual children and young people’s hospices, and their respective integrated care boards, although the Department is not yet in a position to share those individual allocations publicly.

Communication regarding future allocations, in 2027/28 and 2028/29, will be sent once the 2026/27 process is complete.

Additionally, we have supported the hospice sector in England with a £125 million capital funding boost for adult, and children and young people’s, hospices to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.

Most modern electrocardiogram (ECG) machines already include algorithm-based decision support to assist with interpretation and to generate an automated report. As with all diagnostic tests, any automated output must be interpreted by a suitably qualified clinician in the context of the individual patient’s clinical presentation. The Government is engaging with partners developing enhanced ECG technologies, to support wider adoption as evidence and readiness allow.

The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure that the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it. We are working through how the 10 Year Workforce Plan will articulate the changes for different professional groups. The plan will be published in spring 2026.

As of January 2026, there are 5,624 full time equivalent (FTE) dietitians in NHS trusts and other core organisations in England. This is 220 (4.1%) more than last year, 1,040 (22.7%) than 2021, and 2,321 (70.3%) more than in 2010.

As of 12 April 2026, there are 1,124 patients waiting more than 52 weeks for treatment of cataracts within the National Health Service in England.

As set out in the Plan for Change and the Elective Reform Plan, we are committed to returning by March 2029 to the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment. As part of this ambition, we are continuing to encourage and support providers to reduce waits for patients who have waited longest for treatment.

The Elective Reform Plan also provides a range of measures to improve the experience of care for patients, including those experiencing long waits. This includes engaging with patients and carers to publish a set of minimum standards that patients can expect to experience in elective care.

We know that improving access to general practice (GP) services is key for all patients, including those with long-term conditions, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

In England, we have invested £160 million into the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme to support the recruitment of over 2,000 individual GPs into primary care networks (PCNs) across England, helping to increase appointment availability and improve care for thousands of patients. We are also introducing a practice-level GP reimbursement scheme using £292 million of repurposed funding from the current Capacity and Access Payment. This funding will be available to practices to hire additional GPs or fund more sessions with existing GPs to improve access in GPs

The Government will bring back the family doctor for those who would benefit from seeing the same clinician regularly, for example, those living with chronic illness, such as COPD. In the 2026/27 GP Contract we will make it a core requirement for PCNs to identify and prioritise cohorts for continuity of care using risk stratification tools as part of their core activities. This will make continuity a core expectation within primary care and support future work to embed more meaningful continuity models in subsequent contract reform.

As a result of all our measures, we've delivered 8.3 million more GP appointments, and Office for National Statistics data shows that nearly three quarters of patients now report a good experience with their GP.

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring timely and equitable access to heart and lung transplantation services and of improving patient outcomes.

Access to transplantation is based on nationally agreed clinical criteria, with organs allocated through a national system managed by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) to ensure equity according to clinical need. NHSBT publishes data annually on access and outcomes in its organ-specific reports, which are available at the following link:

https://www.odt.nhs.uk/statistics-and-reports/annual-activity-report/

This data shows good overall post-transplant survival rates, alongside some variation between centres. In addition, the data shows no evidence of geographical variation beyond chance for heart and lung transplantation rates, and some variation in lung registration rates. Further work is needed to understand and address unwarranted variation in access to transplantation.

Variation in patient outcomes, including longer‑term survival and listing outcomes, are reviewed through established NHSBT and NHS England clinical governance processes, including routine outcome review and centre‑specific follow‑up where indicated. The National Transplant Clinical Panel has been established to provide expert clinical interpretation of transplant outcome data to support oversight where issues of statistical variation are identified.

To improve access and outcomes, NHS England has established a national improvement programme, informed by the Implementation Steering Group for Organ Utilisation’s Cardiothoracic Information Collation Exercise. This programme, alongside NHS England’s commissioning structures, includes work to improve referral pathways, organ utilisation, and service consistency, through strengthened peer review processes, an audit of organ acceptance practices, and work with transplant centres to support consistent decision-making. Further information on NHS England’s national improvement programme and the Implementation Steering Group for Organ Utilisation’s Cardiothoracic Information Collation Exercise is available, respectively, at the following two links:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/blog/from-ambition-to-action-improving-heart-and-lung-transplant-services-in-england/

https://nhsbtdbe.blob.core.windows.net/umbraco-assets-corp/34815/report-on-uk-heart-and-lung-transplantation-services.pdf

While progress has been made, including increases in transplant activity and reductions in waiting lists, NHS England continues to work with partners to ensure services are consistent, resilient, and able to meet patient need across the country.

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring timely and equitable access to heart and lung transplantation services and of improving patient outcomes.

Access to transplantation is based on nationally agreed clinical criteria, with organs allocated through a national system managed by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) to ensure equity according to clinical need. NHSBT publishes data annually on access and outcomes in its organ-specific reports, which are available at the following link:

https://www.odt.nhs.uk/statistics-and-reports/annual-activity-report/

This data shows good overall post-transplant survival rates, alongside some variation between centres. In addition, the data shows no evidence of geographical variation beyond chance for heart and lung transplantation rates, and some variation in lung registration rates. Further work is needed to understand and address unwarranted variation in access to transplantation.

Variation in patient outcomes, including longer‑term survival and listing outcomes, are reviewed through established NHSBT and NHS England clinical governance processes, including routine outcome review and centre‑specific follow‑up where indicated. The National Transplant Clinical Panel has been established to provide expert clinical interpretation of transplant outcome data to support oversight where issues of statistical variation are identified.

To improve access and outcomes, NHS England has established a national improvement programme, informed by the Implementation Steering Group for Organ Utilisation’s Cardiothoracic Information Collation Exercise. This programme, alongside NHS England’s commissioning structures, includes work to improve referral pathways, organ utilisation, and service consistency, through strengthened peer review processes, an audit of organ acceptance practices, and work with transplant centres to support consistent decision-making. Further information on NHS England’s national improvement programme and the Implementation Steering Group for Organ Utilisation’s Cardiothoracic Information Collation Exercise is available, respectively, at the following two links:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/blog/from-ambition-to-action-improving-heart-and-lung-transplant-services-in-england/

https://nhsbtdbe.blob.core.windows.net/umbraco-assets-corp/34815/report-on-uk-heart-and-lung-transplantation-services.pdf

While progress has been made, including increases in transplant activity and reductions in waiting lists, NHS England continues to work with partners to ensure services are consistent, resilient, and able to meet patient need across the country.

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring timely and equitable access to heart and lung transplantation services and of improving patient outcomes.

Access to transplantation is based on nationally agreed clinical criteria, with organs allocated through a national system managed by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) to ensure equity according to clinical need. NHSBT publishes data annually on access and outcomes in its organ-specific reports, which are available at the following link:

https://www.odt.nhs.uk/statistics-and-reports/annual-activity-report/

This data shows good overall post-transplant survival rates, alongside some variation between centres. In addition, the data shows no evidence of geographical variation beyond chance for heart and lung transplantation rates, and some variation in lung registration rates. Further work is needed to understand and address unwarranted variation in access to transplantation.

Variation in patient outcomes, including longer‑term survival and listing outcomes, are reviewed through established NHSBT and NHS England clinical governance processes, including routine outcome review and centre‑specific follow‑up where indicated. The National Transplant Clinical Panel has been established to provide expert clinical interpretation of transplant outcome data to support oversight where issues of statistical variation are identified.

To improve access and outcomes, NHS England has established a national improvement programme, informed by the Implementation Steering Group for Organ Utilisation’s Cardiothoracic Information Collation Exercise. This programme, alongside NHS England’s commissioning structures, includes work to improve referral pathways, organ utilisation, and service consistency, through strengthened peer review processes, an audit of organ acceptance practices, and work with transplant centres to support consistent decision-making. Further information on NHS England’s national improvement programme and the Implementation Steering Group for Organ Utilisation’s Cardiothoracic Information Collation Exercise is available, respectively, at the following two links:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/blog/from-ambition-to-action-improving-heart-and-lung-transplant-services-in-england/

https://nhsbtdbe.blob.core.windows.net/umbraco-assets-corp/34815/report-on-uk-heart-and-lung-transplantation-services.pdf

While progress has been made, including increases in transplant activity and reductions in waiting lists, NHS England continues to work with partners to ensure services are consistent, resilient, and able to meet patient need across the country.

A range of actions support the provision of appropriate oral health education to patients with systemic conditions such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. For example, the Delivering Better Oral Health guidance, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/delivering-better-oral-health-an-evidence-based-toolkit-for-prevention

This guidance is a key resource for the oral health profession to address risk factors for cardiovascular disease such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and healthier eating. Oral health education should also be embedded in diabetes care pathways, to include educational programmes and oral health team members delivering patient education and motivation, alongside clinical management. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/commissioning-standard-dental-care-for-people-with-diabetes/

Within hospitals, the Mouth Care Matters programme supports the oral health of patients, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.hee.nhs.uk/our-work/oral-health

In addition to this existing support, the Government is committed to reforming the dental contract by the end of this Parliament, with a focus on promoting prevention, matching resources to need, improving access, and rewarding dentists fairly, while enabling the whole dental team to work to the top of their capability.

The Government is committed to giving patients greater control and choice over their care. Patients have a legal right to choose where they go for their first appointment when referred to consultant-led care as an outpatient.

The Elective Reform Plan, published January 2025, sets out plans to improve patient choice, empowering people to take control of their health by making the NHS App and Manage Your Referral website the default route for patients to choose their provider. We are improving the information available to patients, such as waiting times. The 10-Year Health Plan sets out a transformed vision for elective care, that will ensure the National Health Service is receptive and reactive to patient preference, voice, and choice.

In May 2023, NHS England asked all referrers to ensure they shortlist on average five choices from which the patient may choose, where this is practicable, clinically appropriate, and preferred by the patient. Integrated care boards have responsibility to ensure that their patients are aware of the choices available to them and are able to exercise their legal right to choose a provider following an elective care referral, and this is underpinned in Part 8 of the NHS Standing Rules, which are available at the following link:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/2996/part/8

NHS England has regulatory oversight responsibilities to ensure patient choice operates effectively in the NHS and has published Patient Choice Guidance, which includes guidance for referrers, and which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/patient-choice-guidance/

The Government is committed to giving patients greater control and choice over their care. Patients have a legal right to choose where they go for their first appointment when referred to consultant-led care as an outpatient.

The Elective Reform Plan, published January 2025, sets out plans to improve patient choice, empowering people to take control of their health by making the NHS App and Manage Your Referral website the default route for patients to choose their provider. We are improving the information available to patients, such as waiting times. The 10-Year Health Plan sets out a transformed vision for elective care, that will ensure the National Health Service is receptive and reactive to patient preference, voice, and choice.

In May 2023, NHS England asked all referrers to ensure they shortlist on average five choices from which the patient may choose, where this is practicable, clinically appropriate, and preferred by the patient. Integrated care boards have responsibility to ensure that their patients are aware of the choices available to them and are able to exercise their legal right to choose a provider following an elective care referral, and this is underpinned in Part 8 of the NHS Standing Rules, which are available at the following link:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/2996/part/8

NHS England has regulatory oversight responsibilities to ensure patient choice operates effectively in the NHS and has published Patient Choice Guidance, which includes guidance for referrers, and which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/patient-choice-guidance/

The Department of Health and Social Care is working with officials in the Home Office to support the changes agreed to in the letter from the Minister of State at the Department for Work and Pensions and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety, Women’s Health and Mental Health from July 2025. The group has met with stakeholders from the clinical trials community who gave advice and assurance on the proposed changes to the legislation.

The Department is committed to turbocharging clinical research and delivering better patient care, to make the United Kingdom a world-leading destination for clinical research. We are working to fast-track clinical trials, reducing barriers and unnecessary bureaucracy to drive global investment into life sciences, improve health outcomes, and accelerate the development of the medicines and therapies of the future, including treatments for cluster headaches. We expect these efforts to attract more commercial investment in clinical research and to yield a broad and diverse portfolio of clinical trials in the UK.

The Department is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with cluster headaches, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments.

The Government is committed to giving patients greater control and choice over their care. Patients have a legal right to choose where they go for their first appointment when referred to consultant-led care as an outpatient.

Patients’ right to choose is set out in legislation. It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population and to meet their statutory obligations to promote choice and enable patients' legal rights.

There is guidance for the use and implementation of the contractual levers available to ICBs, detailed in the NHS Standard Contract Technical Guidance. Use of these must not restrict patients' choice for provider.

The Government has published ambitious special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms, supporting the treatment to prevention shift in the 10-Year Health Plan and its focus on early intervention, to prevent needs escalating. Close partnership working at all levels is crucial to delivering these reforms and transforming outcomes for children and young people with SEND.

The Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board works closely with the Staffordshire County Council, which Kidsgrove is in, and the Stoke-on-Trent City Council, alongside the National Health Service, and education and voluntary sector partners, to meet the wide range of assessed health and care needs of children and young people with SEND.

The system partnership continues to prioritise SEND and is working collaboratively to improve access, capacity, and the timeliness of support across the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB. This includes working closely with providers to understand pressures within existing services and current waiting times, targeted work to instigate improvements in specific services, and developing more effective joint commissioning across health, education, and local authorities, particularly in relation to speech and language therapy services.