Department of Health and Social Care

The Renewed Women’s Health Strategy was published on 15 April 2026 and sets out a bold, long‑term plan to transform how the health and care system listens to, supports, and delivers for women and girls across all regions in England.

It puts women’s voices and choices at the centre of care, drives faster improvements in services and outcomes that matter most to women, and tackles long‑standing health inequalities across the life course. The strategy aligns with the 10-Year Health Plan to shift care into the community, harness digital innovation, and strengthen prevention so women can live healthier, more fulfilled lives.

The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. The plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.

NHS England commissions the CVDPREVENT audit, which publishes routinely held general practice data to support planning and tackle unwarranted variation at national, regional, integrated care board, primary care network, and practice level. This includes information on atrial fibrillation treatment.

The Government acknowledges the importance of ensuring healthcare professionals are adequately trained and educated on women’s health conditions, including endometriosis, and we have taken action to address this.

The standard of undergraduate medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC), the independent regulator of the medical profession, which set the outcomes and standards expected at undergraduate level. Medical schools are responsible for their curricula. The delivery of these undergraduate curricula must meet the standards set by the GMC, who then monitor and check to make sure that these standards are maintained.

The curriculum for specialty training is set by individual royal colleges and faculties. The GMC approves curricula and assessment systems for each training programme. Curricula emphasise the skills and approaches that a doctor must develop to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients.

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) is responsible for publishing the postgraduate curriculum for general practitioners (GPs) and ensuring it remains up to date. The RCGP curriculum covers endometriosis as part of its gynaecology and breast health module.

GPs are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. The RCGP has worked with partners, including Endometriosis UK, to develop educational resources relating to endometriosis to support GPs and other healthcare professionals to deliver the best possible care for women, based on the latest evidence.

The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health as we reform the National Health Service, and we acknowledge the impact that women suffering from symptoms of menopause has on their lives, relationships, and participation in the workplace.

In Buckinghamshire, a specialist menopause service was launched in August 2025 and was accessible to all Buckinghamshire women via referral from their general practitioner (GP), delivered by telephone as standard to ensure this holistic and patient centred specialist menopause care is delivered close to the patient, in their own home, with face to face provision available where required within GPs across the county.

As announced in October 2025, we will be asking local authorities across the country to include menopause in the NHS Health Check later this year. This will support eligible women across England to access high quality information on the menopause, including advice on managing symptoms, where to seek support, and a diagnosis.

Menopause and menstrual health conditions will be among the priorities for the NHS’s revolutionary new online hospital when it launches next year, providing faster access to specialist care.

On the 15 April 2026, we published the Renewed Women’s Health Strategy which identifies menopause as a core women’s health priority, recognising its impact on women’s health, wellbeing, work, and quality of life.

The strategy shifts menopause care into primary and community settings, including neighbourhood women’s health services and women’s health hubs, making care easier to access and closer to home.

The strategy commits to each region having a specialist centre to support group based approaches to high volume low complexity women’s health pathways such as menopause services, improving access, peer support, and consistency, with early rollout focused on areas of highest need.

The strategy recognises that menopause symptoms are often under recognised and poorly understood, and commits to improving information so women know their symptoms can be effectively managed, including through evidence-based treatments.

Catheter ablation for paroxysmal and persistent atrial fibrillation for adults is a prescribed specialised service commissioned in accordance with a published national clinical commissioning policy. Consequently, NHS England’s regional specialised commissioning teams and integrated care boards (ICBs), including the Somerset ICB, are responsible for monitoring activity, reviewing equity of access for their populations, and addressing unwarranted variation through local oversight arrangements and clinical networks.

In the Department’s annual report and accounts for 2024/25, there were five civil servants who received exit payments over £200,000, all of whom were employees of the Department’s Executive Agency, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

During 2024/25 financial year, the UKHSA embarked on a restructure to streamline operations, optimise resources, enhance strategic decision-making capabilities, and respond to evolving priorities and demands within the health security landscape. The outcome being a more agile, lean, and effective organisation structured to fulfil its mission effectively.

The five roles were removed as part of the restructuring exercise, these included Directors General, Directors and Deputy Directors. More detailed role information, such as job titles, is information that could identify individuals and therefore is not routinely disclosed. All exit payments and approaches followed the Civil Service Compensation Scheme rules and were approved by the Department and Cabinet Office in line with standard approval processes.

We recognise the importance of ensuring that emergency departments operate safely and effectively. Decisions on staffing levels are matters for local National Health Service trusts, working with integrated care boards, who are best placed to assess and manage services in line with local needs and circumstances.

Nationally, NHS England sets standards for emergency care and provides guidance to support trusts in maintaining safe staffing.

The Government has recently announced its commitments to the rollout of new Neighbourhood Health Centres, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chancellor-to-double-down-on-drive-to-cut-nhs-waiting-times-and-rollout-of-new-neighbourhood-health-centres

Through this programme, there will likely be opportunities under the NHS Act 2006 for NHS England to work with local authorities to deliver joint developments alongside One Public Estate. Schemes will likely include the refurbishment and redevelopment of existing public assets, and such projects may provide a particular focus in areas of deprivation, where the National Health Service can act as an anchor tenant.

Furthermore, we are currently finalising the Department’s approach to its Public and Private Finance Partnership model for neighbourhood health centres, which could also act as a catalyst for projects and joint working across public bodies.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, meets regularly with colleagues in the Department of Business and Trade to discuss a range of topics.

We are committed to making the National Health Service the best place to work by supporting and retaining our hardworking and dedicated healthcare professionals, including those working in the mental health sector. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will set out how we will deliver this change by making sure that staff are better treated, have more fulfilling roles, and hope for the future.

We are taking a number of steps to improve working conditions for NHS staff, including the development of a new set of staff standards for modern employment. The standards will focus on the areas that we know matter the most to staff, including: supporting line management; improving staff health and wellbeing; promoting flexible working; violence prevention and reduction; and tackling racism and sexual safety.

NHS England publishes monthly information on the composition of the workforce employed by National Health Service trusts and integrated care boards in England.  This includes information on doctors grouped by their grade and the specialty area they are working in. The information is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics

The relevant data can be found in worksheet 4 of the file NHS HCHS Workforce Statistics, Trusts and core organisations – data tables, in the link above.

We set out in the 10-Year Health Plan for England that over the next three years we will create 1,000 new specialty training posts, with a focus on specialties where there is greatest need. We will set out next steps in due course.

The Government is committed to training the staff we need, including doctors, to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it. We will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed services set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.

The number of people attending accident and emergency departments for all type services (including Type 3 Minor injuries and urgent treatment centres) during winter (from November to February) 2024/25 with a) itchy skin, b) paronychia due to ingrown toenails or c) a sore throat is published by NHS England in the ECDS Open Data which is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/hospital-accident--emergency-activity/2024-25

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, including for gynaecology.

Our Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the reforms we are making to improve gynaecology waiting times across England. This includes innovative models of care that offer care closer to home and in the community, piloting gynaecology pathways in community diagnostic centres for patients with post-menopausal bleeding, and increasing the relative funding available to incentivise providers to take on more gynaecology procedures.

Wider elective reforms will help cut waiting times for gynaecology services in Buckinghamshire and across England. These include more consistent clinical triage, tackling missed appointments, delivering new and expanded surgical hubs, and scaling up remote monitoring and use of patient-initiated follow ups.

We also provided new funding for general practice to expand Advice and Guidance (A&G) services. A&G is designed to help general practitioners and hospital specialists to work together and make the best treatment plans for patients, while reducing unnecessary referrals to long waiting lists. This enables patients to be seen more quickly, closer to home, benefiting from earlier specialist input.

We are also introducing an “online hospital”, NHS Online. From 2027, people on certain pathways, including severe menopause symptoms and menstrual problems that may be a sign of endometriosis or fibroids, will have the choice of getting the specialist care they need from their home. NHS Online will help to reduce patient waiting times, delivering the equivalent of up to 8.5 million appointments and assessments in its first three years.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 2 March 2026 to Question 110313.

In accordance with the Equality Act 2010 and the British Sign Language Act 2022, ambulance services have a range of options to support Deaf/deaf individuals who use British Sign Language (BSL) in accessing ambulance services.

To facilitate clear and effective communication in emergency situations, individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech impaired can utilise tools such as the 999BSL video relay platform, which is app and web-based, to contact 999 via a BSL interpreter as well as access via emergency SMS messaging. Video relay apps can also be used to support communication and face-to-face assessment by crews on scene at incidents, where, via on-board iPads, paramedics can connect patients with a remote BSL video interpreter.

These resources, which are free to use and operate 24 hours, seven days a week, ensure that real-time communication is possible for BSL users when emergency and urgent assistance is required.

The Department does not set the qualification requirements for psychotherapy and counselling and was not involved in the changes to accreditation requirements introduced in December 2025. The Department does not receive any revenue or financial benefits arising from those changes.

The Department does not set the qualification requirements for psychotherapy and counselling and was not involved in the changes to accreditation requirements introduced in December 2025. The Department does not receive any revenue or financial benefits arising from those changes.

The Department does not set the qualification requirements for psychotherapy and counselling and was not involved in the changes to accreditation requirements introduced in December 2025. The Department does not receive any revenue or financial benefits arising from those changes.

The Department does not set the qualification requirements for psychotherapy and counselling and was not involved in the changes to accreditation requirements introduced in December 2025. The Department does not receive any revenue or financial benefits arising from those changes.

This data is not collected. Primary diagnosis is recorded on admission to hospital, but not the complications which may have led to the admission. Where a patient is known to have diabetes, this will always be recorded on their Hospital Episode Statistic (HES) record, regardless of the actual reason for their admission.

It should be noted that where a patient is known to have diabetes this will always be recorded on their HES record, regardless of the actual reason for their admission. Within HES, the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision code E11 is used to diagnose type 2 diabetes, so it is possible to provide a count of admissions where that is the primary diagnosis. However, this cohort will only comprise a small proportion of the total number of occasions where a complication of type 2 diabetes necessitated that the patient be admitted to hospital since, in most instances where a patient has diabetes, the primary diagnosis is likely to be recorded as something else.

There will be many other conditions that could be, but they won’t necessarily actually be complications of type 2 diabetes. For example, the National Health Service website page Complications of type 2 diabetes - NHS mentions ‘stroke’ as something that can potentially be caused by having diabetes. However, where a patient who has diabetes has been admitted to hospital with a stroke, we cannot say for certain whether this was a complication of their having type 2 diabetes or was caused for some other reason. Since diabetes, where known to be present, is always recorded on the patient record, we cannot assume that where it is recorded, the primary diagnosis will be due to a complication arising from it. For this reason, we cannot provide any meaningful data to answer the query.

Clinical academic training undertaken during medical specialty training does not currently count towards consultant salary seniority. However, salary seniority may be negotiated locally at the start of a consultant post. Universities have separate pay scales for clinical academics which would take academic experience into account.

Clinical academic trainees can have academic time counted towards their Certificate of Completion of Training. Trainees undertaking a higher academic qualification, such as a PhD, during their training may qualify for an academic pay premium. This is a taxable, non-pensionable allowance for trainees in England who have completed an approved higher degree and returned to clinical training. It is paid annually until the completion of clinical training and is aimed at incentivising academic careers.

The Government recognises the pressures facing emergency departments, including at the Royal United Hospital Bath, and is taking sustained action to reduce accident and emergency waiting times and improve patient flow across urgent and emergency care. Through the NHS Medium‑Term Planning Framework and the Model Emergency Department, NHS England has set out a clear trajectory for improving performance, with a focus on reducing long waits, improving safety, and delivering better patient experience.

At the Royal United Hospital Bath, NHS England is working with the trust and the wider local system to support delivery of these improvements. This includes action to improve patient flow, increase the use of Same Day Emergency Care to avoid unnecessary admissions, strengthen discharge and community capacity, and deliver capital investment to improve emergency department flow. The trust is also receiving support from national improvement programmes, including Getting It Right First Time, alongside action to strengthen overnight staffing and real‑time performance oversight.

The Government Commercial Function (GCF), based in the Cabinet Office, published its strategy document for 2026 to 2029 on 7 April 2026, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/introducing-the-government-commercial-function-gcf-strategy-2026-29/introducing-the-government-commercial-function-gcf-strategy-2026-29-html#pillar-one---people-a-capable-inspired-workforce-whose-talent-is-nurtured

Driving economic growth is a key pillar of this strategy, in line with Government policy, capitalising on the industrial strategy targets to create jobs in the United Kingdom, and a key part of the strategy is market shaping and making use of the collective buying power of the Government to drive UK economic growth and resilience.

One of the first steps will be for the GCF to work with the commercial directors across the Government in four pilot sectors, namely shipbuilding, steel, artificial intelligence, and energy infrastructure, to identify key data requirements, and to pilot underpinning market shaping assessments for each. The Cabinet Office will be publishing a Procurement Policy Notice specifically on UK steel transparency later this year.

The Department does not hold the information requested.

The Department does not hold the information requested.

The statutory regulation of healthcare professionals in the United Kingdom is designed to protect patients and the public by ensuring that registered practitioners are appropriately trained, competent, and fit to practise.

The UK’s healthcare professional regulators are independent bodies responsible for setting standards of education, training, and professional conduct. They are also responsible for setting registration routes, including for overseas‑qualified applicants, to ensure UK standards of safe and effective practice are met. Only those who meet these requirements can legally practise in regulated healthcare professions.

National Health Service employers are responsible for ensuring that individuals appointed to specific roles meet the requirements of those posts in line with service needs, patient safety requirements, and relevant NHS frameworks.

The Government is committed to maintaining robust regulatory frameworks that support public safety, professional standards, and confidence in the healthcare system. Through its programme of regulatory reform, the Government will bring forward legislation to modernise the legislative frameworks of the regulators to ensure that they have the powers they require to protect the public while supporting an effective and flexible workforce. In the meantime, we continue to engage with regulators to support the effective use of their existing powers and frameworks to facilitate efficient registration pathways for both UK and overseas‑qualified applicants, consistent with public protection.

The 10 Year Workforce Plan will set out how the Government will ensure the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients when they need it.

The statutory regulation of healthcare professionals in the United Kingdom is designed to protect patients and the public by ensuring that registered practitioners are appropriately trained, competent, and fit to practise.

The UK’s healthcare professional regulators are independent bodies responsible for setting standards of education, training, and professional conduct. They are also responsible for setting registration routes, including for overseas‑qualified applicants, to ensure UK standards of safe and effective practice are met. Only those who meet these requirements can legally practise in regulated healthcare professions.

National Health Service employers are responsible for ensuring that individuals appointed to specific roles meet the requirements of those posts in line with service needs, patient safety requirements, and relevant NHS frameworks.

The Government is committed to maintaining robust regulatory frameworks that support public safety, professional standards, and confidence in the healthcare system. Through its programme of regulatory reform, the Government will bring forward legislation to modernise the legislative frameworks of the regulators to ensure that they have the powers they require to protect the public while supporting an effective and flexible workforce. In the meantime, we continue to engage with regulators to support the effective use of their existing powers and frameworks to facilitate efficient registration pathways for both UK and overseas‑qualified applicants, consistent with public protection.

The 10 Year Workforce Plan will set out how the Government will ensure the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients when they need it.

The removal of the councils of governors from National Health Service foundation trusts (FTs) forms part of the wider 10-Year Health Plan’s aim to ensure hospitals put patient experiences and outcomes at the heart of their decision-making. This will require primary legislation, which the Government will bring forward when parliamentary time allows, and the will of Parliament. Until then, FT governors will remain in post with their statutory powers unchanged.

While governors have provided helpful advice and oversight for some FTs, we now need to move to a more dynamic model, drawing on patient, staff, and stakeholder insight. For example, approaches to engagement that better reflect local demographics and geography rather than a ‘one size fits all’ governor model, as well as supporting an increased focus on the outcomes of the engagement, including the evidence that local people are involved in key decisions about how care is provided and their voices are listened to.

The removal of the councils of governors from National Health Service foundation trusts (FTs) forms part of the wider 10-Year Health Plan’s aim to ensure hospitals put patient experiences and outcomes at the heart of their decision-making. This will require primary legislation, which the Government will bring forward when parliamentary time allows, and the will of Parliament. Until then, FT governors will remain in post with their statutory powers unchanged.

While governors have provided helpful advice and oversight for some FTs, we now need to move to a more dynamic model, drawing on patient, staff, and stakeholder insight. For example, approaches to engagement that better reflect local demographics and geography rather than a ‘one size fits all’ governor model, as well as supporting an increased focus on the outcomes of the engagement, including the evidence that local people are involved in key decisions about how care is provided and their voices are listened to.

NHS England has not undertaken a formal national assessment of regional variation in access to left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO).

LAAO is a prescribed specialised service and is commissioned in accordance with NHS England’s published national clinical commissioning policy, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/clinical-commissioning-policy-left-atrial-appendage-occlusion-for-patients-with-atrial-fibrillation-and-relative-or-absolute-contraindications-to-anticoagulation-adults/

NHS England’s regional specialised commissioners and integrated care boards are responsible for the monitoring of activity, the reviewing of equity of access for their populations, and for addressing variation through local oversight and clinical networks.

NHS England publishes monthly information on the composition of the workforce employed by National Health Service trusts and integrated care boards in England. This includes information on the workforce employed by individual bodies and for high-level staffing groups. The information can be found at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics

No specific central assessment has been made of the workforce capacity of women’s health services in the region, with decisions on the provision of local services being managed by individual NHS service provider and commissioners.

The Government acknowledges the challenges faced by women with endometriosis and the impact it has on their lives, their relationships, and their participation in education and the workforce. We are committed to improving the diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing care for endometriosis. It is unacceptable that women can wait so long for an endometriosis diagnosis and we are taking action to address this.

Nationally, we are establishing an “online hospital”, NHS Online, which will give people across the country, on certain pathways, the choice of getting the specialist care they need from their home. It will connect patients with clinicians across the country through secure, online appointments accessed through the NHS App.

Menstrual problems, which may be a sign of endometriosis, will be among the first nine conditions available for referral to NHS Online from 2027. We’ve chosen some of the conditions with the longest waits and where online consultation works best. NHS Online will help to reduce patient waiting times, delivering the equivalent of up to 8.5 million appointments and assessments in its first three years, four times more than an average trust, while enhancing patient choice and control over their care. This will allow women with menstrual problems which may be a sign of endometriosis across the country to reach a diagnosis and explore treatment options sooner.

Buckinghamshire delivers specialist gynaecology care to women through both community and secondary care, or hospital, services, with community services delivered from general practices across the county, including in Aylesbury. To further improve access to women's health services, the Buckinghamshire Healthcare Trust is working to expand community services, increasing clinic sites, and aligning to neighbourhoods including North Bucks, to ensure more women can be seen for specialist gynaecology care more quickly and closer to home in the community service, thereby increasing capacity within the secondary care service to support waiting list reductions.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, the Government has committed to create a new model of care, fit for the future. In spring we will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan to create a workforce ready to deliver that transformed service.

The 10 Year Workforce Plan has been developed and is informed by regular discussions with NHS England and will ensure 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 plan will articulate changes for different professional groups.

NHS England routinely publishes information on postponed inpatient and outpatient appointments during periods of industrial action, and this information will be published in due course. Further information will be available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/preparedness-for-potential-industrial-action-in-the-nhs/#heading-3

Indicative Activity Plans (IAPs) are non-binding, forecasted schedules under the NHS Standard Contract that define expected service volumes between commissioners for integrated care boards (ICBs) and providers. In setting these volumes, ICBs and providers are responsible for ensuring they do so with fairness and transparency.

ICBs have contractual powers to manage activity by providers, which were enhanced in 2025/26 with central support for setting and managing activity. The NHS Standard Contract includes the ability to set IAPs to help providers and commissioners plan demand, capacity, and expenditure. While not binding, if activity exceeds, or falls short of the agreed plan, and therefore the funding agreed, an Activity Management Plan can be agreed to bring activity back in line.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) plan, commission, and oversee the provision of local National Health Services, including community health services, to meet their population’s needs.

The Government is committed to training the staff we need to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it. We will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed services set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.

We know people are waiting too long for community health services. That is why, for the first time, we have set a clear target for systems to work to reduce long waits in NHS England’s Medium-Term Planning Framework.

By 2028/29 at least 80% of community health services activity should take place within 18 weeks, bringing community health services in line with targets for elective care.

In 2025, we published, for the first time, an overview of the core community health services, Standardising Community Health Services, that ICBs should consider when planning for their local populations to support improved commissioning and delivery of community health services, a vital part of Neighbourhood Health. Further guidance was published in February 2026, providing more detailed descriptions of the core components of community health services for ICBs.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) have the flexibility to commission services across specialties within a fixed financial envelope and may use contract levers to manage that activity. This represents good management of public money to achieve the outcomes we want to see.

Patients have a legal right to choose any qualified provider holding a contract with an ICB to deliver the services patients need. This right applies irrespective of levels of activity outlined in indicative activity plans contained in contracts.

The Department does not centrally hold data on workforce capacity for allied health professions supporting prevention and community healthcare services in England by profession.

NHS England published monthly data drawn from the Electronic Staff Record, the Human Resources system for the National Health Service, on the number of staff employed in the NHS in England, which is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics

This information can be used to identify the number of individual allied health professionals employed but is not able to robustly identify the specific service or setting in which staff are delivering care.

The Government is committed to training the staff we need to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it. We will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed services set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.

Independent sector providers are commissioned and managed by integrated care boards (ICBs) under the terms of the NHS Standard Contract which applies the same standards of oversight and regulation as are applied to National Health Service providers.

In the 10-Year Health Plan for England, we set out we would not tolerate ‘gaming’ the national payment tariff to cherry pick the simplest, most profitable cases. ICBs are expected to monitor this, and act decisively where they identify problems as part of a wider duty to safeguard and ensure value for taxpayer money.

Non-Emergency Patient Transport Schemes (NEPTS) often provide funded transport where a medical condition means that a patient would struggle to safely attend their treatment independently.  NEPTS can be provided by ambulance trusts or other providers depending on local arrangements.

In May 2022, NHS England set out eligibility criteria, which includes disability criteria, available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/B1244-nepts-eligibility-criteria.pdf

NHS England has worked closely with a range of kidney patient groups, renal professionals, integrated care boards (ICBs), and other stakeholders to develop a dialysis transport support framework which has been made directly available to ICBs. The 2022 updates to the eligibility criteria included where patients are travelling to or returning from in-centre haemodialysis, in which case specialist transport, non-specialist transport, or upfront/reimbursement costs for private travel will be made available.

NEPTS in England is an operational matter for the National Health Service, and how the NEPTS guidance is implemented at a local level is determined by ICBs and their partners, including local ambulance trusts. There are no current plans to update the eligibility criteria further.

Non-Emergency Patient Transport Schemes (NEPTS) often provide funded transport where a medical condition means that a patient would struggle to safely attend their treatment independently.  NEPTS can be provided by ambulance trusts or other providers depending on local arrangements.

In May 2022, NHS England set out eligibility criteria, which includes disability criteria, available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/B1244-nepts-eligibility-criteria.pdf

NHS England has worked closely with a range of kidney patient groups, renal professionals, integrated care boards (ICBs), and other stakeholders to develop a dialysis transport support framework which has been made directly available to ICBs. The 2022 updates to the eligibility criteria included where patients are travelling to or returning from in-centre haemodialysis, in which case specialist transport, non-specialist transport, or upfront/reimbursement costs for private travel will be made available.

NEPTS in England is an operational matter for the National Health Service, and how the NEPTS guidance is implemented at a local level is determined by ICBs and their partners, including local ambulance trusts. There are no current plans to update the eligibility criteria further.

Data is available for emergency finished admission episodes (FAEs) where there was a primary diagnosis of 'respiratory conditions’. The following table shows the number of FAEs where there was a primary diagnosis of 'respiratory conditions’ for North Cornwall and England, for activity in English National Health Service hospitals and English NHS-commissioned activity in the independent sector, for 2024/25 and provisionally for 2025/26:

Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS England.

Available data on trends in respiratory conditions can be found on the Department’s Fingertips dataset. Data is not available by parliamentary constituency. Data is available at regional, county, unitary authority, and integrated care board level. Information for Cornwall is available at the following link:

https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/search/Respiratory#page/1/gid/1/pat/15/ati/502/are/E06000052/iid/90933/age/314/sex/4/cat/-1/ctp/-1/yrr/1/cid/4/tbm/1

The Department has made no formal estimate of the cost of missed appointments in Warwickshire or nationally.

However, we’re clear that reducing missed appointments is an important part of improving elective care and making best use of National Health Service capacity to cut waiting times. The Government has committed, in the Elective Reform Plan, to focussed action to reduce missed appointments, including enhancing two-way communication between hospitals and patients, and to use artificial intelligence to predict who will miss appointments, to save up to one million missed appointments. NHS England continues to support the validation of waiting lists, as part of the Government's plans for a more productive and improved approach to elective care which is better for patients. Effective validation helps trusts to understand the true size of their waiting list for better planning and can help avoid missed appointments to reduce overall waiting times.

Locally, trusts are also using data‑led approaches to prioritise proactive appointment reminders, making greater use of the NHS App and patient portals, and targeting specialties with higher non‑attendance rates through outpatient improvement work.

NHS England invests approximately £1 billion per year centrally to operate, support, and upgrade nationally managed technology systems, including the NHS App and core data services.

In addition, over the current Spending Review period, NHS England plans to invest approximately £2 billion with care provider organisations through the Frontline Productivity Programme, supporting the use of technology to improve productivity and make better use of existing digital infrastructure. This includes targeted investment where providers choose to converge on common platforms to support local system working and the priorities of the 10‑Year Health Plan.

Funding allocations for technology investment by individual integrated care boards and local systems will be determined by NHS England regions and systems in due course, in line with local priorities and national guidance.

We have no funding allocated specifically to local authorities to update their legacy social care systems, and responsibility for procuring and updating their own systems lies with them.

The Department has not made a central estimate of the level of savings to National Health Services in Norfolk specifically arising from programmes delivered by the voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) sector.

VCSE organisations play an important role in supporting prevention, early intervention, and community-based care, which can help improve outcomes for patients and reduce pressure on statutory services.