Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment has been made of whether accident and emergency departments have sufficient capacity to meet current levels of patient demand in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On data on corridor care, NHS England has been working with trusts since 2024 to put in place new reporting arrangements to drive improvement and transparency. We are now reviewing the data internally and will begin publishing it shortly.
On services in Surrey Heath, residents there primarily access urgent and emergency care services at Frimley Park Hospital, which is run by the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust within the NHS Frimley Integrated Care Board footprint.
NHS Frimley has implemented winter urgent and emergency care plans to manage increased demand, including maintaining patient flow, expanding same-day emergency care, strengthening community and primary care alternatives, and working with local authorities and community providers to support timely discharge.
We keep performance in all local systems under regular review through established daily operational oversight and escalation arrangements, with patient safety remaining the overriding priority.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate has been made of the number of patients waiting for extended periods in corridors in accident and emergency departments in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On data on corridor care, NHS England has been working with trusts since 2024 to put in place new reporting arrangements to drive improvement and transparency. We are now reviewing the data internally and will begin publishing it shortly.
On services in Surrey Heath, residents there primarily access urgent and emergency care services at Frimley Park Hospital, which is run by the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust within the NHS Frimley Integrated Care Board footprint.
NHS Frimley has implemented winter urgent and emergency care plans to manage increased demand, including maintaining patient flow, expanding same-day emergency care, strengthening community and primary care alternatives, and working with local authorities and community providers to support timely discharge.
We keep performance in all local systems under regular review through established daily operational oversight and escalation arrangements, with patient safety remaining the overriding priority.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with stakeholders on his Department's modelling of workforce numbers in the 10 Year Workforce Plan.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will publish the 10 Year Workforce Plan in spring 2026. This plan will set out action to create a National Health Service workforce which is able to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. It is important we do this in a robust and joined up way. We are therefore engaging extensively with partners to ensure this plan delivers for staff and patients.
That engagement began well before the call for evidence was closed. In early November, ministers hosted an event with nearly one hundred representatives of partner organisations to hear views from across the health system.
Engagement is now continuing while we analyse the submissions to our call for evidence, including a roundtable with medical royal colleges on 14 January, which I chaired.
We have committed to publishing regular workforce planning. This will start with the 10-Year Workforce Plan, which will include updated workforce modelling and its underlying assumptions when published in spring 2026. The updated workforce modelling will be subject to independent scrutiny by our appointed external scrutiny panel.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with stakeholders on his Department's modelling of workforce numbers in the 10 Year Workforce Plan.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will publish the 10 Year Workforce Plan in spring 2026. This plan will set out action to create a National Health Service workforce which is able to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. It is important we do this in a robust and joined up way. We are therefore engaging extensively with partners to ensure this plan delivers for staff and patients.
That engagement began well before the call for evidence was closed. In early November, ministers hosted an event with nearly one hundred representatives of partner organisations to hear views from across the health system.
Engagement is now continuing while we analyse the submissions to our call for evidence, including a roundtable with medical royal colleges on 14 January, which I chaired.
We have committed to publishing regular workforce planning. This will start with the 10-Year Workforce Plan, which will include updated workforce modelling and its underlying assumptions when published in spring 2026. The updated workforce modelling will be subject to independent scrutiny by our appointed external scrutiny panel.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of levels of current capacity for in-centre dialysis services; and what plans his Department has to ensure that renal service capacity matches both current and projected patient need.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is delivering a comprehensive programme to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of people with kidney disease. In 2023, NHS England published a renal services transformation (RSTP) toolkit to support earlier identification of chronic kidney disease and more joined up services. The RSTP sets out that services, working in partnership with integrated care boards, should undertake capacity planning and activity monitoring to ensure service capacity matches demand requirements.
These changes are intended to make it easier to deliver improvements along the whole patient pathway including earlier diagnosis and treatment, that can potentially prevent or delay the need for dialysis and transplant further downstream in the pathway.
NHS England is also investing in home dialysis for children, supported by a robust network of nurses and clinicians who can move that care from hospital to home. This approach is working, with rates of home dialysis ranging from 64 % to 76% across the 10 National Health Service paediatric dialysis centres.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what level of recurrent funding has been identified to fund new treatments through NHS England’s Clinical Priorities Advisory Group Prioritisation meeting.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Clinical Priorities Advisory Group is an advisory committee that makes recommendations on the relative priority of treatments to be commissioned subject to the available discretionary funding. It is not a decision-making body and does not allocate funds or have a budget for approving new treatments. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/cpag/
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce gynaecology waiting lists, which include those who need a diagnosis of, and treatment for, endometriosis.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Reducing waiting lists is a key part of the Government’s Health Mission. We are committed to putting patients first by ensuring that they are seen on time and that they have the best possible experience of care. Our Elective Reform Plan (ERP), published in January 2025, sets out 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.
We are also introducing an “online hospital”, NHS Online, which will give people who are experiencing menstrual problems which may be a sign of endometriosis the choice of getting the specialist care they need from their home.
Lastly, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence updated their guidelines on endometriosis in November 2024, and two new treatments have been approved.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many doctors have had to file an estimate for their tax returns as a result of not receiving the appropriate Pension Savings Statements before 31 January 2026.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department, the NHS Business Services Authority, and HM Revenue and Customs do not hold this information.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the dismissal of the executive medical director at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, what oversight they are exercising to ensure that there is not a culture of suppressing clinical concerns regarding patient safety and staffing pressures.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have noted the findings of the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) inspection report of 28 March 2024 into the Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which rated the trust overall as ‘Requires Improvement’, with specific concerns identified in areas such as freedom to speak up. National Health Service staff should have the confidence to speak out and come forward if they have concerns. There is support in place for staff who wish to raise concerns, including a network of more than 1,200 local Freedom to Speak Up Guardians across healthcare in England, whose role is to help and support NHS workers.
On the question of oversight, the CQC has maintained close and sustained regulatory oversight of the Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in light of ongoing concerns about service quality and safety. This has included targeted inspections, staff engagement work, and structured monitoring activity. In response to identified risks within urgent and emergency care at Doncaster Royal Infirmary, the CQC undertook an assessment in December 2025, followed by a further inspection on 6 January 2026. Significant risks were identified during this period, and the CQC subsequently issued a Letter of Intent to the trust. The CQC has continued to work collaboratively with NHS England, participating in monthly quality improvement meetings to monitor the trust’s progress against its action plans.
The CQC will continue to use its statutory powers to ensure that services meet the required standards of quality and safety.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Care Quality Commission report published on 28 March 2024 into the Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; and what steps they are taking to ensure that NHS whistleblowers in Doncaster are protected from professional detriment.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have noted the findings of the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) inspection report of 28 March 2024 into the Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which rated the trust overall as ‘Requires Improvement’, with specific concerns identified in areas such as freedom to speak up. National Health Service staff should have the confidence to speak out and come forward if they have concerns. There is support in place for staff who wish to raise concerns, including a network of more than 1,200 local Freedom to Speak Up Guardians across healthcare in England, whose role is to help and support NHS workers.
On the question of oversight, the CQC has maintained close and sustained regulatory oversight of the Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in light of ongoing concerns about service quality and safety. This has included targeted inspections, staff engagement work, and structured monitoring activity. In response to identified risks within urgent and emergency care at Doncaster Royal Infirmary, the CQC undertook an assessment in December 2025, followed by a further inspection on 6 January 2026. Significant risks were identified during this period, and the CQC subsequently issued a Letter of Intent to the trust. The CQC has continued to work collaboratively with NHS England, participating in monthly quality improvement meetings to monitor the trust’s progress against its action plans.
The CQC will continue to use its statutory powers to ensure that services meet the required standards of quality and safety.