Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
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 the number of Integrated Care Boards currently complying with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on the provision of intermediate care for patients who are experiencing homelessness.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish data collected by his Department on the use of corridor care.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The provision of clinical care in corridors is unacceptable, and we are committed to ending its practice in the National Health Service. Furthermore, our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 commits to publishing data on the prevalence of corridor care for the first time.
NHS England has been working with trusts to put in place new reporting arrangements regarding the use of corridor care to drive improvement and data transparency. The data quality is currently being reviewed, and we expect to publish the information shortly.
We are introducing new clinical operational standards for the first 72 hours of care, setting clear expectations for timely reviews and specialist input, further supporting our efforts to eliminate corridor care and improve patient experience.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish data on how many Activity Management Plans have been issued by NHS Integrated Care Boards to (a) NHS Trusts and (b) independent providers, how many reduced procedures that will cause between November 2025 and March 2026; and what justifications were provided by ICBs for issuing each AMP.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The specific information requested is not held by the Department. Activity management plans are contractual mechanisms within the NHS Standard Contract, used by integrated care boards (ICBs) to manage elective activity and financial control. They can be implemented when providers exceed their indicative activity plans, helping commissioners and providers plan demand, capacity, and expenditure. This information is therefore held at individual ICB level.
Asked by: Ian Sollom (Liberal Democrat - St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that healthcare professionals are provided with timely guidance on prescribing alternatives when products they routinely prescribe are subject to safety recalls.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Defective Medicines Report Centre (DMRC) is part of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The role of the DMRC is to minimise the hazard to patients arising from the distribution of defective medicines by providing an emergency assessment and communication system between manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, pharmacies, regulatory authorities, and users. It achieves this aim by:
Where a medicinal product recall is required, the decision is taken in consultation with the relevant Licence Holder. It is the Licence Holder’s responsibility to ensure that a recall is carried out effectively throughout the distribution chain to the appropriate level. If necessary, the DMRC will issue a Recall Notification to support action taken by the Licence Holder. Where possible, the DMRC will actively engage with the Department to inform us of upcoming recalls, especially where there may be limited marketed products available or critical medicines involved. The Department’s Medicines Supply Team have a range of well-established processes and tools to mitigate risks to patients, and in some circumstances, this can include the prescribing of an alternative medicine.
The Department follows a clear operating framework for managing medicines shortages and, working with National Health Service specialist clinicians, develops appropriate management plans, including comprehensive guidance for prescribers, which are ratified by the Medicines Shortage Response Group to ensure that the most appropriate communication route is used. We work collaboratively with the MHRA throughout the recall process to ensure that when prescribing an alternative medicine should be considered, that this can be communicated in the Recall Notification, or as close to the issue of the Recall Notification that could result in a supply issue.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to support educators, supervisors, mentors and trainers in the 10 Year Workforce Plan and work with employers to increase capacity for medical education and training.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if the 10 Year Workforce Plan will expand the number of medical specialty training places to meet population demand, beyond the 1,000 proposed in the 10 Year Health Plan.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the month-by-month progress that will be needed to be compliant with the NHS' 92 per cent 18-week target by March 2029; and what progress has been made to date in 2025-26.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
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.
NHS England’s 2025/26 priorities and operational planning guidance sets a national target to:
The NHS Medium Term Planning Framework sets out plans for 2026/27 to 28/29, with the expectation that local NHS organisations improve access and performance standards across core services over the next three years. This includes a target that 70% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks by March 2027.
A number of providers have already made significant improvements in their referral to treatment performance according to published data, including within 2025/26, which demonstrates the progress we asked the system to deliver is possible.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much did (a) Health Education England and (b) NHS England pay Hill Dickinson in (i) costs and (ii) fees for legal services between 2012 and 2023.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As a parent organisation, including commissioning support units but excluding integrated care boards, NHS England has spent approximately £8 million including VAT with Hill Dickinson between 2012/13 and 2022/23. Approximately 90% of these costs were spent on legal or professional fees.
Please note that this figure includes the NHS Trust Development Authority and Monitor, which merged to become NHS Improvement in 2016, as well as the two months of NHS Digital following its merger with NHS England from 1 February 2023.
Health Education England, which was merged into NHS England on 1 April 2023, spent £5.2 million with Hill Dickinson between 2012/13 and 2022/23. We do not hold a breakdown of this spend.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the modelled projections in the 10 Year Workforce Plan will include projections for medical specialties.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10 Year Workforce 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. It will include modelling of the potential size and shape of the future workforce and implications for major professions. We are working through how the plan will articulate the changes for different professional groups.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
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 ensure that coastal hospitals such as the James Paget receive adequate NHS capital and revenue funding.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We remain committed to delivering all schemes within the New Hospital Programme, including James Paget, which will continue through the Spending Review 2025. The programme is funded for five-year waves of investment, averaging around £3 billion a year from 2030.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning and funding the care delivered by healthcare providers, including the James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The amount of funding received by each provider is based on the NHS Payment Scheme, which is a set of rules, prices, and guidance that determine how the providers of National Health Service-funded healthcare are paid for the services they deliver.
NHS England is responsible for determining the allocation of financial resources to ICBs. The process of setting funding allocations is informed by the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation, an independent committee that provides advice to NHS England on setting the target formula which impacts how allocations are distributed over time according to factors such as demography, morbidity, deprivation, and the unavoidable cost of providing services in different areas. There are a range of adjustments made in the core ICB allocations formula that account for the fact that the cost of providing health care may vary between rural and urban areas.
ICB allocations for 2025/26 were published on 30 January 2025 and allocations for 2026/27 to 2027/28 were published on 17 November. These are available at the following links respectively:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/allocation-of-resources-2025-26/
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/allocation-of-resources-2026-27-to-2027-28/
The Norfolk and Waveney ICB, which currently covers the James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, received an uplift to its recurrent core services allocation of 3.85% in 2025/26.
Following announced mergers due to take effect from 1 April 2026, a new NHS Norfolk and Suffolk ICB will cover James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust from 2026/27. The new ICB will see its recurrent core services allocation uplifted by 3.05% in 2026/27 and 3.29% in 2027/28.
Budget 2025 confirmed a rise in the Department’s capital budgets to £15.2 billion by the end of the Spending Review period. This includes over £4 billion in operational capital in 2025/26, with a further £16.9 billion to be allocated to ICBs and providers over the following four years. James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been allocated £46.8 million in operational funding for the period 2026/27 to 2029/30.