Asked by: Earl Howe (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken, following their response to the health and social care statistical outputs consultation, to rationalise disability statistics on health inequalities.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the response to the Health and Social Care Statistical Outputs consultation, published in November 2024, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) set out some changes to statistical publications in the health inequalities space to rationalise statistics to make the landscape easier to navigate.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) stated that it would merge ‘Health state life expectancies by national deprivation deciles, England’, ‘Health state life expectancies by national deprivation quintiles, Wales’, ‘Health state life expectancies, UK’ and ‘Life expectancy for local areas of the UK’. The ONS has merged the ‘Health state life expectancies by national deprivation deciles, England’ and ‘Health state life expectancies by national deprivation quintiles, Wales’ releases. ‘Health state life expectancies, UK’ and ‘Life expectancy for local areas of the UK’ have not been merged, and the ONS is still exploring options for merging these publications.
The health state life expectancies releases have previously reported on disability-free life expectancy, but the ONS has temporarily paused production of this statistic while developing improvements to how healthy life expectancy is measured. The ONS intends to resume publishing disability-free life expectancy, potentially with an improved methodology, once a new methodology for healthy life expectancy is agreed.
DHSC has set out that we are exploring the best way to implement merging the ‘Health inequalities dashboard’ with the ‘Segment tool’. This change has not yet been implemented as DHSC is working towards creating a new service for public health data on GOV.UK. We are considering whether the data from the ‘Health inequalities dashboard’ and the ‘Segment tool’ can be made available in this new service.
Asked by: Earl Howe (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to raise public awareness of foods that are high in fat and salt, and their associated health risks.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has a series of websites and digital tools that support adults and families to eat better, providing guidance on healthy eating, including raising awareness about foods that are high in fat and salt and suggesting healthier alternatives.
The Government recently launched the NHS Healthy Choices Quiz to help adults to identify changes that they can make to improve their health. It includes questions on their eating habits to enable them to assess their diet across five key areas, including fat and salt.
The NHS Food Scanner app shows people how much saturated fat, sugar, and salt is in everyday food and drink consumed by families in England. It helps people to choose foods that are lower in saturated fat and salt by encouraging them to look for more ‘greens’ and ‘ambers’ and cut down on 'reds'. It also suggests healthier alternatives, where these exist, with products that are lower in saturated fat/salt.
The new Best Start in Life campaign and website provide support and guidance on topics including healthy eating in pregnancy, and healthy weaning.
Better Health Families supports those with primary aged children to eat well and move more. It uses personalised email programmes, for instance Healthy Steps, social media, and other tools, for instance the Food Scanner app, to support families on their diet. Specific guidance is provided on the website for both salt and saturated fat.
Asked by: Earl Howe (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to help individuals without access to digital services more easily participate in NHS blood donation volunteering opportunities.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for blood donation in England.
NHSBT regularly reviews their blood donor programme to improve access. While most people book blood or plasma donation appointments using the NHS Give Blood app or online, those without digital access can call the National Contact Centre on 0300 123 23 23 to book by phone with an agent. Additionally, many donor centres accept walk-ins if appointments are available, though booking ahead is recommended to avoid disappointment.
Asked by: Earl Howe (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to raise awareness among the medical profession and the public of polycystic ovary syndrome.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government acknowledges that women suffering with gynaecological conditions, including polycystic ovary syndrome, have been failed for far too long.
As set out in the 2022 Women’s Health Strategy, women's health is included in the Royal College of General Practitioners’ (RCGP) curriculum for trainee general practitioners (GPs), including gynaecology. This ensures that all future GPs receive education on women’s health.
The RCGP has also published a Women’s Health Library which brings together educational resources and guidelines on women’s health from the RCGP, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and the College of Sexual and Reproductive Health. This resource is continually updated to ensure GPs and other primary healthcare professionals have the most up-to-date advice to provide the best care for their patients.
On the 15 July, the Department for Education published the revised Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education (RSHE) statutory guidance.
This revised guidance emphasises the importance of ensuring that pupils have a comprehensive understanding of women’s health topics, including at primary school level, while also stipulating that secondary school RSHE lessons should cover menstrual and gynaecological health, covering aspects such as what is an average period and polycystic ovary syndrome, and including when to seek help from healthcare professionals.
Asked by: Earl Howe (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total number of medical school places compared to the total number of resident doctor training places in each of the past five years for which data are available.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to training the staff we need to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it. This is central to the vision in our 10 Year Plan. The following table shows the size of the medical school intake in England for each of the last five annual intakes available, the number of foundation programme trainees in years one and two in England, and the number of core and run through level one specialty training posts offered across all specialty pathways in England:
Year | Entrants to first year medicine courses in England | Foundation programme trainees in England, for years 1 and 2 combined | Total number of core and run-through level one specialty medical training posts offered each year in England |
2020 | 8,405 | 12,243 | 8,081 |
2021 | 8,485 | 12,475 | 8,494 |
2022 | 7,625 | 12,574 | 7,936 |
2023 | 7,820 | 13,004 | 7,810 |
2024 | 8,045 | 14,104 | 7,929 |
Sources: the Office for Students: Medical and Dental Students survey 2024, available at the Office for Students’ website in an online only format, the National Training Survey from the General Medical Council, available at the General Medical Council’s website in an online only format, and the Specialty Training Places: NHS England, Fill Rates dataset, available at the NHS.UK website in an online only format.
Notes:
In 2020 and 2021 the Government temporarily lifted the cap on medical school places for students who completed A-Levels and who had an offer from a university in England to study medicine, subject to their grades.
The UK Foundation Programme Office works to ensure that all eligible applicants receive a foundation training place.
Asked by: Earl Howe (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many medical graduates did not continue training by taking a speciality as a resident doctor in (1) 2023–24, and (2) 2024–25.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Medical graduates initially complete a two-year foundation programme after their graduation. It is common for doctors not to progress from the completion of the second year of their foundation programme directly into specialty training. The following table shows the proportion of doctors in year two of their foundation programme who had not progressed into medical specialty training programmes within each 12-month period of the end of their foundation training, in each of the last 10 years:
Foundation second year | Years since the second year of foundation | ||||
One | Two | Three | Four | Five | |
2014 | 42.6% | 20.8% | 12.5% | 9.9% | 8.6% |
2015 | 49.1% | 24.4% | 14.1% | 10.2% | 9.0% |
2016 | 54.2% | 28.9% | 16.3% | 11.6% | 10.1% |
2017 | 59.3% | 29.8% | 16.4% | 11.4% | 9.7% |
2018 | 62.5% | 33.1% | 17.4% | 11.8% | 10.3% |
2019 | 66.4% | 36.5% | 19.6% | 12.7% | 10.6% |
2020 | 69.3% | 40.5% | 22.6% | 14.3% | |
2021 | 70.4% | 43.7% | 25.3% | ||
2022 | 75.1% | 47.7% | |||
2023 | 77.6% | ||||
Source: General Medical Council, Education Data Tool Progression Reports, available on the General Medical Council’s website, in an online only format.
Asked by: Earl Howe (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many student doctors received their first choice for speciality training in (1) 2023, and (2) 2024.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Medical students completing their studies will initially apply to a two-year foundation programme of employment, and after completing that they will be able to apply to enter medical specialty training.
The Department does not hold information on doctors completing foundation year placements and entering specialty training as doctors are not required to rank applications where they are applying across multiple specialties. However, many individual specialties do utilise a single national process where geographical locations can be ranked.
The United Kingdom’s Foundation Programme Office does publish information on the success of medical graduates in accessing foundation programme placement choices. This shows that 84% of the 10,634 applicants across the UK got their first preference foundation school for the 2025 foundation programme. This compares to 75% of the 9,702 applicants in the 2024 foundation programme.
Asked by: Earl Howe (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the total cost to the NHS of employing locum doctors in England in each of the past five years for which data are available.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
To date, NHS England has published reports to Quarter three of the 2024/25 financial year. The following table shows the total cost to the National Health Service of employing locum doctors in England in each of the past five years, up until Quarter three of the 2024/25:
Year | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
Total | £919,000,000 | £1,012,000,000 | £1,140,000,000 | £1,133,000,000 | £950,000,000 |
Source: Provider Finance Returns.
Asked by: Earl Howe (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) doctors, and (2) nurses, who were trained in the UK left the UK within five years of completing their training to work abroad in (a) 2023–24, and (b) 2024–25.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold the information requested.
Asked by: Earl Howe (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the benefits claimed by individuals who are unable to work because of asthma in the most recent year for which figures are available.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.