Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total number of medical specialty training posts available for doctors to apply for (1) this year, and (2) in the next two years.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are currently approximately 9,500 specialty training places. 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.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made an assessment of the potential benefits of offering prehabilitation to all patients on surgical waiting lists.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Elective Reform Plan set out the reform and productivity efforts needed to reach the 92% referral to treatment standard by March 2029. As part of that, we will ensure that patients are seen on time and have the best possible experience during their care. Improving perioperative care can increase productivity by reducing cancellations, reducing length of stay, and minimising postoperative complications.
Prehabilitation services will be offered to patients on admitted pathways who have been screened for modifiable risk factors which could be improved by prehabilitation services. In particular, NHS England will work through Cancer Alliances to support improvements in prehabilitation for people about to undergo cancer treatment. The level of prehabilitation offered will be dependent on both patient risk factors and surgical complexity, and is guided by the clinical evidence base on these factors on the application of appropriate universal or targeted interventions
There are no current plans to assess the potential merits of extending these services to all patients referred for surgery.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to implement a community pharmacist prescribing service.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. This includes our commitment to make prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists. The NHS Medium Term Planning Framework supports this ambition by instructing integrated care boards that they must introduce prescribing based services into community pharmacies during 2026/27 to support primary care access. From September 2026, all newly qualified pharmacists will be independent prescribers upon registration.
The Department is currently in consultation with Community Pharmacy England on the 2026/27 Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework. This consultation will consider any proposed changes to the reimbursement and remuneration of pharmacy contractors in 2026/27, including considering the introduction of prescribing into community pharmacy services. Once this consultation has concluded, the results will be formally announced.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage patients with a learning disability to apply to be on their GP's learning disability register.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Being on a general practice’s (GP) learning disability register is crucial to ensuring that people receive the right support at the right time, including access to annual health checks. Our approach focuses both on encouraging eligible patients to join the register and on supporting GPs to identify and register people with a learning disability.
Work is currently underway to increase uptake, including encouraging children and young people to join the learning disability register at 14 years old, and to support people who do not have a confirmed learning disability diagnosis to access the register and appropriate services.
NHS England monitors uptake of the learning disability register and publishes data routinely. Information on the number of people on GP learning disability registers is in the table attached.
NHS England is also working with people with lived experience, clinical professionals, and commissioners to produce guidance on improving identification of learning disability and developing a quality framework setting expectations for annual health checks and health action plans. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, wrote to all GPs in October 2025, emphasising the importance of the learning disability register and the need to deliver high-quality annual health checks.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to make GPs aware of the learning disability register.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Being on a general practice’s (GP) learning disability register is crucial to ensuring that people receive the right support at the right time, including access to annual health checks. Our approach focuses both on encouraging eligible patients to join the register and on supporting GPs to identify and register people with a learning disability.
Work is currently underway to increase uptake, including encouraging children and young people to join the learning disability register at 14 years old, and to support people who do not have a confirmed learning disability diagnosis to access the register and appropriate services.
NHS England monitors uptake of the learning disability register and publishes data routinely. Information on the number of people on GP learning disability registers is in the table attached.
NHS England is also working with people with lived experience, clinical professionals, and commissioners to produce guidance on improving identification of learning disability and developing a quality framework setting expectations for annual health checks and health action plans. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, wrote to all GPs in October 2025, emphasising the importance of the learning disability register and the need to deliver high-quality annual health checks.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to address any failures in cancer care arising from fragmented commissioning arrangements between NHS England, health and wellbeing boards and prison healthcare providers.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England commissions all services across the prison estate to be equivalent with those expected to be received in the community, including for cancer care.
All people received into prison have an initial health screen on arrival into prison. This assessment focuses on initial risks and key medicines required and any referrals to other services for immediate assessment. Any concerns regarding failures in cancer care for people in prison should be escalated by prison healthcare to the local National Health Service Health and Justice Commissioner.
NHS England expects all providers and healthcare professionals providing any NHS funded or commissioned service to have appropriate and relevant qualifications and work within the scope of their professional registration, including clinicians working to treat people in prison. Any women with a cancer diagnosis who require secondary or tertiary care should have access to these services as they would if they were in the community.
More information regarding assessments in relation to women diagnosed with cancer in prison can be found in the report, The health of people in prison, on probation and in the secure NHS estate in England, published in November 2025 by Professor Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer. A copy of this report is attached.
Through the National Cancer Plan, published on 4 February 2026, we are committed to supporting all people living with or recovering from cancer.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure that women in prison with cancer (1) are treated by appropriately qualified clinicians, and (2) have consistent access to oncology specialists.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England commissions all services across the prison estate to be equivalent with those expected to be received in the community, including for cancer care.
All people received into prison have an initial health screen on arrival into prison. This assessment focuses on initial risks and key medicines required and any referrals to other services for immediate assessment. Any concerns regarding failures in cancer care for people in prison should be escalated by prison healthcare to the local National Health Service Health and Justice Commissioner.
NHS England expects all providers and healthcare professionals providing any NHS funded or commissioned service to have appropriate and relevant qualifications and work within the scope of their professional registration, including clinicians working to treat people in prison. Any women with a cancer diagnosis who require secondary or tertiary care should have access to these services as they would if they were in the community.
More information regarding assessments in relation to women diagnosed with cancer in prison can be found in the report, The health of people in prison, on probation and in the secure NHS estate in England, published in November 2025 by Professor Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer. A copy of this report is attached.
Through the National Cancer Plan, published on 4 February 2026, we are committed to supporting all people living with or recovering from cancer.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent disruption of cancer treatment for patients following imprisonment.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England commissions all services across the prison estate to be equivalent with those expected to be received in the community, including for cancer care.
All people received into prison have an initial health screen on arrival into prison. This assessment focuses on initial risks and key medicines required and any referrals to other services for immediate assessment. Any concerns regarding failures in cancer care for people in prison should be escalated by prison healthcare to the local National Health Service Health and Justice Commissioner.
NHS England expects all providers and healthcare professionals providing any NHS funded or commissioned service to have appropriate and relevant qualifications and work within the scope of their professional registration, including clinicians working to treat people in prison. Any women with a cancer diagnosis who require secondary or tertiary care should have access to these services as they would if they were in the community.
More information regarding assessments in relation to women diagnosed with cancer in prison can be found in the report, The health of people in prison, on probation and in the secure NHS estate in England, published in November 2025 by Professor Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer. A copy of this report is attached.
Through the National Cancer Plan, published on 4 February 2026, we are committed to supporting all people living with or recovering from cancer.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce an implementation and accountability plan to monitor progress towards the delivery of 500,000 operations supported by robotics each year by 2035.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our 10-Year Health Plan commits to expanding robotic assisted surgery (RAS) adoption over the next decade. We will establish national registries for robotic surgery data from 2029 and telesurgery networks to support geographical equity of access of RAS. The national robotic surgery registry will support evidence generation, and will enable future reporting and decision making. Last year, NHS England published the first national guidance for the implementation of RAS in the National Health Service, offering guidance on procurement, commissioning, implementation, training, and evaluation.
A national steering committee, with representation from across the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England, the Office for Life Sciences, NHS Supply Chain, and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, is already in place to support the RAS programme to deliver Government commitments. This will help to set the pace and scale in relation to targets of RAS numbers. Decisions to offer RAS are agreed at an integrated care board and trust level, in line with local population need.
The Department and NHS England are working closely with NHS trusts and regions to understand the key barriers and facilitators to adoption. The RAS steering committee is working together to identify provider trusts and regional alliances that are planning further expansion of RAS.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether women diagnosed with cancer in prisons in England receive healthcare equivalent in quality, timeliness and continuity as that provided in the community.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England commissions all services across the prison estate to be equivalent with those expected to be received in the community, including for cancer care.
All people received into prison have an initial health screen on arrival into prison. This assessment focuses on initial risks and key medicines required and any referrals to other services for immediate assessment. Any concerns regarding failures in cancer care for people in prison should be escalated by prison healthcare to the local National Health Service Health and Justice Commissioner.
NHS England expects all providers and healthcare professionals providing any NHS funded or commissioned service to have appropriate and relevant qualifications and work within the scope of their professional registration, including clinicians working to treat people in prison. Any women with a cancer diagnosis who require secondary or tertiary care should have access to these services as they would if they were in the community.
More information regarding assessments in relation to women diagnosed with cancer in prison can be found in the report, The health of people in prison, on probation and in the secure NHS estate in England, published in November 2025 by Professor Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer. A copy of this report is attached.
Through the National Cancer Plan, published on 4 February 2026, we are committed to supporting all people living with or recovering from cancer.