Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase public awareness of the Professional Standards Authority's Accredited Registers programme for counselling and psychotherapy services.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) operates an accredited voluntary register scheme for professions not subject to statutory regulation.

The Government values the scheme and the PSA quality mark demonstrates a register’s commitment to high standards of care and provides assurance around professional standards and ethical behaviours.

The scheme covers voluntary registers across a range of professions, including a number relating to counselling and psychotherapy.

The NHS.UK website sets out that professionals must be on one of the PSA’s accredited registers in order to work as a counsellor in the National Health Service.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to support the Professional Standards Authority's Accredited Registers programme for the regulation of counselling and psychotherapy.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) operates an accredited voluntary register scheme for professions not subject to statutory regulation.

The Government values the scheme and the PSA quality mark demonstrates a register’s commitment to high standards of care and provides assurance around professional standards and ethical behaviours.

The scheme covers voluntary registers across a range of professions, including a number relating to counselling and psychotherapy.

The NHS.UK website sets out that professionals must be on one of the PSA’s accredited registers in order to work as a counsellor in the National Health Service.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to improve preventative care pathways for dementia, including enhancing existing NHS health checks to incorporate dementia risk factor assessments and early cognitive screening for individuals over 40.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We recognise the importance of a timely diagnosis and remain committed to increasing diagnosis rates and ensuring that people can access any licensed and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence-recommended treatment and/or support they need. The Government is investing in dementia research across all areas, from causes, diagnosis and prevention, to treatment, care, and support, including for carers.

The NHS Health Check, a core component of England’s cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention programme, aims to prevent some cases of dementia in eligible people by making them aware that many of the risk factors for CVD are the same as those for dementia, and what is good for the heart is good for the brain. While there are no plans to incorporate early cognitive screening in the NHS Health Check, for those aged 65 to 74 years old, the programme signposts individuals to memory services if appropriate.

Our health system has struggled to support those with complex needs, including those with dementia. Under the 10-Year Plan, those living with dementia will benefit from improved care planning and better services. We will deliver the first ever Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, expected in 2026.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what role will early detection of dementia play within their 10 Year Health Plan to close the diagnostic gap, in light of the statistic from the Alzheimer's Society that more than a third of people living with dementia in the United Kingdom remain undiagnosed.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We recognise the importance of a timely diagnosis and remain committed to increasing diagnosis rates and ensuring that people can access any licensed and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommended treatment and/or support they need.

Our health system has struggled to support those with complex needs, including those with dementia. Under the 10-Year Plan, those living with dementia will benefit from improved care planning and better services. We will deliver the first ever Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that integrated care boards collect and use data on (1) allergy prevalence, and (2) allergy services, to inform local commissioning decisions.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Expert Advisory Group on Allergy (EAGA), which is co-chaired by the Department, currently advises the Department, NHS England and other Government departments on the priority areas for policy change and development related to allergy care and outcomes. The EAGA will continue to support the Department and its partners to ensure that the specific needs of people with allergies are addressed through broader National Health Service reforms.

The 10-Year Health Plan will ensure a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or geography. Its three big shifts, namely from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention will all help deliver improvements to allergy care. With more tests delivered in the community and better joint working with multidisciplinary teams, including allergy specialists, working in local communities as part of the neighbourhood health service. The greater use of apps and wearable technology will also support people to manage their allergies closer to home.

We are committed ensuring we have the staff we need in the NHS, and we want to hear from partners to make sure we have the right people, in the right places, with the right skills. We will provide more details about what will be included in the 10-Year Workforce Plan in due course.

The Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme aims to enhance the overall capacity of and capabilities of primary care teams to address a wide range of patient needs and broader healthcare challenges in their localities. Networks may recruit dieticians and nurses with advanced skills and knowledge in a specific area of healthcare or disease management depending upon the needs of their populations.

NHS England does not collect national data on allergy prevalence or services, nor does it issue specific guidance. In conducting health needs assessments to inform their commissioning decisions, integrated care boards will have access to a wide range of data sources, including public health data, hospital statistics, primary care data, and social care metrics.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of the NHS 10 Year Health Plan, what steps they are taking to improve access to allergy care in the community.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Expert Advisory Group on Allergy (EAGA), which is co-chaired by the Department, currently advises the Department, NHS England and other Government departments on the priority areas for policy change and development related to allergy care and outcomes. The EAGA will continue to support the Department and its partners to ensure that the specific needs of people with allergies are addressed through broader National Health Service reforms.

The 10-Year Health Plan will ensure a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or geography. Its three big shifts, namely from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention will all help deliver improvements to allergy care. With more tests delivered in the community and better joint working with multidisciplinary teams, including allergy specialists, working in local communities as part of the neighbourhood health service. The greater use of apps and wearable technology will also support people to manage their allergies closer to home.

We are committed ensuring we have the staff we need in the NHS, and we want to hear from partners to make sure we have the right people, in the right places, with the right skills. We will provide more details about what will be included in the 10-Year Workforce Plan in due course.

The Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme aims to enhance the overall capacity of and capabilities of primary care teams to address a wide range of patient needs and broader healthcare challenges in their localities. Networks may recruit dieticians and nurses with advanced skills and knowledge in a specific area of healthcare or disease management depending upon the needs of their populations.

NHS England does not collect national data on allergy prevalence or services, nor does it issue specific guidance. In conducting health needs assessments to inform their commissioning decisions, integrated care boards will have access to a wide range of data sources, including public health data, hospital statistics, primary care data, and social care metrics.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to include allergy in the strategic priorities of (1) the NHS long-term workforce plan, and (2) the additional roles reimbursement scheme.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Expert Advisory Group on Allergy (EAGA), which is co-chaired by the Department, currently advises the Department, NHS England and other Government departments on the priority areas for policy change and development related to allergy care and outcomes. The EAGA will continue to support the Department and its partners to ensure that the specific needs of people with allergies are addressed through broader National Health Service reforms.

The 10-Year Health Plan will ensure a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or geography. Its three big shifts, namely from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention will all help deliver improvements to allergy care. With more tests delivered in the community and better joint working with multidisciplinary teams, including allergy specialists, working in local communities as part of the neighbourhood health service. The greater use of apps and wearable technology will also support people to manage their allergies closer to home.

We are committed ensuring we have the staff we need in the NHS, and we want to hear from partners to make sure we have the right people, in the right places, with the right skills. We will provide more details about what will be included in the 10-Year Workforce Plan in due course.

The Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme aims to enhance the overall capacity of and capabilities of primary care teams to address a wide range of patient needs and broader healthcare challenges in their localities. Networks may recruit dieticians and nurses with advanced skills and knowledge in a specific area of healthcare or disease management depending upon the needs of their populations.

NHS England does not collect national data on allergy prevalence or services, nor does it issue specific guidance. In conducting health needs assessments to inform their commissioning decisions, integrated care boards will have access to a wide range of data sources, including public health data, hospital statistics, primary care data, and social care metrics.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government which government organisations and public bodies will have access to the single patient record once it is established.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Health and care professionals and other staff responsible for caring for patients within health and social care organisations will be able to access their single patient records under strict role-based access controls. Other Government organisations and public bodies will not have corporate access to the single patient record. The record will be protected by the highest standards of security, with a robust audit trail for patients of who has accessed their record.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government when they will bring forward a plan to rollout universal fracture liaison services to all parts of England.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Fracture Liaison Services are commissioned by integrated care boards, which are well-placed to make decisions according to local need.

Our 10-Year Health Plan committed to rolling out Fracture Liaison Services across every part of the country by 2030.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many general practitioners became fully qualified in England in 2024–25.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

According to the latest published data from May 2025, there are 28,250 full time equivalent (FTE) fully qualified general practitioners (GPs). The corresponding headcount figure is 38,868.

Compared to May 2024, there has been a net increase of 601 FTE fully qualified GPs in May 2025. The net increase in headcount over the same period is 1,293.

Data on the number of vacancies is not held centrally.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many vacancies for general practitioners there are in GP surgeries as of 17 July 2025.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

According to the latest published data from May 2025, there are 28,250 full time equivalent (FTE) fully qualified general practitioners (GPs). The corresponding headcount figure is 38,868.

Compared to May 2024, there has been a net increase of 601 FTE fully qualified GPs in May 2025. The net increase in headcount over the same period is 1,293.

Data on the number of vacancies is not held centrally.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many fully qualified general practitioners there are in England as of 17 July.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

According to the latest published data from May 2025, there are 28,250 full time equivalent (FTE) fully qualified general practitioners (GPs). The corresponding headcount figure is 38,868.

Compared to May 2024, there has been a net increase of 601 FTE fully qualified GPs in May 2025. The net increase in headcount over the same period is 1,293.

Data on the number of vacancies is not held centrally.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks of the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care that the Government would build “250 to 300 new neighbourhood health centres” (HC Deb col 449), and further to the statement on page 32 of the NHS's 10 Year Plan for England: fit for the future that a neighbourhood would consist of 50,000 people, how they will ensure that all 57 million people in England will be covered by a neighbourhood health centre.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The geography of neighbourhoods should be determined locally by integrated care boards in partnership with their strategic partners, particularly local authorities. The Government aims to establish a Neighbourhood Health Centre in every community as we shift from hospital to community. Nationwide coverage will take time, but we will start in areas with the greatest need, for instance where healthy life expectancy is lowest, including coastal towns and communities with higher deprivation levels. Wherever possible, we will maximise value for money by repurposing poorly used, existing National Health Service and public sector estates. The Department is also currently writing a business case on Public Private Partnerships for Neighbourhood Health Centres for review as part of the Autumn Budget.

The Neighbourhood Health Service will embody our new preventative principle that care should happen as locally as it can, digitally by default, in a patient’s home if possible, in a Neighbourhood Health Centre when needed, and only in a hospital if necessary. The Neighbourhood Health Service will mean millions of patients are treated and cared for closer to home by new teams of professionals. We have launched the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme to support systems across the country to test new ways of working, share learning, and scale what works. This programme will inform future strategy and policy development, and outcome metrics will be rigorously monitored.

To support neighbourhood health, we will introduce two new contracts, with roll-out beginning next year, one of which will create neighbourhood providers that deliver enhanced services for groups with similar needs over a footprint of approximately 50,000 people. In many areas, existing groups of general practices will be well placed to take on these contracts.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 14 July (HL8966), what are the reasons for not allowing patients to directly nominate a distance selling pharmacy from within the NHS App.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

There are no current plans to allow patients to directly nominate a distance selling pharmacy (DSP) from within the NHS App. A discovery exercise completed in January 2025 explored this option and concluded that within the current landscape of DSPs there are several challenges that could impact user experience and timely access to medicines. This has been communicated to relevant DSP stakeholders.

The NHS App supports seamless pharmacy services by allowing patients to order repeat prescriptions, nominate their preferred pharmacy, and manage their medication. A new prescription tracker feature means that nearly 1,500 pharmacies are now offering the new prescription tracking service through the NHS App, which provides updates on when prescriptions are ready to be collected. Work has also commenced on an ‘in App’ notification which will enhance this feature further.

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