Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many of the neighbourhood health centres announced in the Autumn Budget 2025 will be based in the West Midlands.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
At the Autumn Budget, we announced our commitment to deliver 250 neighbourhood health centres (NHCs) through the NHS Neighbourhood Rebuild Programme. This will deliver NHCs through a mixture of refurbishments to expand and improve sites over the next three years, along with new-build sites opening in the medium term. The first 120 NHCs are due to be operational by 2030 and will be delivered through public private partnerships and public capital.
Stockland Green Primary Care Centre and Summerfield Primary Care Centre, located in the West Midlands, are some of the first sites that have been chosen to be upgraded as part of the NHS Neighbourhood Rebuild Programme.
Nationwide coverage will take time, but we will start in the areas of greatest need where healthy life expectancy is lowest, including rural towns and communities with higher deprivation levels, targeting places where healthy life expectancy is lowest and delivering healthcare closer to home for those that need it the most.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning, which includes planning, securing, and monitoring, general practice services within their health systems through delegated responsibility from NHS England. Both ICBs and local health systems will be responsible for determining the most appropriate locations for NHCs.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
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 potential impact of the minimum wage rise on the cost of care home places for (a) those that are self funding and (b) local authorities that fund residents in care homes.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department regularly makes assessments of the cost pressures facing adult social care. These assessments take into account a wide range of factors, including changes to the National Minimum Wage and the impact that may have on local authorities funding residents in care homes.
The Spending Review allows for an increase of over £4 billion of funding available for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26, to support the sector in making improvements.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department is providing to NHS trusts to increase (a) crisis support services in the local community (b) mental health inpatient beds in the West Midlands.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning National Health Service mental health crisis services and mental health inpatient beds to meet the needs of people across the West Midlands.
Nationally, progress has been achieved in building more robust crisis care pathways across all ages and in all regions, ensuring that people in a mental health crisis can receive the right care. This includes the introduction of the ‘mental health’ option for NHS 111 and the opening of new mental health crisis centres to provide accessible and responsive care for individuals in a mental health crisis.
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out our ambitions to go further by developing up to 85 dedicated mental health emergency departments so that patients get fast, same-day access to specialist support in an appropriate setting. This expansion builds on a number of early implementer sites that have been established in recent years by local health systems to provide a dedicated therapeutic alternative to emergency departments for individuals in a mental health crisis.
The plan also sets out our plans to transform mental health services to improve access and treatment, and to promote good mental health and wellbeing for the nation. This includes improving assertive outreach, investing in neighbourhood mental health centres, and increasing access to talking therapies and evidence-based digital interventions.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
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 improve the health outcomes of veterans in the West Midlands.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As well as being able to access all National Health Services across the United Kingdom, NHS England has introduced several bespoke services to improve the healthcare support available to veterans. These are: Op RESTORE which supports veterans with service-related physical health problems; Op COURAGE which supports veterans with a mental health pathway; and Op NOVA which supports veterans in the justice system.
In addition, the veteran-aware trust and the veteran-friendly accreditation schemes raise awareness amongst healthcare professionals of the specific needs of veterans. These schemes provide support to ensure appropriate signposting and referrals to relevant veteran and wider services within the NHS. All trusts in the West Midlands have been accredited as veteran aware and all primary care networks in the West Midlands have at least one accredited practice.
In May 2025, a national training and education plan was announced to help veterans benefit from improved and targeted healthcare. NHS staff across England will receive dedicated training to help them identify and support patients with military backgrounds. This will be rolled out across the NHS from November 2025.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of his Department's procurement contracts were awarded to companies in the West Midlands in the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Five contracts were awarded by the Department to suppliers which had registered addresses and postcodes in the West Midlands area of England in 2024/25. This is 1.5% of the total number of contracts awarded by the Department in that financial year.
Larger suppliers to the Department may have supply chain companies and business locations and workforce in the West Midlands area.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
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 help reduce the time taken to provide treatment for people with an eating disorder.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2024/25, we provided £106 million in funding to children’s eating disorder services, an increase of £10 million over 2023/24. This increase is helping clinicians to support more young people.
Between April and June 2025, 3,138 children and young people successfully entered treatment in community eating disorder services. This is the highest figure on record since 2021. At the same time, waiting lists to begin routine eating disorder treatment have shortened by 20% from the year before and we are working with NHS England to meet the waiting time standards for eating disorder services for children and young people.
NHS England is currently seeking to expand the capacity of children’s community eating disorder services, to allow for crisis care and intensive home treatment. Improved care in the community will give young people early access to evidence-based treatment involving families and carers, improving outcomes and preventing relapse.
We have also committed to expanding mental health support teams to cover 100% of pupils in England by December 2030, aiding school staff in recognising eating disorders and providing early intervention for children at risk.
Early intervention is also a priority for adults with eating disorders, as set out in the community mental health framework. NHS England has established 15 provider collaboratives focusing on adult eating disorders, which are working to redesign care pathways and focus resources on community services.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
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 support people with bladder and bowel control conditions in Sutton Coldfield constituency.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
An Adult Bladder and Bowel (Continence) service is delivered via Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (BCHC) offering appointments for all residents in Birmingham, including in Sutton Coldfield, with a clinic facility in North Locality based at Sutton Cottage Hospital. The service offers face-to-face and virtual consultations and supports the community nursing service with patients who meet the housebound criteria with complex needs around continence management, catheter care or bowel management.
The service treats adults who are experiencing bladder problems or bowel dysfunction, with all patients receiving a high-quality clinical assessment and personalised care plan in line with best practice, and national driven guidance.
There are a range of investigations, including vaginal pelvic floor assessment, bladder ultra-sound scan or rectal examination, that are available through the service that helps to determine the best course of treatment, based on individual patient needs. Treatment may include lifestyle advice or interventions, pelvic floor exercises, bladder re-training, medication, specialist care or signposting to other appropriate services. The service also offers specialist clinics for young adults aged between 18 and 19 years old transitioning from Children's Services working in partnership BCHC’s Children's and Families Division. The service can be accessed by referral via a patient’s general practitioner (GP).
Housebound patients, including patients with psychological illness which prevent them from accessing a clinic, or following a treatment programme, will initially need to be referred to a Community Nursing service for assessment and treatment by the patient’s GP.
BCHC is currently scoping the use of containment products and ensuring they align with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance recommendations. A consultation and engagement plan, quality impact and equality, human rights assessment will underpin any decisions on the future model.
The average patient waiting times for clinic appointments at Sutton Cottage is 10 weeks, but urgent referrals can be seen within two weeks.
GPs also can access secondary care specialist advice and e-refer a patient to University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust’s (UHB) specialist clinics for adults with incontinence, overactive bladder, stress urinary incontinence, or bladder pain.
As part of the system’s work to transform and standardise care, between October 2026 and March 2027, GPs across Birmingham and Solihull will start to have access to digital tools for clinical decision making and case management via online consulting rooms with UHB urology specialists to speed up and improve access in health and care.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
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 improve access to respite care for unpaid carers in Sutton Coldfield constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the vital role of unpaid carers and is committed to ensuring they have the support they need.
The Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to deliver a wide range of sustainable, high-quality care and support services, which can include respite support for carers.
To help local authorities fulfil their duties, including to unpaid carers, the 2025 Spending Review allows for an increase of over £4 billion of funding available for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
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 help improve the capacity of sexual health services in Sutton Coldfield constituency.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authorities in England, including Birmingham, which is the upper tier local authority for Sutton Coldfield, are responsible for commissioning comprehensive, open access to most sexual health services (SHSs) funded through the Public Health Grant. In 2025/26, we are increasing funding through the Public Health Grant to £3.858 billion, providing local authorities with an average 5.4% cash increase and a 3% real terms increase, the biggest real-terms increase after nearly a decade of reduced spending. Individual local authorities are well placed to make funding and commissioning decisions about the SHSs that best meet the needs of their local populations.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) supports local areas to improve SHS delivery through data monitoring and reporting.
The Government is committed to ending new HIV transmissions in England by 2030 and is developing a new HIV Action Plan in collaboration with the UKHSA, NHS England, and a broad range of system partners, which we aim to publish this year. The plan will have the key objective of stabilising and supporting system enablers to further support joined up working across the system.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
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 accident and emergency waiting times in hospitals in the West Midlands.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that urgent and emergency care performance has fallen short in recent years and is committed to restoring accident and emergency waiting times to the National Health Service constitutional standard across England, including in the West Midlands.
Our Urgent and emergency care plan 2025/26 sets out a fundamental shift in the approach to urgent and emergency care. It will drive collaboration across the system to deliver improvements for patients this year and is backed by nearly £450 million of capital investment.
Furthermore, our 10-Year Health Plan sets out how we will reduce waiting times in accident and emergency by shifting care into the community through new Neighbourhood Health Services, forming a key part of our mission to reform the NHS.