Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
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 potential impact of the number of ICU beds on trends in the level of cancellations of scheduled and vital surgeries; and what steps he is taking to help ensure that surgeries that have been rescheduled for this reason are not cancelled.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made on the specific impact of intensive care unit (ICU) bed unavailability on levels of cancelled surgeries. However, tackling waiting lists is a top priority for the Government, and this includes ensuring that patients requiring inpatient treatment will have access to high quality post-operative care.
Between July and September 2025, 0.91% of elective admissions were cancelled last minute by the provider for non-clinical reasons, with 20,189 last minute cancellations, an improvement of 0.06% from the same period the previous year when 0.97% of elective admissions were cancelled last minute, with 21,249 last minute cancellations.
The Department does not hold data broken down by the reason for cancellation, but the rescheduling rate has also improved. If an NHS hospital cancels a patient's operation for non-clinical reasons on the day of admission or day of surgery, the NHS Constitution states it must be rescheduled within 28 days. Between July and September 2025, 21.2% of cancelled elective operations which were not treated within 28 days, so, whilst there is still work to do, this is an improvement from 22.7% in the previous year.
This winter, local systems have been asked to place a particular focus on reducing bed occupancy and improving patient flow. More broadly for 2025/26, we have asked NHS trusts to focus on eliminating discharge delays of more than 48 hours caused by issues within the hospital, and to work with local authorities to eliminate the longest delays, starting with those of over 21 days. This will mitigate against the risk of cancelled or rescheduled operations due to intensive care bed unavailability. Our Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, also set out actions to enhance perioperative care, which can shorten patients’ length of hospital stay and minimise postoperative complications, freeing up hospital beds for those who need them.
Wider elective care reforms will also help make the best use of clinical capacity, so that if a patient’s surgery is cancelled on the day due to ICU bed unavailability, they can be offered a new date for their procedure without delay. This includes new and expanded dedicated surgical hubs to deliver common procedures, thereby freeing up capacity for more complex patients, tackle missed appointments, introduce more straight-to-test pathways, and reduce unnecessary follow up appointments through widening remote monitoring and patient-initiated follow-ups.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
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 free up hospital beds and support individuals whose families delay hospital discharges to avoid paying for health care costs.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Enabling people to be discharged from hospital promptly with the right care and support contributes to better outcomes and a speedier recovery for patients, as well as preventing the loss of independence.
As set out in the statutory guidance on hospital discharge and community support, people do not have the right to remain in an acute or community hospital bed if they no longer have a clinical need to be in hospital. When a person is medically fit for discharge, local areas should, as far as possible, offer choice for individuals on the care and support they receive, and National Health Service bodies and local authorities have a duty to involve patients, carers, and their families, where considered appropriate, in this process. Further details can be found at the following link:
In instances where a person’s preferred care package or placement is unavailable, an appropriate alternative should be offered whilst a person awaits availability of their preferred choice.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to introduce financial support for family’s impacted by brain tumours following the concerning findings in the Brain Tumour Charity’s recent report; and what plans his Department has to increase support for the charities who help families impacted by brain tumours.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
To ensure people living with brain tumours have care which addresses their financial concerns, NHS England has committed to ensuring that every person diagnosed with cancer has access to personalised care. This includes needs assessments, a care plan, and health and wellbeing information and support. Through the provision of information, personalised care empowers people to manage their care and the impact of their cancer, including the financial impact on their families.
The Department for Work and Pensions provides a range of benefits and support for families with people with a range of health conditions and disabilities, including for those impacted by high grade or life limiting brain tumours. These include Universal Credit, Employment Support Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Carer's Allowance, and Access to Work. The Pathways to Work Green Paper was built on the principle that the Government should support those who can work to do so, while protecting those who can’t, and we have already made significant progress bringing forward proposals from the Green Paper to transform the support we offer.
To support charities, including those who help families impacted by brain tumours, the Department of Health and Social Care has a Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Health and Wellbeing Programme. This is a mechanism through which the Department, NHS England, and the UK Health Security Agency work together with VCSE organisations to:
In addition, the National Cancer Plan, which is due to be published shortly, has featured significant ongoing engagement with charities, covering topics such as how to improve the experience of people living with cancer. The plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, including support for people living with brain tumours and their families.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department taking to expand funding for adult hospices, in the context of the NHS Ten-Year Plan’s commitment to shift more care provision away from hospitals into community healthcare.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England. The MSF will drive improvements in the services that patients and their families receive at the end of life and enable integrated care boards (ICBs) to address challenges in access, quality, and sustainability through the delivery of high-quality, personalised care. This will be aligned with the ambitions set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.
We will consider contracting and commissioning arrangements as part of our MSF. We recognise that there is currently a mix of contracting models in the hospice sector. By supporting ICBs to commission more strategically, we can move away from grant and block contract models. In the long term, this will aid sustainability and help hospices’ ability to plan ahead.
The MSF will address the drivers and incentives that are required in palliative care and end of life care to enable the shift from hospital to community, including as part of neighbourhood health teams. Further information about the MSF is set out in the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave on 24 November 2025.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
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 on of not offering prescriptions longer than the standard 28-day cycle to patients with long-term, stable conditions on both GP practices and patients of GPs; and whether he plans to amend the NHS standard prescription cycle guidance for GPs.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Prescribing durations are typically 28, 56, or 84 day intervals. There are no current national contract requirements, standards, criteria or guidance as to optimal prescription length from NHS England. Currently, prescription duration is guided by local prescribing policies, guidance from professional regulators, the General Medical Council, and professional bodies, including the British Medical Association. These indicate that determining the optimal prescription duration in any individual case requires consideration of many factors including clinical appropriateness, patient safety, patient compliance, types of medicines, and required monitoring frequency.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
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 (a) improve medical supply chains and (b) ensure that patients are able to obtain medications prescribed to them; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of a framework requiring follow-ups with patients issued prescriptions to confirm they have successfully accessed medication.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In early August, the Department published the policy paper Managing a robust and resilience supply of medicines, which provides greater transparency of the supply chains we rely on, the actions we take to protect patients from medicine shortages when they occur, and the steps we are taking to enhance resilience in our supply chains. The publication outlines a number of actions which are underway, including:
Although the Department has made no specific assessment of the potential merits of a framework requiring follow-ups with patients issued prescriptions, it is worth noting that prescribers are expected to provide information to their patients regarding their medicines and ensure that suitable arrangements are in place for the monitoring, follow-up, and review of medication.
Pharmacists also play a key role in enabling patients to access medicines. For example, the New Medicine Service is an advanced service offered by community pharmacies, providing patients with advice to address any possible side effects, issues, or questions that patients who are prescribed a new medicine may have.
The service focuses on treatments for long-term conditions including asthma and hypertension. Early interventions of this type can improve medication adherence, patient outcomes, and can reduce pressure on the wider National Health Service.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
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 adequacy of the provisions in place to make NHS healthcare accessible to people who are (a) deaf or (b) have hearing loss; and whether he plans to improve these provisions.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning services to meet the needs of their local population, including deaf people and people who have hearing loss.
Under the Equality Act (2010), health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged.
NHS England are rolling out a Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag which enables the recording of key information about a patient and their adjustment needs, to ensure support can be tailored appropriately.
Since 2016, all National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers are expected to meet the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), which details the approach to supporting the information and communication support needs of people with a disability, impairment or sensory loss.
On 30 June 2025, NHS England published a revised AIS. NHS England is working to support implementation of the AIS with awareness raising, communication and engagement, and a review of the current e-learning modules on the AIS. The intention is to ensure that staff and organisations in the NHS are aware of the AIS and the importance of meeting the information and communication needs of disabled people using NHS services.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
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 (a) work with GP practices to ensure nursing staff receive pay increases in line with national recommendations and (b) facilitate the shift of pay awards from October to April so that no portion of annual remuneration is lost; and what assessment he has made of the need for a framework that guarantees government-allocated funding for staff pay is used for that intended purpose.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to ensuring that the general practice (GP) nursing workforce is sustainable, supported, and valued for the work they do.
As self-employed contractors to the National Health Service, it is up to GPs how they distribute pay and benefits to their staff. Funding for GP nursing pay is not ringfenced and contractual arrangements do not place any specific obligations on GPs with regard to GP nurse terms and conditions.
The independent review body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration has recommended an uplift of 4% to the pay ranges for salaried GPs, and to GP contractor pay for 2025/26. We have provided an increase to core funding for practices to allow this 4% pay uplift to be passed on to salaried and contractor GPs.
We expect GP contractors to implement pay rises to other practice staff in line with the uplift in funding they have received.
The Government has committed to a new substantive GP Contract within this Parliament cycle, and we will continue to engage constructively with the General Practitioners Committee England on issues such as staffing.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
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 merits of modular construction for the delivery of healthcare infrastructure within the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise the merits of modular construction for delivering National Health Service health infrastructure, including faster construction times, cost savings, minimised disruption, higher quality and safety standards, and the use of sustainable materials and methods.
Modular construction is a modern method of construction (MMC). A toolkit has been developed to support MMC opportunities in healthcare, which is publicly available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/nhs-modern-methods-of-construction-assessment-tool-user-guide/
The toolkit is recommended for use on all healthcare infrastructure projects and is mandated for projects over £25 million to meet the business case requirements of 70% new build and 50% refurbishment using MMC.
The New Hospital Programme is already transforming the way that hospital infrastructure is constructed by using a national standardised approach, called Hospital 2.0. Hospital 2.0 uses a standardised ‘kit of parts’ for hospital components, ranging from doors to full bathroom pods, that can be assembled into different size hospitals in an optimised, consistent, and repeatable way and with off-site manufacturing and with modular construction, reducing costs and accelerating construction.
Asked by: Bradley Thomas (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
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 adequacy of the funding for health bodies involved in the Right Care, Right Person framework; and what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on securing more funding for all bodies involved.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has not made such an assessment and has instead asked all integrated care boards to estimate the resourcing requirements it would take for them to deliver the Right Care, Right Person framework. In November 2024, NHS England published the document, Guidance on implementing the National Partnership Agreement: Right Care, Right Person, which includes guidance on undertaking an impact assessment to identify how different agencies and services will be impacted and how any negative impacts will be mitigated. The Department and the Home Office continue to work together to monitor the framework and its impacts, and discussions have been had between departments at junior ministerial level.