Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with NHS Pensions on the increase in the length of processing time when pensioners are able to start receiving their award.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department regularly meets with the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), which administers the NHS Pension Scheme, to discuss performance levels in the scheme. These talks include the current increase in processing times for first pension payments.
To address the delays, the NHSBSA is re-allocating resources, recruiting and training new staff, and updating communications to members and employers to allow them to plan accordingly. The Department is supporting the NHSBSA to take all steps necessary to recover performance so that applications can be processed within the 30-day target.
The NHSBSA is committed to providing the best service possible to retiring and retired National Health Service staff, and will keep members updated.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the total staff remuneration paid through NHS Professionals Bank staff contracts in the last 12 months.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Bank staffing allows the National Health Service to meet workforce demand fluctuations without the need to increase capacity above that which is required on a sustained basis. NHS Professionals pay bank members in accordance with rates set by its NHS clients. The total staff remuneration paid through NHS Professionals’ bank staff contracts for 2024/25, the year ending March 2025, was approximately £1.1 billion.
This information is publicly available as part of NHS Professionals’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ending 31 March 2025, at the following link:
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06704614/filing-history
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Answer of 16 July 2025 to Question 66144 on Mental Health: Children and Young People, in designing future waves of the Mental Health: Children and Young People statistics collection, if he will take steps with international counterparts in selected other countries to include a selection of questions which could be comparable internationally.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have no plans to do so at present. Any changes to the questions to be included in any future Mental Health of Children and Young People in England surveys will be considered as part of the design process. Plans for future surveys will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the ratio of community hospital beds to acute hospital beds is in (a) England (b) Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and (c) the Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust area.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data on both general and acute beds and intermediate beds at a national and regional level is published monthly on the NHS England website.
Data on general and acute beds is available at the following link:
Data on intermediate care beds is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/intermediate-care/
Trust-level data is not published for intermediate care beds.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department issues guidance on a target ratio of step-down beds to acute beds in an acute hospital’s catchment area.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Neither the Department nor NHS England have issued specific guidance on a national fixed target ratio for step-down beds to acute beds. The number of step-down beds should be determined by local population needs and patient flow assessments.
Since 2024, NHS England supports this local determination by making available data on the use and occupancy of community beds, which may provide step-down or step-up care, available to systems and service providers.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in each Integrated Care Board area, (a) what the resident population is and (b) how many full-time equivalent clinical staff are employed in (i) community hospital in-patient care and (ii) home-based care.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Office for National Statistics publishes population estimates for health geographies, including integrated care board. The data is available at the following link:
The Department does not hold information on the number of clinical staff in community hospital in-patient care and home-based care. Staff are employed by National Health Service trusts and may be employed across a more than one type of setting over the course of their work.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the average waiting times were for discharge pathways (a) 0, (b) 1, (c) 2 and (d) 3 in (i) England, (ii) Hampshire and the Isle of Wight ICB area and (iii) Portsmouth Hospitals University Trust in the most recent year for which data is available.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Information on the average wait times for individual discharge pathways is not held centrally.
Data on the number of adult patients in acute hospital beds who are medically ready for discharge but not discharged, is published monthly by NHS England. For patients with a length of stay of at least 14 days, the average number of patients experiencing delayed discharge is broken down by reason for delay, some of which relate to specific discharge pathways. The publication also reports the number of people discharged onto each discharge pathway each month. This data is available at an England, integrated care board, and National Health Service trust level, and is available at the following link:
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to mandate the installation of automated external defibrillators in retirement (a) villages and (b) homes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving access to automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in public spaces and reducing inequalities in access to these life saving devices. Following the depletion of the existing AED fund, launched in September 2023, the Government approved a further £500,000 in August 2024 to fulfil existing applications to the Fund.
The Department selected a joint bid from Smarter Society as its independent partner to manage grant applications. Smarter Society reviewed funding applications, against requirements specified by the Department. These requirements were to ensure that the resource was allocated where there was the greatest need, e.g. remote communities with extended ambulance response times, places with high footfall and high population densities, hotspots for cardiac arrest including sporting venues and venues with vulnerable people, and deprived areas.
At present, there are no plans to introduce legislation requiring the installation of AEDs in retirement villages and homes. Additionally, the Department has not conducted a formal assessment of the number of AEDs currently in place within these facilities. As noted above, this is because AEDs are allocated based on greatest need, and collecting this data would not likely be decision relevant.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the proportion of retirement (a) villages and (b) homes without automated external defibrillators.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving access to automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in public spaces and reducing inequalities in access to these life saving devices. Following the depletion of the existing AED fund, launched in September 2023, the Government approved a further £500,000 in August 2024 to fulfil existing applications to the Fund.
The Department selected a joint bid from Smarter Society as its independent partner to manage grant applications. Smarter Society reviewed funding applications, against requirements specified by the Department. These requirements were to ensure that the resource was allocated where there was the greatest need, e.g. remote communities with extended ambulance response times, places with high footfall and high population densities, hotspots for cardiac arrest including sporting venues and venues with vulnerable people, and deprived areas.
At present, there are no plans to introduce legislation requiring the installation of AEDs in retirement villages and homes. Additionally, the Department has not conducted a formal assessment of the number of AEDs currently in place within these facilities. As noted above, this is because AEDs are allocated based on greatest need, and collecting this data would not likely be decision relevant.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2025 to Question 21573 on Mental Health: Children and Young People, whether he plans to publish further updates to those statistics.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Although no decisions have yet been made to commission further waves, the Department recognises the importance of the Mental Health of Children and Young People in England Report. We will publish plans in due course.