Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he will take steps to make Integrated Care Boards coterminous with strategic authorities.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The English devolution white paper made clear the Government’s long-term ambition to align public service boundaries, including health and strategic authority boundaries. We reaffirmed this commitment in the 10-Year Health Plan, published on 3 July 2025. Our aim is that integrated care boards should be coterminous with strategic authorities wherever feasibly possible.
I also refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS915 I made to the House on 9 September 2025, which provided an update on further progress.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
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 improve (a) electronic patient records and (b) associated systems in the NHS.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are improving National Health Service electronic patient records (EPRs) through a £2 billion investment in IT systems, the implementation of a Frontline Digitisation programme, and the approval of new general practice IT systems to increase digital maturity across secondary and primary care. The programme is forecasting to achieve 98% EPR coverage by March 2026, with the remaining 2% of NHS trusts advanced in their plans for an EPR.
This aims to reduce administrative tasks, improve data access for better patient outcomes, and foster collaboration by replacing paper records with digital ones.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
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 support family carers in North East Somerset and Hanham 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, including 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 for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26.
In April, the Government also increased the Carer’s Allowance weekly earnings limit from £151 a week to £196, the largest ever increase since the Carer’s Allowance was introduced.
Through measures in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are equipping and supporting carers by making them more visible, empowering their voices in care planning, joining up services, and streamlining their caring tasks by introducing a new ‘MyCarer’ section to the NHS App.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress his Department has made on reducing backlogs at (a) Royal United Hospital Bath and (b) Southmead Hospital.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Plan for Change, we are committed to returning to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029. Waiting list data is available for the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust, which encompasses the Royal United Hospital Bath, and the North Bristol NHS Trust, which encompasses the Southmead Hospital.
As of July 2025, the total elective waiting list for the Royal United Hospitals Bath Foundation NHS Trust was 41,010, with 57.7% of patients waiting less than 18 weeks. The total elective waiting list for the North Bristol NHS Trust was 44,047, with 65.8% of patients waiting less than 18 weeks.
Planning Guidance for 2025/26 sets a target that 65% of patients wait for 18 weeks or less by March 2026, with every trust expected to deliver a minimum 5% improvement on current performance over that period. Comparing from April 2025 to July 2025, the latest available data, performance against the 18-week standard has worsened by 2.9% at the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust, and improved by 2.6% at the North Bristol NHS Trust.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
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 progress on reducing NHS waiting lists in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Plan for Change, we have committed to return to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment by March 2029. We provided additional investment in the Autumn Budget that has enabled us to fulfil our pledge to deliver over two million more elective care appointments early. More than double that number, 4.9 million more appointments, have now been delivered.
Planning Guidance for 2025/26 sets a target that 65% of patients wait for 18 weeks or less by March 2026, with every trust expected to deliver a minimum 5% improvement on current performance over that period.
The North East Somerset and Hanham Constituency spans two integrated care boards (ICBs). From June 2024 to June 2025, the NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB’s waiting list decreased by 0.8%. The NHS Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire ICB’s waiting list increased by 2.4%. However, average wait times have decreased across both ICBs. Over the last 12 months there has been a 3.5% increase in the number of people waiting less than 18-weeks. The number of patients waiting over a year has also decreased by 2%.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made in ensuring additional NHS appointments are made available to people in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Tackling waiting lists is a top priority for this Government. We have exceeded our pledge to deliver over two million more elective care appointments. More than double that number, 4.9 million more appointments, have now been delivered in England.
On 6 January, NHS England published a plan titled Reforming elective care for patients, which sets out a whole-system approach to delivering on the commitment that 92% of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment, in line with the NHS constitutional standard, by March 2029. The plan is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/reforming-elective-care-for-patients/
Progress is being made in the North East Somerset and Hanham constituency, which spans two integrated care boards (ICBs). In both ICBs, around 60% of patients wait under 18 weeks for elective care.
As of June, average waiting times have decreased across both ICBs, compared to the same period last year. Over the last 12 months there has been a 3.5 percentage point increase in the number of people waiting less than 18 weeks. The number of patients waiting over a year has also decreased by 2%.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
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 improve access to GP appointments in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is determined to work with the National Health Service to fix the front door of our health service and to ensure that everyone can access general practice (GP) appointments and services, including in North East Somerset and Hanham. Through our 10-Year Health Plan, it will be easier and faster to see a GP. The 8:00am scramble will end, we will train more doctors, and we will guarantee digital consultations within 24 hours.
In October 2024, we invested £82 million into the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme to support the recruitment of 1,900 individual GPs into primary care networks across England, helping to increase appointment availability and improve care for thousands of patients.
We have also delivered the biggest boost to GP funding in years, an £889 million uplift, with GPs now receiving a growing share of NHS resources. Additionally, the new £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund will create additional clinical space within over 1,000 GPs across England. This investment will deliver more appointments and improve patient care.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
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 speed up diagnosis and treatment for people living with dementia in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government wants a society where every person with dementia receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life.
A timely diagnosis is vital to ensuring that a person with dementia can access the advice, information, care, and support that can help them to live well and remain independent for as long as possible. To support recovery of the dementia diagnosis rates and implementation of the Dementia Care Pathway, we have developed a memory service dashboard for management information purposes. The aim is to support commissioners and providers with appropriate data and to enable targeted support where needed.
We have published the D100: Assessment Tool Pathway programme, which brings together multiple resources into a single, consolidated tool to help simplify best practice for system leaders and help create communities and services where the best possible care and support is available to those with dementia. The D100: Pathway Assessment Tool launched in April, and is available at the following link:
To prepare for any potential new treatments, NHS England is working closely with regulators to ensure that arrangements are in place to support the adoption of any new licensed and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommended treatments as soon as possible.
The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan will address the challenges diagnosed by Lord Darzi and will set the vision for what good joined-up care looks like for people with a combination of complex health and care needs. It will set out how we support and enable health and social care services to work together better to provide that joined-up care.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is tacking to support community pharmacies in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system and is grateful to pharmacy teams across the country, including in North-East Somerset and Hanham, for their hard work, professionalism, and dedication in supporting patients in their communities, and for delivering a wide range of National Health Services.
For 2025/26, funding for the core community pharmacy contractual framework has been increased to £3.073 billion. This represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the NHS, over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26.
There is also additional funding available, for example for pharmacies delivering Pharmacy First consultations and flu and COVID-19 vaccinations. The Pharmacy Access Scheme provides additional funding to support pharmacies in areas where there are fewer.
This year, we will take forward legislation to enable all pharmacies to benefit from the efficiencies of hub and spoke dispensing and enable greater use of the skill mix in pharmacy teams to free up pharmacists to spend more time with patients.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
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 Spending Review 2025 on NHS waiting lists in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No formal assessment has been made of the potential impact of the 2025 Spending Review on National Health Service waiting lists in the North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.
The 2025 Spending Review, announced by my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer in June 2025, prioritises health with record investment in the health and social care system. Until 2028/29, the Government is providing £29 billion for more day-to-day funding in real terms compared to 2023/24, along with the largest ever health capital budget, with a £2.3 billion real terms increase in capital spending over the Spending Review period, until 2029/30.
This funding will support delivery of our commitment that 92% of patients return to waiting no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment by March 2029, including in the North East Somerset and Hanham constituency.