Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 prepare for potential flu outbreaks in winter 2025-26.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have done more than ever to prepare for winter this year with the development and better testing of winter plans. This includes surge capacity and escalation plans for urgent and emergency care.
The flu vaccination programme began on 1 September 2025 for children and pregnant women. Adults aged over 65 years old, those with long term health conditions, and frontline health and social care workers will start from 1 October 2025.
Further details of the plans for this year, including actions to reduce the effects of flu on demand for services, are set out in the Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/urgent-and-emergency-care-plan-2025-26/
On 16 September, the Secretary of State addressed a gathering of Chief Executives and undertook a joint visit with the NHS England Chief Executive to set out how winter preparations were being strengthened. A further meeting with Chief Executives on 3 November also focused on winter planning.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending business rates reimbursements to community pharmacies.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the 2025 Autumn Budget, the Government took the hard choices to protect the National Health Service in England and to continue to prioritise reducing waiting times. We have also stepped in to cap bills and help businesses, as part of a £4.3 billion support package.
This year, we have also increased funding to community pharmacies to almost £3.1 billion, the largest uplift in funding for any part of the NHS across 2024/25 and 2025/26.
The Department will consult Community Pharmacy England on any proposed changes to reimbursement and remuneration of pharmacy contractors for 2026/27 shortly.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to introduce a modern service framework for kidney disease; and what steps he is taking to support early diagnosis and prevention.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan, as well as an overall quality strategy, the National Quality Board is overseeing the development of a new series of service frameworks to accelerate progress in conditions where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity.
Early priorities include cardiovascular disease, severe mental illness, and the first ever service framework for frailty and dementia. The Government will consider other long-term conditions with significant health and economic impacts for future waves of modern service frameworks.
NHS England is delivering a comprehensive programme to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of people with kidney disease. In 2023, NHS England published a renal services transformation toolkit to support earlier identification of chronic kidney disease and strengthen management across the whole patient pathway.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment they have made of the potential impact of abolishing local Healthwatch organisations on constituents’ ability to raise concerns about health and social care services.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The abolition of Healthwatch England and the transfer of its functions and the changes to Local Healthwatch will require primary legislation. The timing of this is subject to the will of Parliament and will happen when parliamentary time allows. A full Impact Assessment, including an Equality Impact Assessment, will be produced and published on the Government website when legislation is introduced in Parliament.
We are proposing to place responsibility for the health function of local Healthwatch (LHW) with integrated care boards (ICBs). ICBs will ensure the functions are incorporated in provider organisations alongside existing patient engagement work such as Patient Participation Groups. Local authorities will be responsible for the social care LHW functions.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 on developing independently verified, modelled projections of the numbers of NHS staff needed to meet future population demand in the 10-Year Workforce Plan.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it. It will include modelling of the potential size and shape of the future workforce and population projections.
That updated workforce modelling and its underlying assumptions will be set out in and alongside the plan, when published in spring 2026. It will be supported by external independent scrutiny.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the time taken for (a) referrals and (b) assessments for Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises that Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS) are complex, multi-systemic conditions that can be challenging to diagnose. While no formal assessment of average diagnosis times has been made, the Department is aware that many patients experience significant delays for a confirmed diagnosis. These delays are primarily due to low awareness among clinicians, the absence of a single diagnostic test for hypermobile EDS, and the need for multidisciplinary input.
For rarer genetically confirmed types of EDS, NHS England commissions a national diagnostic service. In addition to investigating and diagnosing complex and rare EDS types, the national diagnostic service supports general practitioners (GPs) and specialists in secondary and tertiary care by issuing detailed reports with management recommendations, developing guidelines and pathways of care, and offering clinician-to-clinician advice. It helps GPs by clarifying referral pathways and guiding ongoing care, while supporting hospital specialists through access to genetic testing, multidisciplinary input, and best practice guidance. This collaboration ensures accurate diagnosis, reduces unnecessary investigations, and promotes coordinated care across all levels of the health system, helping to avoid inappropriate referrals and ensuring that patients are able to access the correct specialist care efficiently.
We also recognise that GPs can find it challenging to diagnose EDS because these conditions share symptoms with many other disorders. The EDS GP Toolkit, developed by the Royal College of General Practitioners in partnership with Ehlers-Danlos Support UK, helps GPs in managing EDS by improving recognition, diagnosis, and management of these multi-system disorders. The toolkit aims to reduce delays in diagnosis and helps to prevent long-term disability through appropriate early management.
The Department is engaging with patient organisations to identify further opportunities to streamline referral processes and ensure equitable access to assessment and care.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of NHS waiting times for the diagnosis of Ehlers–Danlos syndrome.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises that Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS) are complex, multi-systemic conditions that can be challenging to diagnose. While no formal assessment of average diagnosis times has been made, the Department is aware that many patients experience significant delays for a confirmed diagnosis. These delays are primarily due to low awareness among clinicians, the absence of a single diagnostic test for hypermobile EDS, and the need for multidisciplinary input.
For rarer genetically confirmed types of EDS, NHS England commissions a national diagnostic service. In addition to investigating and diagnosing complex and rare EDS types, the national diagnostic service supports general practitioners (GPs) and specialists in secondary and tertiary care by issuing detailed reports with management recommendations, developing guidelines and pathways of care, and offering clinician-to-clinician advice. It helps GPs by clarifying referral pathways and guiding ongoing care, while supporting hospital specialists through access to genetic testing, multidisciplinary input, and best practice guidance. This collaboration ensures accurate diagnosis, reduces unnecessary investigations, and promotes coordinated care across all levels of the health system, helping to avoid inappropriate referrals and ensuring that patients are able to access the correct specialist care efficiently.
We also recognise that GPs can find it challenging to diagnose EDS because these conditions share symptoms with many other disorders. The EDS GP Toolkit, developed by the Royal College of General Practitioners in partnership with Ehlers-Danlos Support UK, helps GPs in managing EDS by improving recognition, diagnosis, and management of these multi-system disorders. The toolkit aims to reduce delays in diagnosis and helps to prevent long-term disability through appropriate early management.
The Department is engaging with patient organisations to identify further opportunities to streamline referral processes and ensure equitable access to assessment and care.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS trusts in England provide specialist clinics for Ehlers–Danlos syndrome.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) have a statutory responsibility to commission services which meet the needs of their local population, including for those with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS). It is the responsibility of ICBs, working with clinicians, service users, and patient groups, to develop services and care pathways that meet patients’ needs.
More widely, through the 10-Year Health Plan, we are introducing Neighbourhood Health Centres, and deploying multidisciplinary teams to provide holistic support to people with EDS. Patients will benefit from enhanced NHS App functionality, including the My Medicines and My Health sections, and will be able to self-refer to specialist services where appropriate.
Additionally, the 10-Year Health Plan’s commitments on artificial intelligence will give clinicians advanced tools for faster diagnosis, predictive analytics, and personalised care planning. For people with long-term conditions like EDS, this means earlier interventions, better monitoring of complex needs, and more time for clinicians to focus on patient-centred care rather than administrative tasks. The plan also commits to 95% of people with complex needs having a personalised care plan by 2027.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans her Department has to improve training and clinical awareness of Ehlers–Danlos syndrome among GPs and primary care clinicians to support earlier recognition and referral.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises that Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS) are complex, multi-systemic conditions that can be challenging to diagnose. While no formal assessment of average diagnosis times has been made, the Department is aware that many patients experience significant delays for a confirmed diagnosis. These delays are primarily due to low awareness among clinicians, the absence of a single diagnostic test for hypermobile EDS, and the need for multidisciplinary input.
For rarer genetically confirmed types of EDS, NHS England commissions a national diagnostic service. In addition to investigating and diagnosing complex and rare EDS types, the national diagnostic service supports general practitioners (GPs) and specialists in secondary and tertiary care by issuing detailed reports with management recommendations, developing guidelines and pathways of care, and offering clinician-to-clinician advice. It helps GPs by clarifying referral pathways and guiding ongoing care, while supporting hospital specialists through access to genetic testing, multidisciplinary input, and best practice guidance. This collaboration ensures accurate diagnosis, reduces unnecessary investigations, and promotes coordinated care across all levels of the health system, helping to avoid inappropriate referrals and ensuring that patients are able to access the correct specialist care efficiently.
We also recognise that GPs can find it challenging to diagnose EDS because these conditions share symptoms with many other disorders. The EDS GP Toolkit, developed by the Royal College of General Practitioners in partnership with Ehlers-Danlos Support UK, helps GPs in managing EDS by improving recognition, diagnosis, and management of these multi-system disorders. The toolkit aims to reduce delays in diagnosis and helps to prevent long-term disability through appropriate early management.
The Department is engaging with patient organisations to identify further opportunities to streamline referral processes and ensure equitable access to assessment and care.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 ensure continuity and improvement of national cancer awareness campaigns following the abolition of NHS England, including plans to raise awareness of the symptoms of gynaecological cancers and support earlier diagnosis of ovarian cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Early diagnosis of cancer remains a key priority for the Government. The Government will continue to work to ensure that the public is aware of cancer symptoms, especially for cancers such as ovarian cancer, which are harder to detect in the early stages.
We will work to ensure a smooth transition during the merger of NHS England and the Department, so that the public continues to have access to high-quality cancer care.