Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
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 deliver safe staffing levels for midwives.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to tackling the retention and recruitment challenges that face the National Health Service. NHS England is leading a range of initiatives to boost retention of existing staff and ensure it remains an attractive career choice for new recruits. This includes the new Graduate Guarantee for nurses and midwives to ensure there are enough positions for every newly qualified midwife in England.
As of October 2025, there were 25,281 full time equivalent midwives working in NHS trusts. This is an increase of 878, or 3.6%, compared to October 2024.
We are also developing a new 10 Year Workforce Plan which will set out how the NHS workforce will align with the future direction of healthcare reform set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
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 maternity estates and clear the fixable maintenance backlog.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are investing over £131 million through the 2025/26 Estates Safety Fund to address critical safety risks on the maternity estate, enabling better care for mothers and their newborns. The funded works will deliver vital safety improvements, enhance patient and staff environments, and support National Health Service productivity by reducing disruptions across NHS clinical services.
Improving the standard of maternity and neonatal departments is also a core component of the New Hospital Programme. 11 of the 16 hospitals that are expected to begin construction between 2025 and 2030 will be rebuilding maternity and women and children’s services.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
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 expand the use of community optometry services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards are responsible for assessing the health needs of their local population and commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet them.
This can already include the commissioning of enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices, including minor and urgent eye care services and glaucoma referral refinement services.
NHS England accelerator pilots have demonstrated that improved IT connectivity and a single point of access can significantly speed up eye care referrals and support more patients to be managed in the community, in line with the ambitions in the 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
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 create capacity in hospital eye services by expanding the use of optometry-led diagnostic and treatment pathways.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards are responsible for assessing the health needs of their local population and commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet them.
This can already include the commissioning of enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices, including minor and urgent eye care services and glaucoma referral refinement services.
NHS England accelerator pilots have demonstrated that improved IT connectivity and a single point of access can significantly speed up eye care referrals and support more patients to be managed in the community, in line with the ambitions in the 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's press release of 21 February 2025 entitled Dental patients to benefit from 700,000 extra urgent appointments, how many of the additional urgent care appointments were purchased in 2025 by integrated care board.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of National Health Service urgent treatments delivered each year between 2020/21 and 2024/25:
Financial year | Number of urgent dental treatments delivered |
2024/25 | 3,658,273 |
2023/24 | 3,674,710 |
2022/23 | 3,785,952 |
2021/22 | 3,819,226 |
2020/21 | 3,646,868 |
Source: NHS Business Services Authority, Dental statistics - England 2024/25, avaiable at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/dental-england/dental-statistics-england-202425
Comparable monthly data on the number of urgent dental appointments delivered is not published.
We have asked integrated care boards (ICBs) to commission extra urgent dental appointments to make sure that patients with urgent needs can get the treatment they require. ICBs have been making extra appointments available from April 2025.
Appointments are available across the country, with specific expectations for each region. These appointments are more heavily weighted towards those areas where they are needed the most. The Surrey Heartlands ICB, which includes the Epsom and Ewell constituency, has been asked to deliver 6,585 additional urgent dental appointments as part of the scheme.
Data on delivery of urgent dental care, including additional delivery, will be published annually as part of the NHS Dental Statistics England Official Statistics series. These statistics are released each August and are the primary source of data on the delivery of NHS dental care.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many urgent dental appointments were delivered in each month from January 2024 to January 2025.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of National Health Service urgent treatments delivered each year between 2020/21 and 2024/25:
Financial year | Number of urgent dental treatments delivered |
2024/25 | 3,658,273 |
2023/24 | 3,674,710 |
2022/23 | 3,785,952 |
2021/22 | 3,819,226 |
2020/21 | 3,646,868 |
Source: NHS Business Services Authority, Dental statistics - England 2024/25, avaiable at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/dental-england/dental-statistics-england-202425
Comparable monthly data on the number of urgent dental appointments delivered is not published.
We have asked integrated care boards (ICBs) to commission extra urgent dental appointments to make sure that patients with urgent needs can get the treatment they require. ICBs have been making extra appointments available from April 2025.
Appointments are available across the country, with specific expectations for each region. These appointments are more heavily weighted towards those areas where they are needed the most. The Surrey Heartlands ICB, which includes the Epsom and Ewell constituency, has been asked to deliver 6,585 additional urgent dental appointments as part of the scheme.
Data on delivery of urgent dental care, including additional delivery, will be published annually as part of the NHS Dental Statistics England Official Statistics series. These statistics are released each August and are the primary source of data on the delivery of NHS dental care.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many urgent dental appointments were delivered each year from 2020 up to and including 2025.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of National Health Service urgent treatments delivered each year between 2020/21 and 2024/25:
Financial year | Number of urgent dental treatments delivered |
2024/25 | 3,658,273 |
2023/24 | 3,674,710 |
2022/23 | 3,785,952 |
2021/22 | 3,819,226 |
2020/21 | 3,646,868 |
Source: NHS Business Services Authority, Dental statistics - England 2024/25, avaiable at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/dental-england/dental-statistics-england-202425
Comparable monthly data on the number of urgent dental appointments delivered is not published.
We have asked integrated care boards (ICBs) to commission extra urgent dental appointments to make sure that patients with urgent needs can get the treatment they require. ICBs have been making extra appointments available from April 2025.
Appointments are available across the country, with specific expectations for each region. These appointments are more heavily weighted towards those areas where they are needed the most. The Surrey Heartlands ICB, which includes the Epsom and Ewell constituency, has been asked to deliver 6,585 additional urgent dental appointments as part of the scheme.
Data on delivery of urgent dental care, including additional delivery, will be published annually as part of the NHS Dental Statistics England Official Statistics series. These statistics are released each August and are the primary source of data on the delivery of NHS dental care.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
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 removing the exceptionality requirement for Individual Funding Requires for Chemosaturation therapy and comparable intervention for people whose lives are at risk.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and the National Health Service in England are committed to ensuring that cancer patients have timely access to treatment and tailored medical support. In 2016, NHS England concluded that there was insufficient evidence to make chemosaturation treatment available to patients on the NHS. NHS England is currently in the early stages of policy development for chemosaturation to treat metastatic uveal melanoma where surgery to remove or destroy affected cells and tissue in the liver is not feasible.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance recommends that chemosaturation can be used for patients with secondary liver metastases resulting from a primary ocular melanoma, provided special arrangements are in place. A special arrangements recommendation states that clinicians using the procedure should inform the clinical governance lead in their trust, tell the patient about the uncertainties regarding the safety and efficacy of the procedure, and collect further data by means of audit or research. NICE is in the process of updating its guidance, with final guidance expected on 15 October 2026. The first committee meeting, to discuss the evidence, is expected to take place on 16 April 2026. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ipg10448
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NHS England on the publication date for the draft commissioning policy for Chemosaturation therapy.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and the National Health Service in England are committed to ensuring that cancer patients have timely access to treatment and tailored medical support. In 2016, NHS England concluded that there was insufficient evidence to make chemosaturation treatment available to patients on the NHS. NHS England is currently in the early stages of policy development for chemosaturation to treat metastatic uveal melanoma where surgery to remove or destroy affected cells and tissue in the liver is not feasible.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance recommends that chemosaturation can be used for patients with secondary liver metastases resulting from a primary ocular melanoma, provided special arrangements are in place. A special arrangements recommendation states that clinicians using the procedure should inform the clinical governance lead in their trust, tell the patient about the uncertainties regarding the safety and efficacy of the procedure, and collect further data by means of audit or research. NICE is in the process of updating its guidance, with final guidance expected on 15 October 2026. The first committee meeting, to discuss the evidence, is expected to take place on 16 April 2026. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ipg10448
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
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 decrease treatment wait times for patients with metastatic ocular melanoma.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department remains committed to ensuring that cancer patients, including those with metastatic ocular melanoma, have timely access to treatment and tailored medical support.
The Government supports Scott Arthur’s Private Members Bill on rare cancers which will make it easier for clinical trials into rare cancers to take place in England by ensuring the patient population can be easily contacted by researchers. This will ensure that the National Health Service will remain at the forefront of medical innovation and is able to provide patients with the newest, most effective treatment options, and ultimately boost survival rates.
The forthcoming National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for patients with cancer, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and ultimately driving up this country’s cancer survival rates. This will benefit all cancer patients, including metastatic ocular melanoma patients.