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 the National Cancer Plan, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that there will be enough pathologists to support the Plan’s delivery.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Cancer Plan sets out how we will strengthen the cancer workforce, including for diagnostics, such as pathology. The plan sets out sustainable workforce growth, focused not on simply expanding numbers but on ensuring staff are properly trained, supported, and able to work at the top of their skills.
The plan sets out how we will support pathologists to work more efficiently through a £604 million investment in digital diagnostics, including digital pathology, and £96 million in the automation of histopathology, as well as further investment in digital technology and artificial intelligence. Expansion of advanced clinical practice for scientists will also improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the pathology workforce as a whole.
The 10 Year Workforce Plan will be published in spring, setting out further action to create a workforce able to deliver the transformed service 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 help improve digital infrastructure and IT connectivity for community care in primary care settings.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2026/27, and as per the Medium Term Planning Framework – delivering change together 2026/27 to 2028/29, all integrated care boards and community health services providers must identify and act on productivity opportunities, including ensuring teams have the digital tools and equipment they need to connect remotely to health systems and patients, and expanding point-of-care testing in the community.
Through the Community Health Services Data Plan (2024/25-2026/27), work is underway to improve the quality, relevance, and timeliness of community health service data and, in turn, improve the patient experience in community health services.
In addition, our 10-Year Health Plan will help put services at the heart of the community and expand digital tools to manage health, including through the Single Patient Record. It will give patients real control over a single, secure, and authoritative account of their data and enable more coordinated, personalised, and predictive care. It will improve clinical outcomes, make decision-making more informed, and speed up the delivery of 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 comparative assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of (a) respiratory disease and (b) the number of emergency hospital admissions for respiratory conditions in (i) Epsom and Ewell constituency and (ii) nationally; and what steps he is taking to ensure respiratory health is prioritised nationally, including through the introduction of a Modern Service Framework for respiratory care.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will consider long-term conditions for future waves of modern service frameworks (MSFs), including respiratory conditions. The criteria for determining other conditions for future MSFs will be based on where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in the quality of care and productivity. After the initial wave of MSFs is complete, the National Quality Board will determine the conditions to prioritise for new MSFs as part of its work programme.
Provisional data is available for emergency Finished Admission Episodes (FAEs) where there was a primary diagnosis of 'respiratory conditions’. The following table shows the number of emergency FAEs with a primary diagnosis of respiratory conditions for Epsom and Ewell and for England, for activity in English National Health Service hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector, for 2024/25 and 2025/26:
Westminster Parliamentary Constituency of Residence | 2024/25 (August 2024 to March 2025) | 2025/26 (April 2025 to November 2025) |
Epsom and Ewell | 670 | 530 |
England | 608,449 | 423,588 |
Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS England.
Available data on trends in respiratory conditions can be found on the Department’s Fingertips dataset. Data is not available by parliamentary constituency. Data is available at regional, county, unitary authority, and integrated care board level. Information for Surrey can be found at the following link:
The Government has committed to delivering three big shifts that our NHS needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention. All of these are relevant to improving respiratory health in all parts of the country.
Through our community diagnostic centres, we are building capacity for respiratory testing and enabling people to get diagnosed closer to home. 101 community diagnostic centres across the country now offer out of hours services, 12 hours a day, seven days a week, meaning patients can access vital diagnostic tests around busy working lives. This is alongside action being taken to expand capacity and improve the quality of pulmonary rehabilitation services to support patients living with respiratory conditions.
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 his Department’s timeline is for deciding on the second wave of Modern Service Frameworks; and whether respiratory conditions will be considered.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Modern service frameworks will define an aspirational, long-term outcome goal for a major condition and then identify the best evidenced interventions and the support for delivery. Early priorities will include cardiovascular disease, severe mental illness, and the first ever service framework for frailty and dementia.
The Government will consider other long-term conditions for future waves of modern service frameworks, including respiratory conditions. The criteria for determining other conditions for future modern service frameworks will be based on where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. After the initial wave of MSFs is complete, the National Quality Board will determine the conditions to prioritise for new MSFs as part of its work programme.
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 ophthalmology services to help early detection of Glaucoma.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS sight tests play a vital role in the early detection of glaucoma. Integrated care boards (ICBs) can also commission community-based glaucoma services, which support earlier identification, ongoing monitoring and management, helping to prevent avoidable sight loss.
Some ICBs are already using a Single Point of Access to speed up the referral and triage of patients between primary and secondary care.
In addition, the Getting It Right First Time programme is developing best practice guidance for glaucoma services, to support the consistent adoption of high standards of care from detection onwards.
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 help support community pharmacies from the potential impact of changes to the living wage, national insurance and business rates.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that pharmacies are an integral ‘front door’ to the National Health Service, staffed by highly trained and skilled healthcare professionals.
In 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. Additional funding is also available, for example for pharmacies delivering Pharmacy First consultations and flu and COVID-19 vaccinations.
The Department will shortly consult with Community Pharmacy England on any proposed changes to reimbursement and remuneration of pharmacy contractors for 2026/27. As part of this we will consider financial pressures on the sector.
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 the Secretary of State for Education and the Home Secretary on the Child Protection Authority consultation.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers meet regularly through the Keeping Children Safe Ministerial Board and the Inter-Ministerial Group on Child Sexual Abuse, where the Child Protection Authority (CPA) is regularly discussed. Both of these groups will continue to monitor progress on the delivery of the CPA.
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.