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 and what proportion of people admitted to hospital in (a) England and (b) Surrey were aged between (i) 30- 39 and (ii) 40 and 49, (iii) 50 and 59 in the past year.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England does not publish hospital admissions broken down by age. Instead, it publishes numbers of ‘Finished Consultant Episodes’ (FCEs) which means a completed hospital treatment session under a consultant. This data is available at the following link:
NHS England publishes data by financial year, meaning the most recent available dataset relates to 2024/25. The following table shows the number and proportion of FCEs by age for patients aged 30 to 39 years old, 40 to 49 years old, and 50 to 59 years old in England in 2024/25:
Age | FCEs | Percentage of total FCEs |
30 to 39 | 2,224,531 | 9.9% |
40 to 49 | 1,823,660 | 8.1% |
50 to 59 | 2,609,207 | 11.6% |
The information is collected at integrated care board (ICB) level, not by county. In addition, the following table shows the number and proportion of FCEs by age for patients aged 30 to 39 years old, 40 to 49 years old, and 50 to 59 years old in the NHS Frimley ICB and the NHS Surrey Heartlands ICB, both of which are within Surrey, in 2024/25:
| NHS Frimley ICB | NHS Surrey Heartlands ICB | ||
Age | FCEs | Percentage of total FCEs | FCEs | Percentage of total FCEs |
30 to 39 | 24,030 | 10.3% | 39,665 | 10.0% |
40 to 49 | 19,585 | 8.4% | 32,715 | 8.3% |
50 to 59 | 26,765 | 11.5% | 44,305 | 11.2% |
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 regulate health advice on AI overviews on internet browsers.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England and the Department are taking steps to ensure that health related information is easily available and well-structured to support safe and reliable answers by artificial intelligence (AI), including AI overviews in internet browsers. The NHS.UK website and information provided through the NHS App on different health conditions is clinically assured and we are working with different technology providers to encourage the use of verified and trusted health information to train their AI models to provide content to citizens.
Where AI tools meet the definition of a medical device, they fall under the regulation of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). General‑purpose AI systems that do not qualify as medical devices, such as AI‑generated summaries within search engines, may fall within the scope of the Online Safety Act. Services covered by the act must protect users from illegal and harmful content, including misleading health information. The Government has asked Ofcom to use its existing powers to safeguard users and will consider further action if needed.
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 impact of pharmaceutical prices on clinical outcomes.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service has a finite budget, and it is vital that it is allocated in a way that maximises benefits for all patients. The prices that companies charge for their medicines are an important consideration in determining whether they should be routinely funded by the NHS. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body that makes recommendations for the NHS on whether new medicines should be routinely funded based on an assessment of their costs, including the price that the company sets, and the clinical benefits that they bring to patients. In developing its recommendations, NICE evaluates medicines against a threshold that is used in determining whether a specified product is a clinically and a cost-effective use of the health budget compared to other potential uses of that budget.
The recently announced increase to the cost-effectiveness threshold will, alongside measures announced in the Life Sciences Sector Plan, increase both the speed and breadth of patient access to innovative medicines and encourage growth in United Kingdom based clinical trials.
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 NHS England's 2023/34 Priorities and Operational Planning Guidance, updated on 27 January 2024, what steps he is taking to ensure ICBs increase (a) direct access and (b) self -referral to audiology services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of our effort to shift care from hospital to home, the Government wants to support people to live independently in the community. We pledged in the 10-Year Health Plan, published in July 2025, that through the NHS App, patients will be able to book appointments, communicate with professionals, receive advice, draft or view their care plan, and self-refer to local tests and services.
The current availability of self-referral and direct access to audiology services depends on local commissioning arrangements and service protocols, including integrated care board (ICB) commissioning. Currently, self-referral to audiology services is usually for those with age related hearing loss.
NHS England is working with ICBs to support greater standardisation of self-referral arrangements, to assess opportunities to bring more of the self-referral process into the NHS App and website in future, where appropriate.
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, if he will provide an update on the renewal of the Women’s Health Strategy and confirm if there will be an opportunity for organisations to contribute to the updated strategy.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Publishing a renewed Women’s Health Strategy next year will ensure the momentum from our recent achievements continues and is fully aligned with the 10-Year Health Plan. We will identify and remove enduring barriers to high-quality care, such as decreasing wait times for diagnosis and ensuring professionals listen to women and respond to their needs.
We are currently engaging with external partners to inform the renewal of the strategy, bringing together voices from across Government, NHS England, public health, mental health, women’s health advocacy, and employment policy alongside women with lived experience of women’s health 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 steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of adults with tooth decay.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is proceeding with the reforms to the National Health Service dental contract. These will be introduced from April 2026 so that patients with gum disease or tooth decay will be better able to get long-term treatment through new clinical treatment pathways. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/nhs-dentistry-contract-quality-and-payment-reforms
We are also committed to fundamental reform of the NHS dental contract by the end of this Parliament, with a focus on improving access, promoting prevention, and rewarding dentists fairly.
Sugar consumption is the main cause of tooth decay. We are taking measures to reduce sugar consumption, which will have a positive effect on improving children’s oral health. Following the Strengthening the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) consultation, we will reduce the current lower threshold at which the SDIL applies from five grams of total sugar per 100 millilitres to 4.5 grams of total sugar per 100 millilitres and will remove the current exemption for milk-based drinks.
We are expanding community water fluoridation to the North East of England. This intervention is expected to reach an additional 1.6 million people and will reduce tooth decay and inequalities in dental health.
We have published guidance on how dental health professionals can improve the oral and general health of their patients, including preventative interventions. This can be viewed at the following link:
Guidance for local service commissioners on better oral health of vulnerable older people is also available at the following link:
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 his Department has made of the potential merits of implementing a mandatory care marker for care workers on their GP record.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not undertaken a formal assessment of introducing a mandatory care marker for those employed as care workers on general practice records. Any request for new coding would need to consider the purpose and proportionality of the introduction for employed care staff, and the impact on general practice.
There are existing SNOMED, the structured clinical vocabulary for use in an electronic health record, and clinical term codes which can be used to indicate a person’s unpaid caring role on their health record.
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 operations scheduled to be carried out by independent healthcare providers were cancelled by ICBs between April 2024 and 2025.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In January 2025, the National Health Service and the independent sector established a partnership agreement, the first of its kind for 25 years, setting out how we will work together to reduce the elective care waiting list.
NHS England manages the Department’s relationships with the integrated care boards (ICBs) and, where appropriate, local systems on the use of independent sector capacity to support delivery of NHS care.
Commissioning decisions are for ICBs to make, who have a duty to arrange health services for the patients they are responsible for in a way which promotes the NHS Constitution.
ICBs are expected to live within their allocations while continuing to use spare independent sector capacity to meet elective targets. Independent sector providers deliver services agreed in contracts with ICBs, progressing priorities set out in planning guidance, including an improvement in elective waiting time performance.
Data on how many ICBs have had to pause NHS services or cancel operations scheduled by independent healthcare providers during 2024/25 is not held centrally by the Department.
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 ICBs have had to pause NHS services provided by independent healthcare providers during 2024-25.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In January 2025, the National Health Service and the independent sector established a partnership agreement, the first of its kind for 25 years, setting out how we will work together to reduce the elective care waiting list.
NHS England manages the Department’s relationships with the integrated care boards (ICBs) and, where appropriate, local systems on the use of independent sector capacity to support delivery of NHS care.
Commissioning decisions are for ICBs to make, who have a duty to arrange health services for the patients they are responsible for in a way which promotes the NHS Constitution.
ICBs are expected to live within their allocations while continuing to use spare independent sector capacity to meet elective targets. Independent sector providers deliver services agreed in contracts with ICBs, progressing priorities set out in planning guidance, including an improvement in elective waiting time performance.
Data on how many ICBs have had to pause NHS services or cancel operations scheduled by independent healthcare providers during 2024/25 is not held centrally by the Department.
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 his Department has with ICBs on ensuring delivery of patient care via independent healthcare providers throughout the financial year.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In January 2025, the National Health Service and the independent sector established a partnership agreement, the first of its kind for 25 years, setting out how we will work together to reduce the elective care waiting list.
NHS England manages the Department’s relationships with the integrated care boards (ICBs) and, where appropriate, local systems on the use of independent sector capacity to support delivery of NHS care.
Commissioning decisions are for ICBs to make, who have a duty to arrange health services for the patients they are responsible for in a way which promotes the NHS Constitution.
ICBs are expected to live within their allocations while continuing to use spare independent sector capacity to meet elective targets. Independent sector providers deliver services agreed in contracts with ICBs, progressing priorities set out in planning guidance, including an improvement in elective waiting time performance.
Data on how many ICBs have had to pause NHS services or cancel operations scheduled by independent healthcare providers during 2024/25 is not held centrally by the Department.