Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 A&E waiting times on post-discharge outcomes for older patients.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made of the impacts of accident and emergency waiting times on post-discharge outcomes. There have been studies on the impact of waiting times on clinical outcomes in general, which inform the targets the National Health Service sets for accident and emergency waiting times.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to publish data on cases where patients deteriorate or die in Accident and Emergency waiting rooms before being seen by a doctor.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This data is not available in the format requested and there is no plan to publish this. Patients are reviewed at the front door and are seen by a clinical member of staff and streamed to the right service for them. If there is an incident around care processes, this is logged.
The National Health Service and the Department have taken significant steps forward to improve patient safety, including by implementing significant programmes under the NHS Patient Safety Strategy from 2019.
We are also introducing new clinical operational standards for the first 72 hours of care, setting clear expectations for timely reviews and specialist input, including guidance on monitoring patients with frailty. This supports the early identification of deterioration and helps ensure patients waiting in accident and emergency departments are appropriately monitored.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of GP trainees qualified as GPs in each of the last three years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
General practice (GP) speciality training has maintained a low rate of attrition over the last three years of approximately 1.3% to 1.5%, and the average length of time to complete GP training has remained at 3.8 years.
A proportion of trainees achieving a Certificate of Completion of Training is difficult to provide as programme length can vary due to individual circumstances, such as changes in working hours, maternity/paternity leave, sick leave, and out of programme activities.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 ensure the adequacy of primary care estates to support workforce expansion.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards to ensure that the National Health Service estate is fit for purpose, in order to meet the needs of the local population.
At the Autumn Budget, we announced our commitment to deliver 250 Neighbourhood Health Centres (NHCs) through the NHS Neighbourhood Rebuild Programme. This will deliver NHCs through a mixture of refurbishments to expand and improve sites over the next three years and new-build sites opening in the medium term. The first 120 NHCs are due to be operational by 2030 and will be delivered through public private partnerships and public capital.
The Government is providing £426 million over four years through the Utilisation and Modernisation Fund, upgrading general practice (GP) estate and supporting delivery of 40 to 50 NHCs this Parliament through refurbishment of existing buildings.
In Spring we will publish the 10 Year Workforce Plan, which will set out the high-level vision for how we can prepare our workforce to deliver the three shifts set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.
The Government has committed to training thousands more GPs, which will support the delivery of the left shift and focus more resources in the community. Our work on this has already started, with the number of available GP training places increasing by an additional 250 places to 4,250 for 2025/26 and again to 4,500 for 2026/27.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the potential impact of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy on the level of sugar intake by children.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) came into law on 5 April 2018, having been announced in 2016. Between 2015 and 2024 sugar levels in drinks in scope of the levy reduced by 47%, and while no formal assessment of the impact on children has been undertaken, the scale of reduction will have an impact on the sugar intake of children.
Data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS), an ongoing Government survey of food consumption, nutrient intake, and nutrient status in the United Kingdom, showed a fall in sugar intakes between 2014 to 2019, in older children and adolescents. This appears to be partly driven by soft drinks contributing less to sugar intakes, likely as a result of the changes made to drinks in scope of the SDIL.
The latest results for 2019 to 2023 show that sugar intakes in children remain approximately double the maximum recommendation and children aged 11 to 18 years old are the highest consumers of sugar sweetened soft drinks. Diets high in sugar increase the risk of dental caries as well as weight gain, which can ultimately result in living with overweight and obesity and related adverse health outcomes. The NDNS will continue to monitor sugar intakes following reformulation of drinks in scope of the SDIL.
Academic modelling indicates that reductions in sugar from drinks subject to the SDIL may have prevented 5,000 cases of obesity in girls aged ten to 11 years old, with greater impact on those attending schools in the most deprived areas. Modelling data also suggests that the changes resulting from the SDIL may have reduced hospital admissions for dental caries related tooth extractions in those aged zero to nine years old and for asthma related issues in those aged five to 18 years old.
Following formal consultation, two changes to the SDIL were announced in the 2025 Autumn Budget which will apply from 1 January 2028:
The Department carried out a health benefits assessment to estimate the sugar and calorie reduction from these changes through product reformulation and consumer substitution to alternative drinks.
This analysis estimates a sugar reduction equivalent to per person per day calorie reductions of 0.3 kcal in five- to ten-year-olds, 0.4 kcal in 11- to 18-year-olds, 0.3 kcal in 19- to 64-year-olds, and 0.2 kcal in those aged 65 years old and over. This is equivalent to approximately four million kcal per day in children and 13 million kcal per day in adults.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the NHS in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency on patient safety for people experiencing long waits in Accident and Emergency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that urgent and emergency care performance has fallen short in recent years. We are committed to restoring accident and emergency waiting times to the National Health Service constitutional standard.
Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 sets out clear actions to deliver improvements and make services better. The plan commits to reducing the number of patients waiting over 12 hours for admission or discharge to less than 10% of the time. This is supported by almost £450 million of capital investment for Same Day Emergency Care, Mental Health Crisis Assessment Centres, and new ambulances, avoiding unnecessary admissions to hospital and supporting the faster diagnosis, treatment, and discharge for patients.
The NHS Medium-Term Planning Framework sets out a further trajectory to improve urgent and emergency care performance year-on-year toward the constitutional standard, reducing long waits and improving patient experience. The plan focuses on practical steps such as expanding urgent treatment centres, improving patient flow, and reducing 12-hour waits, to make emergency departments safer and more efficient.
NHS England provides regional oversight to support local delivery of services and improvement. The Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust’s One Team Improvement Plan has a focus on improving urgent and emergency care outcomes. The programme group looking at quality and patient safety has been focusing on reviewing processes and the fundamentals of care in wards and in the trust’s emergency departments. The trust has also introduced additional consultant cover during the weekends to increase the number of people discharged at the weekend. This helps to keep the emergency department safe as it allows for the movement of people who need to be admitted into the right beds.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 help improve triaging by Accident and Emergency departments at Basildon Hospital.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that urgent and emergency care performance has fallen short in recent years. We are committed to restoring accident and emergency waiting times to the National Health Service constitutional standard.
Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 sets out clear actions to deliver improvements and make services better. The plan commits to reducing the number of patients waiting over 12 hours for admission or discharge to less than 10% of the time. This is supported by almost £450 million of capital investment for Same Day Emergency Care, Mental Health Crisis Assessment Centres, and new ambulances, avoiding unnecessary admissions to hospital and supporting the faster diagnosis, treatment, and discharge for patients.
The NHS Medium-Term Planning Framework sets out a further trajectory to improve urgent and emergency care performance year-on-year toward the constitutional standard, reducing long waits and improving patient experience. The plan focuses on practical steps such as expanding urgent treatment centres, improving patient flow, and reducing 12-hour waits, to make emergency departments safer and more efficient.
NHS England provides regional oversight to support local delivery of services and improvement. The Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust’s One Team Improvement Plan has a focus on improving urgent and emergency care outcomes. The programme group looking at quality and patient safety has been focusing on reviewing processes and the fundamentals of care in wards and in the trust’s emergency departments. The trust has also introduced additional consultant cover during the weekends to increase the number of people discharged at the weekend. This helps to keep the emergency department safe as it allows for the movement of people who need to be admitted into the right beds.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 help reduce the number of patients waiting over 12 hours to be admitted to, or discharged from, Basildon Hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that urgent and emergency care performance has fallen short in recent years. We are committed to restoring accident and emergency waiting times to the National Health Service constitutional standard.
Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 sets out clear actions to deliver improvements and make services better. The plan commits to reducing the number of patients waiting over 12 hours for admission or discharge to less than 10% of the time. This is supported by almost £450 million of capital investment for Same Day Emergency Care, Mental Health Crisis Assessment Centres, and new ambulances, avoiding unnecessary admissions to hospital and supporting the faster diagnosis, treatment, and discharge for patients.
The NHS Medium-Term Planning Framework sets out a further trajectory to improve urgent and emergency care performance year-on-year toward the constitutional standard, reducing long waits and improving patient experience. The plan focuses on practical steps such as expanding urgent treatment centres, improving patient flow, and reducing 12-hour waits, to make emergency departments safer and more efficient.
NHS England provides regional oversight to support local delivery of services and improvement. The Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust’s One Team Improvement Plan has a focus on improving urgent and emergency care outcomes. The programme group looking at quality and patient safety has been focusing on reviewing processes and the fundamentals of care in wards and in the trust’s emergency departments. The trust has also introduced additional consultant cover during the weekends to increase the number of people discharged at the weekend. This helps to keep the emergency department safe as it allows for the movement of people who need to be admitted into the right beds.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to expand orthopaedic theatre capacity at Basildon Hospital.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In June 2026, Basildon Hospital will open a new Acute Kidney Care Ward, providing an additional 24 beds on the site and increasing capacity for people presenting to the emergency department with kidney problems, speeding up access to urgent care.
Following this, the current renal ward will be refurbished to support more medical care beds for winter and to provide space to move patients out of older wards so that improvements can be made as part of the trust’s prioritised capital programme.
In addition, two newly upgraded orthopaedic operating theatres opened at Basildon Hospital in November 2025 following essential maintenance works to improve the advanced air handling system. Since the start of November, staff working in theatres six or seven in the main theatre department have already completed hundreds of operations and procedures, including shoulder replacements, foot reconstructions, and knee replacements.
To help reduce its waiting lists, the trust is running additional capacity theatre slots, as well as outsourcing patients to other hospitals to receive their treatment and reduce waiting times. The trust is also insourcing within the hospital providers for extra outpatient capacity.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to expand clinical capacity at Basildon Hospital.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In June 2026, Basildon Hospital will open a new Acute Kidney Care Ward, providing an additional 24 beds on the site and increasing capacity for people presenting to the emergency department with kidney problems, speeding up access to urgent care.
Following this, the current renal ward will be refurbished to support more medical care beds for winter and to provide space to move patients out of older wards so that improvements can be made as part of the trust’s prioritised capital programme.
In addition, two newly upgraded orthopaedic operating theatres opened at Basildon Hospital in November 2025 following essential maintenance works to improve the advanced air handling system. Since the start of November, staff working in theatres six or seven in the main theatre department have already completed hundreds of operations and procedures, including shoulder replacements, foot reconstructions, and knee replacements.
To help reduce its waiting lists, the trust is running additional capacity theatre slots, as well as outsourcing patients to other hospitals to receive their treatment and reduce waiting times. The trust is also insourcing within the hospital providers for extra outpatient capacity.