Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's planned timetable is for publishing its plans to reduce the time taken for patients to receive mental health treatment.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Long waits for mental health services are being driven by increasing demand to a system in desperate need of change. The Government is already responding by delivering new and innovative models of care in the community. We are piloting innovative models of care in the community, including six neighbourhood adult mental health centres that are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and bring together community, crisis, and inpatient care.
NHS England Planning Guidance for 2025/26 makes clear that for this year, to support reform and improvements, we expect all providers to reduce the variation in children and young people accessing services and improve productivity. We are also improving data quality so we can support providers to understand demand across their areas. Since July 2023, NHS England has included waiting times metrics for referrals to urgent and community-based mental health services in its monthly mental health statistics publication to help services to target the longest waits.
It is important that mental health services within the National Health Service work closely with the voluntary sector to deliver new models of care. The 10-Year Health Plan will be published shortly, and this will set out how the overall health system will run.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a seven-day Community Diagnostic Centre at St Mark's Hospital in Maidenhead.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Slough Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) is currently delivering temporary activity at St Mark’s Hospital in Maidenhead, and has done so since January 2024, in addition to activity at the permanent site at Upton Community Hospital, whilst the new facility is being completed. Once the new facility at Upton Community Hospital is completed later in 2025, all diagnostic activity will move to Upton Community Hospital, where it is expected that Slough CDC will be open 12 hours a day, seven days a week.
The Elective Reform Plan, published on 6 January 2025, sets out that we will increase the number of CDCs offering services 12 hours a day, seven days a week, as well as delivering additional CDC capacity in 2025/26 by expanding a number of existing CDCs and building up to five new ones.
NHS England is working with local National Health Service systems to identify the most appropriate locations for investments, including new CDCs. A key factor they will consider is that new CDCs are positioned in a location which addresses local need and will address health inequalities. Details will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
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 accelerate the uptake of non-animal New Approach Methodologies in (a) regulatory testing and (b) scientific research.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funding is focused on translational, clinical, and applied health and care research. We therefore do not fund basic research or work involving animals, animal tissue, or both. However, the NIHR does work in close partnership with the Medical Research Council, which funds animal research in carefully defined circumstances and recognises the need for the robust application of the 3Rs, the replacement, reduction, and refinement of animal use in research.
The Government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation, and uptake of alternative methods in basic, applied, translational, and regulatory research and testing later this year.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
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 access to NHS dental services in Maidenhead.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments from April 2025 and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Maidenhead constituency, this is the NHS Frimley ICB.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
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 support GP practices to (a) recruit and (b) retain skilled practitioners.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are investing an additional £889 million through the GP Contract to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade.
Under recently announced changes to the GP Contract in 2025/26, the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) will become more flexible to allow primary care networks (PCNs) to respond better to local workforce needs. The two ARRS pots will be combined to create a single pot for reimbursement of patient facing staff costs. There will be no restrictions on the number or type of staff covered, including GPs and practice nurses.
In a drive to recruit GPs via the ARRS and to bring back the family doctor, the salary element of the maximum reimbursement amount that PCNs can claim for GPs will be increased from £73,113 in 2024/25, the bottom of the salaried GP pay range, to £82,418, an uplift of £9,305, representing the lower quartile of the salaried GP pay range, as some GPs will be entering their second year in the scheme. Proportionate employer on-costs will also be included within the overall maximum reimbursement amount which PCNs will be able to claim.
Our commitment to growing the GP workforce includes addressing the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encouraging them to return to practice. We know that high workloads can be a key driver for GPs reducing their contracted hours or leaving the profession altogether. That’s why we are tackling morale through drivers such as growing the workforce and reducing bureaucracy through our Red Tape Challenge, to improve job satisfaction and reduce the risk of burnout.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
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 reduce levels of GP unemployment.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are investing an additional £889 million through the GP Contract to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade.
Under recently announced changes to the GP Contract in 2025/26, the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) will become more flexible to allow primary care networks (PCNs) to respond better to local workforce needs. The two ARRS pots will be combined to create a single pot for reimbursement of patient facing staff costs. There will be no restrictions on the number or type of staff covered, including GPs and practice nurses.
In a drive to recruit GPs via the ARRS and to bring back the family doctor, the salary element of the maximum reimbursement amount that PCNs can claim for GPs will be increased from £73,113 in 2024/25, the bottom of the salaried GP pay range, to £82,418, an uplift of £9,305, representing the lower quartile of the salaried GP pay range, as some GPs will be entering their second year in the scheme. Proportionate employer on-costs will also be included within the overall maximum reimbursement amount which PCNs will be able to claim.
Our commitment to growing the GP workforce includes addressing the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encouraging them to return to practice. We know that high workloads can be a key driver for GPs reducing their contracted hours or leaving the profession altogether. That’s why we are tackling morale through drivers such as growing the workforce and reducing bureaucracy through our Red Tape Challenge, to improve job satisfaction and reduce the risk of burnout.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
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 improve the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are investing an additional £889 million through the GP Contract to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade.
Under recently announced changes to the GP Contract in 2025/26, the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) will become more flexible to allow primary care networks (PCNs) to respond better to local workforce needs. The two ARRS pots will be combined to create a single pot for reimbursement of patient facing staff costs. There will be no restrictions on the number or type of staff covered, including GPs and practice nurses.
In a drive to recruit GPs via the ARRS and to bring back the family doctor, the salary element of the maximum reimbursement amount that PCNs can claim for GPs will be increased from £73,113 in 2024/25, the bottom of the salaried GP pay range, to £82,418, an uplift of £9,305, representing the lower quartile of the salaried GP pay range, as some GPs will be entering their second year in the scheme. Proportionate employer on-costs will also be included within the overall maximum reimbursement amount which PCNs will be able to claim.
Our commitment to growing the GP workforce includes addressing the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encouraging them to return to practice. We know that high workloads can be a key driver for GPs reducing their contracted hours or leaving the profession altogether. That’s why we are tackling morale through drivers such as growing the workforce and reducing bureaucracy through our Red Tape Challenge, to improve job satisfaction and reduce the risk of burnout.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
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 increase core funding for GP practices.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are investing an additional £889 million into core funding for general practice (GP) to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade, and we are pleased that the General Practitioners Committee England is supportive of the contract changes.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to open one of the new seven day Community Diagnostic Centres at St Mark's Hospital in Maidenhead.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
St Marks Hospital is currently hosting temporary activity for Slough Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) in Maidenhead whilst the permanent site at Upton Community Hospital in Slough is being completed. All diagnostic activity will move to Upton Hospital later in 2025 once the new CDC is constructed, where it is expected that Slough CDC will be open 12 hours per day, 7 days a week.
The Elective Reform Plan, published on 6 January 2025, sets out that we will extend the minimum standards for all community diagnostic centres, to open 12 hours per day, 7 days a week as well as delivering additional CDC capacity in 2025/26 by expanding a number of existing CDCs and building up to five new ones.
CDCs intend to provide a broad range of elective diagnostics in the community and closer to home, reducing pressure on hospitals and giving patients quicker and more convenient access to tests. Therefore, where feasible, the National Health Service has and will endeavour to locate CDCs in the community rather than in acute settings. This supports one of the Government’s key strategic shifts, namely moving care from the hospital to the community.
Capital investment agreed at Spending Review 2025 and announced in the Autumn Statement will be allocated to local systems by NHS England, and details on this will be released as part of upcoming capital planning guidance. The investment will support a range of initiatives, including supporting systems to deliver against the Government's ambition to return to the 18-week constitutional standard.
NHS England will work with local systems to identify the most appropriate locations for investments, including new CDCs, and expansions of existing CDCs. A key factor they will consider is that new CDCs are positioned in a location which addresses local need and will address health inequalities.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
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 impact of proposed changes to employer National Insurance contributions on the number of available GP appointments.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Primary care providers, including general practices (GPs), are valued independent contractors who provide nearly £20 billion worth of National Health Services. Every year we consult with each sector both about what services they provide, and the money providers are entitled to in return under their contract. As in previous years, the issue of National Insurance contribution changes will be dealt with as part of that process. We will shortly begin discussions on the annual GP Contract.