Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many applicants trained overseas were (a) accepted and (b) rejected for (i) nursing and (ii) midwife positions with NHS providers in each year since 2020.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data on the number of applicants, whether domestically trained or overseas trained, that were accepted or rejected for nursing and midwife positions with National Health Service providers. NHS trusts will undertake local processes to manage recruitment to nursing and midwifery vacancies.
NHS England publish monthly information on the annual numbers of nurses and midwives joining the NHS, including information on the self-reported nationality of these staff but this will not necessarily be the same as the place of training. Joiners’ data will include staff returning from breaks in service and is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics
On 11 August 2025, the Government announced the Graduate Guarantee for nurses and midwives. The Guarantee will ensure there are enough positions for every newly qualified nurse and midwife in England. The package of measures will unlock thousands of jobs and will ensure thousands of new posts are easier to access by removing barriers for NHS trusts, creating opportunities for graduates and ensuring a seamless transition from training to employment.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will introduce a national screening programme for prostate cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), that advises ministers in all four nations of the United Kingdom, has carried out an evidence review to look at screening for prostate cancer. It is only where the UK NSC is confident that screening provides more good than harm that a screening programme is recommended.
On 28 November 2025, the UK NSC opened a 12- week public consultation on a draft recommendation to:
After the consultation closes, in early 2026, the UK NSC will make a final recommendation on screening for prostate cancer. Ministers will consider whether to accept the recommendation at this time.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what is the average waiting time for a dementia diagnosis since 2010 in England, broken down by (a) Integrated Care Board and (b) year.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information is not held centrally.
We remain committed to recovering the dementia diagnosis rate (DDR) to the national ambition of 66.7%. The DDR for patients aged 65 years old and over at the end of October 2025 was 66.5%. The rate is an increase of 0.2 percentage points compared to 66.3% in September 2025. This is an overall increase from March 2020 due to sustained recovery efforts.
To support recovery of the dementia diagnosis rates and implementation of the Dementia Care Pathway, we have developed a memory service dashboard for management information purposes. The aim is to support commissioners and providers with appropriate data and enable targeted support where needed.
To reduce variation in diagnosis rates, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ Dementia Intelligence Network has developed a tool for local systems, which includes an assessment of population characteristics such as rurality and socio-economic deprivation. This enables systems to investigate local variation in diagnosis and take informed action to enhance their diagnosis rates. The tool has been released and is available via the NHS Futures Collaboration platform.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what is the average waiting time for a dementia diagnosis since 2010 in England, broken down by (a) local authority and (b) year.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information is not held centrally.
We remain committed to recovering the dementia diagnosis rate (DDR) to the national ambition of 66.7%. The DDR for patients aged 65 years old and over at the end of October 2025 was 66.5%. The rate is an increase of 0.2 percentage points compared to 66.3% in September 2025. This is an overall increase from March 2020 due to sustained recovery efforts.
To support recovery of the dementia diagnosis rates and implementation of the Dementia Care Pathway, we have developed a memory service dashboard for management information purposes. The aim is to support commissioners and providers with appropriate data and enable targeted support where needed.
To reduce variation in diagnosis rates, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ Dementia Intelligence Network has developed a tool for local systems, which includes an assessment of population characteristics such as rurality and socio-economic deprivation. This enables systems to investigate local variation in diagnosis and take informed action to enhance their diagnosis rates. The tool has been released and is available via the NHS Futures Collaboration platform.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to recruit more specialist nurses and reduce waiting times for diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise the importance of a timely diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease and remain committed to delivering the National Health Service constitutional standard for 92% of patients to wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment by March 2029. We are investing in additional capacity to deliver appointments to help bring lists and waiting times down. The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the specific productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the constitutional standard.
By expanding community-based services for routine monitoring and follow up, employing artificial intelligence for productivity, and investing in digital tools and data, as outlined in the 10-Year Health Plan, we can ensure that consultants’ time is reserved for complex cases, including specialist diagnostic assessments, which are critical for people with suspected Parkinson’s.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services that meet the needs of their population, including for Parkinson’s. In doing so, the Government expects ICBs to take account of the relevant guidelines and best practice in designing their local services. The NICE guideline on Parkinson’s disease, reference code NG71, states that people with Parkinson’s should have an accessible point of contact with specialist services, which can be provided by a Parkinson’s nurse specialist, and that all individuals should be offered access to the services provided by these specialist nurses to support ongoing care and advice. The guideline is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng71
We acknowledge the significant neurology workforce challenges across the country, including the need for more specialist nurses. The forthcoming long-term workforce plan will set out how we will train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the NHS needs to make it more accessible, proactive, and tailored for all patients, including those with Parkinson’s.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his department will take to raise awareness of the symptoms of gynaecological cancers.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is undertaking a wide range of activity to increase awareness of the symptoms of gynaecological cancer. NHS England relaunched the Help Us Help You cancer campaign in 2024, to encourage people to get in touch with their general practitioner if they notice symptoms that they are worried could turn out to be cancer.
NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including gynaecological cancers.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many referrals to dementia specialists were made in England in each year since 2010 by local authority.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This data is not held centrally. While counts of patients who have received a dementia assessment and subsequently been referred to a memory clinic have been collected since the 2016/17 reporting year, the figures are not provided at an integrated care board level and are also not aggregated by local authority. This data captures the number of patients who have received such a referral, and does not capture the following:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/recorded-dementia-diagnoses
In addition, data from 2022 to 2025 can be found in the recorded dementia diagnoses publication: Primary care dementia data publication, at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/primary-care-dementia-data
The counts available in the March publication of each year will provide the number of referrals made within that reporting year.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many referrals to dementia specialists were made in England in each year since 2010 by Integrated Care Board.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This data is not held centrally. While counts of patients who have received a dementia assessment and subsequently been referred to a memory clinic have been collected since the 2016/17 reporting year, the figures are not provided at an integrated care board level and are also not aggregated by local authority. This data captures the number of patients who have received such a referral, and does not capture the following:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/recorded-dementia-diagnoses
In addition, data from 2022 to 2025 can be found in the recorded dementia diagnoses publication: Primary care dementia data publication, at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/primary-care-dementia-data
The counts available in the March publication of each year will provide the number of referrals made within that reporting year.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients on waiting lists for dementia diagnosis have informed their GP they are receiving private treatment since 2010 in England, broken down by (a) Integrated Care Board and (b) year.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information is not held centrally.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients on waiting lists for dementia diagnosis have informed their GP they are receiving private treatment since 2010 in England, broken down by (a) local authority and (b) year.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information is not held centrally.