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 dementia specialists were recruited in England in each year since 2010 by local authority.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We do not hold this information centrally. Dementia care involves multiple specialties. We hold data by profession rather than by specific skills or areas of knowledge.
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 dementia specialists were recruited in England in each year since 2010 by Integrated Care Board.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We do not hold this information centrally. Dementia care involves multiple specialties. We hold data by profession rather than by specific skills or areas of knowledge.
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 dementia specialists there were in England in each year since 2010 by Integrated Care Board.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We do not hold this information centrally. Dementia care involves multiple specialties. We hold data by profession rather than by specific skills or areas of knowledge.
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 dementia specialists there were in England in each year since 2010 by local authority.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We do not hold this information centrally. Dementia care involves multiple specialties. We hold data by profession rather than by specific skills or areas of knowledge.
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 is taking for suicide prevention training for (a) police officers, (b) paramedics, (c) firefighters and (d) other emergency responders.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Significant work is underway to strengthen the quality and consistency of training across the system.
NHS England published ‘Staying safe from suicide: Best practice guidance for safety assessment, formulation and management’ to support the Government’s work to reduce suicide and improve mental health services. The guidance requires all mental health practitioners to align their practice to the latest evidence in suicide prevention, and is available at the following link:
www.england.nhs.uk/publication/staying-safe-from-suicide.
The NHS England Medium Term Planning Framework states that in 2026/27, all integrated care boards must ensure mental health practitioners across all providers undertake training and deliver care in line with the ‘Staying safe from suicide’ guidance.
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, whether he plans to include targets to improve the diagnosis times for myeloma in the forthcoming National Cancer Plan for England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Early diagnosis is a key focus of the National Cancer Plan, which will be published in the new year. It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including myeloma and other blood cancers, as early and quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, to improve outcomes.
To tackle late diagnoses of blood cancers, the NHS is implementing non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. Blood cancers are one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.
We will get the NHS diagnosing blood cancers earlier and treating it faster, and we will support the NHS to increase capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment, including for magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners.
The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and ultimately drive up this country’s cancer survival rates.
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 taking to increase domestic recruitment of social care staff.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
English local authorities have responsibility under the Care Act 2014 to meet social care needs, and statutory guidance directs them to ensure there is sufficient workforce in adult social care.
However, the Government recognises the scale of the reforms needed to make the adult social care sector attractive, to support sustainable workforce growth, and to improve the recruitment of the domestic workforce.
That is why we plan to introduce the first ever Fair Pay Agreement in 2028, backed by £500 million of funding, to improve pay and conditions for the adult social care workforce. This won’t just improve pay for some of the lowest paid workers in our economy but will also drive critical improvements in recruitment and retention in the sector.
Ensuring staff have the skills and training needed to work in social care is also essential, both to attract people to join and remain in the workforce, and for the provision of high-quality care and support. That is why we have developed the Care Workforce Pathway, the first national career framework for adult social care, and we are investing £12 million in learning and development through the Learning and Development Support Scheme, to enable eligible staff to complete eligible courses and qualifications.
We have also launched the 2025/26 adult social care recruitment campaign, which is running throughout October and January with advertising appearing on television, social media, radio, and online, showcasing authentic moments in care careers and driving people with the right skills and values to apply for paid vacancies in the sector.
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 he plans to take to help improve (a) training and (b) awareness of (i) Lymphoedema and (ii) Lipoedema for (A) GPs and (B) other medical professionals.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Doctors are responsible for maintaining their clinical knowledge, including on lymphoedema and lipoedema, throughout their careers, and are responsible for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development.
All doctors registered in the United Kingdom are expected to meet the professional standards set out in the General Medical Council’s (GMC’s) Good Medical Practice. In 2012, the GMC introduced revalidation, which supports doctors in regularly reflecting on how they can develop or improve their practice, giving patients confidence that doctors are up to date with their practice, and promoting improved quality of care by driving improvements in clinical governance.
The training curricula for postgraduate trainee doctors are set by the relevant medical royal college and have to meet the standards set by the GMC. Whilst curricula do not necessarily highlight specific conditions for doctors to be aware of, they instead emphasise the skills and approaches that a doctor must develop to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients.
Resources for health professionals are available from a number of professional and patient organisations to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and management of patients presenting with lymphoedema and lipoedema.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2025 to Question 61313 on NHS: Fees and Charges, if he will publish the revenue raised by NHS penalty charges in each year since 2020, broken down by age group.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information on payments received from National Health Service penalty charges for Prescription Exemption Checking Service (PECS) and Dental Exemption Checking Service from 2020 to 2024, broken down by age group is shown in the attached tables. This data is based on the date the payment was received rather than when the penalty charge was issued. Please note, ‘unknown’ dates of birth in the PECS data set are cases where a date of birth is present but cannot be accurately read.
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 discussions his Department has had with food manufacturers on the labelling of (a) phosphorus, (b) potassium and (c) other minerals that are potentially harmful for people on dialysis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Labelling of packaged foods and drinks plays an important role in helping individuals access information they need to make informed choices about the food they buy and eat.
Where minerals are added to foods, these must be included by law in the list of ingredients. Having this information on-pack means that consumers will always know if a product contains an added micronutrient, such as potassium. It is also mandatory for food and drinks packaging to include a nutrition declaration which shows the quantities of energy and key nutrients contained within them. Information on energy plus amounts of fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt in required by law. When minerals are added to a packaged foods and drinks at a significant amount, as set out in legislation, it is mandatory to include them in the nutrition declaration.
Unpackaged foods, such as loose fruit and vegetables, are not required by law to carry a label, which we understand makes it difficult for consumers to know their mineral content. However, manufacturers may, supplement the nutrition label with the amounts of naturally occurring minerals in a product, such as phosphorus and potassium, provided they are present in at least a significant amount as defined in legislation, should they choose to do so.
The key nutrients that must be included in the nutrition declaration on a mandatory basis are the most relevant to current population level public health concerns in Great Britain. A standardised set of nutrients ensures consumers can easily compare products and requiring too many nutrients to be included on a mandatory basis may complicate labels and make comparisons harder.
The Department has not had discussions with manufacturers specifically on this topic, but we maintain forums to regularly engage industry and enforcement authorities on general labelling matters where these issues can be discussed.
For individuals with specific dietary needs, such as those on dialysis, personalised advice from a registered dietitian or healthcare professional is recommended to help manage mineral intake, including minerals from naturally occurring sources, while maintaining a healthy balanced diet.