Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
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 adequacy of the availability of specialist training contracts for junior doctors.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to training the staff we need to ensure that patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it.
We will ensure that the number of medical specialty training places meets the demands of the National Health Service in the future. NHS England will work with stakeholders to ensure that any growth is sustainable and focused in the service areas where need is greatest.
To reform the NHS and make it fit for the future, we have launched a 10-Year Health Plan as part of the Government’s five long-term missions. Ensuring we have the right people, in the right places, with the right skills will be central to this vision. We will publish a refreshed workforce plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and treat patients on time again.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
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 help increase the number of UK-trained qualified dentists.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are determined to rebuild National Health Service dentistry, but it will take time and there are no quick fixes. Strengthening the workforce is key to our ambitions.
Integrated care boards are recruiting posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see up to 240 dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.
We have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS. A central part of the plan will be our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities.
We will ensure the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
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 cost to the public purse of correcting cosmetic dental surgery undertaken by British nationals abroad in the last 12 months.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data on the overall costs to the National Health Service of treating complications arising from cosmetic, including dental, procedures undertaken overseas. We are exploring ways to improve our understanding of the scale and impact of these costs on NHS services.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
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 cost to the public purse of correcting cosmetic surgery undertaken by British Nationals abroad.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not have data on the overall costs to the National Health Service for treating complications from cosmetic procedures conducted overseas. We are exploring ways to improve our understanding of the scale of the cost to the NHS.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
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 introduce regulations for the use of solo carers for elderly people.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have understood that the term solo carers refers to personal assistants. The Department has no current plans to introduce regulations for the use of solo carers for elderly people.
English local authorities have responsibility under the Care Act 2014 to meet social care needs, and statutory guidance directs them to ensure that there is sufficient workforce in adult social care. Much of the responsibility of recruitment and retention of the workforce rests with adult social care employers, who are largely private providers.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
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 14 October 2024 to Question 7264 on Liver Diseases, how many community diagnostic centres provide transient elastography liver scans; and what steps his Department has taken to improve early detection of liver disease in high risk groups in (a) primary and (b) community care settings.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As of 16 February 2025, 14 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) are providing transient elastography liver scans, also known as fibroscans. By 31 March 2025, one further CDC is expected to become operational and able to offer fibroscans. NHS England is taking steps to improve the early detection of liver disease in high risk groups, both in primary and community care settings.
As of the end of February 2025, the Community Liver Health Check Programme is now in place across 19 areas, helping to identify individual patients at greater risk of cirrhosis or advanced fibrosis. The programme is identifying people at high risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and referring them into, as well as supporting them to stay in, surveillance programmes. From June 2022 to January 2025, over 93,500 fibroscans have been delivered through the pilots, with 6,421 people having enrolled into HCC surveillance.
Primary Care Liver Case Finding pilots have also been funded across 12 primary care networks, as of the end of February 2025. These pilots used primary care records to identify patients at high risk of cirrhosis, in order to offer them blood tests and fibroscans. Over 12,700 people have been tested, and 300 people have been identified as having advanced liver disease requiring cancer surveillance, since the pilot began. These pilots are now being evaluated.
The continued funding of Laboratory Information Management Systems will also be a key step in enabling the development of liver disease pathways starting in primary care, along with the use of intelligent liver function tests, which are an effective primary diagnostic test.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to establish national (a) testing and (b) screening for prostate cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the United Kingdom, national screening programmes are introduced based on the recommendations of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent scientific advisory committee which advises Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries.
The UK NSC review for prostate cancer screening is currently underway. The evidence review is due to conclude later in 2025. After this, the UK NSC will make a recommendation. Ministers will then consider whether to accept the recommendation.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
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 adequacy of provision for people discharged from mental health units.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The statutory guidance on discharge from mental health inpatient settings makes clear that National Health Service mental health trusts should have a clear plan in place for the ongoing care and support that a patient requires after discharge from a mental health inpatient setting. This should cover their pharmacological, psychological, social, cultural, and physical health, their education, housing, and finances, and any other individual needs or wishes.
Alongside this, NHS England is also developing new core standards of care for community mental health services to support the continued improvement of care received by people with serious mental illness who require intensive community treatment and follow-up, but where engagement is a challenge.
As part of our mission to build an NHS that is fit for the future and shift care from hospitals into the community by improving community and crisis services, NHS England is piloting new models of care in the community for those with the most serious mental illnesses. New mental health centres will open in six neighbourhood areas from this spring, and will provide people and their families with support 24 hours a day, seven days a week, if they are in crisis, without needing to book an appointment, as well as providing housing and employment advice to support them to stay well.
The Mental Health Bill, currently before Parliament, also aims to strengthen discharge arrangements for people detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
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 help support General Practitioners to use new technologies.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The national General Practice Improvement Programme provides tailored support to general practices to make changes and improvements. This includes supporting practices to make the best use of technology to implement the modern general practice model, to address the challenges of rising demand and increasing complexity. In addition, many practices have implemented online consultation and triage systems, enhancing patient access and experience.
The Department is also in the process of updating Part IX of the Drug Tariff. The intention is to increase comparison between medical technology products prescribed in primary care, and therefore increase meaningful choice for clinicians and patients, as well as reducing the administrative burden on health and social care professionals. These updates will also support the adoption of new innovative devices in primary care.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
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 the effectiveness of the NHS Triage system.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Triage is used across the National Health Service, for example in urgent and emergency care and mental health services, and is an effective way of prioritising patient need. The NHS pathways, a clinical decision support tool, used by NHS 111, is continuously reviewed to ensure it remains effective, safe, and that it adequately responds to patients’ clinical needs