Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of mandating changes to NHS systems to ensure that it is possible to update the gender marker associated with an NHS number.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Sex and gender identity are not always the same thing, and it is important for patients that we record both accurately. On 20 March 2025, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care instructed the health service to immediately suspend applications for National Health Service number changes for under 18 year olds, to safeguard children.
Taking such action does not prevent the NHS from recording, recognising, and respecting trans people’s gender identity. General practitioners are currently able to rename a patient and manually input preferred pronouns and expressed gender in free text without affecting the formal marker.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 20 March 2025 to Question 38182 on LGBT+ People: Fertility, whether his Department plans to remove the requirement for female same sex couples to self-find prior to accessing IVF services on the NHS.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that fertility treatment across the National Health Service in England is subject to variation in access. Work continues on joint advice from the Department and NHS England about the offer around NHS-funded fertility services, including the issues for female same sex couples.
Funding decisions for health services in England are made by integrated care boards and are based on the clinical needs of their local population. We expect these organisations to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines, ensuring equal access to fertility treatment across England. The NICE is currently reviewing these guidelines.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to increase the level of primary care core funding to help support GP practices to hire more staff.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
General practices (GPs) are valued independent contractors who provide over £13 billion worth of National Health Services. Every year we consult with the profession about what services GPs provide, and the money providers are entitled to in return under their contract, taking account of the cost of delivering services.
We are investing an additional £889 million in through the GP Contract to reinforce the front door of the NHS, 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.
The Government also committed to recruiting over 1,000 recently qualified GPs through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) over 2024/25, as part of an initiative to address GP unemployment and secure the future pipeline of GPs. Primary care networks (PCNs) can continue to recruit and employ recently qualified GPs through the ARRS in the coming year, as part of the 2025/26 contract.
Under the contract changes for 2025/26, the ARRS will become more flexible, to allow PCNs to respond better to local workforce needs. This includes GPs and practice nurses included in the main ARRS funding pot, an uplift of the maximum reimbursable rate for GPs in the scheme, and no caps on the number of GPs that can be employed through the scheme.
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.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of UK-trained doctors that have emigrated because of high competition ratios in the last three years; and if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the number of those doctors that have emigrated because of high competition ratios.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold the specific data requested. Data from the General Medical Council in 2022 showed that approximately 7% of doctors in England did not hold a licence to practice five years after they completed the foundation programme in 2016. More information is available at the following link:
https://www.gmc-uk.org/-/media/documents/workforce-report-2022---full-report_pdf-94540077.pdf
Internationally educated staff remain an important part of the workforce, and our Code of Practice for International Recruitment ensures stringent ethical standards when recruiting health and social care staff from overseas. However, the Government is also committed to growing homegrown talent and giving opportunities to more people across the country to join the National Health Service.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 the level of participation in clinical trials for (a) leukaemia patients diagnosed with acute subtypes and (b) all leukaemia patients.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to maximising our potential to lead the world in clinical trials and ensuring that clinical trials are more accessible.
The Department funded National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) funds research and research infrastructure, which supports patients and the public to participate in high-quality research, including clinical research on leukaemia. NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was £133 million in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority. These investments are pivotal to informing efforts to improve cancer prevention, treatment, and outcomes, including leukaemia research.
The NIHR provides an online service called Be Part of Research which promotes participation in health and social care research, including research into leukaemia and the acute subtypes of leukaemia, by allowing users to search for relevant studies and register their interest. This makes it easier for people to find and take part in health and care research that is relevant to them.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 improve equity of access to CAR-T therapy; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making it available as a first-line treatment for eligible leukaemia patients.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the body responsible for developing independent, evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service on whether licensed medicines should be routinely funded by the NHS, based on an assessment of their costs and benefits. The NICE only makes recommendations on medicines within their licensed indications through its technology appraisals programme. There are currently no CAR-T therapies licensed as first-line treatments for leukaemia, and the NICE has therefore not made recommendations on their use at that stage in the treatment pathway.
The NICE has evaluated and recommended several CAR-T therapies for blood cancers, including leukaemia, within their licensed indications. CAR-T therapy is available in line with the NICE’s recommendations.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 the level of leukaemia cases diagnosed in an emergency setting on (a) patient outcomes and (b) NHS resources.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise the importance of earlier diagnosis of cancer to survival, and we know that patients with cancer who are diagnosed via an emergency route are most likely to have poor survival. Whilst a specific assessment on leukaemia has not been made, we are determined to take all the necessary steps to improve early diagnosis for all cancers, including blood cancers such as leukaemia. To accomplish this, the National Health Service 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.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 reduce waiting times for (a) GP referral for assessment, (b) assessment and (c) treatment for patients with eating disorders.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
General practice (GP) is the front door to the National Health Service, and we know that patients are struggling to see a GP. We are committed to fixing this and delivering the care that patients deserve. That is why, in October 2024, we provided an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme enabling the recruitment of 1,000 newly qualified GPs across England. This will increase the number of GP appointments delivered, which will benefit thousands of patients seeking access to GP care. We will also bring back the family doctor by incentivising continuity of care so patients can see the same doctor at each appointment, which is key to managing and supporting patients with conditions, including eating disorders.
The Department continues to work closely with NHS England to ensure that people with an eating disorder get the care and treatment they need. NHS England is continuing to expand community-based eating disorder services’ capacity. This includes crisis care and intensive home treatment, to improve outcomes and recovery, reduce rates of relapse, prevent eating disorders continuing into adulthood. Also, if admission is required as a very last resort, reduce lengths of stay.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
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 effectiveness of NHS England in upholding (a) article 5 and (b) article 6 of the UK's General Data Protection Regulation.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department requires all health and care organisations, including NHS England, to annually assess themselves against the standards set out in the Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT). The DSPT measures health and care organisations’ data protection and security capability and preparedness. The requirement to comply with Articles 5 and 6 of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) are embedded in the standards required by the DSPT.
NHS England has consistently met the requirements of the DSPT, including its most recent assessment in June 2024.
In addition, NHS England provides a safe haven for National Health Service data in accordance with the Department’s statutory guidance, NHS England’s protection of patient data. The guidance ensures that NHS England acts as a safe and effective guardian of information collected from the NHS and adult social care services.
As part of its compliance with Article 5 of the UK GDPR, NHS England ensures transparency in its use of personal data by publishing data protection impact assessments and a monthly data uses register that details all external data sharing agreements.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how the NHS England Consultation on changes to Right to Choose under the NHS Payment Scheme Policy will take into account the views of patients and their families.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has followed standard procedure in its consultation on the NHS Payment Scheme. A consultation on changes to the payment scheme takes place every year as required to by law. While the legal requirement is to consult commissioners and providers, the views of patients and their families are important and responses are therefore accepted from other interested parties and members of the public. Responses will inform further decisions on the final scheme design.