Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress his Department has made on implementing the Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Goals programme.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Goals programme, with up to £150 million expected to be allocated to, or aligned with it, aims to speed up the development of new treatments for dementia and neurodegenerative conditions by accelerating innovations in biomarkers, clinical trials, and implementation. This is co-chaired by Hilary Evans-Newton CBE and Professor Nadeem Sarwar.
So far, the programme has invested approximately £100 million into biomarker innovation projects, experimental medicine studies, and clinical trial infrastructure. This covers a broad range of biomarker technologies and studies to help researchers, patients, and industry partners work together to better understand how dementia begins and progresses. This amount also supports the Medical Research Council’s Dementia Trials Accelerator which aims to embed more innovation in how clinical trials are designed and delivered in order to increase the speed and quality, while driving down the cost of large-scale trials, as well as the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s UK Dementia Trials Network which seeks to speed up early-stage clinical trials.
The programme is now setting up the Neurodegeneration Initiative, which will be a globally unique, not-for-profit, industry led, public-private partnership with charitable status, that will work together across the Government, industry, academia, the National Health Service, and third sector, and will deliver the programme’s remaining objectives.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
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 early cancer diagnosis rates.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Early cancer diagnosis is a key priority for the Government, as the chances of survival are higher if cancer is diagnosed at an early stage.
The Department recognises that cancer patients are often waiting too long for referral and treatment. As the first step to ensuring early diagnosis and treatment, NHS England has delivered an extra 100,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week since the start of this administration. This is supported by an increase in capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment in new magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners. The Government is investing an extra £26 billion in the National Health Service and is opening up community diagnostic centres at evening and weekends, to help diagnose cancer earlier.
In the new year we will publish a National Cancer Plan. The plan will include further details on how the Government will improve outcomes for cancer patients, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology and ultimately driving up this country’s cancer survival rates.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
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 ensure trusts have sufficient access to operational capital funding to repair buildings, replace old equipment, and provide a suitable environment for patients.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to delivering a National Health Service that is fit for the future through our 10-Year Health Plan, and we recognise the importance of supporting NHS trusts to manage and maintain their estates using operational capital allocations.
The Government’s recently published 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy set out 10-year maintenance budgets for the public estate, confirming £6 billion per year for the maintenance and repair of the NHS estate up to 2034/35.
Within this overall figure, the Government is providing over £4 billion in operational capital in 2025/26 and has now allocated a further £15.6 billion directly to providers over the following four years, from 2026/27 to 2029/30. Providers have also been given further five-year operational capital planning assumptions, covering 2030/31 to 2034/35, allowing them to plan longer term with confidence and accelerate investment decisions aligned to local priorities, including repairs, maintenance, and ensuring suitable patient environments.
In addition to operational capital, the Estates Safety Fund, established in 2025/26, will continue, with £6.75 billion investment over the next nine years to target the most critical building repairs and ensure safe environments for healthcare delivery.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
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 ensure that NHS contracts with hospices reflect the (a) cost of the services provided and (b) the needs of local populations.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services, to meet the needs of their local populations. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications. NHS England has also developed a palliative care and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place.
Whilst the majority of palliative care and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations also play.
The amount of funding charitable hospices receive varies by ICB area, and will, in part, be dependent on the breadth of palliative care, including specialist palliative care, and end of life care provision within each ICB catchment area.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
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 the amount paid by his Department in clinical negligence costs.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The rising costs of clinical negligence claims against the National Health Service in England are of great concern to the Government. Costs have more than doubled in the last 10 years and are forecast to continue rising, putting further pressure on NHS finances.
As announced in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan for England, David Lock KC will be providing expert policy advice on the rising legal costs and how we can improve patients’ experiences of clinical negligence claims, ahead of a review by the Department in the autumn. The results of David Lock’s work will inform future policy making in this area. No decisions on policy have been taken at this point.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
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 quality of maternity care.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
While there are outstanding examples of care in NHS maternity services, we know this is not the experience that all women have, and there are significant issues that need addressing.
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care recently announced an independent Investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal services to understand the systemic issues behind why so many women, babies and families experience unacceptable care. It began its work this summer and will produce an initial set of national recommendations by December 2025. The Secretary of State also announced the establishment of a National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce that will use the recommendations from the Investigation to develop a national plan, with families and partners, to drive improvements across maternity and neonatal care.
We are also taking a set of immediate action to start delivering the changes needed.
These include actions to boost accountability and safety as part of the Government’s mission to build an NHS fit for the future, and actions to hold the system to account. Specific actions include embedding a system to better identify safety concerns, rolling out a programme to all trusts to tackle discrimination and racism, and new best practice standards in maternal mortality.
Although significantly more action is required, there has been some good progress made in a range of areas. They include:
- Achieving full population coverage of Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Services for women with or at risk of mental health issues;
- Rollout to every Trust in England of the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle, helping to reduce still births and pre-term birth;
- As of June 2025, there are 24,888 full time equivalent midwives working in NHS Trusts and other core organisations in England. This is an increase of 1,326 (5.6%) compared to June 2024. There are also over 3,000 full time equivalent Obstetrics and gynaecology’ consultants working in NHS Trusts and other core organisations in England. This is over 100 (4.8%) more compared to June 2024; and
- Nationally rolling out a new programme to reduce avoidable brain injuries in childbirth, following a successful pilot.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much has been spent on primary care NHS dental services per head of population in England in real terms in each of the last 10 years (a) inclusive and (b) exclusive of the patient charge revenue.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Dental expenditure and patient charge revenue data is published each year in NHS England’s annual accounts. The annual accounts for 2024/25 have not yet been published, and so the latest published accounts data is for 2023/24.
The following table shows the expenditure per head of population in England in real terms, inclusive and exclusive of patient charge revenue:
Financial year | Price per head of population, real terms at 2023/4 prices | |
| Inclusive of patient charge revenue | Exclusive of patient charge revenue |
2014/15 | £74.36 | £57.26 |
2015/16 | £77.92 | £60.42 |
2016/17 | £66.34 | £48.63 |
2017/18 | £65.71 | £47.70 |
2018/19 | £63.46 | £44.86 |
2019/20 | £65.22 | £47.32 |
2020/21 | £61.26 | £55.69 |
2021/22 | £62.13 | £49.42 |
2022/23 | £56.04 | £42.19 |
2023/24 | £53.87 | £40.41 |
Notes:
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
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 proportion of NHS funding allocated to dentistry over the remainder of this Parliament.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department settlement announced at the 2025 Spending Review means that annual National Health Service day-to-day spending will increase by £29 billion in real terms, a £53 billion cash increase, by 2028/29 compared to 2023/24. This will take the NHS resource budget to £226 billion by 2028/29, the equivalent to a 3% average annual real terms growth rate over the Spending Review period.
The details of budget allocations within departments are still being determined. The Department is working to provide the detail and certainty needed on future funding and spending plans, including for NHS dentistry.
NHS planning guidance for 2025/26 confirms that dental budgets are ringfenced. Planning guidance also confirms that improving access to urgent dental appointments is a key national priority.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS dental services will receive increased funding from the Spending Review.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department settlement announced at the 2025 Spending Review means that annual National Health Service day-to-day spending will increase by £29 billion in real terms, a £53 billion cash increase, by 2028/29 compared to 2023/24. This will take the NHS resource budget to £226 billion by 2028/29, the equivalent to a 3% average annual real terms growth rate over the Spending Review period.
The details of budget allocations within departments are still being determined. The Department is working to provide the detail and certainty needed on future funding and spending plans, including for NHS dentistry.
NHS planning guidance for 2025/26 confirms that dental budgets are ringfenced. Planning guidance also confirms that improving access to urgent dental appointments is a key national priority.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to establish a ring-fenced research fund for studying the reproductive safety of sodium valproate.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department, through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), commissions a range of research to improve maternal and neonatal health outcomes. For example, the NIHR is currently funding a £2.7 million award which aims to improve outcomes, for both mother and baby, in pregnant women with epilepsy through early identification of women and their babies at risk of complications, and to promote safe antiepileptic drug (AED) use.
The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including AEDs such as sodium valproate. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality. Welcoming applications to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.