Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which (a) wards and (b) super output areas in Telford constituency are within the top (i) 10%, (ii) 5% and (iii) 1% in England for (A) life expectancy inequality, (B) health outcomes, (C) deprivation, (D) child poverty and (E) other factors used to determine health investment into (1) primary care and (2) hubs.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The current national funding formula for primary medical care, known as the Carr-Hill formula, does not use indicators such as life expectancy inequality, health outcomes, deprivation, or child poverty to determine allocations. As a result, data for the areas requested in the Telford constituency is not held centrally for these specific criteria in the context of primary medical care investment.
The Carr-Hill formula instead uses demographic and practice-level characteristics, including patient age and gender, list turnover, and unavoidable costs based on geographical area, which aim to reflect expected workload for general practice services. To account for health inequalities, there is also an additional adjustment applied at the integrated care board level to recognise relative deprivation across geographies.
We know that the Carr-Hill formula is considered outdated, and evidence suggests that general practices (GPs) serving in deprived parts of England receive less funding per patient when adjusted for need, compared to practices in less deprived areas. It is important that funding for core services is distributed equitably between practices across the country, which is why in the 10-Health Year Plan we have committed to reviewing the GP funding formula to ensure that resources are targeted where they are most needed.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust and (b) Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB has improved according to his Department's matrices for performance and improvement since July 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust and the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board are in receipt of national mandated support via NHS England’s Recovery Support Programme.
Since July 2024, the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust and the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board have both demonstrated improvements across all areas of the requisite transition criteria, including finance, workforce, urgent and emergency care, governance, and leadership.
NHS England continues to support the trust and the integrated care board in a range of areas. We are working closely with NHS England to monitor the situation.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects the NHS England Independent Patient Choice and Procurement Panel to make a decision on GP out of hours services in the Shrewsbury and Telford and Wrekin ICB.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has communicated that the decision on general practice (GP) out-of-hours service in the Shrewsbury, Telford and Wrekin ICB will be published on 26 June 2025.
GPs are independent businesses who are contracted by National Health Service commissioners to perform medical services. The GP contract ensures that a consistent provision of healthcare is provided, including out of hours services which should be available to all patients in the Shrewsbury, Telford and Wrekin area. Decisions regarding these services are made locally and independently. Practices have the option to provide out-of-hours services directly, in which case they receive payment for doing so. If a practice chooses not to offer these services, arrangements must be made to ensure that an alternative provider delivers them for that practice’s registered patients. These decisions should not affect patients’ access to care.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has for the future of the NHS England Independent Patient Choice and Procurement Panel; when that panel last made a decision; what the average length of its (a) decision making and (b) appeals process is; what criteria it uses to make decisions; and whether that panel will consider public procurement rules when reviewing cases.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Patient Choice and Procurement Panel is set up by NHS England to review complaints related to patient choice and representation in relation to the Provider Selection Regime (PSR) for the foreseeable future. The Panel last published a decision on 28 May 2025. Since its inception on 1 January 2024, the Panel has reviewed and published advice on 11 procurement processes. The Panel aims to publish its advice within six weeks though it can take more time to process complex cases
Providers seeking a review by the panel must ensure that they submit any such requests through the appropriate channels, either for patient choice or for PSR, which are available at the following link:
The Panel has been set up to give advice under the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. The Panel has terms of reference which task it with offering expert advice about whether commissioners have acted consistently with the PSR regulations and published Statutory Guidance.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many social care staff there are by gender in each (a) region and (b) nation.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The policy for health and adult social care is devolved across the United Kingdom, and the Department is responsible for adult social care in England. The following table shows the number of filled posts in adult social care, both for local authorities and the independent sector, in England, by gender and region in 2023/24:
Region | Female | Male |
East Midlands | 80% | 20% |
Eastern | 79% | 21% |
London | 77% | 23% |
North East | 81% | 19% |
North West | 79% | 21% |
South East | 78% | 22% |
South West | 79% | 21% |
West Midlands | 82% | 18% |
Yorkshire and the Humber | 81% | 19% |
Source: the data has been produced by Skills for Care using the Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set.
According to Skills for Care data for local authorities and the independent sector, at a national level, 79% of the adult social care workforce were female and 21% of the workforce were male in 2023/24.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) membership is and (b) terms of reference are of the NHS England Independent Patient Choice and Procurement Panel; and whether that panel will be guided by the public procurement rules on value for money.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Independent Patient Choice and Procurement Panel is a non-statutory administrative arrangement established to help resolve disputes about the application of the Provider Selection Regime. The membership of the panel is publicly available at the following link:
The panel has its own terms of reference, which were agreed by NHS England, the Department, and the Cabinet Office, and which are publicly available at the following link:
Whilst the Provider Selection Regime and the panel's terms of reference do not specifically reference the public procurement rules on value for money, value for money is a central pillar of the Provider Selection Regime, with requirements for integrated care boards (ICBs) to consider the value for money of healthcare services and the procurement approach they pursue. Where relevant, the panel takes this into consideration. If the panel finds that an ICB has not acted consistently with the regulations, it advises on the proportionate steps to remedy the issue.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the NHS (a) has received and (b) is outstanding in charges from foreign nationals in each year that data is available.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
For this answer, we have taken ‘foreign nationals’ to mean chargeable overseas visitors.
The Department publishes data on the income identified from chargeable overseas visitors in England in its Annual Report and Accounts. The consolidated National Health Service provider accounts published the cash payments received in-year by the NHS from overseas visitors. NHS charges can be recovered up to six years from the date of invoice, and therefore the amount recovered in a year does not necessarily mean it was identified in the same financial year. The following table shows the income identified and cash payments received in-year between 2019 to 2024:
Year | Income identified in-year | Cash payments received in-year |
2018/19 | £91,000,000 | £35,000,000 |
2019/20 | £93,000,000 | £39,000,000 |
2020/21 | £61,000,000 | £21,000,000 |
2021/22 | £67,000,000 | £25,000,000 |
2022/23 | £100,000,000 | £32,000,000 |
2023/24 | £123,000,000 | £42,000,000 |
Source: The Department’s Annual Report and Accounts and Consolidated NHS provider accounts.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with (a) Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Hospital Trust and (b) Shrewsbury and Telford ICB on (i) patient safety, (ii) waiting times, (iii) value for money and (iv) regulatory compliance and improvement since July 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has had no discussions with the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust or the Shrewsbury and Telford Integrated Care Board about these issues since July 2024.
The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust is in segment four of the NHS Oversight Framework. This means that the trust is in receipt of national mandated support via NHS England’s Recovery Support Programme. The National Recovery Support team is working closely with the trust and region to support the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust and to ensure the delivery of improvements.
We are working closely with NHS England to monitor the situation.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many extra appointments have been made available each (a) month and (b) week at the Shrewsbury and Telford hospital since July 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The data is not held in the format requested. Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust is missing from Secondary User Services data from July 2024 onwards because of its Electronic Patient Record digital upgrade, for which data submissions are not operational yet. The trust is working to resolve the issue.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
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 (a) identify and (b) address the distinct Sexual Reproductive Health needs of younger men.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government remains committed to providing good sexual and reproductive health services to everyone in England, regardless of age and gender.
Local authorities are responsible for commissioning comprehensive, open access sexual and reproductive health services through the Public Health Grant (PHG). Individual local authorities decide on spending priorities based on an assessment of local need and commission the blend of services that best suit their population, including considering the distinct needs of younger and older men. In 2025/26, we are increasing funding through the ringfenced PHG to £3.858 billion. This represents a turning point for local health services, marking the biggest real-terms increase after almost a decade of reduced spending between 2016 and 2024.
We are currently developing a new HIV Action Plan which will be published this year, with key objectives to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment for HIV across all demographics. We are working to push this commitment forward through engagement with a range of system partners and stakeholders to understand the challenges we face, including the distinct needs of younger and older men.
The distinct sexual and reproductive health needs of younger men are also captured through statutory health education which is taught in all state-funded schools. The Department for Education is currently reviewing relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance, and revised guidance will be published at the earliest opportunity.