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 address the Sexual Reproductive Health needs of older men through his policies.
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.
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 ensure that heterosexual men’s (a) access to and (b) awareness of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis reach the same level as other demographics.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are firmly committed to increasing access to, and awareness of, Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for all population groups, including heterosexual men. This will be a key objective in our new HIV Action Plan which is currently being developed, and which we aim to publish this year.
PrEP is funded via the Public Health Grant and delivered via local sexual health services, whilst the cost of the drug itself is funded by NHS England. In 2025/26 we are increasing funding through the ringfenced Public Health Grant to £3.858 billion. This represents a significant turning point for local health services, marking the biggest real-terms increase after nearly a decade of reduced spending, between 2016 and 2024. This additional funding has been provided to support local government with the pressures facing the sector, including from potential additional costs relating to HIV PrEP.
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 expand sexual reproductive health services for men who have sex with men beyond (a) STI and (b) HIV (i) prevention and (ii) treatment services.
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 in England for everyone, including for men who have sex with men, both including and beyond sexually transmitted infection (STI) and HIV prevention and treatment services.
We are committed to ensuring the National Health Service is there for everyone when they need it. As such, we will work closely with NHS England and the National Advisor on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and others (LGBT+) Health, Dr Michael Brady, and cross-Government, to identify how we can make the most difference in access to healthcare, patient experience, reducing inequalities, and improving health outcomes for LGBT+ people. This will underpin the work we take forward on LGBT+ health, including sexual and reproductive health services for men who have sex with men, both including and beyond STI and HIV prevention and treatment services.
In terms of STI and HIV prevention and treatment services, 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. 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. From April 2025, HIV care will be commissioned by NHS integrated care boards.
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 he expects the operating capacity of the A&E at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital to be on its relocation from the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The future operating capacity of local services, including accident and emergency units, is a matter for National Health Service commissioners, in this case the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board, working closely with providers and in the best interests of their populations.
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 outpatients from Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin integrated care system (ICS) have been treated out of area by (a) other ICSs and (b) private providers in each year for which data is available.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to putting patients back at the heart of care. This includes supporting a patient’s right to choose, if they wish, where they go for their first appointment, including private providers holding contracts for National Health Services.
Information on the number of individual patients who have been treated out of area in the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care System (ICS) is not held centrally. However, information on the number of outpatient appointments taking place outside of the ICS is available, although it should be noted that a patient may have had more than one outpatient appointment. The following table shows the combined outpatient activity in English NHS hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector, and the number and percentage of appointments made outside of the ICS, for each of the last three years:
Year | Total appointments | Number of appointments outside of the ICS | Percentage of appointments outside of the ICS |
2021/22 | 864,870 | 138,715 | 16% |
2022/23 | 958,190 | 171,505 | 17.9% |
2023/24 | 1,027,375 | 178,590 | 17.4% |
Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS England.
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 (a) children and (b) adults are waiting for outpatient appointments by (i) their average wait time and (ii) the appointment required in the NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Patients have been let down for too long whilst they wait for the care they need. The Government will ensure that 92% of patients return to waiting no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment within our first term, a standard which has not been met consistently since September 2015. Outpatients make up most of the waiting list, so transforming outpatient services is a key part of the Government’s approach to cutting waiting times.
The overall mean average waiting time for children waiting for an outpatient appointment in the NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board (ICB) is 23.3 weeks, with the median being 21.4 weeks, and the overall mean waiting time for adults waiting for an outpatient appointment is 21.2 weeks, while the median is 18.4 weeks.
The number of cases where children are waiting in the NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB for a first outpatient appointment is 4,471, and for a follow up outpatient appointment is 715. The number of cases where adults are waiting in the NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB for a first outpatient appointment is 45,272, and for a follow up outpatient appointment is 12,500.
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 progress his Department has made on reducing waiting times for patients with (a) cancer and (b) respiratory conditions.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission and a top priority for the Government, as we get the National Health Service back on its feet, including for those suffering from cancer and respiratory conditions.
We have committed to getting back to the NHS Constitutional standard, that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment. As a first step to achieving this, we will deliver an additional 2 million operations, scans, and appointments during our first year in Government, or the equivalent to 40,000 per week. We will also increase the number of computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and other tests that are needed to reduce elective and cancer waits. As of August 2024, 62.5% of respiratory medicine patients are seen within this standard, compared to 60.7% in August 2023. This is compared to 58% of the total waiting list for planned procedures.
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 entitlements male staff in his Department and have for paternity (a) pay and (b) leave; and what information his Department holds on the same entitlements for male staff employed by NHS England in each (i) hospital trust and (ii) integrated care board.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is contained in the attached document, due to the length of the information.
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 he plans to continue the provision of the Children's Hospice Grant into 2025/26.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2024/2025, NHS England provided £25 million in funding for children and young people’s hospices. This funding was distributed, for the first time, via integrated care boards, in line with National Health Service devolution.
I recently met NHS England, Together for Short Lives, and one of the chairs of the Children Who Need Palliative Care All Party Parliamentary Group to discuss children’s palliative and end of life care, and this funding stream was discussed at length at that meeting. NHS England is currently considering the future of this important funding stream beyond 2024/25.
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 average length of paternity leave taken by staff in (a) his Department and (b) NHS England was in each of the last three years; and what information his Department holds on the average level of paternity leave taken at each NHS trust in the same period.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The average length of paternity leave at the Department over the last three years is 10 days. The following table shows average length of paternity leave at the Department broken down by year:
Period | Average working days by year |
October 2021 September 2022 | 10 |
October 2022 September 2023 | 10 |
October 2023 September 2024 | 10 |
Regarding the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in NHS England and NHS trusts, the Department does not hold this information.