Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure an adequate number of NHS dentists are recruited in (a) Slough and (b) Berkshire.
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. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are recruiting dentists through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.
We recently held a public consultation on a package of changes to improve access to, and improve the quality of, NHS dentistry, which will deliver better care for the diverse oral health needs of people across England. We will publish a response shortly.
We are committed to reforming the dental contract, with a focus on matching resources to need, improving access, promoting prevention, and rewarding dentists fairly, while enabling the whole dental team to work to the top of their capability. The Government is committed to achieving fundamental contract reform before the end of this Parliament.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of (a) the quality of commissioning of social care services by local authorities and (b) the development of high-quality markets of service providers in local areas; and what steps he is taking to ensure factors other than volume and price are used by local authorities when commissioning social care services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care markets to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes commissioning a diverse range of care and support services that enable people to access quality care.
In delivering their duties, local authorities should work closely with local providers to promote best practice and achieve a sustainable balance of quality, effectiveness, and value for money.
To ensure high standards of care, local authorities are assessed by the Care Quality Commission in how well they are delivering these commissioning and market shaping duties. Local authority assessment reports are published by the Care Quality Commission at the following link:
https://www.cqc.org.uk/care-services/local-authority-assessment-reports
Asked by: Baroness Shawcross-Wolfson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the total cost of redundancy as a result of the plan to abolish NHS England and restructure integrated care boards; and what redundancy costs have been incurred as a result of those plans to date.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Following the Prime Minister’s announcement of the abolition of NHS England, we have been clear on the need for a smaller centre, as well as on the need to scale back integrated care board (ICB) running costs and National Health Service provider corporate costs, in order to reduce waste and bureaucracy.
Good progress is being made, with the Department and NHS England having announced voluntary exit and expressions of interest respectively.
In the case of ICBs, ahead of asking the NHS to commence a multi-year planning round we are now carefully reviewing how the settlement is prioritised, including making provision for redundancy costs.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to ensure consistency in the quality and delivery of the Armed Forces training across all NHS trusts.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Armed Forces National Training and Education programme has been developed as a series of modules which will be delivered by a dedicated Veterans Covenant Healthcare Alliance (VCHA) trainer within each region. The Programme comprises a series of evidence-based modules that will be delivered through multiple channels, including face-to-face sessions facilitated by the team of Regional Trainers, national webinars, and e-learning packages. Plans are underway to develop a “Train the Trainer” module to support wider implementation and ensure consistency in both quality and delivery.
All module content is subject to quality assurance by the NHS Armed Forces National Team and the VCHA. The programme will undergo continuous evaluation, with updates and refinements made as appropriate.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Neath and Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of different funding mechanisms that could be applied to new obesity treatments.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. The NHS in England is legally required to fund medicines recommended in a NICE appraisal, usually within three months of final guidance.
NICE has recommended several weight loss medicines as a clinically and cost-effective use of NHS resources that are now being made available to NHS patients. The NHS is currently rolling out tirzepatide for obesity in primary care, using a phased approach based on clinical need to manage NHS resources. Around 220,000 individuals are expected to be eligible over the next three years. NHS England worked with clinical experts, integrated care boards, patient and public representatives, healthcare professionals, charities and royal colleges on its prioritisation approach, which it set out in its interim commissioning guidance, available at the following link:
Through the Obesity Healthcare Goals programme, launched in 2022, we are working with industry and research partners to develop and test new delivery and funding models. This includes the Obesity Pathway Innovation Programme (OPIP), which is piloting community-based and pharmacy-led provision of weight management services, alongside pharmaceutical and digital interventions. The programme is supported by up to £85 million in joint funding from Government and Eli Lilly, with a portion ring-fenced for devolved administrations. These pilots will generate evidence on clinical outcomes, patient experience, and economic sustainability to inform future commissioning decisions.
The Government remains firmly committed to tackling obesity as a major public health challenge, improving access to effective interventions, and reducing health inequalities across the country.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
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 waiting times to those seeking psychological therapy to support their employment efforts.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is unacceptable that some people are not receiving the mental health care they need. We are determined to change that. We have already taken significant steps to improve National Health Service mental health services, including hiring almost 7,000 extra mental health workers since July 2024, and thanks to an increase in NHS Talking Therapies, more adults with anxiety and depression are getting back into work.
We are continuing to roll out employment advisors in our talking therapies services to support people with common mental health conditions to seek and retain employment. These advisors help people who are in work but are struggling or facing difficulties in the workplace, for instance being off work sick or looking for work, so we can provide the right support at the right time.
We continue to meet the waiting time standard in place for NHS Talking Therapies services. The latest data from June 2025 shows 89.1% of people completing treatment waited less than six weeks for their first appointment against a target of 75%. And 98.6% of people completing treatment waited less than 18 weeks, against a target of 95%.
Asked by: Luke Charters (Labour - York Outer)
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 patient safety for people with learning disabilities.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to advancing patient safety and fostering a learning culture across the National Health Service. As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will usher in a new era of transparency, a rigorous focus on high-quality care for all and a renewed emphasis on patient and staff voice.
The Patient Safety Incident Reporting Framework (PSIRF) is a patient safety approach within the NHS covering all patient groups, including people with a learning disability. It sets standards for how organisations should meaningfully and compassionately engage with those affected by safety events and guides organisations on responding effectively for learning and improvement.
PSIRF emphasises the importance of considering inequalities when setting priorities and supports consideration of inequalities throughout the learning response process.
Where a person has a learning disability, integrated care boards can also utilise the findings from a Learning from Lives and Deaths Review to understand how services can be improved across their local system to reduce health inequalities for people with a learning disability and autistic people in their area.
Additionally, a range of wider action is being taken to improve patient safety for people with a learning disability and autistic people. This includes:
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions his Department has had with NICE on updating update its Type 1 Diabetes guidance to incorporate screening for Type 1 Diabetes.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has had no discussions with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on updating its guideline on type 1 diabetes. NICE is an independent body and is responsible for making decisions on whether its guidance should be updated in the light of new evidence.
NICE translates research into evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service on best practice in the diagnosis and treatment of NHS patients, but it does not make recommendations on the use of screening programmes in its guidance. The Government is led by the advice of the UK National Screening Committee on all matters relating to targeted and population screening. A screening programme is only recommended where the evidence shows it will do more good than harm.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who be unable to access NHS services after the move from analogue to digital.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The shift from analogue to digital services is not intended to entirely replace traditional access methods. Practices are required to maintain phone and in-person services for those who cannot or prefer not to use digital options.
NHS Online will give patients more choice in how and when patients access specialist care. Digital services will always be optional and only offered when it is clinically appropriate and works for the patient. We’re working closely with community and patient groups to ensure inclusion is built into every stage of development. The experience of patients and how they access, understand, and feel about their care is central to the design and delivery of NHS Online.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Conservative - Fareham and Waterlooville)
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 ensure that general practitioners receive training on recognising symptoms of Type 1 diabetes in children and young people.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service has publicly accessible information on its website about the signs and symptoms of type 1 diabetes, available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/type-1-diabetes/symptoms/
The DigiBete app, launched in June 2020, provides a wide range of clinically approved, age-appropriate resources to help with the self-management and awareness of type 1 diabetes, with further information available at the following link:
https://www.digibete.org/type-1-awareness/
It is the responsibility of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to provide guidance and quality standards for the treatment and care of diabetes in England. The NICE NG18 guideline for type 1 and 2 diabetes provides clinical guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment, and care of children and young people.
NG18 recommends that children and young people with suspected type 1 diabetes are referred immediately, on the same day, to a multidisciplinary paediatric diabetes team with the competencies needed to confirm diagnosis and provide immediate care.