Department of Health and Social Care

42 integrated care boards (ICBs) across England are responsible for meeting the healthcare needs and demands of their respective populations. There is evidence that public health and adult social care interventions of different kinds can be effective, and cost-effective, in preventing or delaying the onset of ill health, which in turn supports better use of health and care resources. A shift from treatment to prevention and from acute hospital services to community are part of the three strategic shifts underpinning our 10-Year Health Plan.

We also recognise the need to alleviate pressures through increasing supply and reducing demand. We will make sure the future of general practice is sustainable by training more general practitioners, guaranteeing a face-to-face appointment for all those who want one and delivering a modern booking system. For example, in the NHS Derby and Derbyshire ICB, 539,000 general practice appointments were delivered in December 2024, up from 510,000 in December 2023. Additionally, in early 2025, the Government will publish a plan setting out how urgent and emergency care services across England will be supported to deliver improvements.

Furthermore, for 2025/26, approximately £9 billion will be committed to the Better Care Fund (BCF), a framework for ICBs and local authorities to make joint plans and pool budgets for the purposes of delivering better joined-up care. This includes around £3.3 billion provided to local authorities and £5.6 billion to ICBs.

Its main objectives are to support:

- the shift from sickness to prevention;

- people living independently; and

- the shift from hospital to home.

These objectives should reduce demand on services, and the recently revised BCF framework, published on 30 January 2025, sets out the actions that local authorities and ICBs should take to achieve these objectives, including improving discharge, preventing avoidable admissions, reducing the pressure on social care, intermediate care, unpaid carers and housing.

The Primary Care Utilisation & Modernisation Fund was announced during the 2024 Spending Review and provides new capital funding of £102 million to support improvements in the primary care estate. We currently do not have a list of practices that will receive this funding; however, we anticipate the scheme will support approximately 200 practices.

Funding is being indicatively allocated to integrated care boards (ICBs) on a weighted population basis as part of the national allocations planning process.

The Department and NHS England are working with ICBs to prioritise high-impact projects where investment can unlock significant productivity gains and additional usable space from existing buildings. Until this process is complete, we do not have a list of the approximately 200 practices which will be receiving this funding.

Community pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system. We are committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists as part of the shift from hospital to community, and from treatment to prevention.

Community pharmacies already play a key role in delivering a wide range of vaccine services. Currently, NHS England commission the Community Pharmacy Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Advanced Service and the COVID-19 Vaccination National Enhanced Service on a national level. The Department will keep the scope of vaccinations available in community pharmacies under review.

The Government recently resumed its consultation with Community Pharmacy England regarding funding arrangements for community pharmacy across 2024/25 and 2025/26.

Additionally, the Government has also launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the National Health Service. A central part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities. The 10-Year Health Plan will also align with our priority for implementing the Women’s Health Strategy as we reform the NHS, ensuring that all women can access the care that they need.

The Department also remains committed to supporting people with long-term conditions and ensuring they receive the support that they need, including referral to specialist services as appropriate. We invest in health research for long term conditions through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Medical Research Council, and UK Research and Innovation.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning most services for people with long-term conditions. ICBs are allocated funding by NHS England to meet local needs and priorities and improve outcomes. NHS England continues to set national standards, service specifications, and clinical access policies which ICBs are expected to apply.

Community pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system. We are committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists as part of the shift from hospital to community, and from treatment to prevention.

Community pharmacies already play a key role in delivering a wide range of vaccine services. Currently, NHS England commission the Community Pharmacy Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Advanced Service and the COVID-19 Vaccination National Enhanced Service on a national level. The Department will keep the scope of vaccinations available in community pharmacies under review.

The Government recently resumed its consultation with Community Pharmacy England regarding funding arrangements for community pharmacy across 2024/25 and 2025/26.

Additionally, the Government has also launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the National Health Service. A central part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities. The 10-Year Health Plan will also align with our priority for implementing the Women’s Health Strategy as we reform the NHS, ensuring that all women can access the care that they need.

The Department also remains committed to supporting people with long-term conditions and ensuring they receive the support that they need, including referral to specialist services as appropriate. We invest in health research for long term conditions through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Medical Research Council, and UK Research and Innovation.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning most services for people with long-term conditions. ICBs are allocated funding by NHS England to meet local needs and priorities and improve outcomes. NHS England continues to set national standards, service specifications, and clinical access policies which ICBs are expected to apply.

Community pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system. We are committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists as part of the shift from hospital to community, and from treatment to prevention.

Community pharmacies already play a key role in delivering a wide range of vaccine services. Currently, NHS England commission the Community Pharmacy Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Advanced Service and the COVID-19 Vaccination National Enhanced Service on a national level. The Department will keep the scope of vaccinations available in community pharmacies under review.

The Government recently resumed its consultation with Community Pharmacy England regarding funding arrangements for community pharmacy across 2024/25 and 2025/26.

Additionally, the Government has also launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the National Health Service. A central part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities. The 10-Year Health Plan will also align with our priority for implementing the Women’s Health Strategy as we reform the NHS, ensuring that all women can access the care that they need.

The Department also remains committed to supporting people with long-term conditions and ensuring they receive the support that they need, including referral to specialist services as appropriate. We invest in health research for long term conditions through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Medical Research Council, and UK Research and Innovation.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning most services for people with long-term conditions. ICBs are allocated funding by NHS England to meet local needs and priorities and improve outcomes. NHS England continues to set national standards, service specifications, and clinical access policies which ICBs are expected to apply.

We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. We are working at great pace to get this year’s funding to hospices as soon as possible. We are currently finalising the delivery mechanisms, and are pleased that Hospice UK is standing ready to distribute the money to hospices throughout England, including to hospices in Hexham, Northumberland, Newcastle, and the North East.

We are also providing £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices. NHS England is currently making decisions on the allocation and administration mechanisms for the £26 million of revenue funding for children and young people’s hospices in 2025/26, and hopes to communicate plans to the sector later this month.

I met with key palliative and end of life care, including hospice, stakeholders on 3 February to discuss the long-term sustainability of palliative and end of life care, within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan.

The following table shows the total number of general dental practice contracts that were terminated by contractors each financial quarter since the first financial quarter of 2020, to September 2021:

The data collection period changed from quarterly to monthly from October 2021. Therefore, the following table shows the total number of general dental practice contracts that were terminated by contractors in each month from October 2021 to December 2024:

Notes:

1. the data for November and December 2022 has been combined, as there were eight contract terminations between the 1 November and the 31 December; and
2. data for December 2024 is incomplete and only includes contracts terminated between 1 and 28 December.

We acknowledge the urgent challenge of ensuring rural areas, including Bedfordshire, have the resources to continue serving their patients. We are committed to training thousands more GPs across the country, including in rural areas. We have also committed to recruiting over 1,000 newly qualified GPs in 2024/25 through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, which will increase capacity, secure the future pipeline of GPs, and alleviate the pressure on those currently working in the system.

Through the Red Tape Challenge, we are also determined to bulldoze bureaucracy and cut red tape, ensuring GPs spend less time filling in forms and more time caring for patients. We recognise it is vital for roles to be satisfying, rewarding, and sustainable, so that our experienced GPs continue to contribute throughout their career.

The Dental Statistics - England 2023/24, published by the NHS Business Services Authority on 22 August 2024, is available from the following link:

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/dental-england/dental-statistics-england-202324

In the NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board, which includes Nottinghamshire, 42% of adults were seen by a National Health Service dentist in the previous 24 months to June 2024, compared to 40% in England. In addition, 60% of children were seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 12 months to June 2024, compared to 56% in England.

Within the Midlands region, which includes the East Midlands, 42% of adults were seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 24 months to June 2024, compared to 40% in England. Additionally, 56% of children were seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 12 months to June 2024, compared to 56% in England.

The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access NHS dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most.

The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Kent constituency, this is the NHS Kent and Medway ICB.

ICBs have started to recruit posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see up to 240 dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.

The Dental Statistics - England 2023/24, published by the NHS Business Services Authority on 22 August 2024, is available at the following link:

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/dental-england/dental-statistics-england-202324

In the NHS Northeast and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board, which includes the City of Durham constituency, 45% of adults were seen by a National Health Service dentist in the previous 24 months to June 2024, compared to 40% in England. In addition, 58% of children were seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 12 months to June 2024, compared to 56% in England.

The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access NHS dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most.

We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. We are working at great pace to get this year’s funding to hospices as soon as possible, including having regular discussions involving NHS England and Hospice UK. We are currently finalising the delivery mechanisms and are pleased that Hospice UK stands ready to distribute the money to local hospices throughout England.

We are also providing an additional £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices. We are aware that the shift to an integrated care board (ICB) transacted model for 2024/25 was not as smooth a transition as we would have hoped. We are working closely with NHS England so planning for 2025/26 is improved.

NHS England is currently making decisions on the allocation and administration mechanisms for the £26 million of revenue funding for children and young people’s hospices in 2025/26 and hopes to communicate plans to the sector later this month.

Although palliative and end of life care is mostly provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at the end of life and their loved ones. ICBs are responsible for the commissioning of palliative and end of life care services, to meet the needs of their local populations. The amount of funding each charitable hospice receives varies both within and between ICB areas. This will vary depending on demand in that ICB area but will also be dependent on the totality and type of palliative and end of life care provision from both NHS and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each area. Therefore, there are no current plans to undertake a review of the distribution of hospice funding.

Neither the Department nor NHS England believe that publishing a consultation on the distribution of hospice funding is necessary, but both organisations are in regular discussions with key hospice sector stakeholders on this issue.

Earlier this month, I met the major palliative and end of life care, including hospice, stakeholders when long-term sector sustainability, within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan, was discussed at length.

We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. We are working at great pace to get this year’s funding to hospices as soon as possible, including having regular discussions involving NHS England and Hospice UK. We are currently finalising the delivery mechanisms and are pleased that Hospice UK stands ready to distribute the money to local hospices throughout England.

We are also providing an additional £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices. We are aware that the shift to an integrated care board (ICB) transacted model for 2024/25 was not as smooth a transition as we would have hoped. We are working closely with NHS England so planning for 2025/26 is improved.

NHS England is currently making decisions on the allocation and administration mechanisms for the £26 million of revenue funding for children and young people’s hospices in 2025/26 and hopes to communicate plans to the sector later this month.

Although palliative and end of life care is mostly provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at the end of life and their loved ones. ICBs are responsible for the commissioning of palliative and end of life care services, to meet the needs of their local populations. The amount of funding each charitable hospice receives varies both within and between ICB areas. This will vary depending on demand in that ICB area but will also be dependent on the totality and type of palliative and end of life care provision from both NHS and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each area. Therefore, there are no current plans to undertake a review of the distribution of hospice funding.

Neither the Department nor NHS England believe that publishing a consultation on the distribution of hospice funding is necessary, but both organisations are in regular discussions with key hospice sector stakeholders on this issue.

Earlier this month, I met the major palliative and end of life care, including hospice, stakeholders when long-term sector sustainability, within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan, was discussed at length.

We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. We are working at great pace to get this year’s funding to hospices as soon as possible, including having regular discussions involving NHS England and Hospice UK. We are currently finalising the delivery mechanisms and are pleased that Hospice UK stands ready to distribute the money to local hospices throughout England.

We are also providing an additional £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices. We are aware that the shift to an integrated care board (ICB) transacted model for 2024/25 was not as smooth a transition as we would have hoped. We are working closely with NHS England so planning for 2025/26 is improved.

NHS England is currently making decisions on the allocation and administration mechanisms for the £26 million of revenue funding for children and young people’s hospices in 2025/26 and hopes to communicate plans to the sector later this month.

Although palliative and end of life care is mostly provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at the end of life and their loved ones. ICBs are responsible for the commissioning of palliative and end of life care services, to meet the needs of their local populations. The amount of funding each charitable hospice receives varies both within and between ICB areas. This will vary depending on demand in that ICB area but will also be dependent on the totality and type of palliative and end of life care provision from both NHS and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each area. Therefore, there are no current plans to undertake a review of the distribution of hospice funding.

Neither the Department nor NHS England believe that publishing a consultation on the distribution of hospice funding is necessary, but both organisations are in regular discussions with key hospice sector stakeholders on this issue.

Earlier this month, I met the major palliative and end of life care, including hospice, stakeholders when long-term sector sustainability, within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan, was discussed at length.

The Department formally consults with the British Dental Association on the details of contract uplift proposals before these are implemented, as the recognised representative body for dentists. We consulted the British Dental Association on the proposed uplift for 2024/25, as we do each year.

The Government implemented the overall uplift to contract values on 29 January. Uplifted payments will be made in March, backdated to 1 April 2024.

NHS England and Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust have accepted all the recommendations in this report, and we have been clear that we expect these recommendations to be fully implemented.

The trust has also been placed in the recovery support programme, meaning it is receiving focused and intensive support from NHS England to turn around its services and improve the quality and safety of care.

The National Director for Mental Health has written to all mental health trusts in England to ask them to ensure they have action plans in place to address all the issues in the report by 30 June 2025.

We are also taking steps to improve the way that people with severe mental illnesses are treated, including trialling new open access neighbourhood mental health centres that are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to provide people and their families with support if they are in crisis as well as providing wider support such as housing or employment advice to support them to stay well.

The Barnett formula applies to all increases or decreases to the Government’s departmental expenditure limits. As this £100 million in capital funding for adult and children’s hospices is being re-allocated from within existing budgets, there will be no additional Barnett consequentials. The Barnett formula has already been applied to funding previously allocated at Autumn Budget 2024. Given the devolved nature of healthcare funding and administration across the four nations, this capital funding is for adult and children’s hospices in England only.

We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. We are working at great pace to get this year’s funding to hospices as soon as possible. We are currently finalising the delivery mechanisms, and are pleased that Hospice UK is standing ready to distribute the money to hospices throughout England, including to hospices in the City of Durham constituency.

We are also providing £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices in 2025/26. NHS England is currently making decisions on the allocation and administration mechanisms for that funding and hopes to communicate plans to the sector later this month.

Earlier this month, I met with key palliative and end of life care, including hospice, stakeholders on 3 February to discuss the long-term sustainability of palliative and end of life care, within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan.

Baroness Casey’s commission into adult social care will begin in April 2025. The Commission is independent and the timetable, beyond the reporting stages (Phase 1, reporting in 2026, Phase 2 in 2028) will be developed by the commission itself and set out in due course.

We do not hold data on the number of practices that have stopped accepting National Health Service patients. NHS dentists are required to keep their NHS.UK website profiles up to date so that patients can find a dentist more easily. This includes information on whether they are accepting new patients. This information is available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist

The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access NHS dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

These are damning reports which the Government takes incredibly seriously. Everyone deserves to live an independent, dignified life.

Dr Penny Dash’s report into the operational effectiveness of the Care Quality Commission (CQC), published on 15 October 2024, showed that the CQC needs to make significant improvements.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has asked Dr Dash to carry out a second review looking at patient safety across the health and care landscape in England, within the context of wider regulation and improvement of quality of care.

The CQC has a new Chief Executive, Julian Hartley, who has a record of delivering transformational change. Julian is prioritising improvements following Dr Dash’s report and the Department is monitoring the CQC’s progress closely.

Pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system, and the Government recognises the integral role they play within our communities, as an easily accessible front door to the National Health Service, staffed by highly trained and skilled healthcare professionals. The Department is committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists as we shift care from hospital to the community.

There is an ongoing global supply problems that continues to impact medicine availability. The Department understands how frustrating and distressing this can be for patients, and we are working closely with industry, the NHS, manufacturers, and other partners in the supply chain to resolve issues as quickly as possible, to make sure patients can access the medicines they need. We recognise this pressure on community pharmacy teams and are working with Community Pharmacy England to support private contractors to deliver quality NHS services. Employers clearly have a key role in supporting their staff, and a number of resources are available from organisations such as Pharmacist Support, for free and confidential advice and support for mental health and wellbeing.

Pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system, and the Government recognises the integral role they play within our communities, as an easily accessible front door to the National Health Service, staffed by highly trained and skilled healthcare professionals. The Department is committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists as we shift care from hospital to the community.

There is an ongoing global supply problems that continues to impact medicine availability. The Department understands how frustrating and distressing this can be for patients, and we are working closely with industry, the NHS, manufacturers, and other partners in the supply chain to resolve issues as quickly as possible, to make sure patients can access the medicines they need. We recognise this pressure on community pharmacy teams and are working with Community Pharmacy England to support private contractors to deliver quality NHS services. Employers clearly have a key role in supporting their staff, and a number of resources are available from organisations such as Pharmacist Support, for free and confidential advice and support for mental health and wellbeing.

NHS England is currently working on the national ADHD data improvement plan, and is engaging with system and stakeholder partners to quality assure this work with a view to publication once it has been through NHS England’s internal assurance and governance processes.

NHS England commissions Op COURAGE, the integrated mental health and wellbeing service, which allows veterans to make self-referrals. The Op COURAGE North service, run by the Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, covers the Leigh and Atherton constituency area.

The service, which is available across England, has been designed to support veterans from all areas, and is delivered from a range of locations, including National Health Service trusts, general practices (GPs), Poppy Shops, veteran hubs, and drop-in centres. Elements of the service may also be provided online if this is clinically appropriate. The Government recognises that not all veterans want to use veteran-specific mental health services and can instead choose to use mainstream National Health Services, such as talking therapies, which are available to both veterans and civilians.

GPs are able to participate in the Veteran Friendly Practice Accreditation Scheme, which is a free support programme for GPs in England that enables GPs to easily identify, understand, and support veterans, and, where appropriate, refer them to specialist healthcare services designed especially for them, such as Op COURAGE. Over 99% of Primary Care Networks have at least one GP accredited as Veteran Friendly.

As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future, we will provide access to a mental health professional in every school in England, so that mental health conditions can be identified early on and prevented from developing into more serious conditions in later life.

We are working with our colleagues at NHS England and the Department for Education to consider options to deliver this commitment.

There is, at present, no single, established dataset that can be used to monitor waiting times for the assessment and diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) nationally or for individual organisations or geographies in England. Although the data requested is not held centrally, it may be held locally by individual National Health Service trusts or commissioners.

We are supporting a taskforce that NHS England has established to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The taskforce is bringing together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, including timely access to services and support.

In conjunction with the taskforce, NHS England has carried out detailed work to develop a data improvement plan, understand the provider and commissioning landscape, and capture examples from integrated care boards who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services.

There is, at present, no single, established dataset that can be used to monitor waiting times for the assessment and diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) nationally or for individual organisations or geographies in England. Although the data requested is not held centrally, it may be held locally by individual National Health Service trusts or commissioners.

We are supporting a taskforce that NHS England has established to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The taskforce is bringing together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, including timely access to services and support.

In conjunction with the taskforce, NHS England has carried out detailed work to develop a data improvement plan, understand the provider and commissioning landscape, and capture examples from integrated care boards who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services.

There is, at present, no single, established dataset that can be used to monitor waiting times for the assessment and diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) nationally or for individual organisations or geographies in England. Although the data requested is not held centrally, it may be held locally by individual National Health Service trusts or commissioners.

We are supporting a taskforce that NHS England has established to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The taskforce is bringing together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, including timely access to services and support.

In conjunction with the taskforce, NHS England has carried out detailed work to develop a data improvement plan, understand the provider and commissioning landscape, and capture examples from integrated care boards who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services.

General practitioners (GPs) are independent contractors that provide services within the National Health Service. The General Medical Council (GMC) has issued guidance on “Good practice in proposing, prescribing, providing and managing medicines and devices content”. This includes guidance on shared care arrangements between a specialist service and the patient’s GP to help GPs decide whether to accept shared care responsibilities, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gmc-uk.org/professional-standards/the-professional-standards/good-practice-in-prescribing-and-managing-medicines-and-devices/shared-care

NHS clinicians therefore need to be content that any prescriptions, or referrals for treatment, are clinically appropriate. If a shared care arrangement cannot be put in place after the treatment has been initiated, the responsibility for continued prescribing falls upon the specialist clinician; this applies to both NHS and private medical care.

We are supporting a cross-sector taskforce that NHS England has established to look at attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) service provision and support across sectors, and their impact on patient experience. The taskforce is bringing together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, including timely access to services and support.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s Clinical Knowledge Summary on autism states that the precise cause of autism is unknown, but that genetic factors play a substantial role in the aetiology, and a number of environmental factors are also thought to play a part in development. Further information is available at the following link:

https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/autism-in-adults/background-information/causes-risk-factors/

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s Clinical Knowledge Summary on autism states that the precise cause of autism is unknown, but that genetic factors play a substantial role in the aetiology, and a number of environmental factors are also thought to play a part in development. Further information is available at the following link:

https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/autism-in-adults/background-information/causes-risk-factors/

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator for health and social care in England. The CQC monitors, inspects, and regulates adult social care services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety. Where concerns on quality or safety are identified, the CQC uses the regulatory and enforcement powers it has available, and will take action to ensure the safety of the people drawing on care and support.

By law, all health and social care services must have a procedure for dealing efficiently with complaints, and anyone who has seen or experienced poor-quality care has the right to complain to the organisation that provided or paid for the care. If an individual is not satisfied with the way a provider or local authority has dealt with a complaint, they may escalate it to the local government and Social Care Ombudsman who can investigate individual concerns.

The CQC also encourages the public to share their experience through an online feedback mechanism which allows them to raise concerns about the services they receive from providers. Although the CQC is not able to take forward individual complaints, all information given helps protect others from going through the same experience.

Following the publication of the Dash Review into the operational effectiveness of the CQC, the Department is working closely with the CQC to ensure operational performance improves, by understanding how they will be implementing their recommendations, including those for adult social care. The Government has also launched an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.

The Government is committed to championing the rights of disabled people, and will break down the barriers to opportunity and ensure that every child has the best start in life. This includes all children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

Across England, community health services, including therapies, are locally commissioned to enable systems to best meet the needs of their communities. We are working closely with NHS England to improve access to community health services and on actions to reduce long waits.

The Children and Families Act 2014 requires that education, health, and social care services work together to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND. In May 2023, NHS England issued statutory guidance setting out the requirement for integrated care boards (ICBs) to have an executive lead for SEND, who will lead on supporting the Chief Executive and the board to ensure the ICB performs its functions effectively in the interests of children and young people with SEND.

As I have said in Parliament, the previous Government was unable to reach an agreement on the funding for community pharmacy ahead of the election. The existing contractual framework has remained in place and payments are made to contractors in accordance with those arrangements. The Government are currently in consultation with Community Pharmacy England regarding the funding arrangements for community pharmacy for 2024/25 and 2025/26.

We have no plans to currently do so. The 2025/26 Planning Guidance sets a requirement for integrated care boards (ICBs) to reduce the average length of stay in adult acute mental health beds, improving the availability of local beds and reducing inappropriate out of area placements. It also asks ICBs to maximise the use of crisis alternatives, including 111 mental health option, crisis resolution and home treatment teams, and community mental health services to keep people well at home.

The Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) was introduced in 2019, and since then over 38,000 additional roles have been recruited under the scheme.

In October 2024, the scheme was extended to include recently qualified general practitioners (GPs). In December 2024, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care wrote to the profession to confirm that funding for the ARRS, including the GP roles, would continue into 2025/26.

In January 2025, NHS England wrote to GPs to highlight the ongoing commitment and to encourage Primary Care Networks to utilise the available GPs in ARRS funding, to recruit recently qualified GPs this financial year.

Primary care services are the front door to the health service for most people, and the key to earlier diagnosis. Improving primary care access is essential in supporting a move to a neighbourhood health service, with more care delivered in local communities.

National Health Service planning guidance is now published for 2025/26 and sets out the funding available to integrated care boards (ICBs). It also sets out system priorities for 2025/26, including improving patients’ access to general practice, improving patient experience, and improving access to urgent dental care, by providing 700,000 additional urgent dental appointments.

We have announced a proposed £889 million increase in funding for general practice in 2025/26, the largest uplift in years, reversing the recent trend and allocating a larger share of NHS resources to general practice. This will support our commitments and help drive reform in key areas. Additionally, the 2024 Spending Review introduced the Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund, which allocates £102 million in new capital funding to improve primary care facilities. ICBs also receive discretionary funding, allowing them to invest in initiatives such as local enhanced services, retention schemes, and transformation support, with the flexibility to direct both funding and capital allocations to meet local needs and encourage the shift from hospital care to the community.

The NHS in England invests £3 billion into dentistry every year. NHS England is responsible for issuing guidance to ICBs on dental budgets, including ringfences. Planning guidance also confirms that improving access to urgent dental appointments is a key national priority.

The commissioning of NHS pharmaceutical services in Community Pharmacy in England remains a mixed model of nationally commissioned services and locally commissioned services, in which the ICBs play a role. The Government recognises the importance of retaining both approaches as we take steps to stabilise the sector and build a service fit for the future, including making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists. The Government recently resumed its consultation with Community Pharmacy England regarding funding arrangements for 2024/25 and 2025/26.

The National Health Service has been facing workforce shortages for a number of years and, while there has been growth in the mental health workforce over recent years, more is needed. That is why, as part of our mission to build an NHS that is fit for the future, we will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to reduce waiting times and provide faster treatment. We recognise that bringing in the staff needed will take time. We are working with NHS England on options to deliver this expansion of the mental health workforce.

More broadly, we have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS. This plan will set out a bold agenda to deliver on the three big shifts needed to move healthcare from hospital to the community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention. A central part of this will be our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology and infrastructure the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities.

This summer we will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again. We will ensure the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it.

Since 1 April 2023, the responsibility for commissioning primary care, including dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England.

NHS England supports ICBs with their local commissioning responsibilities for primary dental services with the provision of nationally agreed policies and procedures. NHS England has also published guidance to support commissioners to take advantage of the opportunities offered to commission further and additional services through flexible commissioning, which enables the responsible commissioner to tailor services to meet local population oral health needs. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/opportunities-for-flexible-commissioning-in-primary-care-dentistry-a-framework-for-commissioners/

We hugely value the critical role that general practitioners (GPs) play and are determined to address the issues they face by shifting the focus of the National Health Service beyond hospitals and into the community.

The Government committed to recruiting over 1,000 newly 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 to secure the future pipeline of GPs. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has confirmed that recently qualified GPs who are employed via the ARRS will continue to be supported through the scheme in 2025/26. We also announced an £889 million uplift to the GP Contract in 2025/26, which will support practices to increase capacity. Changes to the GP Contract in 2025/26, including ARRS adjustments and other important reforms, will be confirmed, along with more details on the uplift and ARRS adjustments, following consultation with the GP Committee of the British Medical Association before April 2025.

Community health services, including speech and language therapy, are locally commissioned to enable systems to best meet the needs of their communities.

We recognise the impact that long waits to access speech and language therapy can have on the individual, as well as their families and carers, and we are working closely with NHS England and the Department of Education to improve timely access to community health services and on actions to reduce long waits.

We continue to improve access to Speech and Language Therapy by including the Early Language and Support for Every Child (ELSEC) pathfinder project within the Department for Education’s existing Change Programme, in partnership with NHS England.

The ELSEC programme provides training and support to education settings, through a new workforce model that employs pre-qualification speech and language Therapy Support Assistants, and focuses on early intervention, to increase their ability to support children’s speech, language, and communication development.

We currently have no plans to repurpose Nightingale Hospitals to provide temporary accommodation for elderly patients who are awaiting discharge. The Nightingale Hospitals were established as temporary hospitals by NHS England as part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and all seven sites closed on April 2021.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life Bill) Bill continues to be a matter for Parliament and, as the bill progresses, members of Parliament, both Honourable and Right Honourable, will further debate and scrutinise the legislation, and the Government will respect Parliament’s will. An impact assessment is being developed, which will consider relevant impacts of the bill as it stands at the end of Committee Stage, based on the available evidence.

Palliative and end of life care is a crucial part of the health and social care system. Irrespective of any legislation on assisted dying, everyone must be provided with high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of their life. This Government will shift the focus of healthcare out of the hospital and into the community and we recognise that it is vital to include palliative and end of life care in this shift.

Earlier this month, I met the major palliative and end of life care stakeholders, and long-term sector sustainability, within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan, was discussed at length. I also met NHS England, and discussions have begun on how to reduce inequalities and variation in access to, and quality of, palliative and end of life care throughout England.