Department of Health and Social Care

On 30 January 2025, NHS England published guidance on Standardising community health services, specifically codifying core services, which can be found at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/standardising-community-health-services/

Community health services cover a diverse range of healthcare delivery, and the guidance supports improved commissioning and delivery of community healthcare services. Codifying community health services will help to better assess demand and capacity and will help commissioners make investment choices as they design neighbourhood health provision that shifts care to community-based settings.

This publication is available for designing, commissioning, and delivering community health services, including neighbourhood health. Integrated care boards and their partners should consider the core components to support demand and capacity assessment and planning with providers, and should ensure the best use of funding to meet local needs and priorities.

Many National Health Service trusts and local authorities offer an Integrated Community Equipment Service (ICES) within the integrated health and social care system, as they support both the home first agenda and hospital flows. These services can be provided in-house or by external suppliers following a tender exercise. An ICES enables people to remain in or return to their homes as the primary setting for care, avoiding unnecessary stays in hospital or care homes. Also, an ICES facilitates timely hospital admissions, treatment, and discharge processes, minimising delays and improving capacity across the sector.

On 30 January 2025, NHS England published guidance on Standardising community health services, specifically codifying core services, which can be found at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/standardising-community-health-services/

Community health services cover a diverse range of healthcare delivery, and the guidance supports improved commissioning and delivery of community healthcare services. Codifying community health services will help to better assess demand and capacity and will help commissioners make investment choices as they design neighbourhood health provision that shifts care to community-based settings.

This publication is available for designing, commissioning, and delivering community health services, including neighbourhood health. Integrated care boards and their partners should consider the core components to support demand and capacity assessment and planning with providers, and should ensure the best use of funding to meet local needs and priorities.

Many National Health Service trusts and local authorities offer an Integrated Community Equipment Service (ICES) within the integrated health and social care system, as they support both the home first agenda and hospital flows. These services can be provided in-house or by external suppliers following a tender exercise. An ICES enables people to remain in or return to their homes as the primary setting for care, avoiding unnecessary stays in hospital or care homes. Also, an ICES facilitates timely hospital admissions, treatment, and discharge processes, minimising delays and improving capacity across the sector.

Decisions about the recruitment of midwifery staff are a matter for individual National Health Service trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level to ensure they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.

We will publish a refreshed workforce plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again.

Decisions about the recruitment of midwifery staff are a matter for individual National Health Service trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level to ensure they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.

We will publish a refreshed workforce plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again.

The long waits for mental health services are being driven by increasing demand in a system in desperate need of change.

The Government is already responding by delivering new and innovative models of care in the community. As part of this, we have launched six neighbourhood adult mental health centres that are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to bring together community, crisis, and inpatient care.

NHS England’s Planning Guidance for 2025/26 makes clear that for this year, to support reform and improvements, we expect all providers to reduce the variation in children and young people accessing services and improve productivity.

We are also improving data quality, so we can support providers to understand the demand across their areas. Since July 2023, NHS England has included waiting time metrics for referrals to urgent and community-based mental health services in its monthly mental health statistics publication, to help services to target the longest waits.

The Supreme Court ruling about the meaning of ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 case has provided much needed confidence and clarity to service providers. We expect all providers to follow the clarity this ruling provides.

National Health Services are patient centred, and the NHS Constitution is clear that patients have the right to receive care and treatment that is appropriate to them, meets their needs, and reflects their preferences.

Patients are able to request that intimate care is provided by someone of the same sex. This is recognised through the accompanying Care Quality Commission statutory guidance to the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. In line with this guidance, we expect that providers will make every reasonable effort to respect patient preferences.

The Supreme Court ruling about the meaning of ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 case has provided much needed confidence and clarity to service providers. We expect all providers to follow the clarity this ruling provides.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is currently reviewing sections of the draft Code of Practice which need updating. They will shortly undertake a public consultation to understand how the practical implications of this judgment may be best reflected in the updated guidance, which will be seeking views from affected stakeholders.

The Supreme Court ruling about the meaning of ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 case has provided much needed confidence and clarity to service providers. We expect all providers to follow the clarity this ruling provides.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is currently reviewing sections of the draft Code of Practice which need updating. They will shortly undertake a public consultation to understand how the practical implications of this judgment may be best reflected in the updated guidance, which will be seeking views from affected stakeholders.

We are working to ensure that everyone who needs to see a dentist will be able to do so. This includes our valued members of the Armed Forces community, including our respected veterans, who have spent their careers defending our country.

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 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. Armed forces families and veterans will be able to benefit from the improved access these changes bring, like other civilian members of the public.

Free NHS dental care is available to people who meet the following criteria:

- under 18 years old, or under 19 years old and in full-time education;

- pregnant or have had a baby in the previous 12 months;

- being treated in an NHS hospital and the treatment is carried out by the hospital dentist, although patients may have to pay for any dentures or bridges;

- receiving low-income benefits, or under 20 years old and a dependant of someone receiving low-income benefits; or

- receiving War Pension Scheme payments, or Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments and the treatment is for your accepted disability.

Support is also available through the NHS Low Income Scheme for those patients who are not eligible for an exemption or a full remission of dental patient charges. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/dentists/who-is-entitled-to-free-nhs-dental-treatment-in-england/

Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative care and end of life care.

A suite of new community service currency models, including for palliative and end of life care in children and adults, have been developed and published in the 2025/26 NHS Payment Scheme. Further information on the new community service currency models and the 2025/26 NHS Payment Scheme is available, respectively, at the following two links:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/25-26NHSPS-Community-Currency-Guidance.pdf

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/2025-26-nhs-payment-scheme/

Currency models will help us to understand:

• the needs and complexity of our populations, allowing us to develop services around these needs;
• the resources, care contacts, and costs of supporting patients to meet these needs; and
• quality indicators and outcome measures to understand the effects of the care provided.

Combining these three elements provides an understanding of the overall value, and will support the achievement of the Government’s priorities for palliative care and end of life care.

No formal assessment has been made on the impact of palliative care and end of life care on patients, but we know that currently approximately 600,000 people die per year in the United Kingdom. Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative care and end of life care provision.

Whilst it is too soon to say what will be in the 10-Year Health Plan, the Department is investing £3 million through the National Institute for Health and Care Research in a new Policy Research Unit in Palliative and End of Life Care. This unit launched in January 2024 and will build the evidence base on palliative care and end of life care, with a specific focus on inequalities.

The number of mental health inpatient beds required to support a local population is dependent on both local mental health need and the effectiveness of the whole local mental health system in providing timely access to care and supporting people to stay well in the community, therefore reducing the likelihood of an inpatient admission being necessary.

The Department expects individual trusts and local health systems to effectively assess and manage bed capacity and the ‘flow’ of patients being discharged or moving to another setting.

Over the past few years, the National Health Service has been developing the community mental health framework to improve community support for people with severe mental illness, thus avoiding the need for an inpatient admission where possible, and freeing up more beds.

The 2025/26 NHS Planning Guidance sets out the expectation that ICBs should work with providers to improve patient flow through mental health crisis and acute pathways, reducing the average length of stay in adult acute beds, and improving access to children and young people’s mental health services.

As part of our mission to build an NHS fit for the future, we will make sure more mental health care is delivered in the community, close to people’s homes, through new models of care and support, so that fewer people need to go into hospital.

The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is conducted by the Office for National Statistics. The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) uses the LFS’ data from April to June, from the relevant year. For example, in the ASHE for 2025, the LFS’ data from April to June of 2025 will be used.

We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life. The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting, and hospices will have a big role to play in that shift.

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, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at end of life and their loved ones.

In February, I met with key palliative care and end of life care and hospice stakeholders, in a roundtable format, with a focus on long-term sector sustainability within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan.

No assessment has been made. It is important that anybody who wants to access bereavement support can do so. We encourage anybody that wants to access support to speak with their general practitioner in the first instance.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning the significant majority of health services in their areas, ensuring these services meet the reasonable needs of their local population. NHS England has developed guidance to support ICBs with their duty to commission palliative care services within integrated care systems. This statutory guidance states commissioners should ensure there is sufficient access to bereavement services available for families and carers, including children and young people. Additionally, every local authority now has a multi-agency suicide prevention plan in place to address the needs of people in their area, which should include suicide bereavement support services.

Data from June 2024 shows that approximately 93% of the population of England lived within two miles of a pharmacy. Data on distances travelled beyond two miles is not recorded.

In some rural areas where there is no pharmacy, general practitioners are permitted to dispense medicines to their patients. Patients can also choose to access medicines and pharmacy services through any of the over 400 National Health Service online pharmacies that are contractually required to deliver prescription medicines free of charge to patients anywhere in the country.

The immigration White Paper, Restoring Control over the Immigration System, was collectively agreed across Government, and is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6821f334ced319d02c906103/restoring-control-over-the-immigration-system-web-optimised.pdf

In the technical annex, published alongside the White Paper, the Home Office has estimated an annual reduction of approximately 7,000 main applicants as a result of ending overseas recruitment for care workers and senior care workers. This is based on their internal management information for entry visas granted covering the period March 2024 to February 2025. This estimate reflects that there was a drop in visa grants of more than 90% compared with the 12 months ending in March 2024, when more than 83,000 entry visas were granted to care workers and senior care workers. The analysis in the technical annex will be refined and included within the relevant impact assessments accompanying the rule changes, as appropriate. The technical annex is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6821b49bdb6463b14cd8189c/restoring-control-over-the-immigration-system-technical-annex.pdf

As set out in the immigration White Paper, visa extensions and in-country switching for those already in the country and with working rights will be permitted for a transition period until 2028. This will be kept under review.

DHSC are providing up to £12.5m to regional partnerships in 2025/26 to respond to unethical international recruitment practices in the adult social care sector. This includes supporting international recruits impacted by sponsor licence revocations to find alternative employment.

Care workers are essential to those who draw on care and support, helping them to maintain their quality of life, independence, and connection to the things that matter to them. In England, as per the Care Act 2014, it is the responsibility of local government to develop a market that delivers a wide range of sustainable, high-quality care and support services, that will be available to their communities. English local authorities have responsibility under the Care Act 2014 to meet social care needs, and statutory guidance directs them to ensure there is sufficient workforce in adult social care.

The Department continues to monitor adult social care workforce capacity, bringing together national data sets from Skills for Care’s monthly tracking data, the Capacity Tracker tool, and intelligence from key sector partners.

The immigration White Paper, Restoring Control over the Immigration System, was collectively agreed across Government, and is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6821f334ced319d02c906103/restoring-control-over-the-immigration-system-web-optimised.pdf

In the technical annex, published alongside the White Paper, the Home Office has estimated an annual reduction of approximately 7,000 main applicants as a result of ending overseas recruitment for care workers and senior care workers. This is based on their internal management information for entry visas granted covering the period March 2024 to February 2025. This estimate reflects that there was a drop in visa grants of more than 90% compared with the 12 months ending in March 2024, when more than 83,000 entry visas were granted to care workers and senior care workers. The analysis in the technical annex will be refined and included within the relevant impact assessments accompanying the rule changes, as appropriate. The technical annex is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6821b49bdb6463b14cd8189c/restoring-control-over-the-immigration-system-technical-annex.pdf

As set out in the immigration White Paper, visa extensions and in-country switching for those already in the country and with working rights will be permitted for a transition period until 2028. This will be kept under review.

DHSC are providing up to £12.5m to regional partnerships in 2025/26 to respond to unethical international recruitment practices in the adult social care sector. This includes supporting international recruits impacted by sponsor licence revocations to find alternative employment.

Care workers are essential to those who draw on care and support, helping them to maintain their quality of life, independence, and connection to the things that matter to them. In England, as per the Care Act 2014, it is the responsibility of local government to develop a market that delivers a wide range of sustainable, high-quality care and support services, that will be available to their communities. English local authorities have responsibility under the Care Act 2014 to meet social care needs, and statutory guidance directs them to ensure there is sufficient workforce in adult social care.

The Department continues to monitor adult social care workforce capacity, bringing together national data sets from Skills for Care’s monthly tracking data, the Capacity Tracker tool, and intelligence from key sector partners.

It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICBs) in England to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

NHS England has established an ADHD taskforce which is working to bring together those with lived experience with experts from the National Health Service, education, charity, and justice sectors to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including timely and equitable access to services and support, with the report expected in the summer.

For the first time, NHS England will publish management information on ADHD prevalence and waits at a national level on 29 May 2025, as part of its ADHD data improvement plan, and will soon release technical guidance to ICBs to improve the recording of ADHD data, with a view to improving the quality of ADHD waits data. NHS England has also captured examples from ICBs who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services, and is using this information to support systems to tackle ADHD waiting lists and to provide support to address people’s needs.

The ongoing Spending Review, which will be announced at my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Budget on 11 June, will set budgets for all areas of health.

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) was introduced in 2004, replacing the New Earnings Survey. Since its introduction, some changes have occurred, the key ones being:

• improvements to the questionnaire and the way in which geographic results were compiled, in 2005 and 2006;
• the introduction of automatic occupation coding and changes to stratum classification, that led to changes in the weights, in 2007;
• changes to the Standard Occupational Classification in 2010 and 2020;
• changes to the Standard Industrial Classification in 2007;
• a reduction in the sample by 20% in 2007 and 2008, followed by the full 1% sample being reinstated in 2009, following consultation with users as to the impact of the sample cut;
• response rates being decreased to between 140,000 and 150,000 from 2020 to 2022, due to the impact of COVID-19, although they started to recover in 2023 and returned to normal levels of response in 2024; and
• the introduction of methodological improvements to bring in more observations left in error, particularly for high earners in 2024.

Further information can be found in the ASHE’s methodology and guidance webpage, which is available at the following link:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/methodologies/annualsurveyofhoursandearningsashemethodologyandguidance

In addition, information on the ASHE’s data sources and quality, along with the latest publication, is available at the following link:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/annualsurveyofhoursandearnings/2024#data-sources-and-quality

Every day our 1.59 million-strong adult social care workforce provides vital care and support to people of all ages and with diverse needs. Care workers are essential to those who draw on care and support, helping them maintain their quality of life, independence and connection to the things that matter to them.

Adult social care is a devolved matter. In England in 2023/24, data from Skills for Care shows that there were 905,000 filled care worker roles.

The Home Office has estimated an annual reduction of approximately 7,000 main applicants as a result of ending overseas recruitment for social care visas. This is based on their internal management information for entry visas granted, covering the period of March 2024 to February 2025. This estimate reflects that there was a drop in visa grants of more than 90% compared to the 12 months ending in March 2024, when more than 83,000 entry visas were granted to care workers and senior care workers.

The analysis in the Technical Annex, published alongside the Immigration White Paper, will be refined and included within the relevant Impact Assessments accompanying the rule changes, as appropriate.

There are no current plans to introduce a national framework mandating general practice (GP) acceptance of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnoses from Right to Choose providers.

Shared care within the National Health Service refers to an arrangement whereby a specialist doctor formally transfers responsibility for all or some aspects of their patient’s care, such as the prescription of medication, over to the patient’s GP.

The General Medical Council (GMC) has issued guidance on prescribing and managing medicines, which helps GPs decide whether to accept shared care responsibilities. The GMC has made it clear that GPs cannot be compelled to enter into a shared care agreement. GPs may decline such requests on clinical or capacity grounds.

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.

It is the responsibility of National Health Service employers to determine their own policies for staff, in accordance with their legal obligations. We expect NHS providers to follow the clarity that the Supreme Court’s ruling brings.

The Government did consider the cost pressures facing adult social care as part of the wider consideration of local government spending within the Spending Review process in 2024.

To enable local authorities to deliver key services such as adult social care, the Government has made available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes an £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant.

We have always supported the protection of single-sex spaces based on biological sex. The Supreme Court’s ruling about the meaning of ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 has provided clarity to service providers.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has already committed to publishing guidance about placing transgender patients on hospital wards in the summer.

The National Health Service is reviewing its Delivering same-sex accommodation guidance and will ensure it reflects the Supreme Court’s ruling and is aligned with the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s statutory guidance, when this becomes available.

We have always supported the protection of single-sex spaces based on biological sex.

The Supreme Court ruling about the meaning of ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 case has provided much needed confidence and clarity to service providers.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has already committed to publishing guidance about placing transgender patients on hospital wards in the summer.

The National Health Service is currently reviewing its Delivering same-sex accommodation guidance and will ensure it reflects the Supreme Court’s ruling and is aligned with the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s statutory guidance, when this becomes available.

Ministers and senior Department officials are working with the new executive team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to jointly lead the formation of a new joint centre.

At this stage, while we are scoping the transformation programme, it is too early to share details of any programmes to reduce staff costs, but we are looking closely at areas of duplication between NHS England and the Department. The reductions will be achieved through a mix of efficiencies, removing duplication between the Department and NHS England and stopping functions at the centre that will support our aim of empowering the frontline.

The Government is committed to transparency and will consider how best to ensure the public and parliamentarians are informed.

The NHS App supports seamless pharmacy services by allowing patients to order repeat prescriptions, nominate their preferred pharmacy, and manage their medication. A new prescription tracker feature means that nearly 1,500 pharmacies are now offering the new prescription tracking service through the NHS App, which provides updates on when prescriptions are ready to be collected. Work has also commenced on an ‘in App’ notification, which will enhance this feature further.

In relation to nominating distance selling pharmacies (DSPs), users of the NHS App are currently given the option to nominate a ‘high street’ or an ‘online-only’ pharmacy. For those wishing to nominate ‘online-only’ pharmacies, users are directed to the internet pharmacies section, to search for and contact their chosen DSP directly, as key information is required by the DSP before the nomination can be applied.

The Department, like all other Government departments (OGDs) and public bodies, has a Public Sector Duty to ensure equality of opportunity, including when reporting on sex. This means the Department will continue to consider the impact of its policies and decisions on all people with protected characteristics. The Department will continue to include the biological sex of civil servants in reports about those employed by the Department and its agencies and public bodies.

We have established a Health Mission Board to oversee and drive the delivery of the Health Mission. Mission Boards are Cabinet Committees. It is a long-established precedent that information about the proceedings of the Cabinet or of any committee of the Cabinet is not normally shared publicly; this includes mission boards.

One of the key goals of the Health Mission is a fairer Britain, where everyone lives well for longer. This includes championing the rights of disabled people. Under the Equality Act 2010, health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged.

We recognise the important role eye care services play in maintaining good eye health. Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services in their areas to meet patient needs. This will include glaucoma services.

We are committed to ensuring that all women and babies receive the safe, personalised, and compassionate care they need, at all stages of pregnancy and post-partum.

A range of specialist mental health services have been made available to women during the perinatal period. For women with, or at risk of, mental health problems, who are planning a pregnancy, who are pregnant, or who have a baby up to two years old, specialist perinatal mental health services provide care in all 42 integrated care system (ICS) areas of England. For women experiencing mental health difficulties directly arising from, or related to, their maternity or neonatal experience, Maternal Mental Health Services are operational in 41 of the 42 ICS areas in England, with the final ICS in England due to launch their service by the end of Quarter 1 of 2025/26. Additionally, 165 Mother and Baby Unit beds have now been commissioned, with 153 currently operational. These units provide inpatient care to women who experience severe mental health difficulties during and after pregnancy.

NHS England’s guidance sets out that all women who have given birth should be offered a postnatal check-up with their general practitioner (GP) after six to eight weeks. This check-up provides an important opportunity for women to be listened to by their GP in a discreet, supportive environment, and for women to be assessed and supported not just in their physical recovery post-birth but also their mental health.

There are no such plans. Undergraduate midwifery education and training already incorporates aspects of mental health training. It is the responsibility of the Approved Education Institutions and practice partners to develop the specific content and design of midwifery programmes to meet the standards set by the midwifery regulator, the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

In July 2024, the waiting list at the Black Country Integrated Care Board (ICB) was 192,268. Of these, 110,482, or 57.5% of pathways, were waiting within 18 weeks.

The latest data shows that as of March 2025, the waiting list at the Black Country ICB has decreased by over 13,631, to 178,637 since July 2024. Of these, 102,618, 57.4% of pathways were waiting within 18 weeks.

We promised change, and we’ve delivered early, with a reduction in the list of over 200,000 pathways. We have also now exceeded our pledge to deliver an extra two million operations, scans, and appointments, having now delivered over 3.5 million more appointments across the country.

This marks a vital First Step to delivering on the commitment that 92% of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment, in line with the National Health Service constitutional standard, by March 2029.

This information is not held centrally by the Department or NHS England. There are currently no plans for an analysis of the potential merits of collating and publishing National Health Service tribunal data.

No assessment is currently planned regarding the potential impact of sending doctors into areas with the highest economic inactivity on waiting lists in the areas from which the doctors were seconded.

As set out in the Elective Reform Plan, we continue to target waiting list performance across the country, so that 92% of patients return to waiting no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment by March 2029. In March 2025, performance against this standard was 59.8%, 2.6% higher than a year earlier.

The Further Faster 20 programme is supporting these efforts by ensuring that this improvement is seen in areas that can benefit the most. The positive progress made from October 2024 to March 2025, with waiting lists across these areas being reduced by over 57,000, means that almost half, specifically 47.9%, of the national reduction in the overall waiting list between those months has come from the 20 hospitals involved in the scheme.

Everyone working in the National Health Service has a fundamental right to be safe at work. There is a zero-tolerance approach to any incidents of harassment or abuse against NHS staff.

Individual employers are responsible for the health and safety of their staff, and they put in place measures, including security, training, and emotional support, for staff affected by violence. To support them, NHS England is working on initiatives to prevent and reduce violence and aggression from patients, their families, and the public.

On 9 April 2025, the Government announced that the Social Partnership Forum’s recommendations on tackling and reducing violence, part of the 2023 Agenda for Change pay deal, have been accepted. These include the significant commitments of tackling violence and aggression against NHS staff, including improving data and the reporting of incidences, and ensuring strengthened risk assessments, training, and support for victims.

Local National Health Service procuring authorities are responsible for assessing the timeliness and the quality of medical equipment delivered for their patients, procured under contracts they hold with suppliers.

Timely provision of community equipment supports people to remain as independent as possible, for as long as possible, and contributes significantly to the priorities of the Department, the NHS, and local authorities in terms of hospital avoidance and discharge.

Many NHS trusts and local authorities offer an Integrated Community Equipment Service (ICES) within the integrated health and social care system, as they support both the home first agenda and hospital flows. These services can be provided in-house or by external suppliers following a tender exercise. An ICES enables people to remain in or return to their homes as the primary setting for care, avoiding unnecessary stays in hospital or care homes. Also, an ICES facilitates timely hospital admissions, treatment, and discharge processes, minimising delays and improving capacity across the sector.

Local National Health Service procuring authorities are responsible for assessing the timeliness and the quality of medical equipment delivered for their patients, procured under contracts they hold with suppliers.

Timely provision of community equipment supports people to remain as independent as possible, for as long as possible, and contributes significantly to the priorities of the Department, the NHS, and local authorities in terms of hospital avoidance and discharge.

Many NHS trusts and local authorities offer an Integrated Community Equipment Service (ICES) within the integrated health and social care system, as they support both the home first agenda and hospital flows. These services can be provided in-house or by external suppliers following a tender exercise. An ICES enables people to remain in or return to their homes as the primary setting for care, avoiding unnecessary stays in hospital or care homes. Also, an ICES facilitates timely hospital admissions, treatment, and discharge processes, minimising delays and improving capacity across the sector.

There are no current plans to mandate use of the Real Time Exemption Checking service in all pharmacies using the Electronic Prescription Service.

We want a society where every child and young person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life. The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and families receive the care they need when and where they need it, including those who need palliative and end of life care. It is too early to say exactly what the 10-Year Health Plan will look like, but we expect palliative and end of life care to benefit from the plan’s three big shifts.

As part of the work to develop a 10-Year Health Plan, we have been carefully considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with extensive input at both national and regional levels. In February, I met key palliative and end of life care and hospice stakeholders in a roundtable format with a focus on long-term sector sustainability within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan. Additionally, I recently met my Hon. Friend the Member for York Central, and Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, to discuss the Commission on Palliative and End-of-Life Care’s first report. I welcome the report’s recent publication.

We know that too many children and young people are not receiving the support they need, including in Devon, and that waits for accessing mental health services and community health services, such as speech and language therapy, are too long. We are determined to change that.

We are working closely with the Department for Education on reforms to the special educational needs and disabilities system to improve inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools.

As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future, we will provide access to a specialist mental health professional in every school. As set out in the NHS Planning Operational Guidance for 2025/26, we are committed to increasing the number of children and young people accessing mental health services by 345,000 compared to 2019. We are also providing £7 million to extend support for 24 Early Support Hubs that have a track record of helping thousands of young people in their community. This includes two early support hubs in Devon.

In Devon, the NHS Devon Integrated Care Board, local authorities, and education and health care providers are working together to align speech and language therapists to schools alongside wider community offers, so that more children and young people can get the help they need sooner, and without long waits.

Currently, approximately 600,000 people die per year in the United Kingdom. It is estimated that up to 90% of deaths could benefit from palliative and end of life care.

The Office for National Statistics has projected that, by 2040, approximately 800,000 people a year will die in the UK. Also, current trends point to a growing proportion of people dying from chronic disease, particularly cancer and dementia. Taking these considerations together, it has been estimated that the number of people needing palliative and end of life care could increase by 42% by 2040.

We have committed to develop a 10-Year Plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future, by driving three shifts in the way health care is delivered, from hospital to community, from treatment to prevention, and from analogue to digital. We will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our stakeholders as we develop the plan.

In February, I met with key palliative and end of life care and hospice stakeholders, in a roundtable format with a focus on long-term sector sustainability within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan. I have followed up with meetings with officials from the Department and NHS England. I also recently met with my Hon. Friend the Member for York Central, and Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, to discuss the progress of their independent commission into palliative and end of life care, including the commission’s first of three reports, published on 13 May, to which we will formally respond in the coming weeks.