Written questions by Pinkerton.

What recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of palliative care services in Surrey Heath constituency.

Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB), including the Surrey Heartlands ICB, must commission. ICBs are responsible for the commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services, to meet the needs of their local populations. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.Whilst the majority of palliative care and end of life care services are provided by the National Health Service, we recognise the pressures hospices are facing, which is why we are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. The nearest hospice, the Woking and Sam Beare Hospice, received £160,768 in 2024/25 and will receive £481,630 in 2025/26.We are also providing £26 million in revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. This is a continuation of the funding which, until recently, was known as the Children and Young People’s Hospice Grant. The nearest children and young people’s hospice, the Shooting Star Children’s Hospice, received £1,879,000 in 2025/26.I can also now confirm the continuation of this vital funding for the three years of the next Spending Review period, from 2026/27 to 2028/29 inclusive. This funding will see approximately £26 million, adjusted for inflation, allocated to children and young people’s hospices in England each year, via their local ICBs on behalf of NHS England, as happened in 2024/25 and 2025/26. This amounts to approximately £80 million over the next three years.The Department and NHS England are currently looking at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10-Year Health Plan.Officials will present further proposals to ministers over the coming months, outlining the drivers and incentives that are required in palliative care and end of life care to enable the shift from hospital to community, including as part of neighbourhood health teams.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of providing additional funding for early mental health interventions for (a) children and (b) young people in (i) Surrey Heath constituency and (ii) Surrey on long-term costs to the public purse.

The Department recognises that, for children and young people in distress or struggling with their mental health, fast access to early, high-quality support is critical. By intervening earlier, common mental health conditions can be prevented from developing into more serious conditions in later life and which require more costly interventions. That is why the 10-Year Health Plan sets out how we will work with schools and colleges to better identify and meet children's mental health needs by continuing to fund the roll out of mental health support teams in schools and colleges to reach full national coverage by 2030 and embedding support for young people’s mental health in the new Young Futures Hubs, to ensure there is no 'wrong front door' for people seeking help. At the end of March 2025, 44% of pupils and learners in the hon. Member’s constituency and 27% across the whole of Surrey were covered by a mental health support team. Additionally, we are continuing to provide top-up funding of £7 million to 24 existing early support hubs in 2025-26 to expand their services and take part in an ongoing evaluation of these services. This funding will enable the supported hubs to deliver at least 10,000 additional mental health and wellbeing interventions, so that more children and young people are supported.

If he will make an assessment of the adequacy of systems for the handling of human remains.

In July 2025 the Fuller Inquiry’s phase 2 final report was published, which looked at the wider national lessons for hospital and non-hospital settings where the deceased are cared for. It examined whether procedures and practices safeguard the security and dignity of the deceased across the range of settings and made 75 recommendations in total.This final report recommended the introduction of a statutory regulatory regime for those caring for the deceased. The Department will publish an interim update in winter 2025 and a final response by summer 2026. This will include updates on recommendations for the funeral sector and standards to protect the security and dignity of the deceased in all settings.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure the (a) independence and (b) effectiveness of mechanisms for capturing patient feedback within health services in Surrey Heath constituency.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are required to consult the group of people for whom they have core responsibility, and any other person they consider it appropriate to consult when developing their joint forward plans. Local Healthwatch arrangements also provide a route through which patients may provide feedback on services in their area.As set out in the 10 Year Health Plan for England, the work of local Healthwatch bodies relating to healthcare will be brought together with ICBs and provider engagement functions to ensure patient and wider community input into the planning and design of services. Individual provider boards will be asked to ensure that they have robust mechanisms in place to collect and use patient feedback, ensuring that it is actively fed back to individual clinicians and clinical teams. Local authorities will have a similar role in relation to social care functions.

What assessment his Department has made of the (a) current and (b) projected workforce needs for specialist Parkinson’s (i) consultants and (ii) nurses in Surrey Heath constituency.

The Department has made no specific assessment of the adequacy of the current or projected workforce needs for specialist Parkinson’s consultants or nurses in Surrey Heath constituency.Integrated care boards will plan, commission, and oversee the provision of local National Health Service services to meet their population’s needs.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing regulations requiring private healthcare providers to publish standardised pricing for diagnostic services in Surrey Heath constituency.

The Department has not carried out an assessment of the potential merits of introducing regulations requiring private healthcare providers to publish standardised pricing for diagnostic services.In 2014, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) concluded an investigation into the private healthcare market and published a report which concluded that the lack of sufficient publicly available performance and fee information on consultants was a feature in the provision of privately funded healthcare services by consultants, giving rise to adverse effect on competition. The report is available at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/533af065e5274a5660000023/Private_healthcare_main_report.pdfThe Private Healthcare Market Investigation Order 2014 was made in response, and the CMA continues to monitor compliance to improve competition. The order is available at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/542c1543e5274a1314000c56/Non-Divestment_Order_amended.pdfThe Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN) was set up following the report to publish information about the safety, quality and costs of private healthcare.On 10 October 2025, the CMA recognised the PHIN meeting the silver milestone on its journey toward being fully compliant with the CMA’s Private Healthcare Market Investigation Order 2014. This recognised the PHIN engaging with the sector to facilitate compliance with the order so that 96% of consultants publish their consultation fees for self-pay patients, exceeding PHIN’s 90% target. Currently, 96% of all private procedures are carried out by consultants whose fees are on the PHIN website. The CMA’s letter recognising this milestone is available at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68e789cd187483de54d76690/_CMA_letter_to_PHIN_welcoming_achievement_of_silver_compliance_milestone.pdfWhere private healthcare providers are delivering services for NHS patients, this is delivered at NHS tariff prices.

What steps his Department is taking to train more dementia specialist nurses at NHS services in Surrey Heath constituency.

The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). We would expect ICBs to commission services, which may include dementia specialist nurses/admiral nurses, based on local population needs, taking account of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidelines. NICE recommends providing people living with dementia with a single named health or social care professional who is responsible for coordinating their care.Under the 10-Year Health Plan, those living with dementia will benefit from improved care planning and better services.  We will deliver the first ever Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, expected in 2026.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of including British citizens who studied medicine abroad in NHS specialty training prioritisation policies in Surrey Heath constituency.

British doctors who obtained their medical degree abroad need to meet the requirements of the General Medical Council, the independent regulator of the medical profession, to practise medicine in the United Kingdom. These doctors are then able to apply for jobs in the National Health Service on the same basis as UK medical graduates.As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan, published on 3 July, we will work across the Government to prioritise UK medical graduates for foundation training, and to prioritise UK medical graduates and other doctors who have worked in the NHS for a significant period for specialty training. We will set out further details in due course.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing investment in research into postural tachycardia syndrome in Surrey Heath constituency.

The Department funds health and care research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR funds clinical, public health, and social care research and works in partnership with the National Health Service, universities, local government, other research funders, patients, and the public. The NIHR welcomes proposals for research into a range of conditions, including Postural Tachycardia Syndrome, and topics for new research can be proposed to the NIHR via the following link: https://www.nihr.ac.uk/get-involved/suggest-a-research-topic

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of excluding British citizens trained abroad from GMC registration-based prioritisation on the future NHS workforce in Surrey Heath constituency.

British doctors who obtained their medical degree abroad need to meet the requirements of the General Medical Council (GMC), the independent regulator of the medical profession, to practise medicine in the United Kingdom. These doctors are then able to apply for jobs in the National Health Service on the same basis as UK medical graduates.As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan, we will work across government to prioritise UK medical graduates for foundation training, and to prioritise UK medical graduates and other doctors who have worked in the NHS for a significant period for specialty training. We will set out further details in due course.

What steps his Department is taking to improve diagnosis times for people with postural tachycardia syndrome in Surrey Heath constituency.

It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) and local authorities to meet the care and support needs of people diagnosed with postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS). Patients living in the Surrey Heath constituency would be covered by either the NHS Frimley ICB or the Surrey Heartlands ICB. ICBs are responsible for commissioning services to meet the healthcare needs of their local populations and, in doing so, we expect them to work with clinicians, service users, and patient groups to develop services and care pathways that meet their patients’ needs.We are investing in additional capacity to deliver appointments to help bring waiting lists and waiting times down, including in Surrey Heath. The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the specific productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the constitutional standard, that 92% of patients to wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment, by March 2029.Additionally, the shifts outlined in our 10-Year Health Plan will free up hospital-based consultants’ time by shifting care from hospitals to communities, utilising digital technology to reduce administrative burdens, and promoting prevention to reduce the onset and severity of conditions that lead to hospital admissions. This includes expanding community-based services, employing artificial intelligence for productivity, developing integrated neighbourhood health teams, and investing in digital tools and data. These shifts will allow specialists to focus on more complex cases of PoTS, including in Surrey Heath, enabling earlier identification and management, and improved patient outcomes.

What recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of cancer diagnosis targets in (a) Surrey Heath constituency and (b) Surrey.

The National Health Service’s operational planning guidance for 2025/26 outlines the priorities for tackling cancer across England, including in Surrey. The aim of this is to reduce wait times for elective care. For 2025/26, systems across the NHS are expected to aim for the success measure of 80% of patients with suspected cancer either receiving a diagnosis or having cancer ruled out within 28 days of an urgent referral.The following table shows the diagnostic performance of the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust and the Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust for August 2025:TrustDiagnostic performanceFrimley Health NHS Foundation Trust72.2%Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust85.6%

What steps his Department is taking to improve (a) recruitment, (b) retention and (c) training of specialist healthcare professionals for Parkinson’s care in Surrey Heath constituency.

Decisions about recruitment are a matter for individual NHS employers, who manage this at a local level to ensure that they have the staff that they need to deliver safe and effective care.As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, this Government is committed to making the National Health Service the best place to work, by supporting and retaining our hardworking and dedicated healthcare professionals. To support this ambition, the Government will introduce a new set of standards for modern employment in April 2026. The new standards will reaffirm our commitment to improving retention, including in Surrey Heath, by tackling the issues that matter to staff.We will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan which will create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. The plan will ensure that the NHS has the right people in the right places, including in Surrey Heath, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.

What steps his Department is taking to improve support for people with postural tachycardia syndrome in Surrey Heath constituency.

It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) and local authorities to meet the care and support needs of people diagnosed with postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS). Patients living in the Surrey Heath constituency would be covered by either the NHS Frimley ICB or the Surrey Heartlands ICB. ICBs are responsible for commissioning services to meet the healthcare needs of their local populations and, in doing so, we expect them to work with clinicians, service users, and patient groups to develop services and care pathways that meet their patients’ needs.We are investing in additional capacity to deliver appointments to help bring waiting lists and waiting times down, including in Surrey Heath. The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the specific productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the constitutional standard, that 92% of patients to wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment, by March 2029.Additionally, the shifts outlined in our 10-Year Health Plan will free up hospital-based consultants’ time by shifting care from hospitals to communities, utilising digital technology to reduce administrative burdens, and promoting prevention to reduce the onset and severity of conditions that lead to hospital admissions. This includes expanding community-based services, employing artificial intelligence for productivity, developing integrated neighbourhood health teams, and investing in digital tools and data. These shifts will allow specialists to focus on more complex cases of PoTS, including in Surrey Heath, enabling earlier identification and management, and improved patient outcomes.

What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to healthcare services for people with postural tachycardia syndrome in Surrey Heath constituency.

It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) and local authorities to meet the care and support needs of people diagnosed with postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS). Patients living in the Surrey Heath constituency would be covered by either the NHS Frimley ICB or the Surrey Heartlands ICB. ICBs are responsible for commissioning services to meet the healthcare needs of their local populations and, in doing so, we expect them to work with clinicians, service users, and patient groups to develop services and care pathways that meet their patients’ needs.We are investing in additional capacity to deliver appointments to help bring waiting lists and waiting times down, including in Surrey Heath. The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the specific productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the constitutional standard, that 92% of patients to wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment, by March 2029.Additionally, the shifts outlined in our 10-Year Health Plan will free up hospital-based consultants’ time by shifting care from hospitals to communities, utilising digital technology to reduce administrative burdens, and promoting prevention to reduce the onset and severity of conditions that lead to hospital admissions. This includes expanding community-based services, employing artificial intelligence for productivity, developing integrated neighbourhood health teams, and investing in digital tools and data. These shifts will allow specialists to focus on more complex cases of PoTS, including in Surrey Heath, enabling earlier identification and management, and improved patient outcomes.

What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of maternity services in Surrey Heath constituency.

National Health Service Frimley Integrated Care Board confirmed that the Friends and Family Test is completed every month and includes all community midwifery services. There is also an annual survey conducted by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and feedback from Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP) who hold quarterly meetings with the trust. No concerns have been raised through these channels to the service, and nothing has been raised specifically about community maternity provision in Surrey Heath.There are 11 maternity hubs across Frimley Health and Care, including one at Frimley Park Hospital which serves Surrey Heath and sees approximately 700 to 750 women. The community matron visits all the hubs monthly. Both the Director and the Head of Midwifery also undertake regular ‘walkabouts’.The CQC last inspected in May 2023 and rated the maternity services at Frimley Park Hospital as Good overall. The MNVP did a ‘walkabout’ on both sites in July 2025. Their report is yet to be received.

What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to face-to-face appointments for people with Parkinson’s in Surrey Heath constituency.

No estimate has been made of the number of people with Parkinson's disease who have access to a Parkinson’s nurse in Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire. The Department does not hold data on how many hospitals have staff who are members of the Parkinson’s UK Excellence Network.It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) and local authorities to meet the care and support needs of people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Patients living in the Surrey Heath constituency would be covered by either the NHS Frimley ICB or the NHS Surrey Heartlands ICB. ICBs are responsible for commissioning services to meet the healthcare needs of their local populations and, in doing so, we expect them to have regard to best practice guidance, such as that published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.This Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan which will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.The new NHS App will end the 8am rush by providing more flexibility in the way that people contact their general practitioner (GP), enabling better GP appointment booking as long as GPs make appointments available in the App. It will also help people to get care quicker without seeing their GP, for example improved self-care by going to a pharmacy or by self-referring into a specialist pathway or by providing remote consultations with specialists.

What steps his Department is taking to improve cancer screening methodologies in Surrey Heath constituency.

Cancer screening methodology is the same across England and adheres to national specifications and standards.A range of improvements are being made nationally, including the introduction of the new ‘ping and book’ service via the NHS App; the provision of screening appointments at more convenient times and locations; and developments to screening IT systems as part of the Digital Transformation of Screening programme of work. These improvements will also benefit people in Surrey Heath constituency.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of abolishing Healthwatch organisations on the transparency of patient feedback in Surrey Heath constituency.

The abolition of Healthwatch England and the transfer of its functions, as well as the changes to Local Healthwatch, requires primary legislation. The timing of this is subject to the will of Parliament and will happen when parliamentary time allows. A full Impact Assessment would be produced in line with HM Treasury's Green Book standards and published on the Government’s website when legislation is introduced in Parliament.

What steps his Department is taking to provide mental health support to carers in Surrey Heath constituency.

We recognise people with mental health issues, including carers in Surrey Heath have been historically underserved. That is why the 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to boost mental health support across the country. This includes transforming mental health services into neighbourhood mental health centres that operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, improving assertive outreach, expanding talking therapies, and giving patients better access to around-the-clock support directly through the NHS App.Local authorities have duties to support unpaid carers and are required to deliver sustainable, high-quality care and support services. To help local authorities fulfil their duties, including to unpaid carers, the 2025 Spending Review allows for an increase of over £4 billion of funding available for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26.