Written questions by Pinkerton.

What steps his Department is taking to help improve support for people with eating disorders in Surrey Heath constituency.

The Department is working closely with NHS England to strengthen community-based eating disorder services and to improve outcomes and recovery for patients, including in Surrey Heath.Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning mental health services for local populations. In doing so, ICBs are expected to be evidence-based by assessing and responding to the needs of their local communities and to ensure services are provided equitably.More widely, through the 10-Year Health Plan, we are transforming mental health services. Since July 2024, over 8,000 additional mental health workers have been recruited towards our target of 8,500 by the end of this Parliament. We are also reaching nearly one million more children and young people by expanding Mental Health Support Teams in schools. In addition, we are investing £13 million to pilot enhanced training for Mental Health Support Team staff, enabling them to provide more tailored support to young people with complex needs, including trauma, neurodivergence, and disordered eating.NHS England has also published new guidance on children and young people’s eating disorders, which places greater emphasis on early identification and intervention across the care pathway, including in schools and primary care settings.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to the Mental Health Investment Standard on access to mental health services in Surrey Heath constituency.

There has been no specific assessment of the impact of the Mental Health Investment Standard for the Surrey Heath constituency. The Mental Health Investment Standard is a national initiative which requires integrated care boards (ICBs) to increase investment in mental health services each year. During 2024/25, the NHS Surrey Heartlands ICB continued to meet its commitment in this area, spending over £180 million on mental health services for the local population. This represented an increased investment in this area, compared to spending of £169,092,000 in 2023/24, in line with the requirements. Performance against the standard during 2025/26 will be published in the ICB’s 2025/26 Annual Report.

Whether his Department plans to review accessibility provisions in community pharmacy services.

The Department recognises the importance of ensuring community pharmacy services are safe and accessible to all patients, including those with disabilities and sensory impairments in Surrey and the Surrey Heath constituency.In addition to the legal requirements under the Equality Act 2010 and the Human Rights Act 1998, pharmacy businesses have a duty to comply with the General Pharmaceutical Council’s (GPhC) standards for registered pharmacy premises. This requires pharmacies to provide an environment that is safe and accessible for all, taking reasonable steps to remove barriers for patients with disabilities. These standards emphasise the need for pharmacies to make adjustments to facilities and services, such as providing accessible entrances, clear signage, and assistance for individuals with mobility or sensory challenges.To support community pharmacies, and meet their legal duties, the GPhC has issued equality guidance for pharmacies, which outlines best practice for supporting patients with a range of needs. NHS England is also rolling out a Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag which enables the recording of key information about a disabled patient and the reasonable adjustments to care and treatment that they need, to ensure support can be tailored appropriately and equitably. This is being rolled out nationally across all healthcare settings and will help general practitioners and community pharmacies spot when a patient may need extra support.Whilst no assessment has been made of the accessibility of community pharmacy services in the Surrey Heath constituency, the GPhC is responsible for holding pharmacy businesses to account and ensures compliance with regulatory standards and guidance as part of routine inspections and fitness to practice procedures.

What steps his Department is taking to improve patient safety in community pharmacy settings in Surrey.

The Department recognises the importance of ensuring community pharmacy services are safe and accessible to all patients, including those with disabilities and sensory impairments in Surrey and the Surrey Heath constituency.In addition to the legal requirements under the Equality Act 2010 and the Human Rights Act 1998, pharmacy businesses have a duty to comply with the General Pharmaceutical Council’s (GPhC) standards for registered pharmacy premises. This requires pharmacies to provide an environment that is safe and accessible for all, taking reasonable steps to remove barriers for patients with disabilities. These standards emphasise the need for pharmacies to make adjustments to facilities and services, such as providing accessible entrances, clear signage, and assistance for individuals with mobility or sensory challenges.To support community pharmacies, and meet their legal duties, the GPhC has issued equality guidance for pharmacies, which outlines best practice for supporting patients with a range of needs. NHS England is also rolling out a Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag which enables the recording of key information about a disabled patient and the reasonable adjustments to care and treatment that they need, to ensure support can be tailored appropriately and equitably. This is being rolled out nationally across all healthcare settings and will help general practitioners and community pharmacies spot when a patient may need extra support.Whilst no assessment has been made of the accessibility of community pharmacy services in the Surrey Heath constituency, the GPhC is responsible for holding pharmacy businesses to account and ensures compliance with regulatory standards and guidance as part of routine inspections and fitness to practice procedures.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure community pharmacy services are accessible to patients with disabilities in (a) Surrey and (b) Surrey Heath constituency.

The Department recognises the importance of ensuring community pharmacy services are safe and accessible to all patients, including those with disabilities and sensory impairments in Surrey and the Surrey Heath constituency.In addition to the legal requirements under the Equality Act 2010 and the Human Rights Act 1998, pharmacy businesses have a duty to comply with the General Pharmaceutical Council’s (GPhC) standards for registered pharmacy premises. This requires pharmacies to provide an environment that is safe and accessible for all, taking reasonable steps to remove barriers for patients with disabilities. These standards emphasise the need for pharmacies to make adjustments to facilities and services, such as providing accessible entrances, clear signage, and assistance for individuals with mobility or sensory challenges.To support community pharmacies, and meet their legal duties, the GPhC has issued equality guidance for pharmacies, which outlines best practice for supporting patients with a range of needs. NHS England is also rolling out a Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag which enables the recording of key information about a disabled patient and the reasonable adjustments to care and treatment that they need, to ensure support can be tailored appropriately and equitably. This is being rolled out nationally across all healthcare settings and will help general practitioners and community pharmacies spot when a patient may need extra support.Whilst no assessment has been made of the accessibility of community pharmacy services in the Surrey Heath constituency, the GPhC is responsible for holding pharmacy businesses to account and ensures compliance with regulatory standards and guidance as part of routine inspections and fitness to practice procedures.

What assessment he has made of the accessibility of community pharmacy services for people with sensory impairments in Surrey Heath constituency.

The Department recognises the importance of ensuring community pharmacy services are safe and accessible to all patients, including those with disabilities and sensory impairments in Surrey and the Surrey Heath constituency.In addition to the legal requirements under the Equality Act 2010 and the Human Rights Act 1998, pharmacy businesses have a duty to comply with the General Pharmaceutical Council’s (GPhC) standards for registered pharmacy premises. This requires pharmacies to provide an environment that is safe and accessible for all, taking reasonable steps to remove barriers for patients with disabilities. These standards emphasise the need for pharmacies to make adjustments to facilities and services, such as providing accessible entrances, clear signage, and assistance for individuals with mobility or sensory challenges.To support community pharmacies, and meet their legal duties, the GPhC has issued equality guidance for pharmacies, which outlines best practice for supporting patients with a range of needs. NHS England is also rolling out a Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag which enables the recording of key information about a disabled patient and the reasonable adjustments to care and treatment that they need, to ensure support can be tailored appropriately and equitably. This is being rolled out nationally across all healthcare settings and will help general practitioners and community pharmacies spot when a patient may need extra support.Whilst no assessment has been made of the accessibility of community pharmacy services in the Surrey Heath constituency, the GPhC is responsible for holding pharmacy businesses to account and ensures compliance with regulatory standards and guidance as part of routine inspections and fitness to practice procedures.

Whether his Department plans to review the available (a) clinical and (b) cost-effectiveness evidence on including spinal muscular atrophy in the newborn screening programme.

The Government recognises the challenges faced by those living with rare diseases and their families and is committed to improving outcomes. This is why the National Health Service is planning a large-scale in-service evaluation (ISE) of screening for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in newborn screening services.Following a recommendation from the UK National Screening Committee to gather further evidence in live NHS settings, an ISE of newborn screening for SMA is being planned. The research component of the ISE is being commissioned through the National Institute for Health and Care Research Health Technology Assessment Programme and will assess the clinical benefits and potential harms of screening for SMA, as well as its cost-effectiveness for the NHS, to inform future decision-making.The ISE, which was due to start in January 2027, will now start three months earlier, in October 2026. The evidence from this ISE will inform a decision on whether to extend the NHS newborn blood spot screening programme and include screening for SMA.We are aware that families are concerned that the evaluation will only cover part of the country and as such some babies may be diagnosed too late for effective treatment. We have asked our officials to work at pace to determine if the ISE can be expanded to cover all of England.

What steps he is taking to improve access to coordinated care for patients living with multiple long-term conditions with overlapping symptomatology in Surrey Heath constituency.

The Department recognises that people living with multiple long‑term conditions with overlapping symptoms can face challenges in navigating health services, including in Surrey Heath, and that coordinated, person‑centred care is essential to improving outcomes.Responsibility for planning and delivering coordinated care for people with multiple long‑term conditions sits with local National Health Service integrated care boards, working with primary, community, mental health, and secondary care services to meet the needs of their local populations.Nationally, the NHS is taking a number of steps to improve coordination of care for people with complex and multiple long‑term conditions. These include the development of integrated neighbourhood teams, expanded multidisciplinary working, personalised care and support planning, and greater use of primary care networks to coordinate care across services. These approaches are intended to reduce fragmentation and improve continuity for patients with overlapping symptomatology.NHS England continues to support integrated care systems to design services that better join up care for people with long‑term and complex conditions, and the Department will continue to work with the NHS to improve access to coordinated, high‑quality care across England, including in Surrey Heath.

What assessment his Department has made of the (a) prevalence and (b) impact of respiratory conditions on health outcomes in Surrey Heath constituency.

Respiratory conditions are a leading cause of hospital admissions and the third biggest cause of death in England. Data is available for emergency Finished Admission Episodes (FAEs) where there was a primary diagnosis of 'respiratory conditions’. The following table shows the number of FAEs where there was a primary diagnosis of 'respiratory conditions’ for Surrey Heath and England, for activity in English National Health Service hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector, for 2024/25 and provisionally for 2025/26:Westminster Parliamentary Constituency of Residence2024/25 (August 2024 to March 2025)2025/26 (April 2025 to December 2025)Surrey Heath720540England612,855511,558Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS England. Available data on trends in respiratory conditions can be found on the Department’s Fingertips dataset. Data is not available by parliamentary constituency. Data is available at regional, county, unitary authority, and integrated care board level. Information for the Surrey Heath unitary authority can be found at the following link: https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/search/Respiratory#page/1/gid/1/ati/501/iid/90933/age/314/sex/4/cat/-1/ctp/-1/yrr/1/cid/4/tbm/1 The Fingertips data shows that on most respiratory indicators Surrey Heath is better than the England average.

What steps his Department is taking to support the adoption of new (a) treatments and (b) innovations for respiratory conditions across NHS services in Surrey.

Improving respiratory care for both adults and children remains a priority, and this forms part of the Surrey and Sussex Integrated Care Boards’s CORE20Plus5 ambitions for both adults, for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and children and young people, for asthma. Recent areas of focus have included implementing new asthma prescribing guidelines and providing resources to primary care colleagues to support regular reviews in relation to prescribing, which supports reducing admissions and the delivery of respiratory care. Work is also underway, as part of developing the Surrey Joint Strategic Needs Analysis, in relation to priority populations and key neighbourhoods, including people living in close proximity to Heathrow and Gatwick airports, as well as the M25, where there tends to be higher levels of respiratory illness. In addition, considering wider risk factors, the integrated care board is working closely with public health to ensure smoking cessation support is available to everyone in Surrey, including those with respiratory conditions. Other related initiatives include joint work with partners to improve aspects of asthma care and recently launching the lung cancer screening programme in Surrey to support earlier detection.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of diagnostic pathways for patients presenting with suspected (a) hypermobility spectrum disorders and (b) hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndromes in Surrey Heath constituency.

The Department recognises that timely and accurate diagnosis of hypermobility spectrum disorders (HSD) and hypermobile Ehlers‑Danlos syndrome (hEDS) is important in supporting people to access appropriate care and management, including people in Surrey Heath.Responsibility for the planning and delivery of diagnostic pathways sits with local National Health Service integrated care boards, working with primary, community, and secondary care services to meet the needs of their populations.The EDS GP Toolkit, which was developed by the Royal College of General Practitioners in collaboration with Ehlers-Danlos Support UK, supports the diagnosis of HSD and hEDS by providing primary care clinicians with practical, evidence‑based guidance on recognising hypermobility‑related conditions, applying established clinical diagnostic criteria, and distinguishing between HSD, hEDS, and other causes of joint hypermobility.

What the expected timeline is for the announcement by Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust on the new hospital at Frimley Park Hospital.

Pursuant to the answer given to the Hon. Member on 23 March 2026 to Question 121160, any announcement on a provisional preferred site for the new hospital at Frimley Park Hospital will be down to the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust to announce.This will be subject to the trust having secured all the relevant business case approvals and commercial agreements with landowners. The trust expects to be able to announce the site in the coming months, subject to pre-election period guidance.

When his Department will announce the provisional preferred site for a new hospital intended to replace Frimley Park Hospital.

Any announcement on a provisional preferred site for the new hospital at Frimley Park Hospital will be down to the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust to announce. This will be subject to the trust having secured all the relevant business case approvals.

What proportion of funding allocated through the New Hospital Programme for the replacement of Frimley Park Hospital will be dedicated to infrastructure upgrades.

The Frimley Park Hospital scheme is currently at the Strategic Outline Case (SOC) business case stage. The final cost of the Frimley Park Hospital main scheme will be subject to the approval of the Full Business Case, following the process set out in HM Treasury’s Green Book.As plans mature from the SOC stage through to the development of the Outline Business Case, the trust will finalise details of enabling works costs and develop separate business cases, which will include any necessary infrastructure upgrades.

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure access to speech and language therapy for people diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia in Surrey Heath constituency.

The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs) and may include speech and language therapy. We expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.The Government is committed to improving care for everyone with dementia, including those with Primary Progressive Aphasia, which is why we have funded the work of Dementia 100: Assessment Tool Pathway programme, which brings together multiple resources into a single, consolidated tool. This will help simplify best practice for busy system leaders and help create communities and services where the best possible care and support is available to those with dementia.A number of experts, including those with expertise in speech and language therapy and dementia care, provided independent, desktop analysis of the tool, and this invaluable feedback was integrated into the tool.The D100: Pathway Assessment Tool can be found at the following link:https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/improving-care/nccmh/service-design-and-development/dementia-100-pathway-assessment-tool

What steps his Department is taking to help improve support for people living with primary progressive aphasia and other language led dementias in Surrey Heath constituency.

The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs) and may include speech and language therapy. We expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.The Government is committed to improving care for everyone with dementia, including those with Primary Progressive Aphasia, which is why we have funded the work of Dementia 100: Assessment Tool Pathway programme, which brings together multiple resources into a single, consolidated tool. This will help simplify best practice for busy system leaders and help create communities and services where the best possible care and support is available to those with dementia.A number of experts, including those with expertise in speech and language therapy and dementia care, provided independent, desktop analysis of the tool, and this invaluable feedback was integrated into the tool.The D100: Pathway Assessment Tool can be found at the following link:https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/improving-care/nccmh/service-design-and-development/dementia-100-pathway-assessment-tool

What steps his Department is taking to help increase the availability of speech and language therapists supporting people living with dementia in Surrey Heath constituency.

The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs) and may include speech and language therapy. We expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.The Government is committed to improving care for everyone with dementia, including those with Primary Progressive Aphasia, which is why we have funded the work of Dementia 100: Assessment Tool Pathway programme, which brings together multiple resources into a single, consolidated tool. This will help simplify best practice for busy system leaders and help create communities and services where the best possible care and support is available to those with dementia.A number of experts, including those with expertise in speech and language therapy and dementia care, provided independent, desktop analysis of the tool, and this invaluable feedback was integrated into the tool.The D100: Pathway Assessment Tool can be found at the following link:https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/improving-care/nccmh/service-design-and-development/dementia-100-pathway-assessment-tool

What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the support available to people of working age living with dementia including primary progressive aphasia in Surrey Heath constituency.

No assessment has been made of the adequacy of the support available to people of working age living with dementia, including primary progressive aphasia, in the Surrey Heath constituency.Employers must make reasonable adjustments to make sure workers with disabilities, or physical or mental health conditions, are not substantially disadvantaged when doing their jobs. This applies to all workers, including trainees, apprentices, contract workers, and business partners.The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs) and may include speech and language therapy. We expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

What steps his Department is taking to help improve early diagnosis of non-memory led dementias including primary progressive aphasia in Surrey.

A timely diagnosis is vital to ensuring that a person with dementia can access the advice, information, care, and support that can help them to live well and remain independent for as long as possible.As part of development of the Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia, we will consider what interventions should be supported to improve dementia care and diagnosis waiting times, which we know are too long in many areas. We are considering all options to improve care and help reduce variation, including reviewing metrics and targets.We remain committed to recovering the dementia diagnosis rate to the national ambition of 66.7%. The national ambition to ensure that two-thirds of people estimated to have dementia receive a formal diagnosis includes ensuring provision of a validated diagnosis of dementia subtype.

What steps his Department is taking to help improve the diagnosis of invasive lobular breast cancer through NHS screening programmes in Surrey Heath constituency.

The National Cancer Plan sets out a comprehensive programme of reform across prevention, early diagnosis, treatment, data, and research. The Government will transform early diagnosis through improved screening and proactive case‑finding, embed continuous quality improvement across cancer services, and strengthen access to innovative diagnostics and treatments. This includes scaling up clinical trials, investing in radiotherapy and surgical robotics, and making the United Kingdom a leading destination for cancer research. Combined, these measures will help move England towards world‑leading cancer outcomes by 2035.Detecting lobular breast cancer is more difficult than finding ductal breast cancer because lobular breast cancer cells can grow in lines rather than masses. This means there may not be a mass that can be felt or that a doctor can see on a mammogram.Although not specific to the Surrey Health constituency, the Breast Screening Risk Adaptive Imaging for Density trial is looking into the use of supplementary imaging techniques for women within the standard breast screening programme who are found to have radiographically dense breast tissue. The different tests include magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound. The UK National Screening Committee is in contact with the researchers and is reviewing this evidence as it becomes available. It will make recommendations to ministers in light of this.Local integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning specialised services, including in the Surrey Heath constituency.