Written questions by Brewer.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure the safety of frontline NHS staff, including receptionists working in GP surgeries.

Everyone working in the National Health Service has a fundamental right to be safe at work without fear of violence or abuse.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, abuse, or harassment.At a national level there are several policy measures being implemented and developed to help keep staff safe and to prevent and reduce violence in the workplace. This includes measures to improve data and reporting, strengthen risk assessment, and improve training and support for victims. This will be bolstered by the introduction of a new set of staff standards, as detailed in the 10-Year Health Plan. The standards will be included in the NHS Oversight Framework and act as an early warning signal for the Care Quality Commission.Additionally, the You and your general practice guidance makes clear that general practice staff should be treated with respect. A practice also reserves the right to remove patients from their list if they are violent or abusive to staff. The You and your general practice guidance is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/you-and-your-general-practice-english/

What steps his Department is taking to reduce outpatient waiting times for neurology appointments in North East Hampshire constituency.

Modernisation of outpatient care is a top priority for the Government so that waits for outpatient appointments are shorter and elective pathways are more productive. The majority of people on the waiting list, including for neurology, are waiting for outpatient care. Through our Elective Reform Plan (ERP), we have expanded the Advice and Guidance (A&G) scheme, which helps ensure patients get care in the right place and only see a specialist if it’s really necessary, freeing up capacity in secondary care for those who need it, including certain patients with neurology conditions or symptoms. The ERP also commits to reducing missed appointments and unnecessary follow ups to further free up capacity. This will benefit patients across England, including in North East Hampshire.The 10-Year Health Plan builds on the ERP with a more sustainable vision for elective care where, by 2035, most outpatient care will happen outside of hospitals. Patients' access to specialists, including neurologists, will be improved by providing this specialist care in the community where possible and increasing digital access to specialists through the NHS App, where it’s more convenient for patients.The Medium-Term Planning Framework outlines targets for the National Health Service from 2026/27 to 2028/29 to deliver the 10-Year Health Plan’s ambitions. This includes an ask of systems to transform pathways to give patients more control over their follow up care to reduce unnecessary appointments and expand the use of Advice and Guidance from April so that, by October, all requests/referrals across the 10 specialties providers deemed to have the most potential for this model to be effective go via an elective Single Point of Access. This will mean a more efficient approach to triaging patients, where all appropriate requests and referrals, excluding urgent suspect cancer, will flow through a single ‘front door’ to support clinical triage to the most appropriate service or outcome, meaning timelier, more joined up care for patients.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of job evaluation scores for pharmacy assistants.

This specific assessment has not been made.Agenda for Change pay is underpinned by the Job Evaluation Scheme (JES). This scheme was developed through collaboration between National Health Service leaders, NHS trade unions, and independent job evaluation experts. The JES is a structured method of comparing job demands and seeks to ensure that staff receive equal pay for work of equal value.The JES focuses on the demands of the role as set out in the job documentation, for example the job description and person specification, and not the skills and knowledge an individual has. The requirements, as set out in the job documentation, are then analysed using the JES to determine the relative job demand, or weight, of the role which in turn determines which pay band the role sits in. This model of weighting has been legally tested and proven to be robust.All local employing organisations are responsible for correctly and consistently implementing the JES to ensure staff are paid correctly for the work they are asked to deliver.The NHS Staff Council’s Job Evaluation Group is responsible for maintaining the national role profiles that are used to support job evaluation practice.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of including clear information on the signs and symptoms of type 1 diabetes in the Personal Child Health Record.

While the Personal Child Health Record (PCHR) does not currently contain a dedicated section on diabetes, it includes signposting to National Health Service online information on serious childhood illness, including symptoms of diabetes.NHS England is working with clinical experts, royal colleges, and wider stakeholders to review whether further opportunities exist to improve awareness of the key signs and symptoms of type 1 diabetes among both healthcare professionals and the public. This includes, as I set out in the Westminster Hall debate on this issue last week, looking carefully to see what further improvements might be made to the red book.

Whether he is taking steps to introduce pay progression for Change Band 2 roles.

As part of the 2023 Agenda for Change (AfC) pay deal between the Government, employers, and trade unions in England, it was agreed to uplift the value of the bottom pay point of Band 2 to the same value as the top pay point of that band. This position was ratified by the NHS Staff Council, a partnership body made up of trade unions and employers that has overall responsibility for the AfC pay system and terms and conditions of service.The Government accepted the NHS Pay Review Body recommendations for 2024/25 and 2025/26 in full, which included a recommendation to provide the NHS Staff Council with a funded mandate to make improvements to the AfC pay structure. Any changes to the AfC pay structure, including for Band 2 staff, will be for the NHS Staff Council to agree.The Department will work closely with the NHS Staff Council to agree changes to the pay structure which will be backdated to 1 April 2026.

What steps he is taking to ensure (a) pay progression and (b) career development opportunities for the lowest-paid NHS staff.

Section 1 of the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service, also referred to as Agenda for Change (AfC), sets out the principles for pay progression in the National Health Service in England. It states that pay progression for all AfC pay points, within each pay band, is conditional upon employees demonstrating that they have the requisite knowledge and skills and competencies for their role and that they have demonstrated the required level of performance and delivery during the review period.The Government accepted the NHS Pay Review Body recommendations for 2024/25 and 2025/26 in full, which included a recommendation to provide the NHS Staff Council with a funded mandate to make improvements to the AfC pay structure.Improvements to the AfC pay structure, including any band progression for the lowest paid NHS staff, will be for the NHS Staff Council to agree. The NHS Staff Council is a partnership body made up of trade unions and employers and has overall responsibility for maintaining the AfC pay system and associated terms and conditions of service.The Department intends to issue this mandate as soon as possible. Once the mandate is confirmed, the Department will work closely with the NHS Staff Council to agree reforms to the pay structure which will be backdated to 1 April 2026.It is the responsibility of individual employers to ensure career development opportunities for their lowest paid staff through investing in the future of their workforce and ensuring appropriate ongoing training and continuing professional development.

What assessment his Department has made of regional differences in the (a) availability, (b) accessibility and (c) resourcing of NHS Long COVID assessment and treatment services.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are independently responsible for the commissioning of long COVID services which meet the needs of their population, subject to local prioritisation and funding. While this may result in regional and local variation of long COVID services, NHS England has published updated commissioning guidance for post-COVID services which sets out a blueprint for best practice in supporting people with long COVID and is designed to be adapted to local needs. The updated commissioning guidance is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/national-commissioning-guidance-for-post-covid-services/As of 1 April 2024, there were over 90 adult post-COVID services across England along with an additional ten children and young people’s hubs. Further information about these services is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/post-covid-syndrome-long-covid/In addition to the support provided in primary care, published data from April 2024 shows over 100,000 people have been seen by a specialist post-COVID service, with a further 350,000 follow up appointments taking place. The data is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-post-covid-assessment-service/

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of retail sold magnets on the safety of cerebrospinal fluid shunts programmable externally by magnets.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for ensuring that medicines, medical devices, and blood components for transfusions on the market in the United Kingdom are safe, effective, and manufactured to the highest standards of quality. The Medical Devices Regulations 2002 (MDR 2002) establish the statutory framework that medical devices must meet in order to comply with these standards. All medical devices, including cerebrospinal fluid shunts programmable externally by magnets, must comply with the MDR 2002, which include bearing the UKCA or CE marking on the packaging or labelling of the device. Manufacturers or their UK representatives must monitor use of these devices when used in the UK. The manufacturer holds the legal responsibility for obtaining the necessary certification and registering their medical devices with the MHRA, the UK Competent Authority. Higher risk medical devices are assessed and approved by Approved Bodies in the UK or Notified Bodies in the European Union. As part of meeting the requirements of the regulations, manufacturers have to provide instructions which would include any special operating instructions, any warnings and/or precautions to take, and precautions to be taken as regards exposure, in reasonably foreseeable environmental conditions, to magnetic fields. In addition, some manufacturers provide further standalone information on this topic, an example of which is available at the following link:https://www.medtronic.com/en-us/l/patients/treatments-therapies/hydrocephalus-shunt/magnetic-field-influences.html

What information his Department holds on the average length of time for a GP's surgery to negotiate a lease for (a) new and (b) extended premises in the last 12 months.

The lease for a general practice (GP) surgery is negotiated between the GP and the landlord, with the agreement of the local integrated care board.The Department does not hold information regarding the average length of time taken for GP surgeries in both new and extended premises to negotiate a lease.

What guidance his Department provides on the minimum training and professional standards required for healthcare professionals undertaking child protection medicals for safeguarding assessments.

Standards of proficiency, conduct, and performance of registered professionals are the statutory responsibility of healthcare regulators, such as the General Medical Council for doctors and the Nursing and Midwifery Council for nurses and midwives, which are independent of the Government. Approved Education Institutions and practice partners develop the specific content and design of training programmes to meet these standards. Training programmes are then approved and monitored by the relevant regulator. Practice partners provide practice placements for healthcare students and can include National Health Service trusts, social care, voluntary organisations, and general practices.

Pursuant to the Answer of 22 December 2025 to Question 99953 on Hospitals: Construction, with what regularity are the multi-criteria decision analysis inputs updated to inform New Hospital Programme decision making.

Our published New Hospital Programme (NHP) Plan for Implementation sets out a credible plan for delivery, and we continue to make progress against this. The multi criteria decision analysis (MCDA) tool represented only one input to support scheme prioritisation and the development of funding options, which also included funding constraints and consultation and review with colleagues across the Department, NHP, and NHS England.As set out in our Plan for Implementation, the programme reserves the right to adjust the delivery plan as schemes develop in the future. The tool remains available to support any decision-making as the programme progresses, with consideration of the inputs reflecting the decision context at the time.

What steps the Department is taking to improve the care system for cardiology patients in the UK; and whether she will make an assessment of the potential merits of adopting elements of the structured clinical programme established in Poland in the 1980s by Professor Religa.

The Government is committed to achieving a 25% reduction in premature mortality due to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and stroke across England. To accelerate progress and tackle variation across the country, a new CVD Modern Service Framework will be published in 2026. This framework will support improvement, reduce inequalities, and foster innovation where it is needed most.No assessment has been made of adopting elements of the structured clinical programme established in Poland in the 1980s for heart transplant surgery. The National Health Service’s heart transplant programme provides life-saving heart transplants for adults, those 16 years old or older, with end-stage heart failure, involving assessment, surgery, and lifelong care.NHS England has been undertaking a review of heart and lung transplantation services, building on a report commissioned by the Department, named Honouring the gift of organ donation, published in 2023 and available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/honouring-the-gift-of-donation-utilising-organs-for-transplantThe goals of the review are to increase the number of transplants, improve patient outcomes, reduce inequalities in access to transplants, and improve patient experience.

What steps his Department is taking to improve the internal NHS complaints procedures.

National Health Service organisations must handle complaints in accordance with the standards and processes set out in the Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009. To support good complaint handling, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s NHS Complaint Standards set out how organisations providing NHS services in the NHS should approach complaint handling. The standards place a strong focus on several key aspects of complaint handling, including early resolution and giving fair and accountable responses. They set out practical advice and good practice to help NHS organisations improve. Through implementation of Fit for the Future: The 10-Year Health Plan for England, we will improve transparency, deliver high-quality care for all, and strengthen patient and staff voice. This includes reform of the NHS complaints process, setting clear standards for both the timeliness and the quality of responses to complaints, as well as ensuring the NHS listens carefully and compassionately, taking forward learning to ensure high quality care. We will also increase the use of artificial intelligence tools to ensure complaints data is collected, and responded to, far more quickly.

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure that hospital parking is affordable and inclusive for staff and patients.

National Health Service organisations decide how they provide parking locally, including whether it is charged for, based on the needs of patients, visitors, and staff, as well as environmental factors. The NHS car parking guidance requires free parking to be provided for four groups: disabled people; frequent outpatient attenders; parents of sick children staying overnight; and staff working night shifts. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principlesThese local decisions include the number of Blue Badge parking spaces.

What steps is the Government taking to ensure that there are adequate Blue Badge parking spaces at NHS facilities in Hampshire and Surrey.

National Health Service organisations decide how they provide parking locally, including whether it is charged for, based on the needs of patients, visitors, and staff, as well as environmental factors. The NHS car parking guidance requires free parking to be provided for four groups: disabled people; frequent outpatient attenders; parents of sick children staying overnight; and staff working night shifts. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principlesThese local decisions include the number of Blue Badge parking spaces.

If he will include information in the Green Book on the HPV vaccine that includes reference to its role in reducing the risk of oral cancer.

The Green Book is written for healthcare professionals. The chapter on human papillomavirus (HPV) does highlight the causal link between infection with this virus, cervical cancer, and some non-cervical cancer including those of the head and neck. The HPV chapter 18a from the Green Book is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/human-papillomavirus-hpv-the-green-book-chapter-18aBroader UK Health Security Agency guidance on HPV also highlights the protection the vaccine provides against HPV infection and related conditions. This public‑facing information also explains that the vaccine helps protect against cancers of the mouth and is available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64919b26103ca6000c03a212/HPV_Vaccination_For_All_-_English_Leaflet_from_September_2023.pdfIt also highlights that the greatest risk comes from infection with high-risk types of HPV. There is very good evidence that the vaccine in use in the United Kingdom offers excellent protection against these high-risk types.

If he will make it his policy to update the multi-criteria decision support analysis to ensure that hospital wave allocations within the New Hospital Programme reflect estate conditions and patient environment standards.

As set out in the New Hospital Programme’s Plan for Implementation, a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) tool was used to help prioritise schemes to support the development of funding options. Criteria included deliverability, estate condition, clinical outcomes and patient assessment of care environment for each of the hospitals falling within the scope of the review. The input data and scoring mechanism within the MCDA was reviewed with NHS England and Departmental colleagues to validate its appropriateness. The Programme reserves the right to adjust the delivery plan as schemes develop in the future.The plan is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome/new-hospital-programme-plan-for-implementation

Whether processes are in place to ensure (a) that hospitals within the New Hospital Programme are continually assessed and (B) that the prioritisation queue can be adjusted if circumstances change, such as structural safety concerns or urgent capacity needs.

On 20 January 2025, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care announced a new, realistic plan to deliver the New Hospital Programme (NHP) and we continue to work to these timelines. As set out in the Plan for Implementation, delivery expectations may be subject to change depending on local and national factors and the programme reserves the right to adjust the delivery plan as schemes develop in the future.We are prioritising the seven hospitals built wholly or primarily from reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), as part of Wave 1, with ongoing mitigations in place to ensure patient and staff safety. Priority will be given to the most affected buildings and services.My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has commissioned a comprehensive site-by-site report into these seven hospitals, which will help inform individual development plans, which continue to progress at pace.£1.6 billion will be provided to continue supporting NHS England’s national RAAC programme across the 2025 Spending Review period. The seven NHP RAAC replacement hospitals continue to receive funding and support from NHS England’s national RAAC programme ahead of the delivery of replacement hospitals.

What steps his Department is taking to support NHS trusts in managing and removing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) from hospital buildings; and how this work is prioritised within the New Hospital Programme.

On 20 January 2025, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care announced a new, realistic plan to deliver the New Hospital Programme (NHP) and we continue to work to these timelines. As set out in the Plan for Implementation, delivery expectations may be subject to change depending on local and national factors and the programme reserves the right to adjust the delivery plan as schemes develop in the future.We are prioritising the seven hospitals built wholly or primarily from reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), as part of Wave 1, with ongoing mitigations in place to ensure patient and staff safety. Priority will be given to the most affected buildings and services.My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has commissioned a comprehensive site-by-site report into these seven hospitals, which will help inform individual development plans, which continue to progress at pace.£1.6 billion will be provided to continue supporting NHS England’s national RAAC programme across the 2025 Spending Review period. The seven NHP RAAC replacement hospitals continue to receive funding and support from NHS England’s national RAAC programme ahead of the delivery of replacement hospitals.

What steps NHS trusts can take to accelerate their eligibility for prioritisation within the New Hospital Programme queue.

On 20 January 2025, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care announced a new, realistic plan to deliver the New Hospital Programme (NHP) and we continue to work to these timelines. As set out in the Plan for Implementation, delivery expectations may be subject to change depending on local and national factors and the programme reserves the right to adjust the delivery plan as schemes develop in the future.We are prioritising the seven hospitals built wholly or primarily from reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), as part of Wave 1, with ongoing mitigations in place to ensure patient and staff safety. Priority will be given to the most affected buildings and services.My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has commissioned a comprehensive site-by-site report into these seven hospitals, which will help inform individual development plans, which continue to progress at pace.£1.6 billion will be provided to continue supporting NHS England’s national RAAC programme across the 2025 Spending Review period. The seven NHP RAAC replacement hospitals continue to receive funding and support from NHS England’s national RAAC programme ahead of the delivery of replacement hospitals.