Written questions by McIntyre.

What improvements have been made to ambulance response times in Gloucester constituency between 2024 and 2025.

Gloucester is served by the South-Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT). In the year 2023/24, average Category 2 response times were 42 minutes and 50 seconds. In the year 2024/25, average Category 2 response times worsened, to 45 minutes and 25 seconds.However, the most recent National Health Service performance figures for SWASFT show that the year-to-date, from April 2025 to February 2026, the average Category 2 response time has been 34 minutes and 50 seconds, showing considerable improvement this financial year.

What steps he is taking to help improve the uptake of diabetes checks in Gloucester constituency.

Gloucestershire has a county wide programme in place to improve diabetes care and increase uptake of these checks. Current actions include:a primary care Locally Enhanced Service for diabetes and diabetes champions, to support earlier intervention, more consistent reviews, and better diabetes management in general practices;a local diabetes performance dashboard that gives practices real time data to identify variation and target support;a community diabetes consultant, supporting increased access to specialist advice in community settings so people are able to access care closer to home and reducing pressure on hospital services; andactive involvement in NHS England’s regional diabetes oversight work to share learning and benchmark performance.These steps aim to support earlier diagnosis, more consistent monitoring, and better outcomes for people living with diabetes in Gloucester and across the county.The latest data from the quarterly National Diabetes Audit for 2025/26 indicates Gloucestershire’s steady improvement in both the delivery of key checks and the achievement of the recommended treatment targets for people with both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Diabetes One Stop Shop pilots in Cornwall and Sheffield; and whether these pilots are scalable.

This Government recognises the importance of innovation and new care models in tackling preventable ill health such as type 2 diabetes head-on. We thank those involved in the pilots in Cornwall and Sheffield for their support for those with diabetes by testing this innovative care model.NHS England has not made a specific assessment on the effectiveness or scalability of the Diabetes One Stop Shop pilots, as innovation and new care models are often shared via regional and clinical networks for integrated care boards (ICBs) to consider and implement where appropriate.Nationally, we continue to support programmes such as the Healthier You: NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme which has offered support to over 2.4 million people at risk of type 2 diabetes since its establishment in 2016, and the NHS Health Check, which aims to detect those at risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and kidney disease aged between 40 and 74 years old.For those diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, this Government continues to support the NHS Type 2 Diabetes Path to Remission Programme, ensuring those already living with the condition are identified and effectively treated.

With reference to his Department’s press release entitled Millions more appointments as more than 2,000 extra GPs recruited, published on 24 July 2025, how many additional GP appointments have been delivered in Gloucester constituency in the current financial year to date compared to the previous financial year at that point.

From December 2024 to December 2025, we have delivered 6.8 million more general practice appointments for patients in England than during the same period in the previous year.In the Gloucestershire constituency, between April 24 and December 24, a total of 578,193 appointments were delivered. However, during the same period the following year, from April 25 to December 25, the number of appointments dropped to 564,172, indicating a decrease of 14,021.

What steps he is taking to improve community health services in Gloucester constituency.

Community health services are a fundamental part of the health and care system and an essential building block in developing a neighbourhood health service. That is why we have set a clear ambition for community health services through our Medium Term Planning Framework.For the first time, we have set a target for systems to work to reduce long waits for community health services. By 2028/29 at least 80% of community health services activity should take place within 18 weeks, bringing community health services in line with targets for elective care.To support the shift to neighbourhood health, we have published for the first time an overview of the core community health services, via Standardising Community Health Services, that integrated care boards should consider when planning for their local populations to support improved commissioning and delivery of community health services.In Gloucestershire, we remain committed to the principle of joined up services and support being delivered in neighbourhoods and communities where possible. In line with the 10-Year Health Plan, we will continue to support integration from the bottom up through our dedicated and innovative work in primary care networks and further development of integrated neighbourhood teams.Community health services in Gloucester continue to be strengthened through the development of primary care networks and integrated neighbourhood teams. These bring together general practices, community clinicians, social care, and voluntary sector partners to provide more joined up and proactive support.

What assessment he has made of trends in the level of childhood obesity in Gloucester constituency.

Data is not available by parliamentary constituency but is available at a local authority district level.The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) collects data on children aged four to five years old, namely those in Reception, and 10 to 11 years old, namely those in Year 6. It provides detailed trend data on children’s weight status, including childhood obesity.Data on obesity prevalence from the NCMP for the four academic years 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, and 2024/25 is provided in the attached table, with 2024/25 being the most recent year for which data is available. For the Gloucester local authority district, the prevalence of obesity in 2024/25 for both children aged four to five years old, and those aged 10 to 11 years old is similar to the values for 2021/22.Data for England is also included in the table for comparison. For children aged four to five years old, prevalence of obesity in Gloucester has been similar to the prevalence in England between 2021/22 and 2024/25. For children aged 10 to 11 years old, the prevalence of obesity was higher in Gloucester compared to England in 2022/23 and 2024/25, and similar to England in 2021/22 and 2023/24.Data for Gloucester on child obesity for children in Reception is available on Fingertips at the following link:https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/obesity-physical-activity-nutrition/data#page/4/gid/8000011/pat/6/par/E12000009/ati/501/are/E07000081/iid/90319/age/200/sex/4/cat/-1/ctp/-1/yrr/1/cid/4/tbm/1/page-options/map-ao-1_car-do-0Data for Gloucester on child obesity for children in Year 6 is available on Fingertips at the following link:https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/obesity-physical-activity-nutrition/data#page/4/gid/8000011/pat/6/par/E12000009/ati/501/are/E07000081/iid/90323/age/201/sex/4/cat/-1/ctp/-1/yrr/1/cid/4/tbm/1/page-options/map-ao-1_car-do-0

What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of health services available to children with avoidant restrictive food intake disorder in Gloucester constituency.

The Department does not routinely make assessments of the effectiveness of health services at a constituency level, and has therefore not made an assessment of the effectiveness of health services available to children with avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) in Gloucester. The planning and delivery of National Health Services are the responsibility of local integrated care boards, which assess the needs of their local populations and commission services accordingly. NHS England continues to work with eating disorder services and local commissioners to improve access to assessment and treatment for all children and young people with a suspected eating disorder, including those presenting with ARFID. Lessons from previous pilots commissioned to improve access to support and develop training on ARFID has contributed to this work. In January 2026, NHS England also updated guidance on children and young people’s eating disorders, including ARFID, that seeks to strengthen early identification and intervention of eating disorders, whilst ensuring swift access to specialist community eating disorder services as soon as an eating disorder is suspected. Community children and young people’s eating disorder services across England provide assessment and treatment for eating disorders, including ARFID, and local areas are able to commission training and adapt care pathways to ensure services meet the needs of patients with this condition.

What steps he is taking to improve dental services in a) Gloucester and b) Gloucestershire.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Gloucester constituency, this is the Gloucestershire ICB.We have asked ICBs to commission extra urgent dental appointments to make sure that patients with urgent dental needs can get the treatment they require. ICBs have been making extra appointments available since April 2025.ICBs are recruiting dentists through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.We are committed to delivering fundamental reform of the dental contract before the end of this Parliament. As a first step, on 16 December we published the Government’s response to the public consultation on quality and payment reforms to the NHS dental contract. The changes will be introduced from April 2026. These reforms will put patients with greatest need first, incentivising urgent care and complex treatments. Further information is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/nhs-dentistry-contract-quality-and-payment-reforms/outcome/government-response-to-consultation-on-nhs-dentistry-contract-quality-and-payment-reforms

How many of the additional 6,700 Mental Health workers recruited nationally are working in (a) Gloucester constituency and (b) NHS Gloucestershire.

Data for the Gloucester constituency is not available, as workforce information is not collected at a parliamentary constituency level.Between June 2024 and October 2025, the NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board saw an increase of 128 full‑time equivalent mental health staff, rising from 1,416 to 1,544, representing 9.1% growth, compared with 5% nationally over the same period.

How many and what proportion of patients waited longer than 12 hours in Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in December (a) 2024 and (b) 2025; and what steps is he taking to help reduce A&E waiting times.

NHS England began publishing data on 12-hour accident and emergency waits at a site level from October 2025. Figures for the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital are available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/ae-attendances-and-emergency-admissions-2025-26/Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 sets out clear actions to deliver improvements this winter and beyond. We are aiming for 78% of patients to be seen in four hours this year, meaning over 800,000 people will receive more timely care.We are investing £250 million into expanding same day and urgent care services, helping avoid unnecessary admissions to hospital and supporting faster diagnosis, treatment, and discharge for patients.We have also introduced new clinical operational standards for the first 72 hours of care to support better hospital flow. These set minimum expectations for timely review, availability of advice, and coordinated care when multiple specialist teams are involved.

What steps his Department is taking to improve patient access to GPs.

In our manifesto we said that we will end the 8am scramble, and that is precisely what we are doing. In September 2024, patient satisfaction with ease of accessing their GPs stood at just 61%, today it stands at 73%. This is huge progress, but we still have a lot more to achieve, and we have taken our ambitions up another notch as we progress 26 / 27 contract consultation with the BMA.

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure that people with (a) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and (b) other long-term lung conditions have access to integrated (i) psychological and (ii) mental health support as part of their care pathway.

People with long-term physical health conditions such as cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, and musculoskeletal disorders can refer into NHS Talking Therapies for treatment if they have a common mental health disorder, for instance anxiety and/or depression. NHS Talking Therapies also offers integrated pathways of care for people with long-term conditions which are integrated with physical care services, usually through co-location. The NHS Talking Therapies Long Term Conditions (LTC) service does not treat the underlying physical health condition but treats the anxiety and/or depression that is either caused or exacerbated by having the LTC.NHS England has put together a best practice directory for LTC pathways across NHS Talking Therapies services to provide a national picture of what pathways are in place and how they work. Information collected as part of the work to develop the national LTC directory will help to frame a review of the NHS Talking Therapies LTC Implementation Guidance.

What steps he is taking to help ensure that funding for the implementation of the recommendations in the National Cancer Plan is shared across (a) prevention, (b) diagnosis and (c) treatment.

The forthcoming National Cancer Plan for England will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, including prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, to ultimately drive up this country’s cancer survival rates. It will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care to better the experiences and outcomes for people with cancer.The Department settlement means that annual National Health Service day-to-day spending will increase by £29 billion in real terms, a £53 billion cash increase, by 2028/29 compared to 2023/24.

What funding has been allocated to support digital transformation as set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.

In advance of the 10-Year Health Plan’s publication, the Government confirmed an allocation of up to £10 billion for National Health Service digital, data, and technology through the Spending Review. This is a nearly 50% uplift on current investment, with a 3% real terms uplift overall.That investment will support delivery of the 10-Year Health Plan, while yielding substantial improvements in the public experience of using the NHS, and in the experience of staff working for it. It will also make a material contribution to achieving the 2% productivity target and wider efficiency targets.

What steps he is taking to support NHS staff with endometriosis.

The Government recognises the challenges faced by women with endometriosis and the impact it has on their lives, their relationships, and their participation in education and within the National Health Service workforce. We are improving workplace support for women with endometriosis through a number of measures in the Employment Rights Bill. Strengthening statutory sick pay arrangements, making flexible working available to more people, and opening up conversations about women’s health through employer action plans will benefit all employees managing the condition.In terms of supporting NHS staff with endometriosis, NHS trusts are expected to have local policies and procedures in place to support staff who have long-term health conditions and should be taking a proactive approach to supporting them. NHS England has made available tools and resources to support line managers to hold meaningful conversations with staff to discuss their emotional and psychological health and wellbeing.Staff in need of additional support can also access their employer's occupational health service or employee support programme.

What steps he is taking to support NHS staff with Postural tachycardia syndrome.

Improving health outcomes for everyone living with a long-term condition, including postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS), is a key part of the Government's mission to build a National Health Service fit for the future.People with PoTS can access a variety of NHS services, which are locally commissioned by integrated care boards (ICBs). ICBs are responsible for ensuring that their local area has appropriate services in place to meet the needs of their population.Many patients can be diagnosed and managed effectively within primary care. In complex cases, or where patients do not respond to initial treatment, patients may be referred to specialised cardiology or neurology services.The health and wellbeing of NHS staff is a top priority, and it is important that employers across the NHS take a preventative and proactive approach to supporting their staff, keeping them healthy, and to improving workplace culture.NHS employers have their own arrangements in place for supporting their staff, including occupational health provision, employee support programmes, and board level scrutiny through health and wellbeing guardians.At a national level, NHS England has made available additional support. This includes a focus on healthy working environments, tools and resources to support line managers to hold meaningful conversations with staff to discuss their wellbeing, and emotional and psychological health and wellbeing support.

What steps he is taking to support people with Li-Fraumeni syndrome in Gloucester.

Working under the UK Rare Diseases Framework, the Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases, such as Li-Fraumeni syndrome.The England Rare Diseases Action Plan committed to developing a funding mechanism that incentivises centres to undertake whole body scans for individuals with rare conditions resulting in a predisposition to cancer. NHS England has now agreed to proceed with the process for identifying providers of whole-body magnetic resonance imaging scanning services for adults and children with Li-Fraumeni syndrome.Anyone identified with Li-Fraumeni syndrome in Gloucestershire will receive counselling and support from the specialist clinical genetics service hosted at the University Hospitals Bristol and the Weston NHS Foundation Trust, with satellite clinics held in Gloucestershire. Testing and support for their families will also be offered by the Bristol service. Children identified with Li-Fraumeni are cared for by specialist paediatric teams at Bristol Children’s Hospital. Ongoing surveillance and screening for cancer, as well as opportunities to take part in research trials, are offered as appropriate.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that the NHS 10-Year health plan (a) prioritises areas of economic deprivation and (b) effectively meets the needs of working people.

The focus of the 10-Year Health Plan is to ensure the National Health Service is there for anyone who needs it whenever they need it. We cannot do this without tackling health inequalities, including for working class people and those living in areas of economic deprivation. Addressing healthcare inequalities is a fundamental part of the Health Mission and the 10-Year Health Plan.Our reimagined NHS will be designed to tackle inequalities in both access and outcomes, as well as giving everyone, no matter who they are or where they come from, the means to engage with the NHS on their own terms.Furthermore, patients will be able to leave feedback easily and confidently, which will amplify patient voices, particularly for those who face worse healthcare access, experiences, and outcomes.

What steps he is taking to improve access to treatment for people with alopecia areata in Gloucester.

The Government is committed to supporting all those living with dermatological conditions, including alopecia areata. Dermatology services are being transformed to make sure that patients are seen on time. NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time Programme for Dermatology is working with National Health Service trusts to deliver rapid clinical transformation. The work brings together clinicians and operational teams to work collectively to transform patient pathways, reduce unnecessary appointments, and improve access and waiting times for patients.In March 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended ritlecitinib as an option for treating severe alopecia areata in people 12 years old and over. The NHS is legally required to make funding available for treatments recommended in NICE technology appraisal guidance within three months of publication of the guidance, opening the way for patients across the country, including in Gloucester, to access this treatment.It is a clinician’s responsibility to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of their patient, whilst ensuring they are taking account of appropriate national guidance on clinical effectiveness, as well as the local commissioning decisions of their respective integrated care board (ICB), in this case the NHS Gloucestershire ICB.

What steps he is taking to support phlebotomists in Gloucester.

Local organisations are responsible for supporting their workforce, including staff in phlebotomy roles. We are aware of local industrial action in Gloucester. This is a local issue for the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to manage, working in partnership with trade unions.