Written questions by Lewin.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of people waiting for NHS treatment.

We know how important it is to patients and clinicians that they receive and deliver treatment faster.Our Elective Reform Plan is working. Waiting lists are down over 225,000 since we came to office. We delivered 5.2 million extra appointments in our first year; double what we promised.The NHS is on the road to recovery, saving and transforming more lives through record investment, innovation and modernisation.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing paramedics to (a) carry and (b) use fentanyl as an analgesic agent.

The Department remains committed to exploring the extension of medicine responsibilities for non-medical professionals. This will support the aim that patients are cared for, and treated by, the most appropriate healthcare professional to meet their needs, where it is safe and appropriate to do so. Many regulated healthcare professionals have already received extended medicine responsibilities and the Department is committed to assessing the impact that these changes have had on patient care.Regarding the extension of paramedics’ medicine responsibilities, there is a process in place for making changes to ensure proposals are safe and beneficial for patients. Officials are carefully considering proposals relating to a range of healthcare professionals, including paramedics, and the use of fentanyl as an analgesic agent, as part of wider work.

How many GP surgeries in England have a vaccination rate for (a) Diptheria, (b) Tetanus and (c) Polio for babies under 8 months of age of (i) less than 90 per cent, (ii) 90-93 per cent, (iii) 94-95 per cent and (iv) greater than 96 per cent.

The DTaP/IPV/Hib/HepB vaccine protects against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, also known as whooping cough, polio, haemophilus influenzae type b, and hepatitis B. The number and percentage of general practices (GPs) in England with a vaccination rate of less than 90%, 90 to 93%, 94 to 95%, or more than 96% for diptheria, tetanus, and polio, for babies under eight months of age, is as follows:1,830 GPs, or 29.2%, at less than 90%;1,600 GPs, or 25.6%, at 90 to 93%;1,102 GPs, or 17.6%, at 94 to 95%; and1,727 GPs, or 27.6%, at 96% and above.The above data is drawn from the latest published annual GP vaccine coverage data for April 2023 to March 2024 for the DTaP/IPV/Hib/HepB vaccine, measured at 12 months of age. GPs that submitted zero data for this indicator and GPs with fewer than five patients, whose data was suppressed to protect patient identifiable information, were excluded from the above response. Further information regarding the coverage data is available in the tables attached.