Written questions by Bloore.

What steps NHS England is taking to protect the NHS (a) brand and (b) logo from unauthorised AI-generated deepfake communications.

Awaiting answer.

With reference to the written statement of 23 February 2026 on Clinical trials, HCWS1347, what steps his Department plans to take to help support young people experiencing gender incongruence in the period until the PATHWAYS trial resumes.

For children and young people currently under the care of NHS Children and Young People’s Gender Services, a multi-disciplinary team of clinicians conducts assessments using a holistic framework, following recommendations from the Cass Review. Each child or young person receives an individual care plan, with a strong focus on psychosocial support tailored to their needs.More widely, in 2024 NHS England published a new service specification for the National Referral Support Service for Specialist Services for Children and Young People with Gender Incongruence. Now a referral for the specialist Children and Young People’s Gender Service can be only made by a National Health Service-commissioned, secondary care-level paediatric service or a children and young people mental health service. This helps ensure that healthcare professionals with the relevant expertise conduct the assessment and help determine any co-existing mental health or other health needs of these children and their onward care.Alongside this, a mental health support offer was launched where all children and young people on the waiting list as of 31 August 2024 were offered a mental health assessment by their local Children and Young People's Mental Health Services (CYPMHS) team. Additionally, NHS Arden and GEM, which manages the national waiting list, signposts to information and support for children and young people and their families. This includes resources from CYPMH and the NHS, as well as trusted third-sector organisations such as YoungMinds and Samaritans.

If he will publish a national strategy for palliative and end of life care.

The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England, for publication later this year.The MSF will drive improvements in the services that patients and their families receive at the end of life and will enable integrated care boards to address challenges in access, quality, and sustainability through the delivery of high-quality, personalised care. This will be aligned with the ambitions set out in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan.For further information on the MSF I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Statement HCWS1087 I made to the House on 24 November 2025.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce variation in the approaches of commissioners in meeting the local population's needs for palliative and end of life care services.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning palliative care services to meet the reasonable needs of their population. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.This further clarified in the recently published Strategic Commissioning Framework and Medium Term Planning Guidance, which makes clear the expectation that ICBs should understand current and projected service utilisation and costs, creating an overall plan to more effectively meet these needs through neighbourhood health.The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. I refer the Hon. Members to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025. NHS England has developed a palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative and end of life care needs of their local population, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities, and ensure that funding is distributed fairly, based on prevalence.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of deaths in hospital.

Early identification of someone who has palliative and end of life care needs is vital. There are tools to aid clinicians in identifying those approaching the end of life, for example the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool and the EARLY toolkit. Further information on the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool and the EARLY toolkit is available, respectively, at the following two links: https://www.spict.org.uk/the-spict/ https://www.england.nhs.uk/north-west/north-west-coast-strategic-clinical-networks/our-networks/palliative-and-end-of-life-care/for-professionals/early-toolkit-for-primary-care/ NHS England has published universal principles for advanced care planning (ACP). These principles facilitate a consistent national approach to ACP in England. Further information on the universal principles for ACP is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/universal-principles-for-advance-care-planning/ The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce emergency hospital admissions involving people who are in the last 12 months of life.

Early identification of someone who has palliative and end of life care needs is vital. There are tools to aid clinicians in identifying those approaching the end of life, for example the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool and the EARLY toolkit. Further information on the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool and the EARLY toolkit is available, respectively, at the following two links: https://www.spict.org.uk/the-spict/ https://www.england.nhs.uk/north-west/north-west-coast-strategic-clinical-networks/our-networks/palliative-and-end-of-life-care/for-professionals/early-toolkit-for-primary-care/ NHS England has published universal principles for advanced care planning (ACP). These principles facilitate a consistent national approach to ACP in England. Further information on the universal principles for ACP is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/universal-principles-for-advance-care-planning/ The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce levels of local variation in access to and quality of palliative and end of life care.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning palliative care services to meet the reasonable needs of their population. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.This further clarified in the recently published Strategic Commissioning Framework and Medium Term Planning Guidance, which makes clear the expectation that ICBs should understand current and projected service utilisation and costs, creating an overall plan to more effectively meet these needs through neighbourhood health.The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. I refer the Hon. Members to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025. NHS England has developed a palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative and end of life care needs of their local population, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities, and ensure that funding is distributed fairly, based on prevalence.

What steps his Department is taking to increase the early identification of palliative care needs.

Early identification of someone who has palliative and end of life care needs is vital. There are tools to aid clinicians in identifying those approaching the end of life, for example the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool and the EARLY toolkit. Further information on the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool and the EARLY toolkit is available, respectively, at the following two links: https://www.spict.org.uk/the-spict/ https://www.england.nhs.uk/north-west/north-west-coast-strategic-clinical-networks/our-networks/palliative-and-end-of-life-care/for-professionals/early-toolkit-for-primary-care/ NHS England has published universal principles for advanced care planning (ACP). These principles facilitate a consistent national approach to ACP in England. Further information on the universal principles for ACP is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/universal-principles-for-advance-care-planning/ The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that the palliative care workforce is able to cope with increases in demand for end of life care.

The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.  The 10 Year Workforce Plan 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, including in palliative care and end of life care. The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework for England. I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave to the House on 24 November 2025.

What proportion of the additional funding for the NHS announced on 11 June 2025 will be allocated to NHS dentistry.

NHS England has now published the Medium Term Planning Framework and allocations for 2026/27 to 2027/28. Further information on the Medium Term Planning Framework and the allocations is available, respectively, at the following two links:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/medium-term-planning-framework-delivering-change-together-2026-27-to-2028-29/https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/allocation-of-resources-2026-27-to-2027-28/National Health Service organisations are now in the process of developing their operational plans that will detail how they will meet the standards set out in the Medium-Term Planning Framework.A separate schedule will be issued setting out the ringfence for dental services, including 2026/27 to 2028/29 integrated care board pharmacy optometry and dental allocations.

If he will make it his policy to publish the (a) recoveries, (b) write‑offs and (c) associated costs for each supplier of PPE as part of his investigation into PPE procurement.

The Department has already committed to the Public Accounts Committee that it will report to Parliament on the COVID-19 personal protective equipment contract dissolution outcomes once work is completed.Outcomes and details of individual cases are expected to be published wherever possible so long as any such release of information does not breach commercial interests, harm public finances, or exacerbate legal sensitivities.

Whether his Department plans to support GPs (a) with professional training and (b) to update their clinical knowledge on the less survivable cancers.

All registered doctors in the United Kingdom are expected to meet the professional standards set by the General Medical Council (GMC). In 2012, the GMC introduced revalidation, which supports doctors in regularly reflecting on how they can develop or improve their practice.General practitioners (GPs) are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance, such as that produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, to ensure that they can continue to provide high quality care to all patients.The training curricula for postgraduate trainee doctors is set by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and has to meet the standards set by the GMC. The RCGP provides several resources on cancer prevention, diagnosis, and care for GPs, relevant for the primary care setting.We are investing an additional £1.1 billion in GPs to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.4 billion in 2025/26, the biggest increase in over a decade. The 8.9% boost to the GP Contract in 2025/26 is bigger than the 5.8% growth to the NHS budget as a whole, demonstrating our commitment to shifting resources to the community.

What the total expenditure of NHS England on agency staff was in each of the last three years; and what plans his Department has to reduce the use of agency employees.

Agency spend of National Health Service trusts in England in each of the last three years is shown in the table below and is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/financial-performance-reportsYear Expenditure (£bn)2022/233.462023/243.022024/252.07 Agency spend is already going down and fell by nearly £1 billion in 2024/25.The NHS 2025/26 priorities and operational planning guidance sets an expectation that trusts should reduce their temporary staffing spend by a minimum of 30% over the financial year and reduce bank spend by 10%. The accompanying Revenue finance and contracting guidance for 2025/26 sets the ambition of eliminating agency spend entirely in the coming years and is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/revenue-finance-and-contracting-guidance-for-2025-26/In June, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and the Chief Executive of NHS England wrote to trusts and integrated care boards emphasising the message in the guidance to reduce spend. The letter states that if sufficient progress is not made the Government will consider what further action it can take to reduce spend.

How many people with a diagnosis of dementia have needed to sell their home to pay for care costs in each of the last five years.

The information requested is not held by the Department.

Whether his Department plans to fund a review to explore the extent to which surgical intervention can alleviate the symptoms experienced by individuals with pineal cysts.

The Department has no plans to fund such a review. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing evidence-based guidance for the health and care system on best practice. NICE's interventional procedures programme assesses the efficacy and safety of interventional procedures used for treatment or diagnosis to determine whether they work well enough and are safe enough for use in the National Health Service.NICE’s interventional procedures programme has not been notified of any procedure for the treatment of pineal cysts. If NICE receives a notification, any such procedure would be considered as part of established appraisal processes.

Whether he is taking steps to support research to develop an early-diagnosis test for Lyme disease infection.

The Department funds research through the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR is not currently funding any research on early diagnostic tests for Lyme disease. The NIHR welcomes research proposals on Lyme disease and diagnostics.

What estimate he has made of when the NHS will be meet its target of 92% of people waiting for elective mental health treatment waiting no longer than 18 weeks from referral to their first treatment.

The overall elective waiting list stands at 7.48 million patient pathways, with over six million people waiting. We are committed to putting patients first, making sure that patients are seen on time and ensuring that people have the best possible experience during their care.As set out in the Government’s Plan for Change, we will ensure that 92% of patients return to waiting no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment by March 2029, a standard which has not been met consistently since September 2015. This includes those patients waiting for mental health services where a referral is made to a medical consultant-led mental health service. The majority of National Health Service mental health care is outside the scope of the elective waiting list and the referral to treatment 18-week constitutional standard.We know that too many people with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they need, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure that mental health is given the same attention and focus as physical health, so that people can be confident in accessing high quality mental health support when they need it. We will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to reduce delays and provide faster treatment, which will also help ease pressure on hospitals.The NHS Planning Guidance 2025/26 includes objectives to increase the number of children and young people accessing services to achieve the national ambition for 345,000 additional children and young people aged zero to 25 years old compared to 2019, and to reduce 12 hour accident and emergency waits. We will also ensure every young person has access to a mental health professional at school, and will set up Young Futures hubs in communities, offering open access mental health services for young people.

Whether his Department offers (a) paid time off work and (b) other support to employees who become kinship carers.

We do not have a policy which explicitly covers paid time off work and other support to employees who become kinship carers. Employees can take time off work to deal with an emergency involving a dependant or are able to request other special leave, paid and unpaid, as well as annual and flexi leave as required to support them when they become a kinship carer. Employees are also able to request flexible working to support both short term and longer-term arrangements.As with all requests for time off under our policies, each case is taken on a case-by-case basis, and consideration to grant requests, either paid or unpaid, taken in line with our provisions.

If he will take steps to extend independent prescribing responsibilities to Occupational Therapists under the Medicines and Medical Devices Act (2021) where it is safe to do so.

Appropriately trained occupational therapists can already supply/administer medicines under a Patient Specific Direction (PSD) or a Patient Group Direction (PGD). A PSD is a written instruction from a prescriber for medicines to be supplied or administered to a specific patient or person. PGDs are a set of instructions which allow healthcare professionals to supply and administer specific medicines to pre-defined groups of patients without the need for them to be referred to a prescriber.There is a process in place for making changes to prescribing responsibilities to ensure those changes are safe and beneficial for patients.In late 2020, NHS England launched a series of public consultations seeking views on proposals to amend responsibilities for the prescribing, supply and/or administration of medicines for specific healthcare professionals.The Department is working with NHS England to consider these consultations and other requests to progress the extension of responsibilities to supply, administer or prescribe medicines under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 to regulated healthcare professionals, where a clear need and benefits have been identified.

What steps he is taking to promote the use of Prescription Prepayment Certificates.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) promotes prescription prepayment certificates (PPCs) as part of a wider communications plan for all of the Help with Health Costs services that it delivers. The NHS BSA and the National Health Service use social media, online resources, media releases, and healthcare bulletins to promote the PPC to professionals and patients, to ensure both groups are aware of their availability.