Written questions by Young.

What guidance his Department has issued to Integrated Care Boards on managing the transfer of NHS dental patients when a practice (a) hands back and (b) partially hands back its NHS contract.

Awaiting answer.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure continuity of NHS dental care for patients whose practice has converted in (a) whole and (b) part to private provision.

Awaiting answer.

What plans he has to expand inpatient diagnostic capacity as part of the NHS productivity plan.

Awaiting answer.

What estimate his Department has made of the number of patients in NHS acute hospital beds in England whose (a) discharge and (b) onward care pathway is delayed pending a diagnostic (i) test and (ii) scan.

Awaiting answer.

What steps his Department is taking to retain dentists within the NHS workforce.

Awaiting answer.

What steps his Department is taking to monitor (a) NHS dental practice closures and (b) partial contract reductions.

Awaiting answer.

What estimate his Department has made of the number of patients whose regular NHS dentist has ceased providing NHS care in the last 24 months.

Awaiting answer.

Whether his Department holds data on the number of NHS dental appointments cancelled as a result of practices converting to private provision.

The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of NHS dental appointments that have been cancelled following their practice's transition to private provision on the long term dental health of affected patients.

The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of low digital literacy on patients' ability to access GP services.

General practices (GPs) are independent businesses that hold contracts with the National Health Service to perform essential services to the public. As a part of this contract, we require practices to provide online consultation tools. Online consultation tools are designed to accommodate a wide range of patient needs. They improve accessibility of booking appointments, requesting repeat prescriptions, and simplify the registration process by allowing patients to engage with their practice remotely, without the need to attend in person.All digital tools used in primary care must meet minimum functionality standards set by NHS England, helping to ensure a consistent and high-quality user experience. Primary care providers are also required to comply with the Accessible Information Standard. This ensures that online services are both accessible and user-friendly, supported by standardised, intuitive digital platforms that meet patients’ diverse needs.However, we understand that not all patients can or want to use these services. To ensure that patients aren’t digitally excluded, the GP Contract is clear that patients should always have the option of telephoning or visiting their practice in person, and all online tools must always be provided in addition to, rather than as a replacement for, other channels for accessing a GP. Practice receptions should be open so that patients without access to telephone or online services are in no way disadvantaged.The Government has committed to guarantee a face-to-face appointment for all those who want one. The NHS is clear that GPs must provide face-to-face appointments, alongside remote consultations, and patients’ input into consultation type should be sought and their preferences for face-to-face care respected unless there are good clinical reasons to the contrary.

Whether his Department collects data on patients occupying hospital beds while awaiting diagnostic tests or scans.

The Department does not collect data on patients that occupy hospital beds while waiting for diagnostic tests or scans.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of NHS dental appointments that have been cancelled following their practice's transition to private provision on the long term dental health of affected patients.

No such assessment has been made.

Whether his Department holds the data of the number of NHS dental appointments cancelled as a result of practices converting to private provision.

Data on the number of National Health Service dental appointments cancelled due to dental practices converting to private provision are not held.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of low digital literacy on patients ability to access GP services.

The Government is committed to delivering digital services that are accessible and inclusive throughout the National Health Service, including in primary care. NHS England has published a framework for National Health Service action on digital inclusion to support practical action. The Digital Exclusion Risk Atlas (DERA) is an online location-based analytical tool designed to help health and care system teams understand and identify patterns of digital exclusion across England. DERA provides a range of data indicators to highlight areas where people may face barriers to accessing and using digital health and care services. By improving visibility of these patterns, DERA aims to support more targeted interventions and contribute to efforts to reduce health inequalities.

Whether he holds the data on the total number of GP referrals handed to consultants for review.

The Department does not hold data in the format requested. It is standard practice for triage processes to operate through locally agreed referral pathways, developed by integrated care boards and providers to reflect local service configuration and patient need.As set out in the Elective Reform Plan and the Medium Term Planning Framework, we are expanding the use of Advice and Guidance (A&G), a pre-referral service used by general practitioners (GPs) to request quick specialist advice, and Single Point of Access, which encourages consultant-led triage, to help GPs and hospital specialists, including consultants, work together and make the best treatment plans for patients, while reducing unnecessary referrals to waiting lists. A&G requests are distinct from hospital referrals, whereby a patient is added onto a waiting list. A&G does not take away a GP’s right to refer, which remains a matter of clinical judgement. Between April 2025 and December 2025, there were 15,991,984 referrals for Referral to Treatment services. For the same period, there were 2,687,368 pre-referral advice and guidance requests, 2,485,559 of which were processed, and 1,234,527 have been directed to treatment that is not a secondary care referral at that time, which is 45.9% of total requests. These re-directed patients may otherwise have had to wait for an unnecessary appointment and instead are expected to receive more timely care with earlier specialist input.

What (a) payments and (b) incentives are made to General practitioners in respect of removing patients from waiting lists who have failed to respond to communications.

The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) is an optional pay-for-performance scheme that financially rewards practices for the quality of care they provide to their patients. It has been developed in accordance with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines and is underpinned by a robust evidence base.Where a patient does not respond to offers of care, a Personalised Care Adjustment can be applied that will remove that patient from an indicator denominator, ensuring the practice is not financially penalised. This ensures practices do not lose out financially when a patient on the disease register does not receive the recommended care. This also ensures there is no incentive to remove a patient from the list to improve QOF performance scores.Healthcare providers should undertake regular reviews of their waiting list to ensure all patient records are accurate, that patients are on the best pathway to meet their needs, and that they still want their appointments, and we refer to this as waiting list “validation”. This is a clinically supported process and forms a long-standing part of trusts’ routine management of their waiting lists.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that NHS England meets the 62-day referral to treatment target for patients diagnosed with rare eye cancers.

We know that people diagnosed with rare and less common cancers, including ocular melanoma, often face some of the poorest outcomes, and this is unacceptable. Specific diagnosis to treatment waiting time data is unavailable for ocular melanoma, however, we do collect data on the 28-day Faster Diagnosis Cancer Waiting Times Standard for the brain and central nervous system. The following table shows the percentage of suspected brain/central nervous system cancers that meet the 28-day Faster Diagnosis Cancer Waiting Times Standard, for January 2025 and January 2026, as well as the 12-month percentage change: January 2026January 202512-month ChangeFaster Diagnosis Standard80.0%79.9%0.1% The recently published National Cancer Plan sets a clear ambition to meet all cancer waiting time standards, including the 62-day treatment standard, by the end of this Parliament, ensuring that patients get faster diagnosis and start treatment sooner. We will achieve this through a modernised, more productive cancer pathway, expanding diagnostic capacity and giving the most challenged trusts intensive support to deliver the improvements patients rightly expect.

What the current average waiting time is for diagnosis to treatment for ocular melanoma.

We know that people diagnosed with rare and less common cancers, including ocular melanoma, often face some of the poorest outcomes, and this is unacceptable. Specific diagnosis to treatment waiting time data is unavailable for ocular melanoma, however, we do collect data on the 28-day Faster Diagnosis Cancer Waiting Times Standard for the brain and central nervous system. The following table shows the percentage of suspected brain/central nervous system cancers that meet the 28-day Faster Diagnosis Cancer Waiting Times Standard, for January 2025 and January 2026, as well as the 12-month percentage change: January 2026January 202512-month ChangeFaster Diagnosis Standard80.0%79.9%0.1% The recently published National Cancer Plan sets a clear ambition to meet all cancer waiting time standards, including the 62-day treatment standard, by the end of this Parliament, ensuring that patients get faster diagnosis and start treatment sooner. We will achieve this through a modernised, more productive cancer pathway, expanding diagnostic capacity and giving the most challenged trusts intensive support to deliver the improvements patients rightly expect.

If his Department will reform NHS dental contracts to help increase practitioner remuneration and expand patient access in underserved areas.

We are committed to reforming the dental contract, with a focus on matching resources to need, improving access, promoting prevention, and rewarding dentists fairly. As a first step, from April 2026, we will be implementing reforms to the current National Health Service dental contract which are expected to improve access for patients with urgent and complex needs and to better reward dentists for treating these patients. From April, dental practices will be required to deliver a set proportion of their contract as urgent care, supported by increased payments for dentists. We are also introducing three new care pathways for patients with significant dental decay and gum disease, with payments to dentists ranging from £248 to £709 and patients paying one charge for the whole pathway. By better incentivising urgent and complex care, we’re encouraging dentists to treat these patients, benefiting patients across the country. We are committed to delivering further, fundamental reform of the dental contract before the end of this Parliament. This will include a full consultation on the future proposals and regular engagement with the sector, including the British Dental Association and other representatives.

What data the Department holds on NHS dentists transitioning to private-only practice in the past 12 months.

Data is not held on National Health Service dentists transitioning to private-only practice in the past 12 months.