Written questions by Campbell.

What steps he is taking to increase the numbers of non-direct altruistic organ donations during this Parliament.

Awaiting answer.

When does he expect to receive the outcome of the NIHR appraisal programme for prolapse, incontinence, and mesh complication surgery.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the research delivery arm of the Department, funds and supports a range of research to support women’s health conditions, including pelvic organ prolapse.In May 2023, the NIHR commissioned a £1.6 million study to develop a validated patient reported outcome measure for prolapse, incontinence, and mesh complication surgery, to better understand the short and long-term health impacts of pelvic mesh surgery. This study has now been extended until January 2028 with findings available shortly after. Further information is available at the following link:https://fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR152187The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including the use of vaginal mesh to treat pelvic organ prolapse. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.

When does he expect treatment of myopia in children aged between three and 14 years through low-dose atropine eye drops to begin.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations for the National Health Service in England on whether new medicines should be routinely funded based on an assessment of their costs and benefits. NICE is currently evaluating low-dose atropine eye drops for treating myopia in people aged three to 14 years old and currently expects to publish final guidance in September 2026. If recommended in final NICE guidance, the NHS would be required to fund treatment within three months of publication.

How many organ donations under deemed consent legislation have there been from deceased donors between 1st January (a) 2022, and (b) 2026.

NHS Blood and Transplant is responsible for organ donation in the United Kingdom and manages the NHS Organ Donor Register (ODR).Deemed consent donors are people who became deceased donors, donating one or more organs, where no decision to donate had been recorded on the NHS ODR, and consent was therefore deemed under the relevant deemed consent legislation, with organ donation proceeding only where the donor’s family were available for consultation. The following table shows the number of deemed consent donors and the number of organs donated by deemed consent donors, both United Kingdom wide, from 2022 to 2025:YearNumber of deemed consent donorsNumber of organs donated by deemed consent donors20224391342202345514792024381121320254041333Source: NHS Blood and Transplant, using data from the UK Transplant Registry.

Approximately how many non - direct altruistic organ donations have there been in each of the last ten years.

Non‑direct altruistic organ donation is managed by NHS Blood and Transplant, which is responsible for organ donation services. Non‑direct altruistic donation involves people donating an organ, such as a kidney or a lobe of liver, as a living donor without knowing the recipient or expecting anything in return. The following table shows the number of non-direct altruistic donations across the United Kingdom, split by organ, namely kidney or liver:Financial yearNon-direct altruistic kidney donations2016/17862017/18892018/19642019/20962020/21342021/22722022/23832023/24482024/25622025/2658Source: NHS Blood and Transplant, using data from the UK Transplant Registry.For every financial year since 2016/17, there has been five or less non-direct altruistic liver lobe donations. There has been a total of 14 non-direct altruistic liver lobe donations in the past ten years.

When does he expect to be able to reply to WPQ 115339 tabled on 24th February 2026.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 22 April 2026 to Question 115339.

Who will have lead responsibility in co ordination and organising the four Nation Steering Group in examining the role of the Multi Speciality Recruitment Assessment process.

In Autumn 2025, the Postgraduate National Recruitment Programme Board stood up a project to identify future delivery solutions for the selection assessments used across all recruitment pathways, including the Multi Specialty Recruitment Assessment. The project is overseen by a four-nation selection assessment steering group that will shape and make recommendations to the programme board.The programme board has overall accountability for recruitment and selection processes into postgraduate medical, dental, foundation pharmacy, and healthcare science training programmes in the United Kingdom. The board is convened by NHS England, includes representatives from each of the four UK statutory education bodies, and is accountable to the executives of each of these bodies.

When does he expect to be able to reply to WPQ 117245 tabled on 3rd March 2026.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 30 March 2026 to Question 117245.

When does he expect the next phase of the review of the UK Foundation programme to be concluded.

The first phase of The Medical Training Review has concluded. Phase 1 identified key challenges and areas for improvement across postgraduate medical training, including for foundation training, alongside what currently works well. The Phase 1 diagnostic report can be found at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/the-medical-training-review-phase-1-diagnostic-report/Phase 2, which is already underway, will involve working with a wide range of stakeholders across the system to design a package of reform.NHS England is also conducting a review of the Preference Informed Allocation (PIA) method, which was introduced in 2024 as the process for allocating applicants to the UK Foundation Programme to foundation schools. Timelines for Phase 2 of the postgraduate medical training review and the PIA review will be confirmed in due course.

What estimate his Department has made of the change in the proportion of NHS GP's that are female between 2015 and 2025.

The following table shows the proportion of female full-time equivalent (FTE) general practitioners (GPs) between September 2015 and September 2025, broken down by GP role:GP typeSeptember 2015 (%)September 2025 (%)Change (%)All doctors in GPs46.152.86.7GP partners36.942.45.5Salaried GPs65.965.7-0.2GPs in training grades60.252.8-7.5GP retainers89.876.3-13.4GP regular locums33.646.212.5Notes:data includes estimates for practices that did not provide fully valid staff records;data does not include doctors employed by primary care networks;FTE refers to the proportion of full time contracted hours that the post holder is contracted to work. One would indicate they work a full set of hours, 37.5 hours, and 0.5 that they worked half time. For GPs in training grade contracts, one FTE equals 40 hours, and in this table these FTEs have been converted to the standard Workforce Minimum Data Set measure of one FTE being equal to 37.5 hours for consistency; andfigures shown do not include staff working in prisons, army bases, educational establishments, specialist care centres, including drug rehabilitation centres, walk-in centres, and other alternative settings outside of traditional practice, such as urgent treatment centres and minor injury units.

What steps he is taking to (a) fund research into and (b) help reduce the number of live births with at least one congenital condition.

The Department, through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), commissions a range of research to improve neonatal health outcomes.For example, The NIHR recently funded a project which investigated whether artificial intelligence (AI) could help to identify heart conditions in babies, before birth. The study found that AI assistance in the routine foetal anomaly ultrasound scan results in significant time savings, and a reduction in sonographer cognitive load, without a reduction in diagnostic performance.In addition, the NIHR is currently funding a £2.68 million study to improve maternal and infant outcomes in pregnant women with epilepsy through early identification of women and their babies at risk of complications and ensuring timely specialist epilepsy input with evidence-based information on the risks-benefits of their treatment. This study will therefore assess the longer-term effects of newer anti-epileptic drugs on children’s development to inform pregnant women and promote safe anti-epileptic drug use.The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including research on congenital conditions.The 10-Year Health Plan addresses common causes of congenital anomalies including plans to address smoking, end the obesity epidemic, and tackle harmful alcohol consumption. The 10-Year Health Plan is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/10-year-health-plan-for-england-fit-for-the-futureThe plan includes proposals for universal newborn genomic testing, subject to evidence from the Generation Study. This study is assessing the use of whole genome sequencing to screen 100,000 newborns for over 200 rare genetic conditions, with more than 15,000 families enrolled so far. Sequencing will complete by summer 2027, after which the findings will be evaluated and considered by the UK National Screening Committee. Subject to evidence and funding, genomic testing could be available to all newborns by 2035. The Saving Babies’ Lives Care Bundle includes evidence-based interventions to address common causes of congenital anomalies such as smoking, fetal growth restriction, preterm birth, and management of diabetes in pregnancy. Further information on the bundle is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/saving-babies-lives-version-3-2/In addition, from December 2026, non-wholemeal wheat flour will be fortified with folic acid. It is estimated that this will reduce neural tube defect rates by approximately 20% in the United Kingdom. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/folic-acid

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Multi-Specialty Recruitment Assessment process on UK residents seeking GP employment compared to overseas applicants.

No specific assessment has been made. The UK National Recruitment Board, which oversees specialty training on behalf of the four United Kingdom health departments, has governance processes which determine whether the Multi-Specialty Recruitment Assessment is used by a specialty in their selection processes, and how.NHS England will consider the future shape and delivery model for selection assessments beyond 2027.

How many children were born with rare diseases as identified by the National Congenital Anomaly and Rare Disease Registration Service in each of the last ten years.

The National Congenital Condition and Rare Disease Registration Service (NCARDRS), part of the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS), was established in 2015 and collects data on individuals with congenital and rare conditions in England. There are over 7,000 known rare diseases, many of which present after birth rather than at delivery, and for this reason the NDRS does not produce an annual count of ‘children born with rare diseases’.The NDRS does publish official statistics on the birth prevalence of congenital conditions for England, the vast majority of which are rare diseases, with further information available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/ncardrs-congenital-anomaly-statistics-annual-data/ncardrs-congenital-condition-statistics-report-2022The following table shows NDRS reported national data for England on the number of children born with rare diseases as identified by the NCARDRS for the past five years, covering births between 2018 to 2022:YearNumber of live births with at least one congenital conditionLive birth prevalence of at least one congenital condition per 10,000 live births202210,856188.1 [95% CI 184.6-191.7]202110,119169.2 [95% CI 165.9-172.5]20209,763166.3 [95% 163.0 -169.6]20199,770159.5 [156.3-162.7]20189,836157.2 [154.1-160.3] Although the reported live birth prevalence of congenital conditions appears to increase over time, this pattern is most likely due to continued improvements in national dataflows, case ascertainment, and completeness as the NCARDRS matures, rather than a genuine rise in the underlying prevalence of these conditions.The NDRS also publishes prevalence estimates for certain rare conditions where data completeness permits, with further information available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrs/data/data-outputs/rare-condition-registration-statisticsWe are continuing to expand and standardise national rare disease registration in England through the introduction of the national Rare Disease Data Set, which is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrs/data/data-sets/rdds

What his planned timetable is for amending the General Medical Council’s regulatory framework.

The Government is committed to modernising the regulatory frameworks for all healthcare professionals in the United Kingdom.As a first step, we aim to consult on secondary legislation to modernise the General Medical Council’s regulatory framework shortly and to lay this legislation before Parliament this year.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the change in the bowel screening age to 50 on rates of diagnosis of prostate cancer.

This Government is committed to improving cancer screening services in line with the National Cancer Plan and as part of the 10-Year Health Plan’s shift from treatment to prevention. The Department has not made an assessment of the potential impact of lowering bowel cancer screening age to 50 years old on prostate cancer diagnoses as these are two separate conditions.The Government is advised on all screening matters by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent scientific advisory committee which is made up of leading medical and screening experts. Where the Committee is confident that to offer screening provides more good than harm, they recommend a screening programme.The National Health Service’s bowel screening programme in England was recently extended from people aged between 60 and 74 years old to those aged between 50 and 74 years old. This aligns with the evidence of where the screening programme can do the most good with the least harm caused. Harm can include increased anxiety, misdiagnosis, over diagnosis, where unnecessary and invasive follow up tests are offered, or unnecessary treatment.Bowel cancer screening uses home tests called the Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT). FIT test was introduced into the bowel screening pathway with a sensitivity threshold of 120 micrograms per gram. The screening programme is currently in the process of improving the FIT sensitivity by moving it to 80 micrograms per gram. This will be rolled out gradually by 2028, to ensure colonoscopy capacity required is available.When FIT80 is fully rolled out, an additional 700 bowel cancers and 2000 pre-cancerous polyps will be detected per year.

What funding has been allocated in the next financial year to assist research into prosopagnosia.

The Department invests over £1.6 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).No funding for the next financial year has allocated specifically to prosopagnosia. However, the NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including prosopagnosia. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.https://www.nihr.ac.uk/get-involved/suggest-a-research-topic

What changes have been introduced to postgraduate medical education as a result of the review published in October 2025.

Phase 1 of the Medical Training Review identified key challenges and areas for improvement across postgraduate medical training, alongside what currently works well. Bottlenecks in postgraduate medical training were identified as a continuing concern for resident doctors and medical graduates. The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026, which became an Act of Parliament on 5 March 2026, seeks to address these bottlenecks and prioritises United Kingdom medical graduates for foundation training and UK graduates and other doctors with significant experience working in the National Health Service for specialty training.Phase 2 of the Medical Training Review is already underway and will involve working with a wide range of stakeholders across the UK to design a package of reform.

How best practice in the roll out of fracture liaison services in England is being shared with the devolved institutions.

The Falls and Fragility Fracture Audit Programme, which includes a dedicated Fracture Liaison Service database, is a clinical audit of fracture prevention care, delivered by the Royal College of Physicians.The Fracture Liaison Service database collects, measures, and reports on the care provided by Fracture Liaison Services in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It captures data that NHS datasets are not designed to record, providing key insight across these nations.Fracture Liaison Services in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland report into the database. The Royal College of Physicians publishes an annual report on Fracture Liaison Services in England and Wales.

What steps his Department are taking to support people who have requested help and information on detransitioning.

We are working with NHS England to implement the recommendations from the Cass Review to ensure everyone gets the high-quality care they need. This includes setting up a clinical pathway and provision for people considering detransition. Following engagement with those with lived experience, on 30 October 2025, NHS England published a call for evidence on a clinical pathway for adults who have previously undergone a gender transition and who wish to detransition to bring together professional opinion. The call for evidence closed on 28 December 2025. NHS England is considering all relevant feedback that was submitted. It will collate views, evidence, and insights into a summary evidence report. NHS England will use this evidence, together with other intelligence and further engagement, to begin to define a clinical pathway which will be tested through further stakeholder engagement and public consultation later this year. While we work to establish this clinical pathway, patients who need the support of the NHS are encouraged to speak directly with healthcare professionals, including GPs and mental health services.

What progress NHS England has made on its review of the UK Foundation programme.

The Government’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty, and the former National Medical Director at NHS England, Professor Stephen Powis, have led the Medical Training Review to understand current challenges and identify key areas for potential improvements in postgraduate medical education, which includes the UK Foundation Programme. Phase one of the review was published in October 2025.