Every parliamentary written question tabled by Helen Maguire this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 41–60 of 356 · Department of Health and Social Care
Whether decisions on mandatory and additional General Ophthalmic Services contract fees are subject to an Equality Impact Assessment.
Decisions on mandatory and additional General Ophthalmic Services contract fees are informed by an Equality Impact Assessment, in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty.
Whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of including eligibility for an NHS sight test in the GP learning disability annual health check programme.
Free National Health Service sight tests are provided by community optometrists to eligible groups, including children, people aged 60 years old and over, people on low incomes, and those at risk of diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma.Children and young people with learning disabilities and/or autism are also eligible for free NHS sight tests, where integrated care boards are commissioning a service within a special educational setting.Adults may qualify under existing exemptions, including being in receipt of income-related benefits or through the NHS low-income scheme.
What funding is currently available to Integrated Care Boards to deliver community‑level engagement programmes aimed at increasing awareness and early detection of prostate cancer in high‑risk groups.
While the Department does not ring-fence integrated care board (ICB) funding exclusively for prostate cancer public awareness campaigns, community-level engagement programmes aimed at increasing awareness and early detection are supported via broader communication programmes, working in partnership with charities and local Cancer Alliances.To increase knowledge of cancer symptoms, and to address barriers to acting on them, the National Health Service has run Help Us Help You campaigns. These campaigns focused on recognising a range of symptoms, as well as encouraging body awareness, to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers, including prostate cancer, at an earlier stage. NHS England and other NHS organisations, nationally and locally, publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including prostate cancer. This information can be found at sources including the NHS website, which is available at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/The National Cancer Plan, published in February 2026, is backed by significant funding committed by the Government at the Spending Review, including £200 million next year for local Cancer Alliances. Alliances are encouraged to allocate a proportion of this funding to the delivery of local early diagnosis plans, to drive progress on data-led priorities. This can include work to support the diagnosis of prostate cancer, but it will vary by alliance depending on local need. In 2025/26, several alliances have undertaken work to support awareness and earlier diagnosis of prostate cancer.
What steps his Department is taking to help increase awareness of PICA.
No assessment has been made on implementing National Health Service support pathways for PICA. For adults and children, individuals presenting with PICA are assessed and supported according to their individual clinical needs and circumstances. In most cases, care is arranged locally through services commissioned by NHS integrated care boards.The Government is focused on strengthening support for people with eating disorders more broadly, including through new national guidance for children and young people’s eating disorder services, improving early identification and intervention, and ensuring staff across mental and physical health services have the training needed to recognise and respond safely to eating disorders wherever people present.
What assessment his Department has made of implementing NHS support pathways for PICA.
No assessment has been made on implementing National Health Service support pathways for PICA. For adults and children, individuals presenting with PICA are assessed and supported according to their individual clinical needs and circumstances. In most cases, care is arranged locally through services commissioned by NHS integrated care boards.The Government is focused on strengthening support for people with eating disorders more broadly, including through new national guidance for children and young people’s eating disorder services, improving early identification and intervention, and ensuring staff across mental and physical health services have the training needed to recognise and respond safely to eating disorders wherever people present.
What assessment he has made of the potential merits of integrating reforms to the Carr-Hill Formula with the GMS contract.
The first phase of the Carr-Hill review is expected to conclude in March 2026. Subject to ministerial decision, further work would be undertaken to technically develop and model any proposed changes to the formula. Findings from the review will be published in due course by the National Institute for Health and Care Research. Members of Parliament will be updated once the review findings are available.Implementation of any new funding approach would be subject to ministerial decision and consultation with the General Practice Committee for England of the British Medical Association, in the context of the available funding and our commitment to substantively reform the General Medical Services Contract within this Parliament.
With reference to the Design for Life roadmap, how much equipment has been diverted from waste since the roadmap was launched.
NHS England has been working on reducing waste and its associated carbon since publication of the NHS Clinical Waste Strategy in 2023.NHS England’s Estates Returns Information Collection (ERIC) is a mandatory annual data collection for all National Health Service trusts in England that captures waste metrics in waste type tonnages and not specific items of waste. ERIC figures to 2025 show a reduction of 41,000 tonnes of carbon.The latest reporting year, 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, which covers the period during which the Design for Life Roadmap was launched, in October 2024, saw a reduction of 10,000 tonnes of carbon from waste.To supplement this work, since publication of the roadmap, the Department has conducted a series of pilots across a range of different medical products and equipment, with most demonstrating waste savings, in carbon terms, from switching to reusable alternatives. The full report can be found on the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare’s website, who were our partner on these pilots, at the following link:https://sustainablehealthcare.org.uk/activity/reusable-medtech-in-the-nhs-pioneering-sustainable-healthcare/.The Department is building on this work with a dedicated Priority Adoption Working Group, which includes clinical and procurement professionals, to identify the products with the strongest case for safe, immediate transitions to reusables across the NHS, to drive further waste, and cost, savings at scale. NHS England is supporting this work, alongside its own initiatives to reduce the overuse of products and waste. For example, through the Five years of a greener NHS: progress and forward look, the NHS has committed to reduce single-use glove and gown use by 25% by 2030, with further information available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/five-years-greener-nhs-progress-forward-look/
How many NHS services were outsourced to private contracts in Surrey in each year between 2022 and 2025.
Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning local National Health Services and contracting with providers, including in Surrey. Information is not routinely collected by the Department on the number of services outsourced to private providers in Surrey.
How many health visitors were employed by the NHS in England in each year since 2020.
The number of health visitors working in National Health Service trusts and other core organisations in England is published monthly by NHS England as part of their NHS Workforce Statistics Collection. The data can be found in the link below within the file: NHS HCHS Workforce Statistics, Trusts and core organisations - data tables, December 2025, at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics/december-2025Within this Excel file, the relevant information can be found in Tab 6, titled Nurses and Health Visitors, Midwives and Support to Doctors, Nurses and Midwives by Staff Group, Care Setting and Level – Full Time Equivalent (FTE) and Headcount.The data includes staff employed by NHS trusts and other core NHS organisations and will therefore exclude staff directly employed by primary care, general practitioner surgeries, local authorities, and other providers such as community interest companies and private providers.Local authorities have been responsible for commissioning health visiting services since 2015. These services may be commissioned from NHS trusts as well as other providers. The Department does not hold staffing information for non-NHS providers.
What percentage of NHS funding was spent on private contacts in each year between 2022 and 2025.
The table attached shows the overview and breakdown of National Health Service spending on non-NHS providers from 2022/23 to 2024/25. The table is taken from the House of Commons Research Briefing on NHS funding and expenditure, using data from the Department’s Care Annual Reports and Accounts, with further information available at the following link:https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN00724/SN00724.pdf#
With reference to the Design for Life roadmap, what progress has been made in reducing NHS equipment wastage.
NHS England has been working on reducing waste and its associated carbon since publication of the NHS Clinical Waste Strategy in 2023.NHS England’s Estates Returns Information Collection (ERIC) is a mandatory annual data collection for all National Health Service trusts in England that captures waste metrics in waste type tonnages and not specific items of waste. ERIC figures to 2025 show a reduction of 41,000 tonnes of carbon.The latest reporting year, 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, which covers the period during which the Design for Life Roadmap was launched, in October 2024, saw a reduction of 10,000 tonnes of carbon from waste.To supplement this work, since publication of the roadmap, the Department has conducted a series of pilots across a range of different medical products and equipment, with most demonstrating waste savings, in carbon terms, from switching to reusable alternatives. The full report can be found on the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare’s website, who were our partner on these pilots, at the following link:https://sustainablehealthcare.org.uk/activity/reusable-medtech-in-the-nhs-pioneering-sustainable-healthcare/.The Department is building on this work with a dedicated Priority Adoption Working Group, which includes clinical and procurement professionals, to identify the products with the strongest case for safe, immediate transitions to reusables across the NHS, to drive further waste, and cost, savings at scale. NHS England is supporting this work, alongside its own initiatives to reduce the overuse of products and waste. For example, through the Five years of a greener NHS: progress and forward look, the NHS has committed to reduce single-use glove and gown use by 25% by 2030, with further information available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/five-years-greener-nhs-progress-forward-look/
What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the pausing of Shared Care Agreements for ADHD on patients.
Shared care within the National Health Service refers to a voluntary arrangement whereby a specialist may transfer responsibility for aspects of a patient’s care, such as prescription of medication, to the patient’s general practitioner (GP). Decisions regarding shared care agreements are made locally, and the General Medical Council has made it clear that GPs are not contractually obliged to enter shared care agreements and may decline requests on clinical or capacity grounds. No specific assessment has been made of the effectiveness of shared care agreements with independent sector providers for patients prescribed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication. NHS England established an ADHD taskforce bringing together people with lived experience with experts from across sectors to better understand the challenges in accessing timely and equitable support. In addition, on 4 December 2025 my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, announced an independent review into the prevalence and support for mental health conditions, ADHD, and autism, which will inform our approach to ensuring appropriate support is in place.
What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Shared Care Agreements for patients prescribed ADHD medication by an independent sector provider under a) NHS Right to Choose and b) privately funded arrangements.
Shared care within the National Health Service refers to a voluntary arrangement whereby a specialist may transfer responsibility for aspects of a patient’s care, such as prescription of medication, to the patient’s general practitioner (GP). Decisions regarding shared care agreements are made locally, and the General Medical Council has made it clear that GPs are not contractually obliged to enter shared care agreements and may decline requests on clinical or capacity grounds. No specific assessment has been made of the effectiveness of shared care agreements with independent sector providers for patients prescribed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication. NHS England established an ADHD taskforce bringing together people with lived experience with experts from across sectors to better understand the challenges in accessing timely and equitable support. In addition, on 4 December 2025 my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, announced an independent review into the prevalence and support for mental health conditions, ADHD, and autism, which will inform our approach to ensuring appropriate support is in place.
With reference to the GP Contract 2026/27, how many more GPs are needed to fulfil the contract obligation that patients deemed clinically urgent must be dealt with on the same day.
As a result of actions taken by the Government, we have the highest number of fully qualified general practitioners (GPs) since 2015. As of 31 December, there are also over 43,000 full time equivalent direct patient care staff working in GPs. We are investing £485 million in GPs in 2026/27, bringing the total spend on the GP Contract to over £13.8 billion. This builds on the £1.1 billion boost in investment in 2025/26. Following feedback from the 2026/27 GP Contract consultation, we are introducing a practice-level GP reimbursement scheme which ringfences and repurposes £292 million of funding from the current Capacity and Access Payment. This funding will be available to practices to hire additional GPs or fund additional sessions from existing GPs to support clinical same day urgent access in GPs. This aims to strengthen capacity, access, and improve patient satisfaction, whilst also addressing GP unemployment and underemployment. As part of the 2026/27 GP Contract, we are increasing the flexibility of the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) by removing the restriction that ARRS funding can only be used for recently qualified GPs, increasing the maximum reimbursement amount for GP roles to reflect experience, and enabling primary care networks to recruit a broader range of ARRS roles, where agreed with the commissioner. We are not defining “clinically urgent” from the centre. GP staff are trained and experienced in recognising which patients need to be seen quickly.
With reference to the GP Contract 2026/27, what cost benefit analysis his Department conducted in relation to the bonus GP practices in England will be paid to prescribe patients weight loss drugs.
The 2026/27 GP Contract introduces new incentives through the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) for general practitioners to prescribe weight loss drugs. At this stage, the Department has not made quantified estimates of net costs to the National Health Service over one-, five- or ten-year periods specifically attributable to these QOF indicators. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s technology appraisal considered the clinical effectiveness and cost effectiveness of tirzepatide at a population level, and the QOF changes are intended to support appropriate implementation of that guidance. QOF is an established lever for supporting the roll out of evidence-based care in general practice. Data gathered through QOF this year will be used to understand the impact of the new QOF obesity indicators on patient pathways and service use, and this evidence may inform future assessment of costs and benefits over time.
With reference to the bonus GP practices in England will be paid to prescribe patients weight loss drugs, what estimate his Department has made of the expected level of potential savings for the NHS over a one year, five year and 10 year period.
The 2026/27 GP Contract introduces new incentives through the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) for general practitioners to prescribe weight loss drugs. At this stage, the Department has not made quantified estimates of net costs to the National Health Service over one-, five- or ten-year periods specifically attributable to these QOF indicators. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s technology appraisal considered the clinical effectiveness and cost effectiveness of tirzepatide at a population level, and the QOF changes are intended to support appropriate implementation of that guidance. QOF is an established lever for supporting the roll out of evidence-based care in general practice. Data gathered through QOF this year will be used to understand the impact of the new QOF obesity indicators on patient pathways and service use, and this evidence may inform future assessment of costs and benefits over time.
With reference to the GP Contract 2026/27, what estimate his Department has made of the level of cost savings for the NHS in relation to the bonus GP practices in England will be paid to prescribe patients weight loss drugs.
The 2026/27 GP Contract introduces new incentives through the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) for general practitioners to prescribe weight loss drugs. At this stage, the Department has not made quantified estimates of net costs to the National Health Service over one-, five- or ten-year periods specifically attributable to these QOF indicators. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s technology appraisal considered the clinical effectiveness and cost effectiveness of tirzepatide at a population level, and the QOF changes are intended to support appropriate implementation of that guidance. QOF is an established lever for supporting the roll out of evidence-based care in general practice. Data gathered through QOF this year will be used to understand the impact of the new QOF obesity indicators on patient pathways and service use, and this evidence may inform future assessment of costs and benefits over time.
What estimate his Department has made of the number of GPs that will be needed to ensure that patients deemed clinically urgent are dealt with on the same day.
As a result of actions taken by the Government, we have the highest number of fully qualified general practitioners (GPs) since 2015. As of 31 December, there are also over 43,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) direct patient care staff working in GPs. We are investing £485 million into GPs in 2026/27, bringing the total spend on the GP Contract to over £13.8 billion. This builds on the £1.1 billion boost in investment in 2025/26. Following feedback from the 2026/27 GP Contract consultation, we are introducing a practice-level GP reimbursement scheme which ringfences and repurposes £292 million of funding from the current Capacity and Access Payment. This funding will be available to practices to hire additional GPs or fund additional sessions from existing GPs to support clinical same day urgent access in GPs. This aims to strengthen capacity, access, and improve patient satisfaction, whilst also addressing GP unemployment and underemployment. As part of the 26/27 GP Contract, we are increasing the flexibility of the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) by removing the restriction that ARRS funding can only be used for recently qualified GPs, increasing the maximum reimbursement amount for GP roles to reflect experience, and enabling primary care networks to recruit a broader range of ARRS roles, where agreed with the commissioner. We are not defining “clinically urgent” from the centre. GP staff are trained and experienced in recognising which patients need to be seen quickly.
What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of paying GPs a bonus to prescribe patients weight loss drugs on savings to the NHS over a (a) one, (b) five year and (c) 10 year period.
The 2026/27 GP Contract introduces new incentives through the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) for general practitioners to prescribe weight loss drugs. At this stage, the Department has not made quantified estimates of net costs to the National Health Service over one-, five- or ten-year periods specifically attributable to these QOF indicators. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s technology appraisal considered the clinical effectiveness and cost‑effectiveness of tirzepatide at a population level, and the QOF changes are intended to support appropriate implementation of that guidance. QOF is an established lever for supporting the roll out of evidence-based care in general practice. Data gathered through QOF this year will be used to understand the impact of the new QOF obesity indicators on patient pathways and service use, and this evidence may inform future assessment of costs and benefits over time.
What steps his Department is taking to help support community pharmacies from the potential impact of changes to the living wage, national insurance and business rates.
The Government recognises that pharmacies are an integral ‘front door’ to the National Health Service, staffed by highly trained and skilled healthcare professionals.In 2025/26, funding for the core community pharmacy contractual framework has been increased to £3.073 billion. This represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the NHS, over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. Additional funding is also available, for example for pharmacies delivering Pharmacy First consultations and flu and COVID-19 vaccinations.The Department will shortly consult with Community Pharmacy England on any proposed changes to reimbursement and remuneration of pharmacy contractors for 2026/27. As part of this we will consider financial pressures on the sector.