Written questions by Morgan.

How many midwives who started working in the NHS in England in the last ten years stopped working for the NHS after i) one, ii) two, iii) three and iv) five years.

Staff working in the National Health Service can leave active service, or undertake planned breaks in service, for a wide range of reasons, for example for further training, for periods of maternity or paternity leave, for career breaks, or to move to services in other regions of the United Kingdom, and when leaving NHS employment may be moving to wider health and social care sector roles. This means an assessment of the length of employment to date of staff leaving active service in the NHS may not reflect the rate of staff exiting the NHS completely. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) publishes statistics as part of its biannual registration data reports on the number of midwives leaving the professional register by time length of time since first registration with the NMC. This information is included in the worksheet “Time-leavers” in the file “UK permanent register tables”, at the following link:https://www.nmc.org.uk/about-us/reports-and-accounts/registration-statistics/This data gives a picture of midwives who are relinquishing their licence to practice completely and shows no evidence over the past six years of increasing rates of leavers with between one and five years since initial registration.

How many midwives started working in the NHS in England in each of the last ten years.

NHS England publishes Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics for England. This covers staff working for hospital trusts and integrated care in England. This data is drawn from the Electronic Staff Record, the human resources system for the National Health Service. The published data includes information on the turnover of staff, including the number of staff who have joined active service in the preceding 12 months. This information can be found in the file NHS HCHS Workforce Statistics, Turnover – data tables, at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics/february-2026Joiners are defined as any member of staff who was not active in the workforce 12 months previously who is present in the latest workforce data, hence joiners may include staff who are returning from longer periods of unpaid leave as well as those newly recruited, who may have been working in other health and social care settings previously.

How many patients were removed from NHS elective waiting lists through unreported removals, administrative methods and other means of validation in each month in the last two years.

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.

How many people graduated as midwives in each of the last ten years.

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.

How responsibility for workforce planning and advanced specialist surgical training will be managed following the abolition of NHS England.

The importance of maintaining pipeline supply and capabilities in the specialist surgical workforce is recognised within the legacy functions of NHS England that the Government intends to transfer into the Department.Work has commenced to ensure oversight and assurance of a number of specialist areas of practice, including selected Training Interface Group programmes, working with regions, specialised commissioning teams, and national stakeholders to ensure adequate numbers of trained consultants with the required skills.

If he has issued guidance to integrated care boards about the funding of notional rent for new or extended premises.

The Premises Costs Directions (PCDs) are directions to NHS England from my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in relation to reimbursements of certain costs, incurred by General Medical Services contractors, relating to their practice premises, principally notional rent or rent reimbursement, and some day-to-day running costs. The regulations set out the conditions of contractors’ eligibility for notional rent reimbursement, including considerations when there have been premises development or improvement.The PCDs also provide a mechanism to fund and deliver general practice premises improvements, in the form of grants from commissioners to build extensions and carry out renovations, subject to discretion and available budget.

What assessment he has made of the financial and logistical burdens on families of children with severe forms of epidermolysis bullosa who are required to travel long distances to EB Healthcare Centres of Excellence.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact on coordinated specialist surgical training programmes, including Training Interface Group fellowships, of the transfer of NHS England functions into the Department of Health and Social Care.

The importance of maintaining pipeline supply and capabilities in the specialist surgical workforce is recognised within the legacy functions of NHS England that the Government intends to transfer into the Department.Work has commenced to ensure oversight and assurance of a number of specialist areas of practice, including selected Training Interface Group programmes, working with regions, specialised commissioning teams, and national stakeholders to ensure adequate numbers of trained consultants with the required skills.

How many new or extended primary care premises have been funded by integrated care boards in England in each of the last five financial years.

Data on new or extended primary care premises that have been funded by integrated care boards in England in each of the last five financial years is not held centrally.The Premises Costs Directions (PCDs) are directions to NHS England from my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which provide a mechanism for the National Health Service to fund and deliver premises improvements, in the form of grants from commissioners to build extensions and carry out renovations, subject to discretion and available budget. They also allow reimbursements of certain costs incurred by General Medical Services contractors, relating to their practice premises, principally notional rent or rent reimbursement, and some day-to-day running costs.

If he will publish the referral network map for specialist centres for placenta accreta spectrum disorder.

Integrated care boards are leading on commissioning specialised placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) centres within their geographies. Clinicians will advise women under their care on referral routes to PAS centres. There are currently no plans to publish a referral network map for specialist PAS centres.To ensure effective diagnosis and management of PAS, national guidance is provided within the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidance and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ Placenta Praevia and Placenta Accreta: Diagnosis and Management (Green-top Guideline No. 27a) guidance, both of which are available, respectively, at the following two links:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng192/documents/draft-guideline-2https://www.rcog.org.uk/guidance/browse-all-guidance/green-top-guidelines/placenta-praevia-and-placenta-accreta-diagnosis-and-management-green-top-guideline-no-27a/No assessment has been made of the gap between diagnosed and actual incidence of placenta accreta spectrum disorder.

What the forecast spend on notional rent is in each integrated care board area for each of the next five financial years.

We are interpreting this question to pertain to general practice (GP) rent reimbursement. Spending forecasts for notional rent reimbursements to GP contractors for each integrated care board area over the next five years are not held centrally.GP partners, as independent contractors, occupy, as freeholders or leaseholders, suitable premises from which the partnership delivers GP services. GP contractors are entitled to financial assistance or reimbursement of premises costs, including notional or lease rent, business rates, water rates, and clinical waste disposal.The Premises Costs Directions are directions to NHS England from my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in relation to reimbursements of certain costs, incurred by General Medical Services contractors, relating to their practice premises, principally notional rent or rent reimbursement, and some day-to-day running costs. They also provide a mechanism to fund and deliver premises improvements, in the form of grants from commissioners to build extensions and carry out renovations, subject to discretion and available budget.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of ending funding for the international Pandemic Fund on future pandemic resilience.

While the UK is not investing further in the Pandemic Fund, we remain committed to building pandemic prevention, preparedness and response capability in partnership with developing countries, including through our other multilateral investments - such as in the World Health Organisation, Gavi and the Global Fund - and our diplomatic engagement.An Equality Impact Assessment of Official Development Assistance programme allocations for 2026-2027 to 2028-2029 was published on 19 March 2026, and is available on GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fcdo-official-development-assistance-programme-allocations-2026-2027-to-2028-2029-equality-impact-assessment).

How many NHS England employees there (a) are and (b) were on 13 March 2025; and what estimate he has made of the number of NHS England employees there will be following the first round of the voluntary redundancy scheme.

There were 17,517 full-time equivalent posts within NHS England at the end of March 2025, 2,484 of which were vacant. At the end of April 2026, there were 13,940 staff in post in NHS England. NHS England ran a voluntary redundancy scheme in December 2025 with staff leaving over a staggered profile. The final number of staff who leave under the voluntary redundancy scheme will not be known until all those exiting have left.

What criteria a hospital must meet to be designated as an accredited specialist centre for placenta accreta spectrum disorder; and what assessment process is used to verify compliance with those criteria.

Integrated care boards are leading on commissioning specialised placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) centres within their geographies. Clinicians will advise women under their care on referral routes to PAS centres. There are currently no plans to publish a referral network map for specialist PAS centres.To ensure effective diagnosis and management of PAS, national guidance is provided within the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidance and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ Placenta Praevia and Placenta Accreta: Diagnosis and Management (Green-top Guideline No. 27a) guidance, both of which are available, respectively, at the following two links:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng192/documents/draft-guideline-2https://www.rcog.org.uk/guidance/browse-all-guidance/green-top-guidelines/placenta-praevia-and-placenta-accreta-diagnosis-and-management-green-top-guideline-no-27a/No assessment has been made of the gap between diagnosed and actual incidence of placenta accreta spectrum disorder.

How much his Department has spent on external consultants for the ongoing reorganisation of the NHS since 2024.

Awaiting answer.

Whether his Department holds guidance on histopathological examination of retained placenta to identify undiagnosed placenta accreta spectrum disorder.

Integrated care boards are leading on commissioning specialised placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) centres within their geographies. Clinicians will advise women under their care on referral routes to PAS centres. There are currently no plans to publish a referral network map for specialist PAS centres.To ensure effective diagnosis and management of PAS, national guidance is provided within the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidance and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ Placenta Praevia and Placenta Accreta: Diagnosis and Management (Green-top Guideline No. 27a) guidance, both of which are available, respectively, at the following two links:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng192/documents/draft-guideline-2https://www.rcog.org.uk/guidance/browse-all-guidance/green-top-guidelines/placenta-praevia-and-placenta-accreta-diagnosis-and-management-green-top-guideline-no-27a/No assessment has been made of the gap between diagnosed and actual incidence of placenta accreta spectrum disorder.

What assessment he has made of the causes of trends in the level of postpartum haemorrhage rates among mothers.

Significant improvements in data coverage and data quality over recent years mean that many more National Health Service trusts are submitting more complete birth and postpartum haemorrhage information to the Maternity Services Data Set. The increased levels in postpartum haemorrhage rates may therefore be influenced by this improvement in reporting, in addition to any rise in clinical incidents.NHS England is working to improve the timely clinical response to obstetric haemorrhage through the Maternal Care Bundle, which aims to improve the management of haemorrhage through timely identification, escalation, and response to obstetric bleeding, along with ongoing, multidisciplinary review and learning.

What assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the difference between diagnosed and actual incidence of placenta accreta spectrum disorder.

Integrated care boards are leading on commissioning specialised placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) centres within their geographies. Clinicians will advise women under their care on referral routes to PAS centres. There are currently no plans to publish a referral network map for specialist PAS centres.To ensure effective diagnosis and management of PAS, national guidance is provided within the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidance and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ Placenta Praevia and Placenta Accreta: Diagnosis and Management (Green-top Guideline No. 27a) guidance, both of which are available, respectively, at the following two links:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng192/documents/draft-guideline-2https://www.rcog.org.uk/guidance/browse-all-guidance/green-top-guidelines/placenta-praevia-and-placenta-accreta-diagnosis-and-management-green-top-guideline-no-27a/No assessment has been made of the gap between diagnosed and actual incidence of placenta accreta spectrum disorder.

If he will take steps to improve staff training for health professionals on the treatment of care experienced patients.

Awaiting answer.

What steps he is taking to ensure accurate recording of care experienced patients.

Awaiting answer.