Written questions by Morgan.

How many assaults on staff in NHS A&E departments have been recorded each year since 2019.

The 2025 NHS staff survey showed that 14.47% of staff experienced at least one incidence of violence in the last 12 months from patients and/or service users, their relatives, or other members of the public, compared to 14.38% in 2024, 13.88% in 2023, 14.82% in 2022, 14.57% in 2021, 14.90% in 2020, and 15.08% in 2019. Data taken from the NHS Staff Survey cannot, however, be used to identity whether an incident has occurred in a particular department.

Whether any of NHS England's responsibilities or functions have been fully transferred to the Department of Health and Social Care since the announcement of NHS England abolition in March 2025.

The Government intends to abolish NHS England by April 2027. NHS England responsibilities and functions will not be transferred into the restructured Department until the passage of the legislation is complete, subject to the will of Parliament. Work is progressing at pace to develop the design and operating model for the new integrated organisation, to plan for the smooth transfer of people, functions, and responsibilities.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the NHS England voluntary redundancy scheme on its ability to deliver its functions.

The NHS England voluntary redundancy scheme was launched in December 2025, with staff able to submit applications. Following closure of the window for applications, there has been a considered and risk-based approvals process to determine whether applications can be approved or not, and if approved, at what point it is appropriate for the individual to exit the organisation and the post to become redundant.Considerations included the impact on business-critical activities and functions, the impact on staff remaining in the organisation, and the likelihood that similar skills would be needed in the future. Local panels were held at the directorate and regional level to consider applications, and there was a national moderation and approval process for the entirety of the scheme. In many cases, exit dates were agreed into 2026/27 to ensure that redesign and mitigations could be put in place ahead of departure.As part of planning for 2026/27, NHS England is undertaking a planning process to ensure that the resources at its disposal are focussed on our key priorities and statutory duties, taking into account staff exits ahead of the financial year, and at quarterly intervals during the year. This process is taking place at an organisational level, as well as within each directorate and region.

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.

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

How many NHS England employees have opted to take the voluntary redundancy scheme commencing in April 2026.

NHS England’s voluntary redundancy scheme opened on 1 December and closed for applications on 16 December. NHS England has approved 3,671 employees to leave under voluntary redundancy prior to March 2027. Currently, 25% of the 1,106 employees identified to leave on 31 March 2026 have confirmed their desire to withdraw from the scheme. Employees can withdraw at any time up to signing their final severance agreement.

How many NHS England employees have resigned, transferred or otherwise terminated their employment at NHS England since the announcement of its abolition.

Since the announcement of NHS England’s abolition, 827 employees have left NHS England’s employment.

What steps he is taking to increase the use of call-before-you-convey by ambulance services and hospital trusts.

In the Urgent and Emergency Care Plan 2025/2026, ambulance services have been focusing on delivering a range of practical actions to improve performance in 2025/26, including; improving ambulance ‘hear and treat’ service rates with increasing the proportion of Category 2 ambulance incidents where an ambulance clinician provides advice and treatment over the phone; andreducing avoidable ambulance dispatches and conveyances by ensuring all Category 3 and 4 calls are clinically navigated, validated, and where appropriate, triaged in ambulance control centres, or in single points of access. All ambulance services have implemented call before you convey arrangements, to ensure crews can access senior clinical advice on scene and convey patients to an emergency department only where it is clinically appropriate. We are also expanding access to urgent community care services to support the reduction of unnecessary emergency department attendances and hospital admissions.

What steps he is taking to help ensure the safety of Community First Responders.

Community First Responders (CFRs) are volunteers trained by ambulance services to attend certain types of emergency calls in the communities where they live or work. Decisions on operational arrangements, including safety measures and equipment for CFRs, are determined locally by ambulance trusts.As a complementary resource, CFRs are dispatched only to those calls that appropriately fall within the clinical scope of practice for a volunteer CFR role and assessment of this takes both the safety of the volunteer and patient into account.My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, may, by regulations, make provisions for courses of training for driving vehicles at high speed. It is generally taken that those responding to incidents using blue lights and sirens are trained to an appropriate standard that is recognised by the despatching National Health Service ambulance service. The decision to authorise interested CFR and/or co-responder schemes to use blue lights and sirens and claim exemptions is for local determination by NHS ambulance services.The CFR scheme is designed so volunteers are typically located close to incidents requiring a response, meaning driving under emergency conditions would typically confer relatively little benefit compared with travelling at normal road speed. Any potential benefits must also be weighed against the increased risks to the public associated with using exemptions to road traffic regulations.

If he will make an assessment of the potential safety benefits of providing warning lights for vehicles used by Community First Responders.

Community First Responders (CFRs) are volunteers trained by ambulance services to attend certain types of emergency calls in the communities where they live or work. Decisions on operational arrangements, including safety measures and equipment for CFRs, are determined locally by ambulance trusts.As a complementary resource, CFRs are dispatched only to those calls that appropriately fall within the clinical scope of practice for a volunteer CFR role and assessment of this takes both the safety of the volunteer and patient into account.My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, may, by regulations, make provisions for courses of training for driving vehicles at high speed. It is generally taken that those responding to incidents using blue lights and sirens are trained to an appropriate standard that is recognised by the despatching National Health Service ambulance service. The decision to authorise interested CFR and/or co-responder schemes to use blue lights and sirens and claim exemptions is for local determination by NHS ambulance services.The CFR scheme is designed so volunteers are typically located close to incidents requiring a response, meaning driving under emergency conditions would typically confer relatively little benefit compared with travelling at normal road speed. Any potential benefits must also be weighed against the increased risks to the public associated with using exemptions to road traffic regulations.

What assessment he has made of trends in the number of year-on-year changes to hospital handover delays in (a) Shropshire (b) West Midlands and (c) England.

Shropshire is primarily served by the West Midlands Ambulance Service, along with the wider West Midlands region, where in January 2026 average hospital handovers took one hour, 20 minutes and 15 seconds, which is worse than the same period the year before.For England overall, the most recent National Health Service performance figures show that average ambulance handover delays have improved, falling to 37 minutes 39 seconds from 40 minutes 23 seconds, an improvement of over two and a half minutes from the same period last year.From 2023, NHS England has published data on hospital handover delays at acute and ambulance trust level. There is no published data on individual hospital handover times publicly available, so the Deptartment is unable to list the longest hospital handover times recorded. However, the 90th centile of handovers times are published monthly. The data can be found at the following two links:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mi-nhse-ambulance-handover-times-by-acute-trusthttps://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ambulance-quality-indicators/ambulance-quality-indicators-data-2025-26/

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of ambulance station closures on ambulance response times in (a) Shropshire (b) rural areas and (c) England.

No specific assessment has been made. Responsibility for the delivery, implementation, and funding decisions for services ultimately rests with the appropriate National Health Service commissioner. The West Midlands Ambulance Service have two hubs in Shropshire and no current plans to change that.Integrated care boards are best placed to work with and consult local health and care organisations, local authorities and local stakeholders to decide how to best deliver and meet their local population care needs and national targets for ambulance response times. The Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 commits to reducing ambulance response times for Category 2 incidents to 30 minutes on average this year.

If he will list the longest hospital handover time recorded in each ambulance service area of England in each January of the past five years.

Shropshire is primarily served by the West Midlands Ambulance Service, along with the wider West Midlands region, where in January 2026 average hospital handovers took one hour, 20 minutes and 15 seconds, which is worse than the same period the year before.For England overall, the most recent National Health Service performance figures show that average ambulance handover delays have improved, falling to 37 minutes 39 seconds from 40 minutes 23 seconds, an improvement of over two and a half minutes from the same period last year.From 2023, NHS England has published data on hospital handover delays at acute and ambulance trust level. There is no published data on individual hospital handover times publicly available, so the Deptartment is unable to list the longest hospital handover times recorded. However, the 90th centile of handovers times are published monthly. The data can be found at the following two links:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mi-nhse-ambulance-handover-times-by-acute-trusthttps://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ambulance-quality-indicators/ambulance-quality-indicators-data-2025-26/

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of corridor care on NHS workforce numbers.

Whilst no assessment has been made, the health and wellbeing of all National Health Service staff is a top priority. NHS organisations have a responsibility to create supportive working environments for staff, ensuring they have the conditions they need to thrive, including access to high quality health and wellbeing support. We recognise that periods of high demand can leave NHS staff feeling overworked and unsupported. The government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, including new staff standards focused on improving retention, flexible working and staff health and wellbeing.Corridor care refers to care delivered in non-designated clinical areas and is not an acceptable standard of care. We are committed to eliminating corridor care before the end of this Parliament.On 3 March 2026, NHS England wrote to NHS organisations, including trusts and integrated care boards, setting out a clear definition of corridor care and the additional actions required to eliminate it. This introduction of a clear national definition will enable trusts to collect and report consistent and validated data on corridor care, supporting transparency and system improvement. Subject to data quality, this information will be published monthly on the NHS England website from May 2026.Where corridor care cannot be avoided, updated national guidance has been issued to ensure patient safety, dignity and privacy are protected and to reduce impacts on patients and staff.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of care for people who have received dementia diagnoses, in the context of the contribution of (a) continued activity and (b) social engagement for slowing the progression of dementia.

The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). Therefore no central assessment has been made of the adequacy of care for people who have received dementia diagnoses in the context of the contribution of continued activity and social engagement for slowing the progression of dementia. We expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, and oversee the quality of the services they commission.We will deliver the first ever Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. The Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia will seek to reduce unwarranted variation and narrow inequality for those living with dementia and will set national standards for dementia care and redirect National Health Service priorities to provide the best possible care and support.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of moving data controller responsibilities from GPs to (a) NHS and (b) government bodies.

As set out in the Life Sciences Sector Plan, we will build on our programme of national public engagement on the use of health data and work with the system, including clinical staff, to move towards national and regional models of decision making for access to all National Health Service data for secondary uses, for instance data used for purposes beyond an individual’s care, for example planning NHS services and research. We will use a combination of policy and legislative change to implement this and speed up secure access to this data. This may result in changes to data controllership responsibilities for secondary uses of data.General practices (GPs) would remain data controllers for data in GP records for an individual’s care.

What guidance he has issued to (a) public (b) private and (c) voluntary organisations involved in the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme on best practice data sharing.

In September 2025, we launched the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme (NNHIP) in 43 places across England.The NNHIP is a large-scale change programme for all partners involved in delivering neighbourhood health: the National Health Service; local government; social care providers; other statutory and non-statutory organisations; and the voluntary sector.We are working closely with the relevant transformation teams to strengthen data‑sharing arrangements across the programme. Sites are already exchanging learning on effective local approaches, and we are jointly developing practical guidance to support safe and consistent data sharing while wider national solutions are progressed.

What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of Dementia Assessment Services in Shropshire.

No central assessment has been made of the adequacy of Dementia Assessment Services in Shropshire. The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards and ensuring they are responsive to the needs of local communities.However, NHS England does collect and publish data about people with dementia at each general practice (GP) in England, including those in Shropshire, to enable National Health Service GPs and commissioners to make informed choices about how to plan their dementia services around patients’ needs.GPs also provide a count of patients up to the end of the reporting period who have received an assessment for dementia and who have received or declined an initial memory assessment, a referral to a memory clinic, a care plan, a care plan review, and/or a medication review.

What steps he is taking to help facilitate compliant data sharing between organisations involved in the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme.

In September 2025, we launched the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme (NNHIP) in 43 places across England.The NNHIP is a large-scale change programme for all partners involved in delivering neighbourhood health: the National Health Service; local government; social care providers; other statutory and non-statutory organisations; and the voluntary sector.We are working closely with the relevant transformation teams to strengthen data‑sharing arrangements across the programme. Sites are already exchanging learning on effective local approaches, and we are jointly developing practical guidance to support safe and consistent data sharing while wider national solutions are progressed.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that people with dementia are able to access a timely diagnosis.

We remain committed to recovering the dementia diagnosis rate to the national ambition of 66.7%. The estimated dementia diagnosis rate for patients aged 65 years old and over at the end of January 2026 was 66.1%.To support recovery of the dementia diagnosis rates and implementation of the Dementia Care Pathway, we have developed a memory service dashboard for management information purposes. The aim is to support commissioners and providers with appropriate data and enable targeted support where needed.To reduce variation in diagnosis rates, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ Dementia Intelligence Network has developed a tool for local systems, which includes an assessment of population characteristics such as rurality and socio-economic deprivation. This enables systems to investigate local variation in diagnosis and takes informed action to enhance their diagnosis rates. The tool has been released and is available via the NHS Futures Collaboration platform.We will deliver the first ever Modern Service framework for Frailty and Dementia to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. The Modern Service framework for Frailty and Dementia will seek to reduce unwarranted variation and narrow inequality for those living with dementia and will set national standards for dementia care and redirect National Health Service priorities to provide the best possible care and support.

What estimate he has made of the potential cost to (a) GP practices (b) integrated care boards and (c) NHS trusts of participating in the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme.

Participation in the programme is voluntary, and sites are sponsored locally by their integrated care board and local authority chief executive officers to help accelerate progress in delivering neighbourhood health. Sites have received nationally funded support, including coaching, analytical and evaluation input, and access to national convening and communities of practice. The costs of delivering neighbourhood health will vary between places, and as sites have only been participating for a short period, a clearer picture of local delivery costs will emerge over time with further analytical support.