Written questions by Kirkham.

When negotiations on the 2024-5 and 2025-6 community pharmacy contractual framework will be agreed.

We are working at pace with Community Pharmacy England to ensure that the funding we have available is used to support community pharmacy in the best way possible to support them in dispensing medicines to patients and to offer a range of clinical services including Pharmacy First.We will announce the outcome of the consultation in the usual manner, by letter to contractors, when the consultation has concluded.

What guidance his Department provides to ensure that GPs approach (a) shared care and (b) collaboration with gender identity specialists in the same way as other specialists.

The Department has not issued guidance relating to shared care agreements. The General Medical Council’s guidance states that general practitioners (GPs) should collaborate with a Gender Dysphoria Clinic (GDC) to provide effective and timely treatment for patients, including prescribing medicines on the recommendation of an experienced gender specialist, and that it is reasonable for a GP to expect the GDC to provide timely support and advice where necessary.The Royal College of General Practitioners’ position statement on the role of the GP in transgender healthcare sets out that GPs should “liaise and work with Gender Identity Clinics in the same way as with any other specialist. This includes consideration of prescribing under a shared care agreement”.

What steps he is taking to ensure that amateur athletes have access to an effective screening programme for cardiac conditions.

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) last reviewed screening for sudden cardiac death (SCD) in people under the age of 39 years old in 2019, and concluded that screening should not be offered. Further information is available at the following link:https://view-health-screening-recommendations.service.gov.uk/sudden-cardiac-death/Research showed that the current tests are not accurate enough to use in young people without symptoms, and that treatments and interventions to prevent SCD were not based on good scientific evidence.To stop SCDs in young people, the current consensus is to focus on rapid identification and care of people who are likely to be at risk of SCD, due to a family link or because they have had symptoms, and to train people to carry out cardiopulmonary resuscitation and to use defibrillators.NHS England has published guidance for inherited cardiac conditions which requires services to investigate patients with a previously undiagnosed cardiac disease, suggestive symptoms, or those from families with sudden unexplained deaths. Where a genetic variation is identified, cascade testing is offered to relatives based on risk.We are aware that the UK NSC has received a submission via its annual call process to consider SCD screening in young people aged 14 to 35 years old engaging in sport. The UK NSC is currently reviewing all annual call proposals. Further information on the annual call process is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-nsc-annual-call-submitting-a-screening-proposal/uk-nsc-annual-call-how-to-submit-a-proposal

What steps he is taking to ensure that all healthcare professionals have adequate training and awareness of endometriosis.

The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health and improving the diagnosis, treatment and ongoing care for gynaecological conditions including endometriosis. Several measures are in place to raise awareness of endometriosis among clinicians and support diagnosis and care.National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines support healthcare professionals to diagnose and treat conditions. In November 2024, NICE published updated recommendations on the diagnosis, management and treatment of endometriosis. This is available at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng73Endometriosis is included in the core curriculum for general practitioners, and for obstetricians and gynaecologists. The General Medical Council is introducing the Medical Licensing Assessment for most incoming doctors, including all medical students graduating from academic year 2024/25 and onwards. Within this assessment are several topics relating to women’s health, including endometriosis. This will encourage a better understanding of endometriosis among doctors as they start their careers in the United Kingdom.We will continue to keep opportunities for training and further awareness raising about endometriosis under review.

What steps he is taking to reduce the hours lost to handover delays by South Western Ambulance Service Foundation Trust.

Ambulance services experiencing long delays when handing over patients to hospitals is a priority for the National Health Service to address, because it holds up ambulances that could be responding to further 999 calls.The South Western Ambulance Service ...

What steps he is taking to improve ambulance response times in Cornwall.

The Government has committed to supporting the National Health Service to improve performance and achieve the standards set out in the NHS Constitution, including for ambulance response times.As a first step, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for...

What steps he is taking to increase the proportion of patients (a) transferred, (b) admitted and (c) discharged within four hours at the Emergency Department in Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust.

The Government has committed to supporting the National Health Service to improve performance, including at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT), and achieving the standards set out in the NHS Constitution, which includes that 95% of patients att...

What steps he is taking to reduce the proportion of attendees who waited 12 hours or more from their time of arrival to be (a) transferred, (b) admitted and (c) discharged from Royal Cornwall Hospi

The Government has committed to supporting the National Health Service to improve performance, including at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT), and achieving the standards set out in the NHS Constitution, which includes that 95% of patients att...

What steps he is taking to reduce ambulance hand over times at the Royal Cornwall Hospital.

Ambulance services experiencing long delays when handing over patients to hospitals is a priority for the National Health Service to address, because it holds up ambulances that could be responding to further 999 calls.The South Western Ambulance Service ...

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing medical students in all years of the course to access the Learning Support Fund.

Funding arrangements for students are reviewed annually ahead of the start of each academic year.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the NHS Bursary living allowance to match the Student Finance England maintenance loan.

The NHS Bursary funding arrangements are reviewed annually ahead of the start of each academic year.We have applied an uplift of 2% to all NHS Bursary maintenance grants and allowances for the academic year 2024/25. This is the first time the maintenance ...

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of making retrospective payments to student nurses that were incorrectly labelled as being ineligible for the £5,000 annual training grant via

There are no such plans.The NHS Learning Support Fund (LSF) is an annual scheme operated under rules that are published by the Department for each academic year. Eligibility for the LSF under these rules reflects eligibility for student loans set by the D...

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of making retrospective payments to student nurses who were not eligible for the £5,000 annual training grant through the NHS Learning Support

The Department has no plans to make retrospective payments to student nurses who were not eligible for the £5,000 annual training grant through the NHS Learning Support Fund since 2019.

Whether his Department issues guidance to integrated care boards on agreeing bespoke contractual arrangements with dental practices for NHS dental provision.

Since 1 April 2023, responsibility for commissioning primary care, including dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. Dental contracts are underpinned by the nationally de...

What steps his Department is taking to encourage people from lower-income backgrounds to study medicine, in the context of the availability of financial support for maintenance available in the fif

From year five of their undergraduate course, medical students can access the NHS Bursary. This is non-repayable and comprises payment for tuition fees, income-assessed help towards living costs, and where eligible, further allowances, such as for depende...