Written questions by Robertson.

How many (a) members of the travelling community, (b) sex workers, (c) asylum seekers, (d) victims of modern slavery, (e) people from ethnic minority backgrounds, (f) people experiencing homelessness, (g) people affected by drug or alcohol addiction and (h) people in contact with the justice system participated in engagement activities in relation to the 10 Year Health Plan.

To develop the 10-Year Health Plan, we had the biggest ever conversation on the future of the National Health Service with over a quarter of a million contributions from the public, staff, and partners including charities and patient groups.A detailed 10-Year Health Plan engagement report will be published in due course, which will set out the methodology and results of this engagement exercise.

With reference to FOI-1626381, what methods of engagement were used by the Department to engage with individuals from (a) the travelling community and (b) the sex worker community as part of the development of the 10-Year Health Plan.

To develop the 10-Year Health Plan, we had the biggest ever conversation on the future of the National Health Service with over a quarter of a million contributions from the public, staff, and partners including charities and patient groups.A detailed 10-Year Health Plan engagement report will be published in due course, which will set out the methodology and results of this engagement exercise.

What selection criteria were used to identify charities eligible for funding to support community engagement with (a) sex workers, (b) travelling communities, (c) asylum seekers and (d) other seldom heard groups.

All members of the Health and Wellbeing Alliance were approached to support the 10-Year Health Plan engagement process to help ensure we reached seldom-heard groups and communities. Charities were selected based on their ability to deliver engagement sessions with communities and groups that were under-represented in the national conversation.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure the availability of ADHD medications.

The Department has worked closely with industry stakeholders, and, following extensive collaborative efforts, previous issues have been resolved and all strengths of lisdexamfetamine, atomoxetine capsules, atomoxetine oral solution, guanfacine prolonged-release tablets and methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets and prolonged-release capsules are now available.We continue to support the NHS England Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) taskforce, which brings together expertise from the National Health Service, education, and justice sectors to coordinate a system-wide response to rising demand. In collaboration with NHS England’s national ADHD data improvement plan, we are developing future growth forecasts to support improved demand planning. These forecasts will be shared with industry to help ensure a more responsive and sustainable supply of ADHD medicines.In parallel, we are also engaging with new suppliers for ADHD medicines to increase supply capacity and resilience.The Department also maintains and regularly updates a list of currently available and unavailable ADHD products on the Specialist Pharmacy Service website. This resource supports prescribers and dispensers in making informed decisions with patients. The list is available at the following link:www.sps.nhs.uk/articles/prescribing-available-medicines-to-treat-adhd

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) prescribers and (b) pharmacy contractors adhere to guidance on the prescribing of ADHD medication by generic name.

The Department has made no assessment of the potential impact of brand-specific prescribing on the availability of medication at pharmacies.Decisions about what medicines to prescribe are made by the doctor or healthcare professional responsible for that part of the patient’s care. Prescribers must always satisfy themselves that the medicines that they consider appropriate for their patients can be safely prescribed and that they take account of appropriate national guidance on clinical effectiveness, as well as the local commissioning decisions of their respective integrated care boards.Prescribers can normally prescribe a medicine by brand or by the generic name, and in primary care, where a prescription specifies a branded medicine, that product must be dispensed, whereas for a generic prescription, any manufacturer’s product can be dispensed. For some medicines or some conditions, switching between manufacturers’ products carries additional clinical risks and guidance regarding the appropriateness of brand or generic prescribing for specific medicines or conditions might be issued.To assist with the management of supply issues with certain medicines for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, clinical experts with input from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the Department developed guidance on prescribing methylphenidate generically. This guidance was issued to provide prescribers with information on how to switch between methylphenidate products. This is a guidance document and as such there is no requirement for prescribers to follow it unless they deem it necessary and suitable for their patients.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of brand-specific prescribing on the availability of medication at pharmacies.

The Department has made no assessment of the potential impact of brand-specific prescribing on the availability of medication at pharmacies.Decisions about what medicines to prescribe are made by the doctor or healthcare professional responsible for that part of the patient’s care. Prescribers must always satisfy themselves that the medicines that they consider appropriate for their patients can be safely prescribed and that they take account of appropriate national guidance on clinical effectiveness, as well as the local commissioning decisions of their respective integrated care boards.Prescribers can normally prescribe a medicine by brand or by the generic name, and in primary care, where a prescription specifies a branded medicine, that product must be dispensed, whereas for a generic prescription, any manufacturer’s product can be dispensed. For some medicines or some conditions, switching between manufacturers’ products carries additional clinical risks and guidance regarding the appropriateness of brand or generic prescribing for specific medicines or conditions might be issued.To assist with the management of supply issues with certain medicines for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, clinical experts with input from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the Department developed guidance on prescribing methylphenidate generically. This guidance was issued to provide prescribers with information on how to switch between methylphenidate products. This is a guidance document and as such there is no requirement for prescribers to follow it unless they deem it necessary and suitable for their patients.

Pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2024 to Question 16662 on NHS: Public Consultation, if he will provide a full breakdown of the total costs incurred.

Following an invitation to tender competition process, we appointed Thinks Insight, Kaleidoscope Health and Care, and the Institute For Public Policy Research to support us to run the engagement exercise for the 10-Year Health Plan. The details of this award and the redacted contract can be found on contracts finder, at the following link:https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/80963989-c4d6-4a16-8e12-c31b43a81ddaThe awarded value of the contract was up to £2,961,595.50, with an option to vary to £3,500,000 in the event that the scope of the contract evolves. Following the conclusion of the engagement exercise and launch of the 10-Year Health Plan, the contract cost is £3,336,483.50.The increase in costs was largely due to the high number of responses received during the engagement exercise, and the ensuing analysis required. The number of responses received during the engagement exercise significantly exceeded the estimates provided by any of the prospective suppliers bidding for the contract. In total, the Department received over 270,000 contributions, making it the largest ever conversation on the future of the National Health Service.

How much transformation funding for (a) learning disability and (b) autism services NHS England has allocated to integrated care board areas for 2025-26.

As set out in NHS England’s Planning Guidance, integrated care boards (ICBs) are expected to work with local system colleagues to ensure that there is high quality and accessible community infrastructure in place for people with a learning disability and autistic people. They should also ensure that admissions to a mental health hospital are for assessment and treatment that can only be delivered in an inpatient setting.ICBs are planning to spend £3.35 billion on Learning Disability and Autism services in 2025/26. Previous transformation funding for learning disability and autism has been transferred to core ICB funding. This is in line with the objective of giving systems greater financial flexibility to manage constrained budgets, which includes transferring a higher proportion of funding than ever before directly to local systems and minimising ringfencing, allowing local leaders maximum flexibility to plan better and more efficient services.

How many deaths involving the Isle of Wight NHS Trust required a serious incident investigation in each of the last five years; for each case, on what dates the investigation was (a) opened and (b) completed; and whether the inquest has been held.

We have been informed by the Isle of Wight NHS Trust that there has been a total of 56 Serious Incident investigations during this period, with 35 resulting in an inquest, 20 not requiring an inquest, and one ongoing investigation. Of the 35 cases requiring an inquest, 27 have been completed, with eight outstanding, and with the oldest cases dating back to 2020.The table attached shows data relating to the Isle of Wight NHS Trust’s Serious Incident investigations for each of the last five years, including the opening and closing dates of the investigation and whether the inquest has been held, and the date of inquest where applicable. This includes cases that now sit under the Hampshire and Isle of Wight NHS Healthcare Foundation Trust after mental health and community services were transferred from the Isle of Wight NHS Trust on 1 October 2024.

Which (a) stakeholders, (b) NGOs and (c) interest groups took part in the Change NHS consultation.

Throughout the 10-Year Health Plan’s engagement activity, we have engaged with over 1,600 stakeholders, non-governmental organisations, and patient groups to hear their ideas for change. We will shortly publish a list of organisations that made a submission to the Change NHS engagement portal and the organisations that were members of the 10-Year Health Plan Partners Council.I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 8 July 2025 to Question 63741. The published list will include organisations from inclusion health groups who took part in the consultation.

With reference to the Change NHS Blog entitled Ensuring the Plan represents everyone, published on 21 January 2025, which groups are classified as inclusion health groups.

Throughout the 10-Year Health Plan’s engagement activity, we have engaged with over 1,600 stakeholders, non-governmental organisations, and patient groups to hear their ideas for change. We will shortly publish a list of organisations that made a submission to the Change NHS engagement portal and the organisations that were members of the 10-Year Health Plan Partners Council.I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 8 July 2025 to Question 63741. The published list will include organisations from inclusion health groups who took part in the consultation.

With reference to the Deputy Director for 10 Year Health Plan Engagement's Change NHS website blog post, entitled, Ensuring the Plan represents everyone, which groups are classified as inclusion health groups.

Inclusion health is an umbrella term used to describe people who are socially excluded, who typically experience multiple overlapping risk factors for poor health, such as poverty, violence, and complex trauma.

With reference to the Deputy Director for 10 Year Health Plan Engagement's, Change NHS website blog, entitled, Ensuring the Plan represents everyone, what discussions his Department has with (a) travelling communities and (b) their representatives.

In building our 10-Year Health Plan, we ran one of the biggest public engagement exercises the National Health Service has ever run, including a large number of consultation events including eight in-person deliberative events with the public and seven with staff, culminating in a national summit, these events were attended by over 3,700 people. A further 17,000 people attended partner-led workshops across over 600 events. As part of these events, we aimed to include the voices of all patients, including patients whose voices are seldom heard in policy development.

What (a) stakeholders, (b) NGOs and (c) interest groups have been consulted on the NHS 10-Year Plan by (i) his Department and (ii) NHS England since 4 July 2024.

Throughout the 10-Year Health Plan’s engagement activity, we have engaged with over 1,600 stakeholders, non-governmental organisations, and patient groups to hear their ideas for change. Following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, we will publish a list of organisations that made a submission to the Change NHS engagement portal, and the organisations that were members of the 10-Year Health Plan Partners Council.

With reference to the NHS10-Year Health Plan whether discussions have been held with (a) higher socio-economic groups and (b) working people.

We launched the Change NHS website to ensure that as many people as possible could have their say. As part of this, we asked participants to provide demographic information to help us hear from a representative cross-section of the public across the engagement as a whole. In tandem, we launched two nationally representative surveys, mirroring the Change NHS website content, to enable us to sense check against the insights from online participants.At our public deliberative events, we used two channels to recruit the 755 participants to ensure the attendees were representative of the region the event was in. Firstly, two-thirds of the sample were recruited through Sortition, a method of selection designed to be representative of the population with respect to age, gender, ethnicity, location, disability, highest level of education attainment, and by index of multiple deprivation. Secondly, one third of the sample was recruited through specialist recruiters to boost audiences who are typically seldom heard in engagement. This included participants living in the 20% most deprived areas of England and those from ethnic minority backgrounds. We also held deliberative events with health and social care staff.

If he will list each foreign language where there has been (a) translation and (b) interpretation to facilitate engagement with the proposed NHS 10-Year Health Plan.

The Change NHS portal was available in English, Urdu, Romanian, Punjabi, and Polish, as these are the five most common languages in England, as reported by the 2021 Census. Participants at 10-Year Health Plan deliberative engagement events were given the option to request translation into any other language.

Whether his Department has had discussions with sex workers on the proposed NHS 10-Year Health Plan.

In building our 10-Year Health Plan, we ran one of the biggest public engagement exercises the National Health Service has ever run, including a large number of consultation events including eight in-person deliberative events with the public and seven with staff, culminating in a national summit, these events were attended by over 3,700 people. A further 17,000 people attended partner-led workshops across over 600 events. As part of these events, we aimed to include the voices of all patients, including patients whose voices are seldom heard in policy development.

Whether his Department has held discussions with (a) foreign migrants and (b) asylum seekers on the proposed NHS 10-Year Plan.

In building our 10-Year Health Plan, we ran one of the biggest public engagement exercises the National Health Service has ever run, including a large number of consultation events including eight in-person deliberative events with the public and seven with staff, culminating in a national summit, these events were attended by over 3,700 people. A further 17,000 people attended partner-led workshops across over 600 events. As part of these events, we aimed to include the voices of all patients, including patients whose voices are seldom heard in policy development.

What steps he is taking to reduce the number of people with (a) a learning disability and (b) autism in mental health hospitals.

The latest National Health Service planning guidance, from 30 January 2025, includes a focus on improving mental health and learning disability care and contains the objective to deliver a minimum 10% reduction in the use of mental health inpatient care for people with a learning disability and autistic people in 2025/26.For 2025/26, there is continued funding within integrated care board (ICB) baselines for support for people with a learning disability and autistic people. ICBs should prioritise continuing to invest in reducing reliance on inpatient care for people with a learning disability and autistic people, in line with the 2025/26 NHS operating planning guidance.The Mental Health Bill has reached Committee stage in the House of Commons, following its recent passage through the House of Lords. Through the bill, we propose taking forward a package of measures to improve care and keep people out of hospitals. Subject to parliamentary agreement, statutory Dynamic Support Registers, Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews, and new duties on commissioners will help to ensure appropriate community support in the future.

Whether NHS England plans to remove the minimum age of referral to specialist gender identity clinics.

On 7 August 2024, NHS England published a new service specification that describes the pathway onto the waiting list for NHS Children and Young People's Gender Services in line with the recommendations of the Cass Review. The service specification does not describe a minimum age, recognising that there may be underlying reasons for children questioning their gender and that accessing mental health and counselling services would be beneficial. Denying parents and children access to professional support risks driving people to unregulated online sources.