Written questions by Anderson.

What steps he is taking to ensure UK medical graduates stay in the NHS after completing (a) degrees and (b) foundation training.

As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan published on 3 July, we will work across Government to prioritise United Kingdom medical graduates for foundation training, and to prioritise UK medical graduates and other doctors who have worked in the National Health Service for a significant period for specialty training. The plan also set out that we will create 1,000 new specialty training posts with a focus on specialties where there is the greatest need. We will set out next steps in due course.We have made progress over the past year to improve the working lives of resident doctors. This includes: agreeing to an improved exception reporting system which should ensure doctors are working a safe number of hours and are compensated fairly for additional work; reviewing how resident doctors rotate through their training; and reforming and rationalising statutory and mandatory training to reduce unnecessary burden and repetition.We will publish a new 10 Year Workforce Plan later this year to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again.

What steps he is taking to offer more medical specialty training posts.

As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan published on 3 July, we will work across Government to prioritise United Kingdom medical graduates for foundation training, and to prioritise UK medical graduates and other doctors who have worked in the National Health Service for a significant period for specialty training. The plan also set out that we will create 1,000 new specialty training posts with a focus on specialties where there is the greatest need. We will set out next steps in due course.We have made progress over the past year to improve the working lives of resident doctors. This includes: agreeing to an improved exception reporting system which should ensure doctors are working a safe number of hours and are compensated fairly for additional work; reviewing how resident doctors rotate through their training; and reforming and rationalising statutory and mandatory training to reduce unnecessary burden and repetition.We will publish a new 10 Year Workforce Plan later this year to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again.

If he will take steps to ensure UK graduates are prioritised in applications for specialty medical training spaces.

As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan published on 3 July, we will work across Government to prioritise United Kingdom medical graduates for foundation training, and to prioritise UK medical graduates and other doctors who have worked in the National Health Service for a significant period for specialty training. The plan also set out that we will create 1,000 new specialty training posts with a focus on specialties where there is the greatest need. We will set out next steps in due course.We have made progress over the past year to improve the working lives of resident doctors. This includes: agreeing to an improved exception reporting system which should ensure doctors are working a safe number of hours and are compensated fairly for additional work; reviewing how resident doctors rotate through their training; and reforming and rationalising statutory and mandatory training to reduce unnecessary burden and repetition.We will publish a new 10 Year Workforce Plan later this year to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again.

What steps he is taking to reduce the regional differences in IVF provision.

Funding decisions for health services in England are made by integrated care boards (ICBs) and are based on the clinical needs of their local population. We expect these organisations to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines, ensuring equal access to fertility treatment across England.NICE is currently reviewing the fertility guidelines and will consider whether the current recommendations for access to National Health Service-funded treatment are still appropriate.In the light of broader pressures on the NHS and on-going changes within NHS England, we have been looking again at achievable ambitions to improve access to fertility services and fairness for all affected couples.

What steps he is taking to (a) improve public awareness and (b) provide educational campaigns on the HPV vaccine.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) works in partnership with NHS England and the Department to promote human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination as part of a national programme to prevent cervical cancers caused by HPV.UKHSA uses data and surveillance to create public and stakeholder communications that raise public awareness of HPV and the importance of the vaccine. UKHSA publishes and provides a range of supporting materials to health professionals on both the 12- and 13-year-old HPV offer, and the vaccine programme for those at higher risk.On 19 June 2025, NHS England launched the cervical cancer elimination campaign and toolkit for stakeholders, to increase awareness of the elimination target by 2040, educate the public about HPV, and build confidence in the HPV vaccine and cervical screening.

What was the vaccine coverage rate of the HPV vaccine in Ashfield Constituency in the most recent period for which data is available.

The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine coverage is presented for England at national, National Health Service commissioning region, and local authority levels. Data is not gathered at constituency level.Vaccine coverage data for the routine school-aged HPV immunisation programme in England, including for the 2023 to 2024 academic year, is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptake#hpv-vaccine-uptake

What steps he is taking to (a) improve public awareness and (b) provide educational campaigns on cervical screening.

NHS England launched its first ever cervical cancer elimination creative campaign and communications toolkit for Cervical Screening Awareness Week, which took place from 16 to 24 June 2025. The campaign included digital resources that create a strong sense of shared responsibility and which aim to increase awareness of the elimination goal, educate the public, and build confidence in cervical screening.In March 2025, NHS England published its Cervical cancer elimination plan by 2040 – plan for England, setting out how the National Health Service will improve equitable uptake and coverage across cervical screening to meet the goal to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040. NHS England will build on what is already working well to drive vaccination and screening uptake and coverage, focussing on five cross-cutting themes: increasing access; raising awareness; reducing inequalities; improving digital capabilities; and strengthening workforce capacity. Further information on the plan is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/cervical-cancer-elimination-by-2040-plan-for-england/From early 2026, screening providers in the NHS Cervical Screening Programme in England will be able to offer human papillomavirus self-sampling kits to women if they have not attended their appointment for six months, or more following routine invitation.Barriers to vaccination and screening services for underserved communities and people who experience health inequalities must continue to be addressed. This will include identifying groups using national and local level data who may be at higher risk of developing cervical cancer, to inform national initiatives, such as tailored screening invitations, and support local service planning.

Whether he plans to launch targeted outreach programmes in areas with low cervical screening rates.

NHS England launched its first ever cervical cancer elimination creative campaign and communications toolkit for Cervical Screening Awareness Week, which took place from 16 to 24 June 2025. The campaign included digital resources that create a strong sense of shared responsibility and which aim to increase awareness of the elimination goal, educate the public, and build confidence in cervical screening.In March 2025, NHS England published its Cervical cancer elimination plan by 2040 – plan for England, setting out how the National Health Service will improve equitable uptake and coverage across cervical screening to meet the goal to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040. NHS England will build on what is already working well to drive vaccination and screening uptake and coverage, focussing on five cross-cutting themes: increasing access; raising awareness; reducing inequalities; improving digital capabilities; and strengthening workforce capacity. Further information on the plan is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/cervical-cancer-elimination-by-2040-plan-for-england/From early 2026, screening providers in the NHS Cervical Screening Programme in England will be able to offer human papillomavirus self-sampling kits to women if they have not attended their appointment for six months, or more following routine invitation.Barriers to vaccination and screening services for underserved communities and people who experience health inequalities must continue to be addressed. This will include identifying groups using national and local level data who may be at higher risk of developing cervical cancer, to inform national initiatives, such as tailored screening invitations, and support local service planning.

Whether he plans to launch targeted outreach programmes in areas with low HPV vaccination rates.

NHS England works with the UK Health Security Agency and local health partners and communities to understand the needs of their populations and tailor immunisation programmes to meet the needs of under-vaccinated communities.Boys and girls in cohorts eligible for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination through the adolescent programme remain eligible until their 25th birthday. Many young people who missed out on their vaccinations have already been caught up, but work is ongoing to ensure that all those who are eligible are vaccinated, and School-Aged Immunisation Service providers are continuing to focus on HPV programme recovery post-pandemic.In March 2025, NHS England published the Cervical cancer elimination plan by 2040 – plan for England, which outlines how the National Health Service will improve uptake and coverage across HPV vaccination and cervical screening. The plan sets how NHS England will improve HPV vaccination rates through increasing access, raising awareness, reducing inequalities, improving digital capabilities, and strengthening workforce capacity. Further information on the plan is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/cervical-cancer-elimination-by-2040-plan-for-england/The 10-Year Health Plan for England, published 3 July 2025, has committed to increasing the uptake of HPV vaccinations among young people, including those who have left school, to support our aim to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040.NHS England, in conjunction with regional colleagues, has also produced a HPV vaccination improvement and uptake plan for internal operational NHS use, as part of their commitment to improving vaccine coverage.For Cervical Screening Awareness week, which takes place between 19 and 24 June 2025, NHS England launched its first ever cervical cancer elimination creative campaign and communications toolkit. The campaign includes digital resources that create a strong sense of shared responsibility and aim to increase awareness of the elimination goal, educate the public about HPV, and build confidence in the HPV vaccine and cervical screening.

If he will make it his policy to make more medical school places available for students born in the UK.

We will publish a new workforce plan later this year to deliver a transformed health service, and to ensure we have the right staff in the right place, so the National Health Service can be there for everyone. International staff, including doctors, remain an important part of our workforce. Alongside this, we are also committed to building and increasing our domestic home-grown talent from across all of our communities.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential (a) health and (b) economic impact of trained healthcare workers leaving their home country to work in the UK on nations in (i) Eastern Europe and (ii) the Global South.

We hugely value our health and social care workers from overseas who work tirelessly to provide the best possible care and enhance our health and care workforce with their valuable skills, experience and expertise. Internationally educated staff remain an important part of the workforce, and our Code of Practice for International Recruitment ensures stringent ethical standards when recruiting health and social care staff from overseas. This includes prohibiting active recruitment from red list countries to the National Health Service, social care, or independent sectors under our Code of Practice.The Government also remains committed to growing homegrown talent and giving opportunities to more people across the country to join the NHS. Following publication of our 10-Year Health Plan on 3 July 2025, we will produce a refreshed workforce plan, setting out how we will train and provide the staff that the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities and treat them on time again. As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan, we will work across Government to prioritise medical graduates from the United Kingdom for foundation training, and to prioritise UK medical graduates and other doctors who have worked in the NHS for a significant period for specialty training. The plan also outlines that we will now make it a requirement for newly qualified dentists to practice in the NHS for a minimum period. We intend this minimum period to be at least three years.The Immigration White Paper also set out reforms to legal migration, so that we can restore order, control and fairness to the system, bring down net migration and promote economic growth. The changes set out include a complete overhaul of the relationship between the immigration system, training and the labour market to support sustainable growth as well as a sustainable immigration system.

If he will bring forward legislative proposals to require British trained (a) doctors and (b) nurses to give a minimum of five years’ service to the NHS before working abroad.

The Government has no current plans to introduce tie-ins for doctors and nurses working in the National Health Service. The Government keeps the funding arrangements for all healthcare students under close review.Later this year, we will publish a new workforce plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, to treat patients on time again. We will ensure the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it.

What the average waiting time is for ambulances in the East Midlands Ambulance Service area.

The following table shows the latest East Midlands Ambulance Service response times by ambulance incident category:CategoryMay 2025Category 1 mean response time00:08:33Category 1 90th centile response time00:15:04Category 2 mean response time00:31:26Category 2 90th centile response time01:02:27Category 3 mean response time01:52:10Category 3 90th centile response time04:15:28Category 4 mean response time02:14:03Category 4 90th centile response time05:27:31Source: NHS England Ambulance Quality Indicators 2025/26Notes:the latest data available is for May 2025; andthe data format is hours: minutes: seconds.

What steps his Department is taking to improve access to (a) optician and (b) eye health provision in Ashfield constituency.

Integrated care boards are responsible for assessing the health needs of their population and for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet them.Free National Health Service sight tests are widely available across the country, from any optical practice with a contract to provide NHS sight testing services. We are not aware of patients facing undue delay in accessing these services.

How many households in Ashfield constituency are outside the recommended minimum distance from a defibrillator.

The Department does not maintain a register of automated external defibrillators (AEDs); this information is held on The Circuit, an independently operated database. Therefore, the Department does not hold the data requested.The Government is committed to improving access to AEDs in public spaces and to reducing inequalities in access to these life saving devices. Following the depletion of the existing AED Fund, launched in September 2023, the Government approved a further £500,000 in August 2024 to fulfil existing applications to the fund.Applications to the fund were allocated where there is the greatest need, for instance remote communities with extended ambulance response times, places with high footfall and high population densities, hotspots for cardiac arrest including sporting venues and venues with vulnerable people, and deprived areas.There are now over 100,000 defibrillators in the United Kingdom registered on The Circuit. There has been an increase of 30,000 since September 2023. 58.6% of the over 100,000 defibrillators are accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for operations at King's Mill Hospital.

King’s Mill Hospital is the largest hospital within the Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The trust has secured additional outpatient, diagnostic, and operating capacity to help reduce waiting times for operations.This has been done by working closely with the local independent sector and third parties, increasing clinical staffing levels in certain specialities, and using mutual aid with neighbouring National Health Service partners within and outside of the integrated care system.These interventions have resulted in a sustained improvement in the proportion of patients on a referral to treatment pathway who are receiving treatment within 18 weeks.Between the end of June 2024 and the end of April 2025, the total waiting list at the Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has decreased by 1.1%, from 35,717 to 35,317. The percentage of patients waiting within 18 weeks has increased by 3%, from 60.7% to 63.7%.

If he will ensure that his Department collects data on (a) lobular and (b) ductal breast cancer separately.

The National Disease Registration Service in NHS England, as the national cancer registry, collects and analyses diagnosis and treatment data on cancer patients in England. Further information on the National Disease Registration Service is available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrsThe information collected includes the morphology of the cancer. For breast cancer, this includes recording whether the diagnosis is lobular, ductal, or any other form of breast cancer. In 2022, the most recent year for which data is available, this information was reported in 98% of breast cancer registrations.

What steps his Department is taking to increase funding for research into lobular breast cancer.

Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department of Health and Social Care invests over £1.6 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was £133 million in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority.The level of funding for research generally depends on funding applications received. The NIHR continues to welcome high quality, high impact funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including lobular cancer and ductal breast cancer.The Department of Health and Social Care has invested £29 million into the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden NIHR Biological Research Centre from 2022 to 2027, supporting their research on cancer and lobular breast cancer. This is complemented by wider investments into breast cancer research including, for example, a £1.3 million project to determine whether an abbreviated form of breast magnetic resonance imaging can detect breast cancers missed by screening through mammography, again including lobular breast cancer.Current NIHR funded research into breast cancer covers aspects of prevention, detection, treatment and follow-up care, which are relevant to both lobular and ductal breast cancer. Of 29 currently active studies, totalling £49.54m in funded awards, there is currently one active study designed to look at the impact of screening on ductal breast cancer diagnosis and treatment specifically.On 4 February 2025, the Department announced that nearly 700,000 women across the country will take part in a world-leading trial to test how cutting-edge artificial intelligence tools can be used to catch breast cancer cases earlier. The Early Detection using Information Technology in Health (EDITH) trial is backed by £11 million of Government support via the NIHR.The Department of Health and Social Care recognises that further research is needed to understand the underlying mechanisms and disease processes of cancer, including lobular and ductal breast cancer, to unlock pathways for developing new treatments. This type of discovery research is supported by the Medical Research Council, which is funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, via UK Research and Innovation, though funding decisions are made independently from Government.

What the difference in funding levels is for research into (a) lobular and (b) ductal breast cancer.

Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department of Health and Social Care invests over £1.6 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was £133 million in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority.The level of funding for research generally depends on funding applications received. The NIHR continues to welcome high quality, high impact funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including lobular cancer and ductal breast cancer.The Department of Health and Social Care has invested £29 million into the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden NIHR Biological Research Centre from 2022 to 2027, supporting their research on cancer and lobular breast cancer. This is complemented by wider investments into breast cancer research including, for example, a £1.3 million project to determine whether an abbreviated form of breast magnetic resonance imaging can detect breast cancers missed by screening through mammography, again including lobular breast cancer.Current NIHR funded research into breast cancer covers aspects of prevention, detection, treatment and follow-up care, which are relevant to both lobular and ductal breast cancer. Of 29 currently active studies, totalling £49.54m in funded awards, there is currently one active study designed to look at the impact of screening on ductal breast cancer diagnosis and treatment specifically.On 4 February 2025, the Department announced that nearly 700,000 women across the country will take part in a world-leading trial to test how cutting-edge artificial intelligence tools can be used to catch breast cancer cases earlier. The Early Detection using Information Technology in Health (EDITH) trial is backed by £11 million of Government support via the NIHR.The Department of Health and Social Care recognises that further research is needed to understand the underlying mechanisms and disease processes of cancer, including lobular and ductal breast cancer, to unlock pathways for developing new treatments. This type of discovery research is supported by the Medical Research Council, which is funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, via UK Research and Innovation, though funding decisions are made independently from Government.

What his Department's long-term strategy is to help tackle the risk of lobular breast cancer.

Improving early diagnosis of cancer, including lobular breast cancer, is a priority for the Government. The Department will improve cancer survival rates and hit all National Health Service cancer waiting time targets, so that no patient waits longer than they should.We are working with cancer partners, including charities and patient representative bodies, to develop a National Cancer Plan. The plan will include more details about how to improve outcomes for all tumour types, including lobular breast cancer.