Written questions by Pritchard.

What steps she is taking to help increase the proportion of patients that receive treatment within 18 weeks of referral for a respiratory condition in The Wrekin constituency.

Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission and a top priority for the Government, including waits for respiratory conditions. We are committed to achieving the NHS Constitutional standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment.Funding announced in the Autumn Budget 2024 will support the delivery of an additional two million operations, scans, and appointments during the Government’s first year as a First Step in our commitment to ensuring patients can expect to be treated within 18 weeks. Further details regarding the additional appointments will be confirmed in due course.

Whether he plans to take steps to create shared patient records to allow (a) NHS clinical teams and (b) social care providers to access patient health and social care records.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has announced the intention for there to be a single patient record that both empowers patients, by giving them access to their records, and gives professionals access to the information they need to make the best-informed decisions when delivering care and treatment. We have begun engaging with the public to help shape our plans, including what information they would want to see included in a single record.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed increase in the rate of employers' National Insurance contributions on social care services.

The Government is providing at least £600 million of new grant funding for social care in 2025/26, as part of the broader estimated real-terms uplift to core local government spending power of approximately 3.2%. We will continue to work with the adult social care sector to understand the pressures on adult social care delivery and local authority budgets.

If he will take steps to establish new reciprocal healthcare agreements with non-EU countries.

Reciprocal healthcare arrangements (RHAs) cover emergency and medically necessary healthcare for United Kingdom nationals or residents on short-term visits. They benefit people with long term, pre-existing conditions, and along with insurance, offer all travellers greater peace of mind when travelling. We recognise the benefits associated with RHAs. We continually review options to update existing arrangements outside of the European Union, as well as the potential to develop new ones.

If he will take steps to introduce additional measures to (a) verify and (b) validate the medical qualifications of non-UK trained doctors working in the NHS.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has no current plans to introduce additional measures to verify and validate the medical qualifications of non-United Kingdom trained doctors working in the National Health Service.The General Medical Council (GMC) is the independent regulator of all medical doctors practising in the UK. The GMC is independent of the Government and directly accountable to Parliament. The GMC sets and enforces the standards all doctors must adhere to and is responsible for ensuring that doctors have the necessary skills and knowledge to join the UK medical register. All doctors must register with the GMC and hold a license to practice in the UK.

If he will improve checks on declared medical qualifications for international employees in the NHS.

There are currently no plans for my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to improve checks on declared medical qualifications for international employees in the National Health Service. NHS trusts have robust recruitment policies and processes aligned to employment law and good human resource practice, as set out in the NHS Employment Check Standards. For doctors, this includes a requirement to check with the General Medical Council that individuals meet the necessary standards of competency, skill, and training required of the medical profession, and that there are no known issues which would affect their fitness or licence to practice.