Written questions by Sewards.

What steps his Department is taking to support families who travel long distances for NHS‑commissioned inpatient mental health care.

We recognise that being sent to a hospital far away from home, family, and support networks means a poorer experience of care for patients and increased safety risks, which is why we are working to end this practice. We have invested £75 million of capital funding in 2025/26 to improve inpatient care and help stop mental health patients being sent far from home for treatment. A national quality improvement programme is in place across England to improve the culture of care in all mental health hospitals.Through the 10-Year Health Plan we will move care closer to home by reducing ‘out of area placements’ for mental health patients by March 2027. The NHS England Capital Guidance for 2026/27 to 2029/30, published in November 2025, makes £473 million of capital funding available for systems and encourages them to establish community based mental health centres, alongside other capital priorities. These include eliminating inappropriate out of area placements.Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights protects the right to a family life. All patients have the right to maintain contact with, and be visited by, anyone they wish to see, subject to carefully limited exceptions. The value of visits in maintaining links with family and community networks is recognised as a key element in a patient’s care, treatment, and recovery. Every effort should be made to assist patients to maintain contact with friends and family, including considering the need to travel for visits when the patient is placed out of area.Where the patient is detained under the Mental Health Act, the Code of Practice sets out that commissioners should consider whether they can provide any assistance where there are difficulties visiting because of distance. Local authorities should also consider whether it would be appropriate to provide financial support to enable families to visit children and young people placed in hospital, taking into account their duties to promote contact between children and young people and their families. Such duties arise when children and young people are being looked after by local authorities as well as when they are accommodated in hospital for three months or more. Consideration of any transfer to another hospital must include whether the transfer would give the patient greater access to carers or have the opposite effect.

What steps his department is taking to improve (i) support, and (ii) access to treatments, for people with (a) Multiple System Atrophy, and (b) Parkinson’s.

At the national level, there are several initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with Parkinson’s and Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), including the RightCare Progressive Neurological Conditions Toolkit and the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology. NHS England has also established a Neurology Transformation Programme, a multi-year, clinically led programme, which has developed a new model of integrated care for neurology services, to support integrated care boards to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients, including those with Parkinson’s and MSA. NICE has also published guidelines on Parkinson’s disease, namely NG71, covering the diagnosis and management in people aged 18 years old and over. Under the UK Rare Diseases Framework, the Government is working to improve access to specialist care, treatments, and drugs across all rare conditions such as MSA. In February 2025, we published the fourth England action plan reporting on progress.

What assessment his Department have made on the impact of participation in (a) gyms, (b) swimming pools, and (c) leisure centres on men’s (i) mental and (ii) physical health.

The Government knows that addressing physical inactivity and getting people moving more is important for improving health outcomes, well-being, reducing demand on the National Health Service, and supporting economic growth.Our 10-Year Health Plan sets out our ambition to break down barriers and take a cross-sector approach to building movement back into everyday lives. This requires a collective effort and there is an important role for the leisure and fitness sector through providing facilities and opportunities to get people active and reap the associated health benefits.On 19 November, to coincide with International Men’s Day, we published England’s first ever Men’s Health Strategy. The strategy includes actions to improve access to healthcare, provide the right support to enable men to make healthier choices, develop healthy living and working conditions, foster strong social, community, and family networks, address societal norms, and tackle the biggest health problems affecting men. The strategy recognises the importance of meeting men where they are and includes investment in community-based health and suicide prevention programmes and a new partnership with the Premier League to ensure men know where to go for mental health support.

What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of waiting times for children and young people accessing Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

We know too many children and young people are waiting too long for mental health support, and through our Plan for Change, we’re determined to give children and young people the best start in life. The Government is expanding access to mental health support teams in all schools and colleges to reach all pupils by 2029, ensuring that every pupil has access to early support services. This expansion will ensure that up to 900,000 more children and young people will have access to support from trained education mental health practitioners in 2025/26. More widely, we are, rolling out young futures hubs. The Government’s first 50 young futures hubs will bring together services at a local level to support children and young people, helping to ensure that young people can access early advice and wellbeing intervention. We will work to ensure there is no wrong door for young people who need support with their mental health. We have also committed to hiring 8,500 more mental health staff to reduce waiting times. Thus far, we have hired almost 7,000 extra mental health workers since July 2024.

What steps his Department is taking to improve access to NHS dental services for (a) carers and (b) frontline care workers.

We are aware of the challenges faced in accessing a National Health Service dentist including for carers and front-line workers. We have asked integrated care boards (ICBs) to commission extra urgent dental appointments from 1 April 2025.ICBs are also recruiting dentists through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.We are committed to reforming the dental contract, with a focus on matching resources to need, improving access, promoting prevention and rewarding dentists fairly, while enabling the whole dental team to work to the top of their capability. The Government is committed to achieving fundamental contract reform before the end of this Parliament.We recently held a full public consultation on a package of changes to improve access to, and the quality of NHS dentistry, which will deliver better care for the diverse oral health needs of people across England. The consultation closed on 19 August 2025. The Government is considering the outcomes of the consultation and will publish a response in due course.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that people in full-time employment who have caring responsibilities can access GP appointments.

The Department is expanding capacity in general practice which will help deliver more appointments to patients, ensuring everyone, including those in full-time employment and with caring responsibilities, can access care.General practitioner (GP) core hours are between 8am and 6:30pm Monday to Friday, extending beyond the usual working day and usual school day to allow easier access for those in employment, or with caring responsibilities.In October 2024, we invested £82 million into the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme to support the recruitment of over 2,000 additional GPs into primary care networks (PCNs) across England, helping to increase appointment availability. In addition, practices are now required to provide access to online services throughout core operating hours, reducing the 8am scramble and increasing flexibility for patients.PCNs must also offer appointments outside of core hours, including on weekends, which can be more convenient for people in full-time employment, or with caring responsibilities.

What steps his Department is taking to expand access to smear tests.

NHS England launched its first ever cervical cancer elimination creative campaign and communications toolkit for Cervical Screening Awareness Week, from 16 June 2025 to 24 June 2025. The campaign included digital resources that create a strong sense of shared responsibility and 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. Further information on the Cervical cancer elimination plan by 2040 – plan for England is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/cervical-cancer-elimination-by-2040-plan-for-england/ 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. From January 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.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing levels of access to hormone replacement therapy treatment on the NHS.

While menopause is a natural part of a woman’s life course, we recognise that menopause symptoms can be wide-ranging and debilitating, affecting a woman’s physical and mental health.Women should not have to suffer in silence and any woman concerned about menopause symptoms should seek advice from their general practitioner or other healthcare professional. It is important that women are provided with accurate information and are able to make informed choices about their care, including hormone replacement therapy (HRT).HRT is the main treatment for menopause symptoms, and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends that for most women it is safe and effective. In November 2024, NICE published their updated guideline which recommends more treatment choices for menopause symptoms. NICE guidelines are not mandatory, but healthcare professionals are expected to take NICE guidance fully into account in their prescribing decisions.

If his Department will have discussions with the Nursing and Midwifery Council on the potential merits of reducing or removing the annual registration fee for nurses.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the independent regulator of nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom, and nursing associates in England. The UK's model of healthcare professional regulation is founded on the principle of regulators operating independently from the Government. All registered health and social care professions in the UK pay an annual registration fee to their regulatory body. Being funded by registrant fees enables the NMC to maintain its independence, allowing it to take action if it identifies risks to patient safety or the public’s confidence in the profession.The Government expects the NMC to run its operations efficiently and keep registration fees as low as possible in order to limit the financial impact on registrants. The Government has no current plans to discuss with the NMC the potential merits of reducing or removing the annual registration fee for nurses.

What steps he is taking to support families with children suffering from Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder.

Commissioning pathways for avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) are locally determined by integrated care boards. All eating disorder teams should work collaboratively with other children and young people’s community teams to address co-occurring conditions as needed. NHS England recognises the importance of patient-centre care, tailored to meet the needs of children and young people with varied presentations, including ARFID, and the children and young people’s eating disorder guidance is currently being updated to reflect this. The intention is for the updated guidance to increase the focus on early identification of and intervention in eating disorders including ARFID and to highlight the importance of a truly integrated approach which takes account of the needs of the patient, their family and/or carers.

What steps he is taking to help ensure that independent community pharmacies have adequate funding to sustain their (a) businesses and (b) services.

The Government recognises that pharmacies are an integral part of the fabric of our communities. They provide an easily accessible ‘front door’ to the National Health Service, staffed by highly trained and skilled healthcare professionals.We have now concluded the consultation on funding for 2024/25 and 2025/26, and have agreed with Community Pharmacy England (CPE) to increase the community pharmacy contractual framework to £3.073 billion. CPE represents all pharmacy contractors in England, including independent community pharmacies. This deal represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the NHS, at over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. This shows a first step in delivering stability for the future and a commitment to rebuilding the sector.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that social care providers are receiving the £600 million pounds allocated for social care in the Autumn Budget 2024.

The Government is making available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes an £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant, £600 million of which was announced at the Autumn Budget 2024. Overall, core local government spending power will increase by 6.8% in cash terms in 2025/26. Local authorities are responsible for how they use the available funding to fulfil their duties under the Care Act 2014.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for people with (a) Motor Neurone Disease and (b) other degenerative conditions.

Patients, including those with motor neurone disease (MND), have been let down for too long whilst they wait for the care they need. The Government is committed to putting patients first. This means making sure that patients are seen on time and ensuring ...

If he will hold discussions with Healthwatch Leeds on the potential merits of implementing their policy on communication, coordination and compassion in other parts of the country.

While there are no current plans for my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to meet with Healthwatch Leeds, he does meet with stakeholders regularly about a range of issues.NHS England has carefully considered the points rai...

Whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of implementing the recommendations of the briefing paper by Healthwatch Leeds entitled Communicating change, published in September

While there are no current plans for my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to meet with Healthwatch Leeds, he does meet with stakeholders regularly about a range of issues.NHS England has carefully considered the points rai...

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure that people with additional communication needs are able to access (a) online appointment bookings and (b) other digital healthcare services.

All National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers in England are required to meet the Accessible Information Standard to meet the communication needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss. ...

What steps his Department is taking to support people diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

The Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases, such as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS). The UK Rare Diseases Framework sets out four priorities collaboratively developed with the rare disease community. These include b...

If he will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of making tuition free for dental students; and what steps he is taking to ensure that dentists receive adequate fundin

The Government is determined to rebuild National Health Service dentistry, but it will take time and there are no quick fixes. Strengthening the workforce is key to our ambitions.The Government will make sure the NHS has the staff it needs to be there for...

If he will allow individuals with a history of anaphylaxis to receive Novavax Covid-19 booster vaccinations.

Novavax was not purchased for the Autumn 2024 COVID-19 vaccination programme, as sufficient pre-procured COVID-19 doses of the Moderna mRNA (Spikevax) and Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA (Comirnaty) vaccines were available.The COVID-19 chapter of the publication Imm...

What steps his Department is taking to increase the availability of (a) GP appointments and (b) other primary care services.

We know that patients are finding it harder than ever to see a general practitioner (GP) and access other primary care services, and we are committed to fixing the crisis in GPs.Our plan to increase the number of GP appointments delivered will require bot...