Written questions by Vickers.

How many geriatricians have specialist training in Parkinson’s disease; and what plans he has to increase their numbers.

The Department does not hold data on the number of neurologists or geriatricians with specialist training in Parkinson’s disease, nor does NHS England publish workforce projections at this level of granularity. Neurologists typically manage a wide range of conditions, including Parkinson’s, and geriatricians are trained to manage a broad range of complex health needs in older people. Workforce data is collected for the specialty as a whole rather than by sub-specialty.As of August 2025, there were 2,010 full-time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the specialty of neurology and 6,284 in geriatric medicine in National Health Service trusts and other organisations in England. This includes 1,025 FTE consultant neurologists and 1,687 FTE consultant geriatricians.The Department does not hold specific data on the number of specialist Parkinson’s nurses currently working in the NHS in England. These roles are commissioned and managed locally by NHS trusts and integrated care boards (ICBs) as part of neurology and movement disorder services.NHS England uses workforce modelling to establish potential future scenarios for both the supply of, and demand for, NHS workers across all specialties. In doing so, they analyse a range of factors, including population health trends, service utilisation patterns, and projected retirement and training rates. This modelling helps determine the number of training places required and informs long-term workforce planning, ensuring that specialties such as neurology and geriatric medicine have sufficient capacity to meet anticipated needs.The Government will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. It will ensure that the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, including those with Parkinson’s disease, when they need it. We are working through how the plan will articulate the changes for different professional groups.The Department recognises the importance of maintaining high-quality services for people living with Parkinson’s disease. NHS England sets clear expectations of ICBs through national service specifications as well as guidance provided through initiatives like the Getting it Right First Time and RightCare Programmes to ensure equitable access to care for people with neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s. NHS England monitors ICB performance through planning guidance and assurance processes to ensure compliance with national standards and to prevent inappropriate service reductions.

How many specialist Parkinson’s nurses are employed in the NHS; and how their distribution is monitored nationally.

The Department does not hold data on the number of neurologists or geriatricians with specialist training in Parkinson’s disease, nor does NHS England publish workforce projections at this level of granularity. Neurologists typically manage a wide range of conditions, including Parkinson’s, and geriatricians are trained to manage a broad range of complex health needs in older people. Workforce data is collected for the specialty as a whole rather than by sub-specialty.As of August 2025, there were 2,010 full-time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the specialty of neurology and 6,284 in geriatric medicine in National Health Service trusts and other organisations in England. This includes 1,025 FTE consultant neurologists and 1,687 FTE consultant geriatricians.The Department does not hold specific data on the number of specialist Parkinson’s nurses currently working in the NHS in England. These roles are commissioned and managed locally by NHS trusts and integrated care boards (ICBs) as part of neurology and movement disorder services.NHS England uses workforce modelling to establish potential future scenarios for both the supply of, and demand for, NHS workers across all specialties. In doing so, they analyse a range of factors, including population health trends, service utilisation patterns, and projected retirement and training rates. This modelling helps determine the number of training places required and informs long-term workforce planning, ensuring that specialties such as neurology and geriatric medicine have sufficient capacity to meet anticipated needs.The Government will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. It will ensure that the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, including those with Parkinson’s disease, when they need it. We are working through how the plan will articulate the changes for different professional groups.The Department recognises the importance of maintaining high-quality services for people living with Parkinson’s disease. NHS England sets clear expectations of ICBs through national service specifications as well as guidance provided through initiatives like the Getting it Right First Time and RightCare Programmes to ensure equitable access to care for people with neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s. NHS England monitors ICB performance through planning guidance and assurance processes to ensure compliance with national standards and to prevent inappropriate service reductions.

What progress he has made on reducing delayed discharges from hospitals.

The Government is committed to tackling delayed discharges, to ensure patients do not remain in hospital longer than necessary and to free up hospital beds for patients that need them.The Urgent and Emergency Care plan for 2025/26 sets as a priority that hospitals should tackle the delays in patients waiting to be discharged. They should eliminate discharge delays of more than 48 hours caused by in-hospital issues, and work with local authorities to tackle the longest delays, starting with those over 21 days, and to profile discharges by pathway to support local planning. In January 2025, we published a new policy framework for the £9 billion Better Care Fund, which gives the National Health Service and local authorities accountability for setting and achieving joint goals for reducing discharge delays. Starting in the financial year 2026/27, we will reform the Better Care Fund, focusing on ensuring consistent joint NHS and local authority funding for services essential to integrated health and social care, such as hospital discharge, intermediate care, rehabilitation, and reablement.

What steps he is taking to expand preventative health programmes in communities with high chronic-disease prevalence.

Our mission is to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy between rich and poor, through the 10-Year Health Plan. Our 10-Year Health Plan sets out how a shift to prevention will deliver healthier, more prosperous lives for all, but particularly for those suffering the consequences of widening levels of health inequality. We are committed to taking action to tackle both the chronic diseases themselves and the modifiable risk factors that contribute to them, including:doubling the number of patients able to access the NHS Digital Weight Management Programme and expanding access to obesity medicines by working closely with industry and local systems to test new models of care and identify innovative ways to do this. Investing £70 million in 2025/26 to support local authority-led Stop Smoking Services will ensure that there is a comprehensive offer across local authorities in England, while providing additional weighted funding to local authorities with the highest smoking rates. The national Swap to Stop scheme and Smoke-free Pregnancy Incentives Scheme are also continuing. We are also working to ensure that all hospitals integrate ‘opt-out’ smoking cessation interventions into routine care, making every clinical consultation count;continuing to deliver the NHS Health Check, a core component of England’s cardiovascular disease prevention programme, which aims to detect those at risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and kidney disease and who are aged between 40 and 74 years old. To improve access to the programme we are piloting an online NHS Health Check so that people can undertake a check at a time and place that is convenient to them.investing in hypertension case-finding for those over 40 years old in community pharmacies, with nearly 4.2 million people having received a free blood pressure check through the service; anddeveloping other extensive digital prevention programmes to help people live healthier lives for longer and reduce inequalities. These ‘always-on’ and free at the point of use resources were used by nearly 20 million people in the last 12 months, offering support for the priority preventable conditions, with, for example, one in four users of our NHS Quit Smoking app reaching 28 days smoke free, which in turn makes them five times more likely to stop smoking for good, and with those who complete the 12-week weight loss plan losing on average 5.6 kilograms.

What steps he is taking to support NHS Trusts with energy and estate maintenance costs.

The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan commits to delivering a National Health Service that is fit for the future, and we recognise the importance of supporting NHS trusts to manage and maintain their estates using operational capital allocations.The Government’s recently published 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy set out 10-year maintenance budgets for the public estate, confirming £6 billion per year for the maintenance and repair of the NHS estate up to 2034/35.Within this overall figure, the Government is providing over £4 billion in operational capital in 2025/26 and has now allocated a further £15.6 billion directly to providers over the following four years, from 2026/27 to 2029/30. Providers have also been given further five-year operational capital planning assumptions covering 2030/31 to 2034/35, allowing them to plan longer term with confidence and accelerate investment decisions aligned to local priorities, including repairs and maintenance.In addition to operational capital, the Estates Safety Fund, established in 2025/26, will continue, with £6.75 billion investment over the next nine years to target the most critical building repairs and ensure safe environments for healthcare delivery.We also continue to support trusts to drive down their energy bills and boost their resilience. Since 2020 the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has funded over £1 billion in NHS energy projects. This now being bolstered by the Department for Health and Social Care’s £130 million collaboration with Great British Energy. This is funding solar installations at approximately 260 NHS sites and is estimated to deliver lifetime energy bill savings for the NHS of up to £325 million, with the average NHS site estimated to save approximately £35,000 a year in energy bills.

What steps he is taking to improve local mental-health crisis support.

Nationally, progress has been achieved in building more robust crisis care pathways across all ages and in all regions, ensuring that people in a mental health crisis can receive the right care. This includes the introduction of the ‘mental health’ option for NHS 111 and the opening of new mental health crisis centres to provide accessible and responsive care for individuals in a mental health crisis.The 10-Year Health Plan sets out our ambitions to go further by developing up to 85 dedicated mental health emergency departments so that patients get fast, same-day access to specialist support in an appropriate setting. This expansion builds on a number of early implementer sites that have been established in recent years by local health systems to provide a dedicated therapeutic alternative to emergency departments for individuals in a mental health crisis.The plan also sets out our plans to transform mental health services to improve access and treatment, and to promote good mental health and wellbeing for the nation. This includes improving assertive outreach, investing in neighbourhood mental health centres, and increasing access to talking therapies and evidence-based digital interventions.

What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of community diagnostic centres in reducing pressure on hospitals.

As set out in the Elective Reform Plan and the 10-Year Health Plan, community diagnostic centres (CDCs) are key to delivering on the Government’s ambition to move more planned care from hospitals to the community, reducing pressure on hospitals and delivering more convenient care close to home.CDCs deliver additional, digitally connected, diagnostic capacity, providing patients with a co-ordinated set of diagnostic checks in the community in as few visits as possible, enabling an accurate and fast diagnosis on a range of clinical pathways.Under the Government, CDCs have delivered over 9.4 million tests and scans since July 2024, supporting patients to access vital tests, scans, and checks around their busy working lives.In August 2025, the Government confirmed that 100 CDCs across the country are now offering out of hours services by opening for 12 hours a day, seven days a week, meaning patients can access vital tests, scans, and checks around their busy working lives. We are committed to increasing this number further.

What support is available to expand training and retention of allied health professionals.

We are expanding routes into clinical professions, including allied health professions, through apprenticeships. Apprenticeships provide new routes into professional work, help boost retention, and give existing staff new ways to progress in their career, as well as widening access to opportunities for people from all backgrounds and in underserved areas.To remove financial barriers to training, the NHS Learning Support Fund provides all eligible allied health profession students with a non-repayable training grant of a minimum of £5,000 per academic year in addition to student loans.For the training of current staff, it is the responsibility of individual employers to invest in the future of their workforce and ensure appropriate ongoing training and continuing professional development to ensure they continue to provide safe and effective care.As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, the Government is committed to making the NHS the best place to work, by supporting and retaining our hardworking and dedicated healthcare professionals. To support this ambition, the Government will introduce a new set of standards for modern employment in April 2026. The new standards will reaffirm our commitment to improving retention by tackling the issues that matter to staff.

What steps he is taking to enhance digital interoperability between NHS services.

Digital interoperability between National Health Services will be supported through the use of information standards, published under section 250 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012. This has been amended by the Health and Care Act 2022, and the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, to make new information standards mandatory, including for regulated providers of health and adult social care, and including private providers, and their suppliers of IT services.Information standards set the requirements, including data structure, that must be followed when health and adult social care information is used, shared, or otherwise processed, allowing for information to flow between organisations that use different systems, in real time. NHS England is introducing mandatory information standards in a staged process.

What recent progress he has made on reducing waits for elective procedures.

As set out in the Plan for Change, we are committed to returning by March 2029 to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment, to help ensure patients get timely access to the procedures they need.We promised change, and we’ve delivered early, with a reduction in the waiting list of over 230,000 since the Government came into office, despite over 26.4 million referrals onto the list in that period.We also exceeded our pledge to deliver an extra two million appointments, tests, and operations in our first year of Government, having delivered 5.2 million additional appointments between July 2024 and June 2025.This progress has been made through setting ambitious targets, investing in modernisation, reforming and simplifying pathways, increasing surgical and diagnostic capacity, and empowering patients with faster and more convenient access to care.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of ambulance response times in rural and semi-urban areas.

We acknowledge that ambulance performance has not consistently met expectations in recent years, and we are taking serious steps to improve performance across the country including rural and semi-urban areas. That is why we published our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26, backed by almost £450 million of capital investment, which commits to reducing ambulance response times for Category 2 incidents to 30 minutes on average this year. The National Health Service constitutional standards for ambulance response time metrics are measured with an average figure as well as a 90th centile standard which means that trusts are held to account for the response times they provide to all patients, improving the performance management of the ‘long tail’ of delayed ambulance responses that we know can particularly affect rural and semi-urban areas. Recent NHS England figures show a 23-minute improvement in the Category 2 90th centile response time compared with last year. Local NHS integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for service commissioning decisions in their local communities, including ambulance provision for rural and semi-urban communities. ICB funding allocations for ambulance services take account of rurality and patient density to cover the longer travel distances to incidents and greater time required to convey patients to hospitals.

What assessment he has made of trends in the level of regional cancer survival outcomes; and what steps he is taking to reduce regional disparities.

We know that more needs to be done to reduce the disparities in cancer survival. We remain committed to making improvements across different cancer types and reducing disparities in cancer survival. Early cancer diagnosis is also a specific priority within the National Health Service’s wider Core20Plus5 approach to reducing healthcare inequalities.The 10-Year Health Plan sets out how the Government will shift the focus from care from the hospital to care the community, which will make it easier for people to access cancer screening, diagnostic, and treatment services in their local areas, with more choice for people on how and where they access these services. Services will be backed by the latest technology to drive up this country’s cancer survival rates.The forthcoming National Cancer Plan, which we will publish in the new year, will look at targeted improvements needed across different cancer types to reduce disparities in cancer survival. The plan will seek to ensure that high-quality care and treatment is available to all patients across the country, no matter where they live. This will build on the current national cancer audits, which are seeking to promote best practice and aim to reduce inequalities in access to or the quality of treatment.The National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, seeking to improve every aspect of cancer care, to better the experience and outcomes for people with cancer. Our goal is to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer over the next ten years. To do this, we will focus on prevention, deliver targeted improvements, drive research and innovation, and ensure patients have access to the latest treatments and technology.

What steps he is taking to modernise primary care estates.

In May, we announced schemes which will benefit from the £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund (UMF) to deliver upgrades to a thousand general practice surgeries across England this financial year. The NHS Capital Planning Guidance and capital allocations, which set operational budgets for the next four years, have recently been published and include further details on multi-year funding for the UMF.As part of the 10-Year Health Plan, the Government has committed to deliver a Neighbourhood Health Centre (NHC) in every community across the country over the course of the 10-Year Health Plan. We announced our commitment at the Autumn Budget to deliver 250 NHCs through an NHS Neighbourhood Rebuild Programme. This will deliver NHCs through a mixture of refurbishments, to expand and improve sites over the next three years, and new-build sites opening in the medium term.Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning, which includes planning, securing, and monitoring, general practice services within their health systems through delegated responsibility from NHS England. Both ICBs and local health systems will be responsible for determining the most appropriate locations for NHCs.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of NHS dentistry, particularly in areas with significant waiting lists.

We are aware of the challenges faced in accessing a dentist and the Government is taking action to improve this. We have asked integrated care boards (ICBs) to commission extra urgent dental appointments across the country, with appointments more heavily weighted towards those areas where they are needed the most.ICBs are recruiting posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in underserved areas for three years.The Government is also considering the outcomes of the consultation on immediate improvements to dental care and will publish a response shortly.It is a contractual requirement for NHS dentists to update their NHS website profiles at least every 90 days to ensure patients have up-to-date information on where they can access care. This includes information on whether they are accepting new patients. ICBs can review which practices in their area have not updated their profile in a 90-day period, and work with practices to ensure websites are up to date.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 by the end of this Parliament.

What steps he is taking to support social-care providers to increase workforce numbers.

English local authorities have responsibility under the Care Act 2014 to meet social care needs and statutory guidance directs them to ensure there is sufficient workforce in adult social care (ASC).The Government recognises the scale of the reforms needed to make the ASC sector attractive, to support sustainable workforce growth and improve the recruitment and retention of the domestic workforce.We are committed to transforming ASC and supporting ASC workers, turning the page on decades of low pay and insecurity. That is why we plan to introduce the first ever Fair Pay Agreement in 2028, backed by £500 million funding to improve pay and conditions for the ASC workforce. Ensuring that staff have the skills and training needed to work in social care is also essential, both to attract people to join and remain in the workforce, and for the provision of high-quality care and support. That is why we have developed the Care Workforce Pathway, the first national career framework for ASC, and we are investing £12 million in learning and development through the Learning and Development Support Scheme, to enable eligible staff to complete eligible courses and qualifications.We have also launched the 2025/26 ASC recruitment campaign, which is running throughout October and January with advertising appearing on television, social media, radio, and online, showcasing authentic moments in care careers and driving people with the right skills and values to apply for paid vacancies in the sector.

What steps he is taking to improve GP appointment availability in regions with rising demand.

We have invested an additional £1.1 billion in GPs to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, the largest increase in over a decade. Of this, £160 million has been directed to employ more GPs via the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme which has given additional flexibilities to recruit 2,500 new GPs into primary care networks across England. Additionally, the new £102 million Primary Care Utilisation and Modernisation Fund will create additional clinical space within over 1,000 GPs across England to deliver 8.3 million more appointments each year.In the twelve months leading up to September 2025, our efforts have resulted in 10.6 million more appointments compared to the previous year, a clear demonstration of our commitment to enhancing access for patients and supporting the future of GPs.The review of the GP funding formula, the Carr-Hill formula, is being conducted by the National Institute for Health and Care Research. The purpose of the review is to ensure that funding for GPs is distributed equitably and is targeted towards areas that need it most. The review will consider unavoidable costs based on geographical areas.

If his Department will take steps to improve the assessment and diagnosis for Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder in (i) Teesside and (ii) the North East of England.

NHS England is working with eating disorder services and local commissioners to improve access to assessment and treatment for all children and young people with a suspected eating disorder, including those presenting with Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID).In 2019/20, NHS England funded seven community eating disorder teams, one in each region in England, as part of a pilot programme to improve access, assessment, and treatment for children and young people with ARFID. The training from these pilots is now available for local areas to commission for their community children and young people’s eating disorder services.The NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) has prioritised work to improve ARFID pathways. The ICB’s specialist provider collaborative appointed a dedicated ARFID project lead to develop and share best practice across the region. This work has supported improved clinical networking, supervision, and training materials, and resulted in the development of information and resources for families and service users.Within the Tees Valley, eating disorder services provide assessment and treatment for patients with moderate to severe ARFID, and they have developed a specific ARFID pathway. Support for people with mild to moderate ARFID presentations is also available through local voluntary sector organisations such as Eating Distress North East.

What guidance and information his Department issues to clinicians to assist in early diagnosis of Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder.

NHS England is working with eating disorder services and local commissioners to improve access to assessment and treatment for all children and young people with a suspected eating disorder, including those presenting with Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID).In 2019/20, NHS England funded seven community eating disorder teams, one in each region in England, as part of a pilot programme to improve access, assessment, and treatment for children and young people with ARFID. The training from these pilots is now available for local areas to commission for their community children and young people’s eating disorder services.The NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) has prioritised work to improve ARFID pathways. The ICB’s specialist provider collaborative appointed a dedicated ARFID project lead to develop and share best practice across the region. This work has supported improved clinical networking, supervision, and training materials, and resulted in the development of information and resources for families and service users.Within the Tees Valley, eating disorder services provide assessment and treatment for patients with moderate to severe ARFID, and they have developed a specific ARFID pathway. Support for people with mild to moderate ARFID presentations is also available through local voluntary sector organisations such as Eating Distress North East.

If he will make an estimate of the number of practicing clinicians who have received specialist training in (a) diagnosing and (b) treating Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder.

In 2021, NHS England commissioned training for staff delivering treatment in inpatient children and young people’s mental health services to improve the understanding and management of Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID).NHS England does not hold centralised data on the number of clinicians who have received specialist ARFID training. Training is commissioned and delivered locally to meet the needs of local populations.

What assessment his Department have made of potential (a) savings to the NHS and (b) improved or increased quality of life for patients from the early diagnosing of people with Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder.

NHS England has not made a specific assessment of the potential savings to the National Health Service or the improvements in quality of life arising from the early diagnosis of Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID). However, early identification and intervention are recognised as key to improving outcomes for people with eating disorders, reducing the risk of deterioration and the need for more intensive treatment later on. NHS England continues to work with commissioners and providers to ensure timely access to assessment and treatment for all individuals with suspected eating disorders, including ARFID.