Written questions by Coyle.

How his department ensures GPs retain telephone and reception facilities to book appointments at GP clinics.

As part of our ambition to end the 8:00am scramble, we want patients to contact their practice by phone, online, or by walking in, and for people to have an equitable experience across these access modes. To ensure that patients are not digitally excluded, the GP Contract is clear that patients should always have the option of telephoning or visiting their practice in person, and all online tools must always be provided in addition to, rather than as a replacement for, other channels for accessing a general practice (GP). Practice receptions should be open so that patients without access to telephone or online services are in no way disadvantaged.To support patients who depend on telephone bookings, the 2025/26 GP Contract includes a requirement for all GPs to offer online booking throughout core hours, from 8:00am to 6:30pm. This is designed to ease pressure on phone lines by allowing those who prefer online booking to do so at any time, freeing up phone lines, reducing long phone queues, and improving the experience for those reliant on telephone bookings.

How his Department monitors the different methods by which patients book appointments to see a GP in England.

NHS England publishes monthly data on submissions received via online consultation systems, including clinical and administrative requests, and the number of cloud-based telephony calls received by general practices (GPs). The annual General Practice Patient Survey and the monthly Office for National Statistics Health Insight Survey collect data on the methods patients use to contact their GP and the perceived ease of contact with each method.As part of our ambition to end the 8:00am scramble, we want patients to contact their practice by phone, online, or by walking in, and for people to have an equitable experience across these access modes. To ensure that patients are not digitally excluded, the GP Contract is clear that patients should always have the option of telephoning or visiting their practice in person, and all online tools must always be provided in addition to, rather than as a replacement for, other channels for accessing a GP. Practice receptions should be open so that patients without access to telephone or online services are in no way disadvantaged.

Whether the staff survey conducted by the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation team included all maternity and neonatal care professions, including maternity support workers.

Baroness Amos launched a call for evidence for those who work in the maternity and neonatal pathway, which closed on 9 March. The Department understands the Independent National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation team has received more than 9,000 responses from across 124 trusts. A breakdown for responses by profession or clinical speciality is not yet available as evidence is still being analysed by the independent investigation team. This will be published in the final report. Information about how to access the workforce survey was distributed to all National Health Service trusts, and the investigation asked them to share the link to all maternity and neonatal staff groups, both clinical and non-clinical.Evidence collection is still ongoing. When visiting the 12 local NHS trusts identified in the Terms of Reference, the investigation team conducted evidence panels with staff as well as reviewing maternity and neonatal facilities. Further evidence collection was conducted after the visits, including interviews with the senior executive team and one to one conversations offered to staff if they do not feel comfortable talking in a group. As of 26 February, the investigation had held 44 staff panels and completed 75 staff/executive interviews as part of the local reviews. The investigation is now in the process of undertaking interviews with national system leaders.

How many responses were received to the staff survey conducted by the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation team that closed on 9 March 2026; how many NHS trusts in England were represented in the results; and what the breakdown of responses was by (a) profession and (b) clinical speciality.

Baroness Amos launched a call for evidence for those who work in the maternity and neonatal pathway, which closed on 9 March. The Department understands the Independent National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation team has received more than 9,000 responses from across 124 trusts. A breakdown for responses by profession or clinical speciality is not yet available as evidence is still being analysed by the independent investigation team. This will be published in the final report. Information about how to access the workforce survey was distributed to all National Health Service trusts, and the investigation asked them to share the link to all maternity and neonatal staff groups, both clinical and non-clinical.Evidence collection is still ongoing. When visiting the 12 local NHS trusts identified in the Terms of Reference, the investigation team conducted evidence panels with staff as well as reviewing maternity and neonatal facilities. Further evidence collection was conducted after the visits, including interviews with the senior executive team and one to one conversations offered to staff if they do not feel comfortable talking in a group. As of 26 February, the investigation had held 44 staff panels and completed 75 staff/executive interviews as part of the local reviews. The investigation is now in the process of undertaking interviews with national system leaders.

How many meetings the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation team has held during its evidence gathering with a) frontline NHS maternity staff and b) staff representative organisations.

Baroness Amos launched a call for evidence for those who work in the maternity and neonatal pathway, which closed on 9 March. The Department understands the Independent National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation team has received more than 9,000 responses from across 124 trusts. A breakdown for responses by profession or clinical speciality is not yet available as evidence is still being analysed by the independent investigation team. This will be published in the final report. Information about how to access the workforce survey was distributed to all National Health Service trusts, and the investigation asked them to share the link to all maternity and neonatal staff groups, both clinical and non-clinical.Evidence collection is still ongoing. When visiting the 12 local NHS trusts identified in the Terms of Reference, the investigation team conducted evidence panels with staff as well as reviewing maternity and neonatal facilities. Further evidence collection was conducted after the visits, including interviews with the senior executive team and one to one conversations offered to staff if they do not feel comfortable talking in a group. As of 26 February, the investigation had held 44 staff panels and completed 75 staff/executive interviews as part of the local reviews. The investigation is now in the process of undertaking interviews with national system leaders.

With reference to the Royal College of Midwives' campaign entitled Safe staffing = safe care, January 2026, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing multi-year funding through a national maternity and neonatal action plan on maternity services.

The Government is committed to publishing 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. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will build on the 10-Year Health Plan to set out how we will deliver a new workforce model with staff who are aligned with the future direction of reform. The Department launched a Call for Evidence in September 2025 until November 2025 to seek views from healthcare organisations and those with expertise in workforce planning to develop the new workforce plan.The independent National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation, chaired by Baroness Amos, is expected to publish findings in the spring. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, will chair the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce to address the recommendations and develop a new national action plan to drive improvements across maternity and neonatal care.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that Integrated Care Boards are implementing NICE guidance on intermediate care for patients experiencing homelessness.

The Department recognises the importance of ensuring that people experiencing homelessness have access to appropriate intermediate care. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guideline NG214 on integrated health and social care for people experiencing homelessness sets out clear expectations for services to be accessible and tailored to the needs of individuals experiencing homelessness. This guidance is available at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng214/chapter/Recommendations#intermediate-careThe intermediate care framework, published in 2023, stipulates that intermediate care services should be available to all eligible individuals, including those experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. The intermediate care framework is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/intermediate-care-framework-for-rehabilitation-reablement-and-recovery-following-hospital-discharge/ Guidance on discharging people at risk of or experiencing homelessness, published in 2024, further states that specialist and bespoke homeless intermediate care services should be developed in response to needs and should be integrated so that ‘mainstream’ and ‘specialist’ services work seamlessly together. The guidance on discharging people at risk of or experiencing homelessness is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/discharging-people-at-risk-of-or-experiencing-homelessness/discharging-people-at-risk-of-or-experiencing-homelessness The Better Care Fund supports local systems to integrate health, housing, and social care in ways that deliver person-centred care. One of the conditions is that Health and Wellbeing Boards are required to submit plans showing projected demand and planned capacity for intermediate care services with due regard to the need to reduce inequalities in access to and outcomes achieved by National Health Services.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing mandatory training for opticians and GPs to recognise Charles Bonnet Syndrome.

There are no plans to implement mandatory training for opticians and general practitioners to recognise Charles Bonnet Syndrome. Healthcare professionals are responsible for ensuring their clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. The College of Optometrists has also published a number of resources providing information about Charles Bonnet Syndrome for optometrists and patients.

What steps he is taking to ensure ICBs meet national requirements for hospice performance.

Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.  The statutory guidance states that ICBs must work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of palliative care and end of life care services to meet the needs of their local populations, which can include hospice services available within the ICB catchment.NHS England has a legal duty to annually assess the performance of each ICB in respect of each financial year and to publish a summary of its findings. This assessment must assess how well the ICB has discharged its functions.Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at the end of life and their loved ones.  Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services.The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England and, therefore, covers the palliative and end of life care sector, including independent hospices. The CQC registers health and adult care providers, monitors and inspects services to see whether they are safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led, and publishes its findings, including quality ratings.The CQC can use its legal powers to take action where poor care is identified, and publishes regional and national views of the major quality issues in health and social care, including palliative and end of life care, encouraging improvement by highlighting good practice.The Department and NHS England are currently looking at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10-Year Health Plan.The Government and the NHS will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative and end of life care services to ensure that services reduce variation in access and quality, although some variation may be appropriate to reflect both innovation and the needs of local populations.I am pleased to confirm the continuation of children’s hospices funding for the next three financial years, 2026/27 to 2028/29 inclusive. This funding will see circa £26 million, adjusted for inflation, allocated to children’s hospices in England each year, via their local ICBs on behalf of NHS England, as happened in 2024/25 and 2025/26. This amounts to approximately £80 million over the next three years.

What steps he is taking to implement the recommendations of the most recent National Study of Health and Wellbeing.

The latest prevalence data from the National Study of Health and Wellbeing (also known as the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey) found that 1 in 5 adults in England were experiencing a common mental health condition in 2023/24, up from 1 in 6 a decade ago. Through our Plan for Change, we are committed to working beyond the health system to tackle the drivers of mental ill health. For example, recently announced welfare legislation is getting more people with health conditions back into work, backed by £1 billion of investment to unlock opportunity and grow the economy. The 10-Year Health Plan sets out a number of important initiatives that will help tackle the rising prevalence of mental ill health by intervening earlier when problems first arise. This includes expanding access to mental health support teams in schools and colleges to reach full national coverage across England by 2030, embedding mental health support in Young Futures Hubs and making it easier than ever to access mental health support via the NHS App.

With reference to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists's report entitled A work in progress: evaluating the women’s health strategy, published in July 2025, whether he plans to update his Department's Women's health strategy for England to align it with the 10 Year Health Plan.

The 2022 Women's Health Strategy identified many important issues which remain valid, and we have already made excellent progress turning the commitments in the strategy into tangible action. This includes delivering 5.2 million extra appointments, tackling gynaecology waiting lists using the private sector, and we will shortly make emergency hormonal contraception free in pharmacies. We now need to update the Women’s Health Strategy to align with the 10-Year Health Plan and identify areas where we need to go further.

If he will consider the potential merits of reintroducing health in pregnancy grants to support early years development.

Children’s early years are crucial to their development, health, and life chances. This is why the Government offers financial support to families with young children on low incomes through the Healthy Start scheme and the Sure Start Maternity Grant (SSMG). The SSMG is a one-off £500 grant payment intended to help with the costs of having a newborn or adopted baby. Eligibility for SSMG is set out on the GOV.UK website, at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/sure-start-maternity-grant/eligibility Healthy Start is a demand-led, statutory scheme that aims to support young families in the greatest need to buy healthy food. We recently announced in the 10-Year Health Plan that we will uplift the value of weekly payments by 10%.The move to a Neighbourhood Health Service, as described in the 10-Year Health Plan, and the Best Start in Life Strategy, will further improve support for families, so that every child has the healthiest possible start in life. Building on the £126 million funding boost for the Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme in 2025/26, Best Start Family Hubs will be rolled out to every local authority from April 2026.Alongside improving services for all families, tackling child poverty is an urgent priority for the Government. A Ministerial Taskforce is exploring all available levers to drive forward short and long-term action across the Government to reduce child poverty and is working to publish the Child Poverty Strategy.

What steps he is taking to improve specialist paediatric Pancreatic Cancer services in the NHS as part of the 10 year plan.

In England, children with cancer have their care managed by specialist paediatric cancer multi-disciplinary teams, whose responsibility it is to provide high-quality care through the effective coordination of integrated, disease specific pathways. This includes arranging for access to specialist pancreatic services, where clinically appropriate.The 10-Year Health Plan for England includes a number of important actions that will improve children’s health and paediatric health services.A National Cancer Plan for England will also be published this year. The plan will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and earlier diagnosis to accessing treatment and ongoing care. It will apply to all cancer types, including pancreatic cancer, and will include a specific focus on children and young people with cancer.

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure that all Primary Care Network accounts are (a) publicly available and (b) otherwise transparent.

There are no current plans to change the way that primary care network (PCN) accounts, where required, are published. There is no requirement for practices to form separate legal entities when establishing a PCN account, and the Directed Enhanced Service is held by individual practices. Where local arrangements have led to the creation of separate legal entities, they are covered by existing company law and requirements to produce accounts.

What steps his Department is taking to help improve access to pancreatic specialists in children’s healthcare.

The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever. This includes ensuring that children receive the appropriate care and support whenever they need it. A range of measures across National Health Service systems support this goal.NHS England commissions specialist paediatric gastroenterology services, which include the management of pancreatic conditions, through a network of designated regional centres. These centres are supported by clear referral pathways to ensure children can access specialist teams regardless of where they live.National clinical guidelines, developed by the British Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, help ensure consistent standards of diagnosis and care. NHS England continues to work with professional bodies, specialist centres, and commissioners to improve equity of access and ensure timely treatment for children with complex pancreatic conditions.The Department continues to work with NHS England to support service planning, training, and commissioning for paediatric gastroenterology, to ensure children receive timely and appropriate care for pancreatic conditions.

If he will take steps to require all primary care networks to publish annual accounts.

The network directed enhanced service contract for primary care networks is held by individual practices, and there is no requirement to form separate legal entities or produce separate accounts. Where local arrangements have led to the creation of separate legal entities they are covered by existing company law and requirements to produce accounts.

What role neighbourhood mental health centre pilot schemes will play in improving (a) care and (b) support for people living with bipolar disorder; and whether these centres will provide specialist support to help reduce delays to diagnosis and treatment.

Adults with mild to severe mental health needs, including bipolar disorder, can receive open access and as you arrive support, signposting and treatment at Neighbourhood Mental Health Centres, which will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. These centres will be in the heart of the community and are firmly connected to both primary and specialist services.Neighbourhood Mental Health Centres promote continuity of care with one team managing the mental health pathway and transitions between hospital and community. These centres will support the improvement of patient safety and clinical outcomes and reduce waiting times and hospitalisation.NHS England has launched six pilot Neighbourhood Mental Health Centres in Tower Hamlets, Lewisham, Sheffield, York, Birmingham and Whitehaven with a further 16 associate sites planned. The six pilot sites will be independently evaluated with findings expected in summer 2026. Evaluation will inform future roll out of the centres.

What his policy is on the use of police vehicles as places of safety for people with mental heath conditions, in the context of police and prison cells no longer being used to place people experiencing a mental health crisis.

The Mental Health Act’s Code of Practice states that local organisations are expected to have clear arrangements in place to support individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. This includes the development of a policy which identifies specific places of safety.These places of safety should be hospitals or health-based facilities where appropriate mental health services are provided.Other options might, however, be appropriate, such as the home of a relative or of a friend of the person who is willing to accept them, or a residential care home. These settings might provide a more immediate and more suitable setting for the individual.A police vehicle would not be an appropriate place to hold a person who is in need of specialist mental health support.

How many people with learning difficulties have been sectioned under the Mental Health Act 1983 in each of the last five years.

The following table shows the number of people with learning disabilities admitted to mental health inpatient care under the Mental Health Act 1983, within each year between 2020 and 2024, as of 28 February 2025:YearNumber of people with learning disabilities admitted to mental health inpatient care under the Mental Health Act 198320204902021485202241520233952024400Source: Assuring Transformation data collection, NHS England.Notes:this data includes people recorded as having a learning disability, and those with a learning disability who are also autistic, admitted to mental health inpatient care under the Mental Health Act 1983, within each year between 2020 and 2024;this data excludes people recorded as detained under other Acts, for instance the Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964, or the Mental Capacity Act, and those who are recorded as informal patients; andAssuring Transformation is a live data set and the information on a person’s stay in hospital, including legal status, may be updated in the record if the person’s status changes. These counts will reflect the legal status, as per the Mental Health Act legal status classification codes, as it is recorded in the latest data cut, which for some patients may not reflect their status on admission.

How many people with autism have been sectioned under the Mental Health Act 1983 in each of the last five years.

The following table shows the number of autistic people admitted to mental health inpatient care under the Mental Health Act 1983 within each year between 2020 and 2024, based on the Assuring Transformation data collection as of 28 February 2025:YearNumber of autistic people admitted to mental health inpatient care under the Mental Health Act 1983202063520217152022820202390520241,015Source: Assuring Transformation data collection, NHS England.Notes:counts are rounded to the nearest five, in line with the Assuring Transformation disclosure control rules, to protect patient confidentiality;this data includes people recorded as being autistic with no learning disability, and those with a learning disability who are also autistic, who were admitted to mental health inpatient care under the Mental Health Act 1983 within each year between 2020 and 2024. Where a person was admitted under the Mental Health Act more than once in the year, they are only counted once;this data excludes people recorded as detained under other acts, for instance the Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964, or the Mental Capacity Act, and those who are recorded as informal patients; andAssuring Transformation is a live data set and the information on a person’s stay in hospital, including legal status, may be updated in the record if the person’s status changes. These counts will reflect legal status, as defined by the Mental Health Act legal status classification code, and as it is recorded in the latest data cut, which for some patients may not reflect their status on admission.