Written questions by Prinsley.

What research has his Department undertaken to understand the clinical and cost effectiveness of bilateral cochlear implantation.

Awaiting answer.

What data does his Department hold on the number of (a) children and (b) adults who were fitted with (i) unilateral and (ii) bilateral cochlear implants in each of the last eight years for which figures are available.

Awaiting answer.

What steps has his Department taken to help ensure that ICBs have policies in place to ensure that patients get access to cochlear implants in line with revisions made to NICE guidance in March 2019.

Awaiting answer.

When he plans to introduce self/preferential e-rostering for doctors.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment he has made of how the National Cancer Plan will improve outcomes across all rare and less common cancers, in particular asbestos-related mesothelioma; whether he plans to engage with specialist organisations delivering best practice, including those embedded within the NHS; such as Mesothelioma UK, and what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on addressing asbestos risks in schools as part of the Government’s cancer prevention strategy.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the removal of Training Interface Group (TIG) fellowships on the provision of specialist cleft surgery training; and what steps he is taking to help ensure the continued development of cross-specialty expertise across ENT, maxillofacial and plastic surgery.

NHS England made the decision in 2025 to discontinue central funding of the salary support component of the Training Interface Group programme, and to target financial resources more effectively to address regional workforce priorities. Regions or provider organisations that wish to continue developing these skills are still able to recruit, fund, and train staff using the curriculum set by the Joint Committee on Surgical Training. NHS England is also working to understand where they can enhance and support smaller, highly specialised areas of practice. NHS England has initiated a plan, working with clinical subject matter experts, to define the demand and future supply needed for the training of cleft lip and palate surgeons and to shape the future training and workforce investment needed in this area.

What steps his Department is taking to recognise clinical academic training undertaken during specialty training by doctors in England towards consultant salary seniority.

Clinical academic training undertaken during medical specialty training does not currently count towards consultant salary seniority. However, salary seniority may be negotiated locally at the start of a consultant post. Universities have separate pay scales for clinical academics which would take academic experience into account.Clinical academic trainees can have academic time counted towards their Certificate of Completion of Training. Trainees undertaking a higher academic qualification, such as a PhD, during their training may qualify for an academic pay premium. This is a taxable, non-pensionable allowance for trainees in England who have completed an approved higher degree and returned to clinical training. It is paid annually until the completion of clinical training and is aimed at incentivising academic careers.

Whether he plans to introduce a policy similar to those in NHS Scotland and NHS Wales to support the regrading of specialty doctors to the specialist grade where appropriate.

While there are no specific plans to introduce a separate regrading policy similar to those in Scotland or Wales at this time, we are considering how best to support appropriate career progression for specialty doctors in England, including through ongoing conversations with the British Medical Association.The specialist grade was introduced in England in 2021 as part of reforms to improve career progression opportunities for Specialty, Associate Specialist, and Specialist (SAS) doctors. Employers are able to create specialist posts where there is a service need, and individuals, including speciality doctors, should be able to apply for these roles through open, competitive recruitment.As set out in the National Health Service 10-Year Health Plan, the Department is committed to supporting the continued expansion of the specialist grade where appropriate, to ensure SAS doctors have clear and fair pathways for progression.

What guidance his Department issues to local authorities to on conducting consultations with recognised care provider associations when setting adult social care fee rates.

The Care Act 2014 places a statutory duty on local authorities, under Section 5, to promote a sustainable and high-quality adult social care market. This includes ensuring that care providers can operate effectively and that fee structures support the delivery of high-quality services. While the Care Act does not prescribe specific methods of engagement, such as recognised provider associations, it sets the overarching requirement for local authorities to understand local market conditions and the costs of care. In practice, this means local authorities are expected to draw on appropriate evidence, which may include information from providers, when setting fees.On 18 December 2025, the Department published its new annual local authority priority-setting document. This sets out a list of priority outcomes and expectations for local authorities in 2026/27, and one of these is for local authorities to “set fee rates at a sustainable level, in line with commissioning priorities, to help shape markets and enable adult social care providers to recruit a skilled workforce and stabilise and improvement workforce capacity, and in preparation for employment rights reforms, starting from financial year 2026 and the fair pair agreement starting in financial year 2028”.

What implementation metrics have been set for the introduction of Staff Treatment Hubs under the 10 Year Plan, including the number of hubs operational by the end of 2026, the regional coverage targets in England and Wales, and the specific performance measures used to evaluate improvements in clinician wellbeing.

The 10-Year Health Plan committed to the roll out of Staff Treatment Hubs, to provide a high-quality wellbeing and occupational health service for all National Health Service staff. Work is underway to develop implementation and operational plans for the Staff Treatments Hubs. This will determine factors such as location, budgets, timeframes, capacity, and processes for monitoring progress and performance.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of plans to reform the immigration settlement system on the number of anaesthetists working in the health service.

No assessment has been made of the potential impact of plans to reform the immigration settlement system on the number of anaesthetists working in the health service.The Government has launched a consultation on proposals to reform the current settlement rules in favour of an “earned settlement” model, that considers factors such as contribution, integration, and conduct. The consultation, which runs until February 2026, seeks views on how these reforms should apply to different groups, including health and care workers.

What the average annual study budget available for resident doctors in England who are undertaking training or professional development is.

For the 2025/26 financial year, the total study budget allocated for doctors and dentists in postgraduate training in England is £54.5 million. The levels of spend by individual trainees are not collected centrally.We do not hold comparable data for Scotland and Wales.

Whether the Government holds data on the average resident doctor study budget in England compared with that available in (a) Scotland and (b) Wales.

For the 2025/26 financial year, the total study budget allocated for doctors and dentists in postgraduate training in England is £54.5 million. The levels of spend by individual trainees are not collected centrally.We do not hold comparable data for Scotland and Wales.

What steps are being taken to ensure patients who receive care at a surgical hub outside of their local area have access to follow-up treatment such as rehab in their locality.

The Government is committed to putting patients first. This means making sure that patients are seen on time and ensuring that people have the best possible experience during their care.The responsibility for ensuring that patients receive the right ongoing care sits with the trust whose care the patient is under. In addition, the Getting It Right First Time programme has set clear expectations that all surgical hubs should provide patients with information on how and where to access rehabilitation services post discharge, and this includes for patients returning home to a different system.

What steps he is taking to tackle elective care waiting times including joint replacement surgery in (a) Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket and (b) nationally.

The Government is committed to putting patients first, nationally and in Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket. This means making sure that patients, including those waiting for joint replacement surgery, are seen on time and ensuring that people have the best possible experience during their care. Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket is predominantly served by the West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. Over half, or 50.9%, of patients on the trauma and orthopaedic waiting list, which includes joint replacement surgery, were waiting within 18 weeks, an improvement of 7.9% since July 2024, and the number waiting more than 52 weeks has also fallen by over 70%. Nationally, the number of patients on trauma and orthopaedic waiting lists waiting within 18 weeks has improved by 3.6% and the number waiting more than 52 weeks has fallen by over 16,000 in the same period. We set out in the 2025 Elective Reform Plan the productivity and reform efforts needed to reach the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029. The plan outlines actions that will help to ensure care is delivered in the right place, and includes £1.65 billion of capital funding in 2025/26 to deliver new surgical hubs, diagnostic scanners, and beds to increase capacity for elective and emergency care. Currently, there are 123 surgical hubs operational across England, including two in the Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care System, and we are committed to expanding the number of hubs over the next three years to increase surgical capacity and deliver faster access to common procedures, including trauma and orthopaedic procedures. In December 2024, we opened the Newmarket Community Diagnostic Centre which increased diagnostic capacity, with over 34,000 scans conducted for more than 21,000 patients, and which led to a 53% reduction in the magnetic resonance imaging waiting list between December 2024 and October 2025. As of September 2025, community diagnostic centres are now delivering additional tests and checks in 170 sites. We have also confirmed 13 new state-of-the-art DEXA scanners to support better bone care, delivering on this Government’s commitment in the Elective Reform Plan. These will allow for an extra 29,000 bone scans per year, benefitting tens of thousands of patients.

If he will implement a formal mentoring programme for doctors.

There are currently no plans for a central mentoring programme for doctors. Such programmes are provided by some National Health Service trusts, integrated care boards and Royal Colleges.

What steps his Department is taking to support early interventions in maternity care.

We are rolling out several measures to support early interventions in maternity care.These include implementing the Saving Babies’ Lives ‘Bundle’, which provides evidence-based guidance for providers of maternity care to help reduce adverse outcomes and optimise care; rolling out 14 Maternal Medicine Networks across England to ensure that women with chronic and acute medical problems around pregnancy have access to specialist care; and piloting Martha’s Rule in maternity and neonatal units in 14 Trusts in six regions.In addition, we are developing a Maternal Care Bundle that will tackle the main causes of maternal death and harm, expected to be published this autumn. We are also launching a £50 million National Institute for Health Research challenge fund to task researchers with finding new ways to tackle maternity disparities and poor pregnancy outcomes.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the NHS Dispensing Fee for dispensing GP practices in the context of recent increases in employers’ National Insurance contributions.

General practices (GPs) are valued independent contractors who provide over £13 billion worth of National Health Services. Every year we consult with the profession about what services GPs provide, and the money providers are entitled to in return under their contract, taking account of the cost of delivering services, including dispensing fees. Dispensing practices receive a dispensing fee, approximately £2.00 to 2.50 per item, which is intended to cover dispensing costs. This fee is calculated based on the forecasted volumes of prescriptions to be dispensed and the size of the funding envelope, according to a methodology agreed by the Department, the General Practitioners Committee, NHS Employers, and the Welsh Government. An updated methodology was agreed between the British Medical Association and NHS England to address the issue of continuing fluctuation between over and underspend year on year, the alternating pattern of over and under spends, and implemented in October 2023. We are investing an additional £1.1 billion in GPs to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.4 billion in 2025/26, which is the biggest cash increase in over a decade. The 8.9% boost to the GP Contract in 2025/26 is greater than the 5.8% growth to the NHS budget as a whole.

What progress the General Dental Council has made on procuring a new examination board for the Overseas Registration Exam.

I have asked the General Dental Council (GDC) to present its action plan to reduce the Overseas Registration Exam (ORE) waiting list in the autumn, when the GDC also expects to be able to announce the new contract provider for the ORE.

What progress the General Dental Council has made on developing an action plan to reduce the waiting list for the Overseas Registration Exam.

I have asked the General Dental Council (GDC) to present its action plan to reduce the Overseas Registration Exam (ORE) waiting list in the autumn, when the GDC also expects to be able to announce the new contract provider for the ORE.