Written questions by Gill.

What information his Department holds on the number of Jewish women who have breast cancer according to the NHS.

The information is not held in the format requested.

How many people are receiving support through the Healthy Start scheme in Birmingham Edgbaston constituency.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. Monthly figures for the number of people on the digital Healthy Start scheme are published on the NHS Healthy Start website, which is available at the following link:https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/healthcare-professionals/The NHSBSA does not hold data on local constituencies. The following two tables show the number of people on the digital scheme in March 2025 for all ward areas in Birmingham, and in the ward of Edgbaston specifically: MonthLocal authorityPeople on the digital schemeMarch 2025Birmingham12,820 MonthWardPeople on the digital schemeMarch 2025Edgbaston186

What steps he is taking to improve NHS Organ Donor Register registration rates among (a) Sikh and (b) Jewish people.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) manages transplant services across the United Kingdom. NHSBT works with an extensive network of organisations and individuals who have established and trusted relationships with their communities. Last year, in collaboration with the National Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Transplant Alliance (NBTA), NHSBT delivered a conference with the aim of developing culturally and religiously sensitive messaging to promote organ donation within these communities by engaging faith leaders and organisations. Representatives from 51 organisations attended, including British Sikh Nurses. This promotes the sharing of messaging guidance with many faiths, including Sikhism. The report will be shared with all community grant groups and organisations working to increase engagement with faith groups. NHSBT and the NBTA, along with the Race Equality Commission, will continue to work together, and have established a Messaging Conference Implementation Group which will take forward the actions arising from the conference. NHSBT also creates and shares a host of faith-based assets on its website, including for Judaism, with further information available at the following link:https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/helping-you-to-decide/your-faith-and-beliefs/judaism/The Jewish Organ Donor Association is a recipient of the Community Grant Programme, which is a two-year programme focused on building long-term relationships through trusted peers and leaders in the community, engaging with black African and Caribbean, South Asian, East and South East Asian, Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Muslim, and Christian communities. It aims to raise awareness, tackle misinformation, and change perceptions and behaviours around organ donation. A total of £600,000 was given to 51 recipients in 2024.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of screening relatives of people with type 1 diabetes.

The Early Surveillance for Autoimmune diabetes (ELSA) study is researching a screening programme for children, aged three to 13 years old, to detect for type 1 diabetes with a simple finger stick blood test. This looks for four antibodies, protein markers, which are associated with a higher risk of developing diabetes. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.elsadiabetes.nhs.uk/This study is currently screening children across the United Kingdom to identify those at risk of developing type 1 diabetes. The programme has been running through schools and general practice surgeries, as well as through online recruitment, and has been hugely successful, with over 24,000 children stepping forward for this test. The ELSA study launched in November 2022 with the intention for all enrolled children to be screened by the end of February 2025. The Department is awaiting the publication of the results of this study.

What recent assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of levels of screening of type 1 diabetes.

The Early Surveillance for Autoimmune diabetes (ELSA) study is researching a screening programme for children, aged three to 13 years old, to detect for type 1 diabetes with a simple finger stick blood test. This looks for four antibodies, protein markers, which are associated with a higher risk of developing diabetes. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.elsadiabetes.nhs.uk/This study is currently screening children across the United Kingdom to identify those at risk of developing type 1 diabetes. The programme has been running through schools and general practice surgeries, as well as through online recruitment, and has been hugely successful, with over 24,000 children stepping forward for this test. The ELSA study launched in November 2022 with the intention for all enrolled children to be screened by the end of February 2025. The Department is awaiting the publication of the results of this study.

What steps he is taking to improve NHS Organ Donor Register registration rates among ethnic minority groups.

The NHS Organ Donor Register is operated by NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT). Improving NHS Organ Donor Register registration rates overall and particularly for ethnic minority groups is a priority for the Government and NHSBT, to save and improve more lives. NHSBT runs marketing and communication activity throughout the year to increase organ donation, particularly for underrepresented groups, which includes but is not limited to:- publication of the Annual Report of Ethnic Differences in Transplantation, with supporting media coverage, including on the BBC Asian Network;- raising awareness during South Asian Heritage Month with charities and organisations; and- Organ Donation Week 2024, which saw continued activity with partners, including Dalgety Tea, and an exclusive screening of the living donation film The Final Gift at Brixton’s Ritzy cinema NHSBT’s Community Grants Programme is part of NHSBT’s works to build support for organ donation amongst black, Asian, mixed heritage, and minority ethnic communities, working through faith groups to increase understanding and drive behavioural change on organ donation. NHSBT works closely with the National Black, Asian, Mixed Race, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Transplant Alliance to deliver culturally and religiously sensitive messaging about low donation rates amongst their communities. In addition, a range of online and printed materials in relation to faith are available on the dedicated faith and beliefs section of the NHSBT website, which is available at the following link: https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/helping-you-to-decide/your-faith-and-beliefs/

What the average waiting times were for patients requiring an organ transplant in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) religion and (b) ethnic group.

Information on waiting times is not held by year for religious or ethnic groups. Waiting times also vary between organ types.NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for organ donation and managing the organ transplant waiting list across the United Kingdom. Information available on annual activity and the current waiting list is captured in the NHSBT Annual Activity Report, which is available at the following link:https://www.odt.nhs.uk/statistics-and-reports/annual-activity-report/Improving National Health Service Organ Donor Register registration rates overall and particularly for ethnic minority groups is a priority for the Government and NHSBT, to save and improve more lives.NHSBT conducts marketing and communication activity throughout the year to increase organ donation particularly for underrepresented groups which includes but is not limited to: publication of the Annual Report of Ethnic Differences in Transplantation with supporting media coverage including on the BBC Asian Network; raising awareness during South Asian Heritage Month with charities and organisations; continued activity during Organ Donation Week 2024 with partners including Dalgety Tea and an exclusive screening of the living donation film ‘The Final Gift’ at Brixton’s Ritzy cinema.NHSBT is committed to reducing health inequalities in treatment and health outcomes that see some people wait longer for life saving treatments, or in some cases miss out on them all together. Some of the priority areas to tackle health inequalities include reducing the waiting time for minority groups waiting for organs and increasing access to automated exchange transfusion by people with sickle cell disorder.NHSBT’s Community Grants Programme is part of NHSBT’s work to build support for organ donation amongst Black, Asian, mixed heritage and minority ethnic communities, working through faith groups to increase understanding and drive behavioural change on organ donation. In the latest funding round, we awarded 51 organisations funding to begin their work in September 2024. This included £150,000 to support deceased organ donation and £150,000 to support living kidney donation.Projects range from local community charities, experienced blood/organ charities to universities and places of worship. For example, the South Asian Heritage Trust aims to raise awareness about organ donation and tackling health inequalities by empowering South Asian communities to make informed choices and increase the number of registered organ donors. NHSBT also works closely with patient groups and charities including the Sickle Cell Society, the National Black, Asian, Mixed Race, and Minority Ethnic Transplant Alliance (NBTA), the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust, the NHS Race Health Observatory and many more.NHSBT works closely with the NBTA to deliver culturally and religiously sensitive messaging about low donation rates amongst their communities.

How many and what proportion of employees of NHS England: Midlands are in the (a) ESM 1, (b) ESM 2, (c) ESM 3 and (d) ESM 4 salary bands.

Of the 961 staff employed in the NHS England Midlands region, 2.3% of employees in the region are at Executive Senior Manager (ESM) grades, none of whom are at ESM4. The following table shows the number and proportion of staff in the NHS England Midlands region who are at ESM grades, as of end of February 2025:GradeNumber of staffPercentage of regional staffESM1161.7%ESM250.5%ESM310.1%ESM400.0%

What recent assessment he has made of the role of (a) generic, (b) biosimilar and (c) off-patent medicines in addressing medicine shortages.

The resilience of United Kingdom supply chains is a key priority, and the Department is committed to helping to build long term supply chain resilience for medicines. The Department recognises the important role all off patent medicines, including generic and biosimilar medicines, together with branded medicines play in ensuring patients across the UK market have access to the medicines they need and at a price that also ensures value for money.It is important to note that, like branded medicines, generic and biosimilar medicines can also face issues with supply. While we can’t always prevent supply issues from occurring, we have a range of well-established processes and tools to manage them when they arise and mitigate risks to patients. These include close and regular engagement with suppliers, use of alternative strengths or forms of a medicine to allow patients to remain on the same product, expediting regulatory procedures, sourcing unlicensed imports from abroad, adding products to the restricted exports and hoarding list, use of serious shortage protocols, and issuing National Health Service communications to provide management advice and information on the issue to healthcare professionals including pharmacists, so they can advise and support their patients.

What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of vaccination rates among babies and children for tuberculosis in (a) Birmingham, Edgbaston constituency, (b) Birmingham and (c) the West Midlands.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) monitors trends in the level of childhood vaccination rates, including Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination, at upper tier local authority, region and country level.Official vaccine coverage estimates, for the BCG vaccine, are measured for eligible children in England at three months and 12 months of age and are published quarterly by UKHSA. These are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cover-of-vaccination-evaluated-rapidly-cover-programme-2024-to-2025-quarterly-dataAnnual estimates are published by NHS England at local authority level, and are available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-immunisation-statistics/england-2023-24Edgbaston falls within the Birmingham Upper Tier Local Authority. The latest data, published in December 2024, captures BCG coverage at the age of three months for children born April to June 2024 and at age 12 months for children born July to September 2023. Measured at three months, coverage was 87.0% in Birmingham and 87.1% in the West Midlands. Measured at 12 months, it was 85.3% in Birmingham and 87.0% in the West Midlands. These figures are higher than the coverage of 78.4% at 3 months and 84.1% at 12 months in England.

What performance improvement targets he has sought from the MHRA on bringing down the licensing backlog of generic and biosimilar medicine applications.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) focus has been to ensure all applications received through all routes are processed on time. The MHRA has now embedded improvements in processing licencing applications into standard working practice. Milestones for licencing clearance during 2024 were achieved in line with the business plan commitment to remove backlogs, including generics and biosimilars by the end of March 2025.During 2024, the MHRA has been working through a high number of applications to return to working to statutory timelines. From 1 September 2024, all applications submitted, regardless of application pathway, are being completed within statutory timelines. The Agency’s original background of national marketing authorisation applications has been eliminated, with decisions made for over 1,680 licence applications in 2024.The MHRA has been working in close collaboration with health system partners and industry to ensure that robust, appropriate and prompt decisions are made. The MHRA is on track to clear all statutory backlog activities by the end of March 2025.

What recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of tuberculosis in (a) Birmingham, Edgbaston constituency (b) Birmingham and (c) the West Midlands.

The latest annual and quarterly Tuberculosis (TB) reports for England, published by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), include detailed data analysis up to the end of 2023 and provisional data up to the end of 2024; this includes the West Midlands and Birmingham city local authority area. The full report and data tables are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tuberculosis-in-england-2024-reportTB notification rates in the West Midlands showed a steady decline between 2012 and 2019, after which notification rates plateaued before beginning to increase in 2022. In 2023, the TB rates for the West Midlands rose by 7.8%, giving the West Midlands the second highest TB notification rate after London. Provisional data for 2024 indicates a continued and accelerated rise, namely 22.2%, in TB notifications in the West Midlands, increasing from 538 to 709 cases. This is the largest rise in any region during 2024 and is likely due to more arrivals into the area from high TB incidence countries and a backlog in testing and treatment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Further analysis for the West Midlands region is being undertaken. Within the West Midlands, Wolverhampton and Birmingham City have the highest rates. In 2023 Birmingham City saw a 17% increase in the number of TB notifications compared to 2022, from 184 to 216.UKHSA provides three-year annual incidence rates for West Midlands and Birmingham City on the ‘Fingertips’ website. The three-year annual incidence rate for the West Midlands is significantly higher than the national rate for England. Birmingham City’s three-year annual incidence rate ranks 19th highest among local authority areas in England. Further information is available at the following link:https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/search/TB#page/1/gid/1/ati/502/iid/91359/age/1/sex/4/cat/-1/ctp/-1/yrr/1/cid/4/tbm/1There are currently no published analyses of ward level data; therefore, data specific to Edgbaston is not available.

What progress he has made on joining up NHS records so a patient's vaccination history is recorded all in one place.

NHS England has been establishing the digital infrastructure required to maintain a consistent view of vaccination status between both individuals and healthcare providers. This includes data sharing across general practice, National Health Service trusts, community pharmacies and school-aged immunisation services.The COVID-19 vaccination campaigns have demonstrated effective sharing of vaccination data across the NHS vaccination network. Effective data sharing across general practice, maternity services and targeted community pharmacies has since helped mobilise the delivery of respiratory syncytial virus vaccination programmes for older adults and pregnant women, to protect newborn babies, which were introduced in September 2024. Progress has also been made in the sharing of pertussis vaccination events delivered in maternity services, to protect babies from whooping cough.NHS England continues to extend this capability across wider NHS vaccinations, ensuring that vaccination records are consistently visible to individuals and vaccination providers.Work is also underway to improve the public’s vaccination experience, via the NHS app. This service will use this same digital infrastructure to help individuals understand which vaccinations they are eligible for, those they’ve already had, as well as how and where to access them.

What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of vaccination rates for routine childhood immunisations in (a) Birmingham, Edgbaston, (b) Birmingham and (c) the West Midlands.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) monitors trends in the level of childhood vaccination rates by upper tier local authority (UTLA), region and country level.Edgbaston falls within the Birmingham UTLA. From 2013/14 to 2023/24, coverage of the first dose of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR1) vaccine in children aged five years old has decreased by 7.1 percentage points to 87.0% in Birmingham and 3.5 percentage points to 91.9% in the West Midlands. In comparison, the 2023/24 MMR1 coverage in England was 91.4%.The most recent figures, published in December 2024, show immunisations coverage across all vaccines in children aged one and two years old was 80% or higher in Birmingham and 87% or higher in the West Midlands, in comparison to 87% or higher in England overall. Coverage was slightly lower in children aged five years old, at or above 74% in Birmingham and at or above 82% in the West Midlands, in comparison to 81% or higher in England overall. No local authority in the West Midlands had coverage exceeding the World Heath Organization (WHO) target of 95% in all the routine childhood immunisations.Data on coverage of all routine childhood immunisations are published quarterly by UKHSA, and annually by NHS England. They are available at the following links:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cover-of-vaccination-evaluated-rapidly-cover-programme-2024-to-2025-quarterly-datahttps://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-immunisation-statistics/england-2023-24

What steps he is taking to improve access to reproductive healthcare services.

The Government is prioritising women’s health as we reform the National Health Service, to ensure that all women can access the care they need. We are committed to the Women’s Health Strategy and are continuing work to deliver it. Our longer-term priorities for implementing the Women’s Health Strategy will be aligned with the 10-Year Health Plan and our missions.The Department and NHS England have taken urgent action to tackle gynaecology waiting lists through the Elective Reform Plan. In gynaecology, the plan supports innovative models offering patients care closer to home, as well as the piloting of gynaecology pathways in community diagnostic centres for patients with post-menopausal bleeding.Public health services, such as sexual and reproductive health services, including contraception, are commissioned by local authorities in England through a ring-fenced Public Health Grant. In 2025/26, the Government is increasing funding through the ringfenced Public Health Grant to £3.858 billion. This is a cash increase of £198 million compared to 2024/25, providing local authorities with an average 5.4% cash increase and 3.0% real terms increase. This represents a significant turning point for improving access to local health services, marking the biggest real-terms increase after nearly a decade of reduced spending, between 2016 and 2024.Contraception is also available from a range of other settings, including direct from pharmacies, both prescribed and over the counter, from general practices, online, and through other health care services.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of implementing recommendation 6 of the NHS Race & Health Observatory's report entitled Review of NHS health communications with (and for) the Jewish community, published in December 2024.

The merits of including Jewish or Sikh as an option when recording ethnicity in National Health Service data, and other issues relating to how the NHS records information on protected characteristics, are being considered by the Unified Information Standard for Protected Characteristics programme. This programme will help inform a view on next steps.Information is not held centrally on the number of NHS services which allow patients to identify as Jewish or Sikh under ethnicity questions, or to record Judaism or Sikhism as their religion. There are SNOMED CT codes, the terminology used for recording patient information consistently across the NHS, for Judaism and Sikhism under religion.

Whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of updating the national mandatory standard for the (a) collection and (b) analysis of ethnicity to include (i) Jewish, (ii) Sikh and (iii) other options.

The merits of including Jewish or Sikh as an option when recording ethnicity in National Health Service data, and other issues relating to how the NHS records information on protected characteristics, are being considered by the Unified Information Standard for Protected Characteristics programme. This programme will help inform a view on next steps.Information is not held centrally on the number of NHS services which allow patients to identify as Jewish or Sikh under ethnicity questions, or to record Judaism or Sikhism as their religion. There are SNOMED CT codes, the terminology used for recording patient information consistently across the NHS, for Judaism and Sikhism under religion.

How many NHS services allow patients to identify as (a) Sikh under ethnicity questions and (b) Sikhism as their religion.

The merits of including Jewish or Sikh as an option when recording ethnicity in National Health Service data, and other issues relating to how the NHS records information on protected characteristics, are being considered by the Unified Information Standard for Protected Characteristics programme. This programme will help inform a view on next steps.Information is not held centrally on the number of NHS services which allow patients to identify as Jewish or Sikh under ethnicity questions, or to record Judaism or Sikhism as their religion. There are SNOMED CT codes, the terminology used for recording patient information consistently across the NHS, for Judaism and Sikhism under religion.

How many NHS services allow patients to identify as (a) Jewish under ethnicity questions and (b) Judaism as their religion.

The merits of including Jewish or Sikh as an option when recording ethnicity in National Health Service data, and other issues relating to how the NHS records information on protected characteristics, are being considered by the Unified Information Standard for Protected Characteristics programme. This programme will help inform a view on next steps.Information is not held centrally on the number of NHS services which allow patients to identify as Jewish or Sikh under ethnicity questions, or to record Judaism or Sikhism as their religion. There are SNOMED CT codes, the terminology used for recording patient information consistently across the NHS, for Judaism and Sikhism under religion.

What assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the use of artificial intelligence in NHS diagnostics.

The deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) in the National Health Service is still at a relatively early stage, with the majority of AI technologies, including diagnostic tools, being deployed in a research capacity. To address this, the Department is carrying out work to assess the barriers of effective adoption and improve the way AI tools are deployed across the NHS. The NHS AI Lab’s Ethics Initiative invests in research and practical interventions that could strengthen the ethical adoption of AI within health and care and addresses risks and concerns over its use.Additionally, the Department has supported the launch of regulatory projects such as the AI and Digital Regulation Service (AIDRS) and the AI Airlock. The AIDRS, in partnership with healthcare regulators, gives innovators and health and care providers a one-stop-shop for support, information, and guidance on the regulation and evaluation of AI technologies. The AI Airlock is a Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency-led initiative, supported by the NHS AI Lab, designed to create a controlled testing environment where developers can rigorously validate AI tools in real-world clinical settings before full-scale deployment, ensuring they meet NHS standards for safety, efficacy, and integration into existing healthcare workflows.