Written questions by Lowe.

What the total cost was for the covid-19 vaccine roll-out in each year since 2021.

The total cost for the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, each year since 2021, is as follows:£2.1 billion in 2020/21;£5.6 billion in 2021/22;£2.8 billion in 2022/23; andthe audited accounts for 2023/24 have not yet been published, and so finalised figures will be unavailable until they have been published.These figures cover the costs incurred by the Department’s group of the procurement of the vaccines and subsequent costs of administration.

How many private provider contracts have been commissioned by the NHS to treat irregular migrants each of the last ten years; and what the cost to the public purse was of those contracts.

The Home Office and its contractors work closely with the National Health Service, local authorities, and non-governmental organisations to ensure that people can access the health care and support they need. All asylum seeker accommodation providers have a duty and requirement to assist people who need it to access healthcare systems in their local area. The Department of Health and Social Care does not hold information on the services commissioned by the Home Office.

What data his Department holds on the number of NHS patients who have received (a) translation and (b) interpretation services in each of the last 10 years.

The Department does not hold this information centrally.

What information his Department holds on the number of full-time translation and interpretation staff working in the NHS; what externally-provided translation and interpretation services are available in the NHS; and if he will publish (a) a list of the providers and (b) the cost to the public purse for those services.

The Department is unable to provide a response about the number of full-time translation and interpretation staff working in the National Health Service, because the data is not held centrally. Information on the externally provided translation and interpretation services used by the NHS, as well as the list of providers they used, can be found in the following provider frameworks:¾ the Crown Commercial Service, with further information available at the following link: https://www.crowncommercial.gov.uk/agreements/RM6141;¾ the ESPO Language Services, with further information available at the following link: https://www.espo.org/language-services-402-24.html;¾ the NHS London Procurement Partnership Language Services Framework, with further information available at the following link: https://www.lpp.nhs.uk/categories/estates-facilities-corporate-services/language-services-framework/; and¾ the NHS Shared Business Services Interpretation and Translation Services Framework, with further information available at the following link: https://www.sbs.nhs.uk/services/framework-agreements/interpretation-and-translation-services/.Information on the amount spent under each of these frameworks is not held centrally.

If he will list all the languages excluding English and British Sign Language that are translated in the NHS.

The National Health Service is able to send out reminder letters to patients in 24 languages, which are available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/services/e-referral-service/language-options-for-e-rs-reminder-lettersThe NHS is also able to provide information about data choices in 11 languages, which are available at the following link:https://www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/different-languages-and-formats/

How many and what proportion of NHS beds were occupied by chargeable overseas visitors in the last financial year.

The Department does not hold or collect the information requested.

What information his Department has on the number of (a) GP and (b) outpatient appointments conducted in a language other than English and British Sign Language, broken down by total number of appointments conducted per language.

The Department does not hold this information centrally.

What the total cost was for (a) translation and (b) interpretation services incurred by GPs in each of the last 10 years.

The Department does not hold this information centrally.

How many NHS patients have been sent abroad for treatment in each year for the previous ten years; if he will provide a breakdown of (a) what treatments those patients were sent abroad for and (b) where to; and what the total cost to the public purse was of those treatments.

The Department does not have a policy about sending National Health Service patients abroad for treatment, although local commissioning groups have in the past commissioned overseas capacity when needed.However, NHS patients can decide to seek treatment abroad through the Planned Treatment Scheme (S2). This is a long-standing funding route, available pursuant to the reciprocal healthcare agreements that the United Kingdom has with the European Union (EU), Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland. NHS patients can access pre-approved, planned, and state funded healthcare in one of the partner countries, at the expense of the UK, subject to eligibility criteria. The S2 is within the scope of devolved competency and is administered by the relevant healthcare authority in the resident country of the UK.NHS patients with the intent to give birth abroad can also apply through the Maternity S2 Scheme, which covers maternity and delivery only. This scheme is administered centrally for the UK by the NHS Business Services Authority. The following table shows the number of UK issued S2s, which include both Planned Treatment and Maternity S2s, each year from 2014 to 2023:YearNumber of UK issued S2s20141,35020151,41020161,34720171,35220181,48720191,35620201,325202174020226102023224Source: EU questionnaire on planned cross-border healthcare S2 portable documents.Notes:the years in the table refer to the year that the S2 was issued, and may not necessarily be the year in which S2 treatment was received; andthe number of UK issued S2s does not necessarily equate to the number of individuals who received S2 treatment, as some individuals may have been issued an S2 but did not use it.NHS England holds information about the top treatments received by NHS patients through the S2. The top 10 treatments, as provided by NHS England, are as follows:trauma and orthopaedics, including issues relating to knees, hips, and osteoarthritis;general surgery, including issues relating to obesity, hernias, and appendicitis;gynaecology, including endometriosis, fibroids, and polyps;ear, nose, and throat, including issues relating to the nose, tonsilitis, and ear infections;medical oncology, including chemotherapy;paediatric ear, nose, and throat;dental, including extraction;primary care general practice, including urinary tract infections, ear infections, and cystitis;neurosurgery, including issues relating to spinal problems and spinal discs, and the brain; andvascular, including varicose veins, and deep vein thrombosis.The Department does not hold the total costs of treatment received through the S2 scheme, as reimbursement claims submitted by most member states are in an aggregated format, which means they also contain costs for treatment provided through other reciprocal healthcare certificates.The European Economic Area (EEA) budget covers these reciprocal healthcare arrangements, one of which is the S2 scheme. The latest report on the EEA budget is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/healthcare-eea-and-switzerland-arrangements-act-2019-annual-report-april-2021-to-march-2022/

If his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of creating an internal league table comparing UK cancer (a) care and (b) waiting times with other developed countries.

The Department has no current plans to create such an internal league table. Professor Lord Darzi has undertaken an independent investigation into the state of the National Health Service, the findings of which were published on 12 September 2024 and will feed into the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan to build a health service that is fit for the future. The Government will therefore set out any further priorities on cancer and health for England in due course.The Department remains committed to improving cancer survival rates by hitting all NHS cancer waiting time targets within five years, so no patient waits longer than they should.

How many UK born doctors have left the NHS for employment outside of the UK in each of the last ten years.

The Department does not hold the information requested.

How many people have been diagnosed with autism in each of the last ten years.

The information requested isn’t held centrally. Some relevant information, drawn from the Mental Health Service Data Set, is published by NHS England in the Autism Waiting Times Statistics. However, this data only represents a partial picture of the numbers of people who are referred for suspected autism and are recorded with an autism diagnosis following an assessment. The Autism Waiting Times Statistics are available at the following link:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/autism-statisticsNHS England continues to work with providers and partner organisations to improve the data quality.

How many people have presented at A&E for a (a) heart attack and (b) stroke in each of the last ten years.

Prior to 2020/21, the mechanism used to collect and record accident and emergency activity was not sufficiently granular to identify the requested conditions. However, NHS England can provide a count of attendances with a relevant primary diagnosis from 2020/21 onwards. The following table shows the number of attendances, broken down by the relevant diagnosis, from 2020/21 to 2023/24:YearDiagnosisAttendances2020/21Stroke110,7562020/21Heart Attack28,2092020/21Cardiac Arrest9,1302021/22Stroke118,6992021/22Heart Attack34,8752021/22Cardiac Arrest10,3012022/23Stroke120,7312022/23Heart Attack35,5242022/23Cardiac Arrest10,8872023/24Stroke122,8122023/24Heart Attack35,8292023/24Cardiac Arrest10,185Source: the data is from The Emergency Care Data Set, which is available at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-sets/emergency-care-data-set-ecds

What the monthly cost is of storing PPE related to Covid.

It currently costs approximately £200,000 per week, the equivalent to £850,000 for November 2024, to store personal protective equipment unsuitable for National Health Service use. The figure is dynamic because the stock is reducing.A programme of work is underway to reduce our excess stock. This work will significantly reduce the cost of our storage network, and is due to be complete by January 2025, through sales, donations, recycling, and energy from waste.

How many people were diagnosed with depression in each of the last ten years.

The Department does not hold this information centrally.

If he will issue an official apology to social care workers that were dismissed during the pandemic for not being vaccinated.

Social care workers are employed by individual employers, and it is down to these employers to decide whether to hire or dismiss staff, not the Government. Making vaccination a condition of deployment (VCOD) was supported by the best available clinical evidence at the time. VCOD was kept under review, and the decision to revoke it was made after considering the latest public health evidence, which had changed significantly since VCOD was introduced.

What proportion of NHS staff have been non-patient facing in each of the last ten years.

The following table shows the number and percentage of the Full Time Equivalent (FTE) workforce employed by National Health Service trusts and other core NHS organisations in England that are in NHS infrastructure support roles, this being a proxy for non-patient facing roles, as of each August from 2014 to 2024:YearTotal staffNHS infrastructure support staffPercentage of total staff who are infrastructure support2014986,595153,36315.5%20151,006,026156,82415.6%20161,031,091161,35315.6%20171,046,979164,33915.7%20181,067,951170,44316.0%20191,100,273178,37116.2%20201,159,365184,27015.9%20211,198,746194,54616.2%20221,230,089202,98016.5%20231,297,455214,50116.5%20241,348,584218,91416.2%Source: NHS Hospital and Community Health Service monthly workforce statistics, NHS England, available at the following link: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statisticsNotes:the NHS infrastructure support staffing group includes staff defined as managers, senior managers, non-patient facing clerical or administrative staff, and maintenance or works staff;FTE refers to the proportion of full-time contracted hours that the post holder is contracted to work, as one would indicate they work a full set of hours, and 0.5 that they worked half time; andthis data relates to the Hospital and Community Health Service workforce directly employed in NHS trusts and other core organisations, like integrated care boards for the latest data point, who are paid.

How many yellow card reports there have been on Covid-19 vaccines.

As of 4 November 2024, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has received a total of 489,991 spontaneous, suspected adverse reaction reports for COVID-19 vaccines in the United Kingdom.However, it is important to note that reporters are encouraged to submit Yellow Card reports even if they only have a suspicion that the vaccine may have caused the adverse reaction. Therefore, the existence of an adverse reaction report does not necessarily mean that the vaccine has caused the reaction.

If she will strengthen the procedure ensuring that patients meet the residency requirements for treatment on the NHS.

Relevant National Health Service bodies are legally required to identify, make, and recover charges from overseas visitors under the NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015, also known as the Charging Regulations. The Department is committed to working with NHS England to ensure effective implementation of the Charging Regulations.

How many dentists have closed in (a) Great Yarmouth constituency and (b) Norfolk since 2016.

Data is not held on how many dentists have closed in the Great Yarmouth constituency and Norfolk since 2016.