Written questions by Cadbury.

Whether applications for the NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance payment received after 30 September 2023 are eligible.

The NHS and Social Care Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme was launched on 20 May 2020 to recognise the increased risks that National Health Service and social care staff faced in carrying out their duties during the coronavirus pandemic.The Scheme closed to new deaths on 31 March 2022. Under the rules of the scheme, claimants were required to submit claims for deaths that occurred while the Scheme was open before 30 September 2023.

What steps his Department is taking to increase the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of radiologists in London.

National Health Service organisations in London will have their own plans in place to manage their recruitment and retention needs, based on local workforce planning.A clear plan for retention is an essential component of an overall supply plan for the NHS. We need to retain the experienced and skilled staff that we already have, and ensure that the NHS is an attractive place to work so that we can bring in the new trainees and recruits that we need. Nationally, the NHS retention programme is working with NHS organisations to improve culture and leadership across the NHS, addressing issues that matter to staff, such as the need for good occupational health and wellbeing support and the promotion of opportunities to work flexibly.We have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS. A central and core part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce, and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the NHS needs to care for patients when and where they need it.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential health benefits of magnesium supplements.

The Government’s nutrition advice is based on recommendations from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) and its predecessor, the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food and Nutritional Policy (COMA).The COMA set dietary reference values for magnesium for men and women aged 19 to 64 years old at 300 milligrams and 270 milligrams a day, respectively. Current Government advice is that individuals should be able to get all the magnesium they need by eating a varied and balanced diet.The SACN discussed the topic of magnesium as part of its horizon scanning in 2020, 2022, and 2024. Meeting papers are available on the SACN webpage. The committee has noted that while ‘significant proportions of the population had [low intakes], there was limited evidence that this was of public health concern’. There is no agreed biomarker for measuring magnesium status.Magnesium is therefore on the SACN’s watching brief as a low priority, and the SACN may consider it again in future, if there are any developments regarding biomarkers for magnesium status, to warrant a review of recommendations.