Written questions by Opher.

What proportion of GPs have left each ICB in the last 12 months.

Thanks to actions taken by this Government, we have the highest number of fully qualified general practitioners (GPs) since 2015, and steps are being taken to grow the GP workforce further. The national leaver rate was 7.8% in the period covering March 2025 to March 2026. The table below shows the proportion of fully qualified GPs who have left each integrated care board, and the total change in full-time equivalent (FTE) fully qualified GPs employed by practices from March 2025 to March 2026. ICB NameHeadcount leaver rateChange in FTE fully qualified GPs employed by practicesNHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB7.6%12NHS Surrey Heartlands ICB6.8%20NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB9.5%1NHS Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes ICB10.3%47NHS North West London ICB7.3%1NHS South West London ICB7.5%22NHS Devon ICB6.6%25NHS Gloucestershire ICB7.4%2NHS Dorset ICB7.5%-2NHS Sussex ICB6.3%25NHS Hampshire and Isle Of Wight ICB7.5%47NHS Birmingham and Solihull ICB7.7%71NHS Lincolnshire ICB14.1%-7NHS Black Country ICB7.1%12NHS Coventry and Warwickshire ICB7.7%12NHS Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ICB8.8%12NHS Greater Manchester ICB6.8%62NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB8.2%12NHS Humber and North Yorkshire ICB10.2%-5NHS West Yorkshire ICB5.0%26NHS South East London ICB9.2%14NHS North Central London ICB7.1%25NHS Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire ICB7.0%10NHS Somerset ICB11.0%1NHS Kent and Medway ICB8.2%53NHS Frimley ICB9.5%22NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICB7.7%69NHS Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB9.1%-5NHS Northamptonshire ICB8.2%6NHS Suffolk and North East Essex ICB7.2%0NHS Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB7.1%-6NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB8.1%26NHS North East London ICB7.7%1NHS Cornwall and The Isles Of Scilly ICB8.4%-5NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB4.6%8NHS Derby and Derbyshire ICB9.7%-3NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB6.7%0NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB9.6%1NHS Mid and South Essex ICB7.9%-13NHS Norfolk and Waveney ICB8.8%-7NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB6.7%26NHS South Yorkshire ICB8.4%6 Notes:data does not include estimates for practices that did not provide fully valid staff records;data does not include GPs employed in primary care networks;data does not include GPs who moved from one ICB to another during the reporting period;the headcount percentage of GPs leaving is calculated based on the period in which the GP last appeared. It indicates the percentage of the cohort workforce that left the cohort prior to the next data extract; andleavers are GPs whose identifying information was present in the relevant dataset at the beginning but not at the end of the specified time period.

What steps he is taking to improve Endometriosis care.

We are committed to improving the diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing care for gynaecological conditions including endometriosis, and we are taking action to address this, including delivering 5.2 million extra appointments between July 2024 and June 2025 across all specialities including gynaecology.In September 2025, we announced an “online hospital”, via NHS Online, which will give people the choice of getting the specialist care they need from their home. NHS Online will help to reduce patient waiting times, delivering the equivalent of up to 8.5 million appointments and assessments in its first three years, four times more than an average trust, while enhancing patient choice and control over their care. Menstrual problems which may be a sign of endometriosis will be among the first conditions available for referral to NHS Online from 2027.In November 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) updated its guideline on endometriosis. This makes firmer recommendations for healthcare professionals on referral and investigations for women with suspected diagnosis and will help the estimated one in 10 women with endometriosis receive a diagnosis faster.Additionally, research has led to new treatments being made available, including the NICE approval of two pills to treat endometriosis this year, Relugolix and Linzagolix. Both are estimated to help approximately 1,000 women with severe endometriosis for whom other treatment options haven’t been effective. NICE is working with National Health Service systems to ensure adoption of this best practice of endometriosis care, including access to approved medicines.NHS England is updating the service specification for severe endometriosis which will be published in due course. This will improve the standards of care for women with severe endometriosis by ensuring specialist services have access to the most up-to-date evidence and advice.The Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), has commissioned a number of studies focused on endometriosis diagnosis, treatment and patient experience. At present, the NIHR is funding seven active research awards totalling an investment of approximately £7.8 million. This includes a new £2.3 million award on the effectiveness of pain management for endometriosis starting in March 2026.

What estimate his Department has made of the potential impact of the December 2025 medicines agreement with the US on costs to the NHS in England.

Tens of thousands of National Health Service patients will benefit from this deal, which will secure and expand access to vital drugs, and safeguard our medicines supply chain.Costs will start smaller but will increase over time as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) approves more life improving and lifesaving medicines. Total costs over the Spending Review period are expected to be approximately £1 billion. The final costs will depend on which medicines NICE recommends and the actual uptake of these.This deal is a vital investment that builds on the strength of our NHS and world leading life sciences without taking essential funding from our frontline NHS services.

What steps he is taking to support networks of (a) clinicians and (b) health professionals who wish to share best practice on responding to domestic abuse.

A network of Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (DASV) Leads are embedded in almost every National Health Service trust, integrated care board, and region across England. These Leads act as advocates both within the NHS and in partnership with external agencies to improve services for victims and survivors of domestic abuse. The national network of DASV Leads hold quarterly webinars to share good practice. They also use a secure NHS online workspace to share learning, resources, and training.

How many Integrated Care Boards include further education colleges as partner institutions in their place-based partnerships, clinical strategic plans and Neighbourhood Health Plans; and if he will publish that list.

The information requested is not held centrally.

Pursuant to the Answer to UIN 94508, how many of these unique applications were made by people currently outside the UK, compared to those already based in the UK.

The Department has not undertaken an analysis of the information collected as part of the 2025 medical specialty training programme to assess the location of applicants at the point of application.

Whether the modelled projections in the 10 Year Workforce Plan will include projections for medical specialties.

The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it. It will include modelling of the potential size and shape of the future workforce and implications for major professions. We are working through how the plan will articulate the changes for different professional groups.

How extra training places as set out in the 10 year plan will be divided between specialities.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan published in July this year, over the three years we will create 1,000 new specialty training posts with a focus on specialties where there is greatest need. We will set out next steps in due course.On 8 December, the Government put an offer in writing to the British Medical Association Resident Doctors Committee which was rejected. The offer included the creation of 4,000 more specialty training places, with 1,000 of these brought forward to this year and emergency legislation which would prioritise United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland medical graduates for foundation training, and prioritise UK and Republic of Ireland medical graduates and doctors who have worked in the National Health Service for a significant period of time for specialty training. This would have applied for current applicants for training posts starting in 2026, and every year after that. We have also made changes for the 2025 specialty training application round to help tackle bottlenecks. Full registration with the General Medical Council is now required at the point of application to specialty training rather than when a successful applicant would take up post, and the number of applications that an applicant can make is restricted to five, whereas previously it has been unlimited.

What steps he is taking to reduce the backlog for core anaesthetic training.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan published in July this year, over the three years we will create 1,000 new specialty training posts with a focus on specialties where there is greatest need. We will set out next steps in due course.On 8 December, the Government put an offer in writing to the British Medical Association Resident Doctors Committee which was rejected. The offer included the creation of 4,000 more specialty training places, with 1,000 of these brought forward to this year and emergency legislation which would prioritise United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland medical graduates for foundation training, and prioritise UK and Republic of Ireland medical graduates and doctors who have worked in the National Health Service for a significant period of time for specialty training. This would have applied for current applicants for training posts starting in 2026, and every year after that. We have also made changes for the 2025 specialty training application round to help tackle bottlenecks. Full registration with the General Medical Council is now required at the point of application to specialty training rather than when a successful applicant would take up post, and the number of applications that an applicant can make is restricted to five, whereas previously it has been unlimited.

How many individual applicants applied for specialty training places across all 65 medical specialties; and how many training places were available in 2025.

The Department holds data based on the application process for medical specialty training which allows the identification of unique applicants. This data is part of management information systems summarising information supplied in medical specialty training cycles. Applicants may have chosen to only apply to one specialty programme or may have made multiple applications within the year.The following table shows the number of unique applicants in rounds one and two of medical specialty training for 2025 and the associated training places available across the United Kingdom:Round oneRound twoUnique applicants33,8708,481Training posts9,4793,354Source: NHS England Medical Specialty Programme Applications Data.Round one of the medical specialty application process includes applications to first year specialty training and core training programmes, often referred to as ST1 and CT1 respectively, and some ‘higher’ medical specialty training programmes, usually at year three, often referred to as ST3. Round two is for entry to most ‘higher’ medical specialty training programmes, ST3 or ST4. There will be a limited number of doctors who apply in a year to both rounds one and two.Information on the number of applications and posts available for individual medical specialty training programmes is published annually by NHS England and can be found at the following link:https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment/medical-specialty-training/competition-ratiosThe 10-Year Health Plan set out that 1,000 more specialty training places would be created over the next three years.On 8 December, the Government put an offer in writing to the British Medical Association Resident Doctors Committee which would have put in place emergency legislation in the new year which would prioritise United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland medical graduates for foundation training, and prioritise UK and Republic of Ireland medical graduates and doctors who have worked in the National Health Service for a significant period of time for specialty training. This would have applied for current applicants for training posts starting in 2026, and every year after that.The British Medical Association has rejected the Government's offer and the Government will consider its next steps.

If he will increase funding for (a) the pathology (i) workforce, (ii) estates and (iii) IT infrastructure and (b) pathology disciplines involved in the pathways for cancer patients.

The 2025 Spending Review prioritised health, with record investment in the health and social care system. The Spending Review announced that annual National Health Service day-to-day spending will increase by £29 billion in real terms, a £53 billion cash increase, by 2028/29 compared to 2023/24.To provide stability and ensure public services and industries have certainty in their funding, the Government has committed to holding a Spending Review every two years. The 2025 Spending Review sets departmental budgets for day-to-day spending up to 2028/29 and for capital for five years, to 2029/30. The envelope for the next Spending Review, due to be held in 2027, will be set in due course.We will also publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan to ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the best care for patients, when they need it.As part of the £600 million in capital for diagnostics in 2025/26, announced as part of the Spending Review, the NHS is investing in histopathology automation technology, which will speed up pathology test reporting across England, helping to ensure that patients get their diagnoses faster and supporting reductions in elective waiting lists.We are funding all pathology networks to increase digital capabilities by March 2026. This will reduce unnecessary waits and repeat tests to ensure that patients receive their blood test results sooner. These actions will help improve patient pathways, including for cancer.

If he will ensure that (a) universal lay terminology is used in the NHS app and (b) there is signposting to Lab Tests Online UK to enable patients to interpret their diagnostic results correctly.

The NHS App aims to use clear, universal lay terminology that is easy for the general public to understand. The content follows the National Health Service content style guide, which mandates writing in plain English to a reading age of nine to 11 years old. As part of the delivery of the 10-Year Health Plan, the NHS App will provide an improved and personalised experience for users, empowering them to access key elements of their health conditions like test results, and providing patients with advice and guidance 24 hours a day, seven days a week, that will help them to understand their health and make informed choices about what to do next.We regularly test our content with patients to ensure it is clear and effective. This includes working with users who have access needs, low digital literacy, or are from seldom-heard groups.This work builds on the current test results feature in the NHS App that is successfully used by millions of people each month to access the results of tests they have conducted with their general practitioner.There is signposting to Lab Tests Online-UK (LTO-UK) to help patients interpret their diagnostic results, though this may depend on how the patient's general practice (GP) has configured its systems. We currently provide links to LTO-UK for approximately 70 of the most common test types. While the NHS App itself primarily displays results along with any accompanying doctor’s comments or actions, GP systems can have embedded links to LTO-UK alongside the test results, providing a direct route for patients to access reliable information at the point of care.

Whether his Department will publish regular data on patients treated in (a) corridors and (b) other inappropriate spaces.

The Government is committed to tackling the unacceptable practice of corridor care in our National Health Service. Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan, published in June, set out the steps that we are taking, including the commitment to publish data on the prevalence of corridor care.NHS England has been working with trusts since 2024 to put in place new reporting arrangements related to the use of temporary escalation spaces, to drive improvement. This information will be published following a review of data quality, and we will consider how this data could be published on a regular basis.

When his Department will publish ​the data on the number of patients treated in (a) corridors and (b) other inappropriate spaces.

The Government is committed to tackling the unacceptable practice of corridor care in our National Health Service. Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan, published in June, set out the steps that we are taking, including the commitment to publish data on the prevalence of corridor care.NHS England has been working with trusts since 2024 to put in place new reporting arrangements related to the use of temporary escalation spaces, to drive improvement. This information will be published following a review of data quality, and we will consider how this data could be published on a regular basis.

If he will make it his policy to publish an implementation plan to ensure that each Integrated Care Board commissions a Fracture Liaison Service.

Fracture liaison services are commissioned by integrated care boards, which are well-placed to make decisions according to local need.Our 10-Year Health Plan committed to rolling out fracture liaison services across every part of the country by 2030.Officials continue to work closely with NHS England to explore a range of options to provide better quality and access to these important preventative services.

What steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for the Op Courage service.

NHS England meets with the regional providers of Op COURAGE on a regular basis to review the individual services, to ensure that they are meeting the needs of veterans. They are undertaking a comprehensive review which includes the time that veterans wait for assessment and treatment. Any recommendations from the review will be implemented from April 2026.

What steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for neurology health services.

Cutting waiting lists is a key priority for the Government. We have exceeded our pledge to deliver an extra two million operations, scans, and appointments, having delivered 5.2 million more appointments across elective care services. This marks a vital first step to delivering on the commitment that 92% of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment, in line with the NHS constitutional standard, by March 2029.Between August 2024 and 2025, we reduced the number of incomplete neurology pathways by almost 10,000, or 4.3%, from 236,621 to 226,432, and reduced the average waiting time for neurology services from 16.7 to 15.4 weeks. 56.1% of patients referred were seen within 18 weeks, up from 53.1% at the same point last year. This is still lower than the national average and we are continuing efforts to improve this, recognising this is a challenged specialty.The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, commits to reform outpatient services, including by supporting general practitioners and hospital doctors to work better together to ensure referrals are used when a patient really needs hospital care, through increased uptake of Advice and Guidance. There are a number of initiatives at the national level supporting service improvement and better care for patients with neurological conditions, including the UK-wide Neuro Forum, the RightCare Progressive Neurological Conditions Toolkit and the Getting It Right First Time programme for neurology.

What steps he is taking to support trusts to reduce bed occupancy to below 80% ahead of winter 2025-26.

The National Health Service is already preparing for winter this year with the development and testing of winter plans. This includes the surge capacity and escalation plans in place across all NHS and urgent care services.The Urgent and Emergency Care Plan 2025/26 focuses on improvements that will see the biggest impact on urgent and emergency care performance this winter, including working to reduce bed occupancy by avoiding unnecessary admissions and reducing delays to discharge. To help avoid unnecessary admissions, the NHS is expanding Same Day Emergency Care, virtual wards, and urgent community response services so patients can receive timely care closer to home. Where people are admitted to hospital, trusts are asked to reduce the average length of stay for patients requiring an overnight emergency admission by at least 0.4 days. This includes reducing discharge delays, working with local authorities and integrated care boards to progressively eliminate the longest and most unacceptable discharge delays, starting with the 0.7% of patients who wait more than 21 days beyond their discharge ready date, and eliminating any internal delays to discharge of more than 48 hours.

Whether he plans to expand the medical evacuation of Gazan children scheme.

I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Statement HCWS899 made to the House on 1 September 2025 by my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

If he will make it his policy that prioritisation for (a) medical evacuation and (b) treatment of children from Gaza is based solely on (i) clinical urgency and (ii) medical need.

The Government is working urgently to get some of the critically ill and injured children medically evacuated from Gaza.I refer the hon. Member to Written Statement HCWS899 by my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.