Written questions by Barclay.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the decision to discontinue the electronic Bed and Capacity Management Systems initiative on (a) A&E waits and (b) patient transfers.

The decision not to proceed with stand-alone investment into electronic bed management systems was based on value for money with other investments offering greater benefits for patients.The Government is committed to returning accident and emergency services to the standards patients rightly expect. Our new urgent and emergency care plan, published on 6 June 2025, sets out a fundamental shift in the approach to urgent and emergency care. It will drive collaboration across the system to deliver improvements for patients this year, backed by nearly £450 million of capital investment.

What steps he is taking to improve access to new innovations for people living with inherited cardiac conditions in East England.

Inherited cardiac conditions (ICCs) are a group of largely monogenic disorders affecting the heart, its conducting system and vasculature. Waiting times data for ICCs is not available nationally in the Waiting List Minimum Data Set (WLDMS). Diagnosis codes, which could be used to identify patients with ICCs, are not collected in the WLMDS. While treatment codes are collected, there are no individual treatment codes for ICCs that could alternatively be used to identify patients waiting for treatment for an ICC. We are therefore unable to separate patients with an ICC from wider cardiac patients in England at a national or regional level. The NHS England East of England Cardiac Network team for 2025/26 focuses on improving referral to treatment times across cardiology, improving access to cardiac diagnostics and ensuring patients access the specialists service that is required such as the ICC services across Royal Papworth Hospital and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. We are taking steps to improve access to diagnostic equipment and other services for ICC in East England, including new innovations wherever possible. For example, James Paget University Hospital has piloted a scheme that focuses echocardiograms in heart failure referral pathways. This streamlines echocardiogram waits across all conditions. The scheme is now being planned in Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn and being considered in Milton Keynes University Hospital as well as in Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board. NHS England is also piloting the ‘Beat to Treat’ programme at Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn, which uses handheld, AI assisted echocardiograms in clinic and point of care testing for blood tests that are used to assess for heart failure. This will enable results to be received on the day and will allow for treatment to start at the first clinic appointment. This scheme will improve the accuracy of referrals for echocardiogram, refining the waiting list for this scan across all conditions, including ICC. There are plans to introduce a single point of access for all referrals to the ICC service in Cambridgeshire, namely Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Royal Papworth Hospital. Referrals will be triaged by both teams, to either the Royal Papworth Hospital or Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust element of the service and that there would be a clear standard operating procedure for how this would work and be managed, moving therefore to both sites operating as a joint service for these conditions. A multi-disciplinary team is already in place to support this, as well as access to newer therapies.

What steps he is taking to tackle inequalities in (a) waiting times and (b) access to treatment for cardiovascular disease patients in East England.

Patients have been let down for too long whilst they wait for the care they need, including patients awaiting cardiology care. The Government has committed to returning to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment (RTT), a standard which has not been met for almost a decade. As a first step, we have set a national target that 65% of patients wait 18 weeks or less by March 2026.The Elective Reform Plan commits to reforming elective care equitably and inclusively for all adults, children, and young people. The plan sets out the expectations for ICBs and providers to set a clear local vision for how health inequalities will be reduced as part of elective care reform, and to ensure interventions are in place to reduce disparities for groups who face additional waiting list challenges. To support this work, we have committed to improving the submission and quality of demographics data to increase understanding and insight into health inequalities.Cardiology is one of five priority specialties identified for significant elective reform in the Elective Reform Plan. Reforms include increasing specialist cardiology input earlier in patient care pathways, and improving access to cardiac diagnostic tests. These improvements to common cardiology pathways help standardise patient care, reduce inequalities, and improve access to care, especially in the early stages of pathways, for patients across England.In the East of England, performance against the 18-week RTT standard for cardiology is 58.1%, compared to 60.9% for cardiology nationally. Regionally, NHS England’s East of England Cardiac Network team is taking focussed action to reduce RTT waiting times, improve access to cardiac diagnostics such as echo and computed tomography coronary angiography, and ensure patients can readily access specialist services as required, such as the Inherited Cardiac Conditions services across the Royal Papworth Hospital and Norfolk, and the Norwich University Hospital.

How many people in East England are currently awaiting treatment for inherited cardiac conditions; and if he will make a comparative estimate of the length of waiting times with the rest of the UK.

Inherited cardiac conditions (ICCs) are a group of largely monogenic disorders affecting the heart, its conducting system and vasculature. Waiting times data for ICCs is not available nationally in the Waiting List Minimum Data Set (WLDMS). Diagnosis codes, which could be used to identify patients with ICCs, are not collected in the WLMDS. While treatment codes are collected, there are no individual treatment codes for ICCs that could alternatively be used to identify patients waiting for treatment for an ICC. We are therefore unable to separate patients with an ICC from wider cardiac patients in England at a national or regional level. The NHS England East of England Cardiac Network team for 2025/26 focuses on improving referral to treatment times across cardiology, improving access to cardiac diagnostics and ensuring patients access the specialists service that is required such as the ICC services across Royal Papworth Hospital and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. We are taking steps to improve access to diagnostic equipment and other services for ICC in East England, including new innovations wherever possible. For example, James Paget University Hospital has piloted a scheme that focuses echocardiograms in heart failure referral pathways. This streamlines echocardiogram waits across all conditions. The scheme is now being planned in Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn and being considered in Milton Keynes University Hospital as well as in Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board. NHS England is also piloting the ‘Beat to Treat’ programme at Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn, which uses handheld, AI assisted echocardiograms in clinic and point of care testing for blood tests that are used to assess for heart failure. This will enable results to be received on the day and will allow for treatment to start at the first clinic appointment. This scheme will improve the accuracy of referrals for echocardiogram, refining the waiting list for this scan across all conditions, including ICC. There are plans to introduce a single point of access for all referrals to the ICC service in Cambridgeshire, namely Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Royal Papworth Hospital. Referrals will be triaged by both teams, to either the Royal Papworth Hospital or Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust element of the service and that there would be a clear standard operating procedure for how this would work and be managed, moving therefore to both sites operating as a joint service for these conditions. A multi-disciplinary team is already in place to support this, as well as access to newer therapies.

What steps he is taking to improve access to (a) diagnostic equipment and (b) other services for inherited cardiac conditions in East England.

Inherited cardiac conditions (ICCs) are a group of largely monogenic disorders affecting the heart, its conducting system and vasculature. Waiting times data for ICCs is not available nationally in the Waiting List Minimum Data Set (WLDMS). Diagnosis codes, which could be used to identify patients with ICCs, are not collected in the WLMDS. While treatment codes are collected, there are no individual treatment codes for ICCs that could alternatively be used to identify patients waiting for treatment for an ICC. We are therefore unable to separate patients with an ICC from wider cardiac patients in England at a national or regional level. The NHS England East of England Cardiac Network team for 2025/26 focuses on improving referral to treatment times across cardiology, improving access to cardiac diagnostics and ensuring patients access the specialists service that is required such as the ICC services across Royal Papworth Hospital and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. We are taking steps to improve access to diagnostic equipment and other services for ICC in East England, including new innovations wherever possible. For example, James Paget University Hospital has piloted a scheme that focuses echocardiograms in heart failure referral pathways. This streamlines echocardiogram waits across all conditions. The scheme is now being planned in Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn and being considered in Milton Keynes University Hospital as well as in Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board. NHS England is also piloting the ‘Beat to Treat’ programme at Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn, which uses handheld, AI assisted echocardiograms in clinic and point of care testing for blood tests that are used to assess for heart failure. This will enable results to be received on the day and will allow for treatment to start at the first clinic appointment. This scheme will improve the accuracy of referrals for echocardiogram, refining the waiting list for this scan across all conditions, including ICC. There are plans to introduce a single point of access for all referrals to the ICC service in Cambridgeshire, namely Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Royal Papworth Hospital. Referrals will be triaged by both teams, to either the Royal Papworth Hospital or Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust element of the service and that there would be a clear standard operating procedure for how this would work and be managed, moving therefore to both sites operating as a joint service for these conditions. A multi-disciplinary team is already in place to support this, as well as access to newer therapies.

What steps he is taking to ensure there is adequate infrastructure to offer access to treatment for people living with inherited cardiac conditions in the East of England.

NHS England has a published a national service specification for inherited cardiac conditions. This sets out what guidance should be followed, and the services provided to support diagnosis and treatment of patients with previously undiagnosed cardiac disease. This also includes support to families requiring follow up due to a death from this cause. The specification is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/cardiology-inherited-cardiac-conditions.pdfThe national service specification also includes a requirement for specialised inherited cardiac conditions services to investigate suspected cases.NHS England is currently reviewing this service specification working with a broad range of stakeholders including NHS clinical experts, the Association of Inherited Cardiac Conditions, Cardiomyopathy UK, Heart Valve Voice and the British Heart Foundation.There are plans for all referrals to the Inherited Cardiac Conditions service in Cambridgeshire to go to Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Royal Papworth Hospital. This will operate a specialist centre for Cambridgeshire, with a multi-disciplinary team already in place to support this.

What steps his Department plans to take to help improve the career progression of (a) nurses from Agenda for Change Band Five to Band Six and (b) other nurses in the context of plans not to introduce a separate pay spine for nursing.

Evidence submitted through the separate nurse pay spine call for evidence highlighted that career progression issues relating to the pay system do not uniquely impact nurses.We have therefore accepted several recommendations from workstreams committed to in the 2023 Agenda for Change (AfC) pay deal, which focus on ensuring all AfC staff are in the correct pay band, as well as specific measures to improve career progression for nurses. We have also committed to providing the NHS Staff Council with a funded mandate to address issues with the pay structure.

If he will make an estimate of the impact of providing a one per cent increase in pay to all NHS staff on Agenda for Change contracts in the 2025-26 financial year on (a) total costs, (b) pension contributions, (c) National Insurance contributions and (d) spillover costs.

The following table shows the total cost of uplifting the Agenda for Change (AfC) pay scales by one percent in 2025/26, as well as the costs of employer pension contributions (EPC), employer National Insurance contributions (ENIC), and spillover elements from that total:Full cost to the Department, including spilloversEPCENICSpillover costs£950,000,000£110,000,000£80,000,000£240,000,000 These estimates represent the gross cost per one percent uplift payable from National Health Service funding for AfC staff only. The exact cost will vary depending on the workforce size and composition, and these estimates are based on current assumptions. ENIC costs include the cost of the 2025/26 increase in ENIC rates. EPC and ENIC costs relate to the substantive workforce only. Spillover costs allow for full system costs, including EPCs and ENICs, beyond the substantive workforce.

By what date he expects the NHS to have a virtual ward capacity of 40 beds per 100,000 people.

The NHS England 2025/26 priorities and operational planning guidance asks systems to improve access to urgent care services, including virtual ward, also known as hospital at home, services.No national population target has been set centrally for 2025/26 and it is for local systems to take decision on how best to increase capacity and utilisation as part of the range of urgent care services that can be accessed locally. Progress has continued to be made, with 12,825 virtual ward beds open in March 2025 compared to 11,856 in March 2024.The Government is committed to transforming the National Health Service from analogue to digital, and this shift will be central to our 10-Year Health Plan.

How much funding his Department plans to provide for motor neurone disease research in 2025.

Government responsibility for delivering motor neurone disease research is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation. Since the start of 2022/23, the Government has allocated £47.8 million to motor neurone disease research.The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including motor neurone disease. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made based on the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. Welcoming applications on motor neurone disease to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility both in terms of amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.

How many people who do not meet the criteria to reside were inpatients in (a) Hinchingbrooke Hospital, (b) Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn and (c) Peterborough City Hospital on 21 April 2025.

The following table shows the number of patients with no criteria to reside as of 21 April 2025, in Hinchingbrooke Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn, and Peterborough City Hospital:HospitalNumbers of patients with no criteria to resideHinchingbrooke Hospital35Peterborough City Hospital47Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn49 No criteria to reside refers to patients who are medically fit for discharge but are still in hospital. These delays can be caused by a range of issues including hospital processes, delays in arranging ongoing support, a lack of care capacity, and wellbeing concerns.

Pursuant to the Answer of 14 February 2025 to Question 27517 on Hospitals: Concrete, whether he plans to publish the comprehensive report into the seven reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete schemes.

As stated in Question 27517, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has commissioned a comprehensive report into the seven reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) schemes being delivered through the New Hospital Programme. The final contract has been awarded to Mott MacDonald and can be found in the public domain on contract finder, which is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finderThe report is due to take a total of 19 weeks to complete. We do not expect to publish the report in its entirety as it will contain sensitive commercial information. This is in line with the approach taken with previous reports of this nature. We do, however, recognise the importance of transparency and the significant level of interest in the report outcomes, and will consider what can be released publicly once the report is complete.We remain committed to removing RAAC fully from the National Health Service estate whilst working to keep facilities open, with patient and staff safety at the forefront of our decision making.

How much and what proportion of debt has been written off by NHS Trusts as a result of overseas visitors in each of the last 12 months.

This information is not held in the format requested. The consolidated National Health Service provider accounts for 2023/24 were published by NHS England, and recorded £44 million as written-off from overseas visitors.The information requested regarding written-off debt for maternity care is not held centrally, and there are no current plans to make an estimate. The consolidated NHS provider accounts for 2023/24 are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/consolidated-nhs-provider-accounts-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024

How many individual cases of overseas visitors' debt have been written off by NHS Trusts in respect of maternity care in the last 12 months; and if he will make an estimate of the potential cost to the public purse of this.

This information is not held in the format requested. The consolidated National Health Service provider accounts for 2023/24 were published by NHS England, and recorded £44 million as written-off from overseas visitors.The information requested regarding written-off debt for maternity care is not held centrally, and there are no current plans to make an estimate. The consolidated NHS provider accounts for 2023/24 are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/consolidated-nhs-provider-accounts-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024

How many and what proportion of patients have Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in (a) England, (b) Cambridgeshire and (c) Peterborough Integrated Care Board.

The Department does not collect information on the numbers and proportion of patients with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) because it is not possible to specifically classify FASD within the National Health Service dataset. FASD is an umbrella term used to describe a range of cognitive, behavioural, physical and mental health conditions associated with prenatal alcohol exposure. In the NHS dataset, it is possible to identify conditions that could have been caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol, but it cannot be drawn from the data that prenatal exposure to alcohol was the direct cause of these conditions.The cost associated with treatment for people affected by FASD as outlined in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Quality Standard in England (QS204) is also not collected.

What information his Department holds on the cost to the public purse for the treatment of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in accordance with the NICE Quality Standard QS204 in each of the last five years.

The Department does not collect information on the numbers and proportion of patients with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) because it is not possible to specifically classify FASD within the National Health Service dataset. FASD is an umbrella term used to describe a range of cognitive, behavioural, physical and mental health conditions associated with prenatal alcohol exposure. In the NHS dataset, it is possible to identify conditions that could have been caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol, but it cannot be drawn from the data that prenatal exposure to alcohol was the direct cause of these conditions.The cost associated with treatment for people affected by FASD as outlined in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Quality Standard in England (QS204) is also not collected.

With reference to the oral contribution of the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care during the debate on New Hospitals of 25 May 2023, Official Report, column 477, whether a further assessment (a) of the end date of safe operation of the seven most RAAC-affected hospitals been conducted and (b) will be required before construction of new hospitals can begin.

Following the General Election in July 2024, the Government inherited a programme to deliver new hospitals that was unfunded beyond March 2025 and was repeatedly delayed. We now have a plan to deliver the New Hospital Programme which is realistic and affordable.My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, commissioned a comprehensive report into the seven reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) schemes being delivered through the New Hospital Programme, as the last report was undertaken in autumn 2022 and covered the five hospitals not at the time within the New Hospital Programme.Part of the objectives of this report is to form an assessment of RAAC condition and other structural elements, backlog maintenance risks, as well as planned and current mitigations, and the remaining expected life of affected sites. The site-by-site report on RAAC hospitals will help inform individual development plans, which continue to progress at pace. We will expedite the delivery of schemes to replace hospitals built wholly or primarily from RAAC by focussing on the most affected buildings and services first.

Pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2025 to Question 22603 on Community Diagnostic Centres: Cambridgeshire, how many tests were delivered at North Cambs Diagnostic Centre in each month since June 2023.

Published data is not held in the format requested. Data for the number of tests delivered by Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) is held centrally and published at the national level, and is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/diagnostics-waiting-times-and-activity/cdc-management-information/As of November 2024, CDCs have collectively delivered over 12.1 million tests and checks since July 2021.

How many patients were seen at North Cambs Diagnostic Centre in each month since its opening in June 2023.

Published data is not held in the format requested. Activity data, specifically the number of tests delivered, rather than patients seen, for community diagnostic centres (CDCs) is held centrally and published at the national level, and is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/diagnostics-waiting-times-and-activity/cdc-management-information/

How many officials were working in his Department, excluding Arm’s Length Bodies, on (a) 13 November 2023, (b) 5 July 2024 and (c) 27 November 2024.

The Department only holds data on the number of officials working in the Department at the end of each calendar month. The following table shows the data for the end of each calendar month from July 2022 to October 2024:MonthHeadcountFull-time equivalentJ...