Written questions by Darling.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the flexibility NHS trusts have relating to capital departmental resource limit leases to allow trusts to support (a) local authorities and (b) regeneration of the high street to help support access to local health facilities.

The Government is supportive of the National Health Service considering wider benefits from health capital investment opportunities, including high street regeneration. NHS England provides ‘business as usual’ capital allocations to integrated care systems (ICSs), who then determine how they are allocated between their operations and the NHS trusts in their system. This is based on their healthcare priorities and local system needs. Within their allocation, ICSs, along with NHS England, can already make payments to local authorities towards healthcare expenditure on community services. For example, a local authority operating a unit for people with learning difficulties may receive a grant from the NHS body to cover the provision of healthcare to the clients in the unit. They also have the ability to grant capital to local authorities as a contribution to a facility occupied by a general practice, community trust, or a voluntary body that would provide healthcare services from the premises. However, all capital activity needs to be within the capital limit set by Parliament.

How many and what proportion of NHS estates are rated condition A in each NHS estate in the South West.

As part of the management of their estate, National Health Service trusts regularly assess the physical condition of their estate. Facilities rated as category A are considered new and able to perform adequately throughout their full lifespan.The Estates Related Information Collection (ERIC) survey collects data from trusts on the quality of their estate annually. However, it does not collect the number or proportion of the NHS estate that is ranked as category A. The ERIC does collect data on backlog maintenance, the projected cost of bringing all the buildings on each NHS site into acceptable condition. The latest data is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/estates-returns-information-collection-summary-page-and-dataset-for-eric-202223

If he will establish a Cystic Fibrosis task force within his Department to (a) investigate and (b) address supply chain vulnerabilities and ensure the supply of essential medicines.

While there are no plans to establish a cystic fibrosis task force, the Department has been working with suppliers to address current supply issues with Creon, which is an essential medicine for patients with cystic fibrosis. Supply issues with Creon are impacting countries throughout Europe and have been caused by limited availability of raw ingredients and manufacturing capacity constraints to produce volumes needed to meet demand. These issues have resulted in knock-on supply disruptions of alternative pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) medications. The Department is continuing to work with all suppliers of PERT to help resolve the supply issues in the short and longer term. This includes asking that they expedite deliveries, source stock from other markets and increase production.The supplier of Creon has advised that they expect to have regular supplies released each month going forward, and is working to increase the quantities released. Serious Shortage Protocols are in place for Creon 10,000 and 25,000 capsules which pharmacists can use to restrict supply to one month at a time to ensure more patients have access to it whilst stock is limited.We have issued comprehensive guidance to healthcare professionals about these supply issues, which provides advice on how to manage patients whilst there is disruption to supply. This guidance is being kept under review and updates will be made, as necessary.