Written questions by Dhesi.

How many times people have been called more than twice per day by NHS Blood and Transplant seeking blood donations in the last 12 months; and whether he is taking steps to ensure that the frequency of calls from NHS Blood and Transplant is not excessive.

In 2024, NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) attempted 8,532,133 outbound calls to all donors across whole blood, platelets, and plasma for medicine. Of this total figure, 37.5%, or 3,199,031, call attempts resulted in a donor receiving up to three call attempts in a single day. Multiple attempts in a single day are generally to offer last minute appointments to eligible donors, or to ensure a session has a suitable blood mix ahead of sessions taking place.NHSBT recently launched a new automated system to better target donors and reduce the number of calls needed to fill appointments and collect the appropriate mix of blood needed while meeting donor preferences for contact.The NHSBT National Contact Centre will call a phone number up to three times a day, or three times within a five-day period, before resting the record, with no further call attempts, for a minimum of 21 days. Occasionally, NHSBT will make additional calls to priority donors, breaking the 21 day ‘rest’ period. This is often where particular blood group stocks are low, or demand exceeds supply.

If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the unavailability of (a) digital thermometers and blood pressure monitors and (b) other low cost equipment for clinical staff on NHS (i) staff time usage and (ii) efficiency.

The Department and NHS England do not currently plan to make an assessment. The Department closely monitors the supply and availability of a broad range of medical devices and equipment continually across the National Health Service in England and the United Kingdom. We continue to work to mitigate any issues and potential impact on patients, clinical staff, and service efficiency. We have a range of well-established processes and tools in place to help manage disruption to the supply of medical products in the UK as and when they arise. This includes the National Supply Disruption Response, which acts a single point of contact for the health and care system and medical supply industry, in the event of supply disruption which cannot be mitigated via routine contingency measures.

What the cost to the public purse was of sending letters on the GP Patient Survey in the last 12 months; how many letters were sent to recipients; and whether any patients were contacted by e-mail.

The GP Patient Survey (GPPS) has been carried out in England for nineteen years. It is currently conducted by Ipsos on behalf of NHS England. In total for the 2024 survey, Ipsos sent 2.56 million invite letters and 2.28 million reminder letters asking people to complete the survey, incurring a cost of £2.16 million for paper, printing and postage.In 2024, costs dropped by £0.9 million (from £4.7 million in 2023 to £3.8 million in 2024) after NHS England introduced a push-to-web methodology. People were sent initial invite letters asking them to complete the survey online, reminded by e-letters where possible and only at the final reminder stage sent a paper questionnaire to complete.NHS England is exploring additional opportunities for cost savings, including by adding extra contact by email or the NHS App.However, postal contact remains vital for representation, inclusivity and data quality. Because we have incomplete coverage of email addresses and mobile telephone numbers, an online-only methodology would exclude many people. Additionally, online-only survey approaches tend to yield lower response rates, potentially compromising the quality and representativeness of the data.

What estimate he has made of the number of patients admitted to hospital this year with (a) Covid, (b) flu (c) RSV and (d) norovirus; and what those figures were for the same period in (i) 2023 and

The data is not available in the format requested for flu, the respiratory syncytial virus, or norovirus. The following table shows the number admissions with COVID-19, in each of the last three years:YearNumber of admissions with COVID-19202427,594202346...

What recent steps he has taken to increase awareness of bowel cancer symptoms among people under 50.

NHS England runs Help Us Help You campaigns to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms and address barriers to acting on them, to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner. The campaigns focus on a range of sympt...

What steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of the harms of (a) drug and (b) alcohol misuse.

Drug-related deaths are tragically at record highs, especially in deprived areas. We are committed to tackling this problem through working across health, policing, and wider public services. For example, we recently took legislative action to expand acce...

What steps this Department is taking to reduce (a) drug- and (b) alcohol-related deaths.

Drug-related deaths are tragically at record highs, especially in deprived areas. We are committed to tackling this problem through working across health, policing, and wider public services. For example, we recently took legislative action to expand acce...

What recent steps he has taken to ensure the availability of rehabilitation treatment for people with (a) drug and (b) alcohol dependencies in (i) Slough constituency and (ii) Berkshire.

Drug and alcohol treatment is funded through the Public Health Grant. In addition to the Public Health Grant, the Department allocated local authorities £267 million in 2024/25 to improve the quality and capacity of drug and alcohol treatment and recovery...

What steps his Department is taking to ensure (a) consistency of care and (b) availability of medication for people with an ADHD diagnosis who move to a different NHS Trust from the one in which th

Prescribers should follow the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidelines, Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: diagnosis and management, when prescribing medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). These guidel...

How many and what proportion of GP surgeries are rated as (a) outstanding and (b) good by the Care Quality Commission in Slough constituency.

As of 5 December 2024, there are 14 general practice surgeries in the Slough constituency. Of these, zero, or 0%, are rated Outstanding; 12, or 85%, are rated Good; and two, or 14%, have yet to be rated.

Whether he plans to introduce routine antenatal screening for Group B streptococcus.

Screening for group B streptococcus (GBS) is not routinely offered to all pregnant women. The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) last reviewed the evidence to screen for GBS at 35 to 37 weeks of pregnancy in 2017, and concluded that there was insuff...

What steps he is taking to ensure (a) early and (b) consistent diagnosis of Group B streptococcus.

Screening for group B streptococcus (GBS) is not routinely offered to all pregnant women. The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) last reviewed the evidence to screen for GBS at 35 to 37 weeks of pregnancy in 2017, and concluded that there was insuff...

How their Department defines strategy.

The definition is detailed in the Functional Standards Common Glossary, which is published on the GOV.UK website.

What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to NHS dentists.

Dental Statistics - England 2023-24, published by the NHS Business Services Authority on 22 August 2024, is available at the following link:https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/dental-england/dental-statistics-england-202324The Government pla...

What steps he is taking to improve (a) diagnosis times and (b) treatment of invasive lobular breast cancer.

We will improve cancer survival rates and hit all National Health Service cancer waiting time targets so no patient waits longer than they should.Improving early diagnosis of cancer, including breast cancer, is a priority for the Government. There are mul...

What proportion of patients at (a) Upton Hospital and (b) Wexham Park Hospital have been discharged into social care in each of the last 12 months.

The Department does not hold information on the proportion of patients that have been discharged into social care in individual hospitals in each of the last 12 months. NHS England publishes data detailing how many patients are discharged through each dis...

What recent steps he has taken to increase uptake of cervical screenings.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 10 October 2024 to Question 8464.

What proportion of patients referred to mental health services were seen within the target waiting time in Slough constituency in the last 12 months.

The following table shows the latest available performance data on waiting times against the existing mental health waiting time standards for NHS Frimley, which covers the Slough constituency, for the latest available 12-month reporting period, from Octo...

What steps he is taking to help to reduce the average diagnosis time for endometriosis.

Tackling waiting lists is a key part of the Government’s Health Mission, and we are urgently looking into waiting times for gynaecological issues, including for endometriosis.Funding has been confirmed to support the delivery of our commitment to an extra...

What recent steps he has taken to reduce the waiting time for ADHD assessments.

It is the responsibility of integrated care boards to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments, in line with relevant National Institute f...