Any form of abuse or neglect is unacceptable, and the safety of residents in residential and nursing care homes is of the utmost importance.

Statutory guidance under the Care Act 2014 makes clear that local authorities must ensure the adult social care services they commission are safe, effective and of high quality. A local authority must make enquiries when it has reasonable cause to suspect that an adult with care and support needs is experiencing, or is at risk of, abuse or neglect and is unable to protect themselves.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England. It registers, monitors and assesses services to make sure that they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety. The CQC has a range of enforcement powers that they can use where it finds that care services do not have suitable arrangements to keep people safe.

All registered providers have a duty to safeguard people using their service from abuse and improper treatment. As part of their assessments in care homes, the CQC checks whether services have effective systems, processes and practices to protect people from abuse and neglect.

In addition, the Health and Care Act 2022 introduced a new duty from April 2023 for the CQC to assess local authorities’ delivery of its adult social care duties under Part 1 of the Care Act as part of the Health and Care Act. These assessments also review how well local authorities meet their safeguarding responsibilities and ensure that there are effective systems and oversight of key safeguarding risks in the area.

We are making additional funding available for adult social care to support the sector in making improvements. Local authorities can use this additional funding for a range of investments including increasing the fee rates they pay to providers of adult social care via residential and nursing care homes. The total additional funding available for adult social care in 2026/27 compared to 2025/26 is over £1.6 billion, rising to over £4.6 billion in 2028/29.

The Department’s publication, Adult social care priorities for local authorities: 2026 to 2027, sets out priority outcomes and expectations for local authorities to help drive their delivery of the Government’s priorities for adult social care, including for local authorities to set fee rates at a sustainable level. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adult-social-care-priorities-for-local-authorities

We are also introducing a new Fair Pay Agreement for adult social care, implementing the first universal career structure for adult social care, and providing £10 million this year for staff to complete training and qualifications. These changes will help attract staff to the sector, including to work in residential and nursing care homes, and will provide staff with proper recognition and opportunities to build their careers.

We are also supporting the Care Quality Commission to be a trusted partner, regulator and driver of standards across England for social care, underpinned by provider inspections and local authority assessments.

The Government is implementing payment and quality reforms to the dental contract from April 2026, which will support dentists to prioritise those with the greatest need, shifting care away from clinically unnecessary check-ups and instead incentivising more complex and urgent care.

The 2026 reforms are funded within the existing National Health Service dentistry budget, and in 2024/25 we invested approximately £3.7 billion on primary care dentistry.

We want to ensure that every penny we allocate for dentistry is spent on dentistry, and that the ringfenced dental budget is spent on the patients who need it most.

The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs) across England.

We have asked ICBs to commission extra urgent dental appointments to make sure that patients with urgent dental needs can get the treatment they require, therefore reducing the need for patients to go to Accident and Emergency for dental treatment unless necessary. ICBs have been making extra appointments available from April 2025.

Appointments are available across the country, with specific expectations for each region. These appointments are more heavily weighted towards those areas where they are needed the most.

We are committed to delivering fundamental reform of the dental contract before the end of this Parliament. As a first step, on 16 December we published the Government’s response to the public consultation on interim improvements to the NHS dental contract. The changes will be introduced from April 2026. These reforms will put patients with greatest need first, incentivising urgent care and complex treatments. More information is available from the GOV.UK website, at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/nhs-dentistry-contract-quality-and-payment-reforms/outcome/government-response-to-consultation-on-nhs-dentistry-contract-quality-and-payment-reforms

The Government acknowledges the challenges that National Health Service dental patients are facing in accessing a dentist in particular areas of the country, and we are taking action to improve this. Integrated care boards are recruiting posts through the Golden Hello scheme, which will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in underserved areas for three years; and as announced in our 10-Year Health Plan, we will make it a requirement for newly qualified dentists to practice in the NHS for a minimum period, intended to be at least three years. That will mean more NHS dentists, more NHS appointments and better oral health.

We are committed to delivering fundamental reform of the dental contract before the end of this Parliament. As a first step, we published the Government’s response to the public consultation on shorter term improvements to the NHS dental contract on 16 December 2025. The changes will be introduced from April 2026. These reforms will put patients with the greatest needs first while incentivising urgent care and complex treatments. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/nhs-dentistry-contract-quality-and-payment-reforms/outcome/government-response-to-consultation-on-nhs-dentistry-contract-quality-and-payment-reforms

The Government acknowledges the challenges that National Health Service dental patients are facing in accessing a dentist in particular areas of the country, and we are taking action to improve this. Integrated care boards are recruiting posts through the Golden Hello scheme, which will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in underserved areas for three years; and as announced in our 10-Year Health Plan, we will make it a requirement for newly qualified dentists to practice in the NHS for a minimum period, intended to be at least three years. That will mean more NHS dentists, more NHS appointments and better oral health.

We are committed to delivering fundamental reform of the dental contract before the end of this Parliament. As a first step, we published the Government’s response to the public consultation on shorter term improvements to the NHS dental contract on 16 December 2025. The changes will be introduced from April 2026. These reforms will put patients with the greatest needs first while incentivising urgent care and complex treatments. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/nhs-dentistry-contract-quality-and-payment-reforms/outcome/government-response-to-consultation-on-nhs-dentistry-contract-quality-and-payment-reforms

The General Dental Council (GDC) is the independent regulator of dentistry in the United Kingdom. The GDC sets the standards that must be met by domestic and international applicants wishing to be added to the UK dental register. As an independent regulator, it would be for the GDC to determine whether any changes are required to its standards in response to the Policy Exchange report’s recommendations.

Dental amalgam is a well-established, safe, and effective dental filling material. Current Department policy is to restrict and phase down the use of dental amalgam to reduce any environmental impacts. This includes regulations to ban the use of amalgam in baby teeth, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and children under 15 years old, except when deemed strictly necessary for specific medical needs. This has been in place since 2018.

The United Kingdom is party to the Minamata Convention on Mercury, a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury. The Minamata Convention has recommended that those party to the convention phase down the use of dental amalgam, which the UK does, for example, by restricting its use in under 15-year-olds.

The sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention is taking place from 3 November to 7 November 2025, where a ban on mercury dental amalgam will be discussed.

As well as being able to access all national health services across the United Kingdom, NHS England has also introduced several bespoke services to improve healthcare support available to veterans. These are: Op RESTORE which supports veterans with service-related physical health problems; Op COURAGE which supports veterans with a mental health pathway; and Op NOVA which supports veterans in the justice system.

In addition, the veteran-aware trust and the veteran-friendly accreditation schemes raise awareness amongst healthcare professionals of the specific needs of veterans. These schemes provide support to ensure appropriate signposting and referrals to relevant veteran and wider services within the National Health Service.

In May 2025, a national training and education plan was announced to help veterans benefit from improved and targeted healthcare. NHS staff across England will receive dedicated training to help them identify and support patients with military backgrounds. This will be rolled out across the NHS from 1 October 2025.

NHS North East London Integrated Care Board is responsible for commissioning services to meet the mental health needs of people in Romford.

Nationally, the Government is investing an extra £688 million this year to transform mental health services by hiring more staff, delivering more early interventions and talking therapies and getting waiting lists down.

We are delivering on our commitment to recruit an additional 8,500 staff across children and adult mental health services by the end of the Parliament and 6,700 of these extra workers have been recruited since July 2024. And our Mental Health Bill, which has completed its committee stage in this House, will modernise the Mental Health Act and make it fit for the 21st century.

The 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to boost mental health support across the country so that the right people get the right support at the right time. We are transforming mental health services into neighbourhood mental health centres that operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, improving assertive outreach and giving patients better access to round-the-clock support directly through the NHS App, including self-referral for talking therapies.

The spending review announced increases in NHS spending alongside more money for adult social care. By investing in DEXA scanners, we can more rapidly treat conditions such as osteoporosis, which particularly affect elderly women. Our urgent and emergency care plan promotes falls prevention technology for longer independent living and fewer hospital admissions. GPs are now incentivised to improve continuity of care, benefiting patients with long-term conditions.

We recognise the importance of supporting people with sight loss to maintain or improve their visual function so they can live independently in the community. It is important that individuals with visual impairments continue to have regular sight tests to monitor any further changes to their vision.

Free National Health Service sight tests are available for many individuals, including children, who are registered as sight-impaired or severely sight-impaired, or who have been diagnosed with glaucoma. Further information on sight test eligibility can be found at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/opticians/free-nhs-eye-tests-and-optical-vouchers/

Low vision services can also be provided to help individuals with sight loss to live independently, and can include access to low vision aids such as magnifiers. Low vision services can be provided within the hospital eye service or in the community.

The Department supports the publication by the Royal National Institute of Blind People of an eye care support pathway, which aims to improve the support available at every stage of an individual’s sight loss journey, including helping them to understand their condition.

We recognise the importance of supporting people with sight loss to maintain or improve their visual function so they can live independently in the community. It is important that individuals with visual impairments continue to have regular sight tests to monitor any further changes to their vision.

Free National Health Service sight tests are available for many individuals, including children, who are registered as sight-impaired or severely sight-impaired, or who have been diagnosed with glaucoma. Further information on sight test eligibility can be found at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/opticians/free-nhs-eye-tests-and-optical-vouchers/

Low vision services can also be provided to help individuals with sight loss to live independently, and can include access to low vision aids such as magnifiers. Low vision services can be provided within the hospital eye service or in the community.

The Department supports the publication by the Royal National Institute of Blind People of an eye care support pathway, which aims to improve the support available at every stage of an individual’s sight loss journey, including helping them to understand their condition.

Prevention, early detection, and access to timely treatment are all key to maintaining good eye health. Free National Health Service sight tests are available for children, those aged 60 years old and over, individuals on low incomes, and those at increased risk of certain eye diseases, including glaucoma. Free NHS sight tests are also being rolled out for children and young people attending special educational settings across England. Diabetic Retinopathy screening is also offered to individuals aged 12 years old or over with diabetes.

NHS England has been testing how integrating primary and secondary eye care services, through IT connectivity and the development of a single point of access, could improve the referral, triage and management of patients with eye care needs and reduce the time from diagnosis to treatment. The North East London Integrated Care System, which includes Romford, have a number of measures in place to improve eye health including a single point of access to improve referrals into secondary care and minor eye care services in the community.

We do acknowledge the importance of access to psychological, social and spiritual support for those who wish to access such support, including those at the end of life, as well as those important to them.

NHS England’s statutory guidance for palliative and end of life care states that integrated care board commissioners should work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of care service providers available to deliver high-quality end of life care, paying particular attention to access to mental health and wellbeing support and spiritual care.

Chaplains promote pastoral, spiritual and religious wellbeing through compassionate, person-centered care. This is available to patients, their families and carers, and to National Health Service staff, volunteers and students.

A learning difficulty is a reduced ability for a specific form of learning and includes conditions such as dyslexia and dyspraxia. These are life-long conditions.

It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population. Information on dyslexia assessments as well as those for dyspraxia in adults are available at the following links:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/dyslexia/diagnosis/

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/developmental-coordination-disorder-dyspraxia-in-adults/

The Department for Education has invested £1.34 billion in the 2024/25 academic year in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Skills Fund (ASF). This is funded by the Education and Skills Funding Agency and includes funds for learning support, which helps adult education providers to meet the additional needs of learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, including the costs of reasonable adjustments, as set out in the Equality Act 2010.

Learning support can cover a range of needs, including an assessment for dyslexia, funding to pay for specialist equipment or helpers, and/or arranging signers or note takers. The Mayoral Strategic Authorities and the Greater London Authority have a devolved ASF and decide how to make best use of the ASF, beyond the ASF’s statutory entitlements, to meet their local needs.

It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including autism assessments and support services for autistic people, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. The NICE guideline, Autism spectrum disorder in adults: diagnosis and management, aims to improve access and engagement with interventions and services, and the experience of care, for autistic adults.

On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people, and adults referred to an autism assessment service. The guidance also sets out what support should be available before an assessment and what support should follow a recent diagnosis of autism, based on the available evidence.

The Department is launching an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. The commission, led by Baroness Casey, will start a national conversation about what working age adults, older people, and their families expect from adult social care. While the commission carries out its work, the Department is taking immediate action to improve adult social care. The Government is making available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes a £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant. The Department is also taking forward a range of initiatives in 2025/26, including funding more home adaptations, promoting better use of care technologies, and professionalising the adult social care workforce.

Dyslexia is a life-long condition, and there is therefore no treatment for dyslexia. Adults who wish to be assessed for dyslexia are advised to contact a local or national dyslexia association for advice. Further information on dyslexia assessments can be found on the NHS.UK website, at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/dyslexia/diagnosis/

The Department for Education has invested £1.34 billion in the 2024/25 academic year in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Skills Fund (ASF). The Education and Skills Funding Agency funded ASF includes funds for learning support, which helps providers to meet the additional needs of learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, including the costs of reasonable adjustments, as set out in the Equality Act 2010.

Learning support can cover a range of needs, including an assessment for dyslexia, funding to pay for specialist equipment or helpers, and/or arranging signers or note takers. The Mayoral Strategic Authorities and the Greater London Authority have a devolved ASF, and decide how to make best use of the ASF, beyond the ASF’s statutory entitlements, to meet their local needs.

It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including diagnosis and support for dyspraxia. Further information on dyspraxia assessments and treatment is available on the NHS.UK website, at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/developmental-coordination-disorder-dyspraxia-in-adults/

The number of people accessing all mental health facilities is not available for Romford, although data is available on referrals to specific services, such as Talking Therapies and secondary mental health services, for North East London Integrated Care Board (ICB).

During December 2024, there were 5,150 referrals received for Talking Therapies for the first time in the ICB, while in the same month, there were 12,175 referrals received by secondary mental health services in the same ICB.