The Government recently announced a £340 million uplift to community pharmacy funding, a 10% increase, recognising the essential role pharmacies play in supporting patients and the wider National Health Service. This follows on from a 19% uplift delivered across 2024/25 and 2025/26, the largest uplift in the NHS at the time.

The Government is committed to continuing to work jointly with Community Pharmacy England on reforms to ensure the sustainability of the medicine supply and resilience of the community pharmacy network, to ensure that patients receive the best possible care and support.

Early diagnosis of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is supported through widespread access to blood and urine tests across the National Health Service. Phlebotomy is a key part of this pathway. The NHS delivers over one billion blood tests each year, supporting the diagnosis and monitoring of a wide range of conditions, including CKD.

Community diagnostic centres (CDCs) are increasing diagnostic capacity and improving access to testing closer to patients’ homes. Phlebotomy services are currently available in 119 CDCs. CDCs have delivered approximately 1.6 million tests between April 2025 and the end of February 2026. In addition, non-obstetric ultrasound, also used to examine kidneys, is available in 152 CDCs and delivered approximately 1.01 million tests over the same period.

NHS England continues to work with integrated care boards to expand diagnostic capacity and improve referral pathways, helping clinicians access the tests needed to support earlier diagnosis and monitoring of long-term conditions, including CKD.

In the 2025 Autumn Budget, the Government took the hard choices to protect the National Health Service in England and to continue to prioritise reducing waiting times. We have also stepped in to cap bills and help businesses, as part of a £4.3 billion support package.

This year, we have also increased funding to community pharmacies to almost £3.1 billion, the largest uplift in funding for any part of the NHS across 2024/25 and 2025/26.

The Department will consult Community Pharmacy England on any proposed changes to reimbursement and remuneration of pharmacy contractors for 2026/27 shortly.

We will consult on proposals enabling pharmacists working in a community pharmacy to be granted the flexibility to supply an alternative strength or formulation, and hence also quantity, against a prescription written by another prescriber, where it is safe and appropriate to do so. This will improve patient access to medicines and improve patient experience.

Alongside this, we have serious shortage protocols (SSPs), which are a tool to manage and mitigate medicine and medical device shortages. An SSP enables community pharmacists to supply a specified alternative in accordance with a protocol rather than a prescription.

It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICBs) in England to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including providing access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessment and treatment, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

Due to the unprecedented demand for ADHD diagnosis and treatment nationally and locally across all age groups, the Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB advises that it has implemented an interim measure which is intended to ensure that those patients most in need are prioritised and that those who can self-manage are supported to do so.

Under the interim measure, referrals for adult ADHD assessments are being triaged, and assessments are progressed only for people who also have co-occurring complex psychosocial co-morbidity and/or co-existing secondary care mental health needs, to ensure needs are assessed and resources are utilised on those who are most in need. General practitioners are still able to refer patients to Right to Choose providers if the need for an ADHD assessment is clinically indicated.

Nationally, NHS England has captured examples from ICBs who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services and is using this information to support systems to tackle ADHD waiting lists and to provide support to address people’s needs.

We want patients to be able to contact their general practice (GP) by phone, online, or by walking in, and for people to have an equitable experience across these access routes. This is a key intervention in the Government’s ambition to end the 8:00am scramble. From 1 October 2025, practices will be contractually required to keep their online consultation tool open for the duration of core hours, from 8:00am to 6:30pm, for non-urgent appointment requests, medication queries, and admin requests. This will be subject to the necessary safeguards that are in place to avoid urgent clinical requests being erroneously submitted online. These requirements are set out in ‘You and Your GP’, a new patient charter, which will come into effect from September. Practices must provide a link to ‘You and Your GP’ on their website.

Patients can currently access their practice’s online consultation tool through their practice’s website. For 74% of practices this is also available via the NHS App, and this is due to increase to 95% of practices by March 2026.

The Department is responsible for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) policy and legislation. We have provided statutory guidance, setting out clear processes for CHC, which all integrated care boards (ICBs) must follow. CHC is funded by ICBs, and it is for individual ICBs to make assessments and decisions in a consistent manner, in line with their statutory duties and guidance. This guidance has not changed and ICBs are expected to maintain CHC delivery in line with their statutory duties.

While the Model ICB Blueprint highlighted CHC as one of the functions that are subject to “review for transfer” to “test and explore options to streamline and transfer some activities out of ICBs”, a decision has not been made on this function being transferred out of ICBs. If the function were transferred out, it would require legislative change. The sender and receiver organisations would be responsible for safe transfer, enabling continuity of services and managing risk during any transition.

GP premises costs are reimbursed by the NHS. Any increase in charges by the landlord impacts the cost of providing primary care in that locality. The District Valuer Service offers independent advice on appropriate level of market rent, considering the building’s nature, age and condition.

ICBs can make supplementary payments on top of the District Valuer Service’s assessment of new schemes, if appropriate and affordable.

The Government is committed to fixing the front door of the National Health Service, and this includes working with providers to deliver the primary care infrastructure required to enable a Neighbourhood Health Service.

Capital spending is set to increase by £1.8 billion to £13.6 billion in 2025/26, representing a real terms increase of 12.8%. Excluding COVID-19 years, this settlement represents the highest Departmental capital budget in real terms since 2010. The Department is currently reviewing capital requirements in line with the Government’s missions and as part of our preparations for future budget allocations.

Properties occupied by general practitioners are required to be professionally valued by the District Valuer. This is to ensure that agreed rent levels are in line with market conditions. It is important that these rent levels represent value for money because they will be reimbursed by the local integrated care board under the Premises Costs Directions 2024.

The social care allowance rates, which include the Personal Expenses Allowance (PEA), are reviewed each year. The PEA rates have been uprated in line with inflation every year since 2022, and the rates for the 2025/26 financial year will be published in early 2025.

We want a society where every person, as well as their families and carers, receives high-quality, compassionate care, from diagnosis through to end of life.

I recently met NHS England and discussions have begun on how to reduce inequalities and variation in access to, and the quality of, palliative and end of life care in England.  We will consider next steps on palliative and end of life care, including hospice funding, in the coming months.

We have committed to develop a 10-Year Health Plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future, by driving three shifts in the way health care is delivered. We will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our stakeholders, including those in the hospice sector, as we develop the plan.

The engagement process has been launched, and I would encourage the palliative and end of life care sector, including hospice providers, service users and their families, to engage with that process to allow us to fully understand what is not working as well as it should and what the potential solutions are. More information is available at the following link:

https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/

The Department does not collect or hold data on the number of people waiting for places in hospices run by charitable organisations.

We want a society where every person, as well as their families and carers, receives high-quality, compassionate care, from diagnosis through to end of life.

I recently met NHS England and discussions have begun on how to reduce inequalities and variation in access to, and the quality of, palliative and end of life care in England.  We will consider next steps on palliative and end of life care, including hospice funding, in the coming months.

We have committed to develop a 10-Year Health Plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future, by driving three shifts in the way health care is delivered. We will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our stakeholders, including those in the hospice sector, as we develop the plan.

The engagement process has been launched, and I would encourage the palliative and end of life care sector, including hospice providers, service users and their families, to engage with that process to allow us to fully understand what is not working as well as it should and what the potential solutions are. More information is available at the following link:

https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/

The Department does not collect or hold data on the number of people waiting for places in hospices run by charitable organisations.

Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at end of life, and their loved ones.  Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services.  The amount of funding charitable hospices receive varies by integrated care board (ICB) area, and will, in part, be dependent on the breadth of palliative and end of life care provision within each ICB catchment area.

I am aware from meetings with, and published reports and correspondence from, the charitable hospice sector linking the level of statutory funding for hospices to reductions in the adequacy of service levels, staffing levels, and patient care. I have also recently met NHS England and discussions have begun on how to reduce inequalities and variation in access to, and the quality of, palliative and end of life care.

We, alongside key partners NHS England, will continue to proactively engage with our stakeholders, including the voluntary sector and independent hospices, on an ongoing basis, in order to understand the issues they face. We will consider next steps on palliative and end of life care, including funding, in the coming months.

The dentistry recovery plan, Faster, simpler and fairer: our plan to recover and reform NHS dentistry, published on 7 February 2024, included a Golden Hello scheme offering up to 240 dentists a cash incentive to deliver National Health Service work in under-served areas of the country, for three years. The scheme is under way, and integrated care boards are working with practices in their areas to agree the list of practices to participate in the scheme, and to recruit dentists to these posts. No dentists have been recruited to these roles yet.

The Department does not have specific plans to solicit feedback from integrated care boards (ICBs) on the performance of AJM Healthcare in their areas.

Data collected through the National Wheelchair Data Collection is at ICB level, therefore we do not hold specific provider data. ICBs hold accountability and responsibility for the performance of contracted provision, and any issues arising within the contracting and commissioning of wheelchair services must be reviewed and addressed by the relevant ICB.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of local wheelchairs services. It is therefore the responsibility of ICBs to review and assess the quality of the provision of their commissioned National Health Service wheelchair services.

As such, we do not currently have any plans to assess the adequacy of the provision of NHS wheelchair services provided by AJM Healthcare. NHS England is taking steps to support ICBs to make improvements and commission effective, efficient, and personalised wheelchair services.

Data on waiting times for wheelchairs provided by AJM Healthcare is not held centrally. NHS England collects quarterly data from the ICBs through the National Wheelchair Data Collection, which is available through the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/national-wheelchair/

This data supports the drive for improvements in wheelchair services, although it is ICB level data that does not include specific data on individual services. Individual service data would need to be requested from ICBs.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of local wheelchairs services. It is therefore the responsibility of ICBs to review and assess the quality of the provision of their commissioned National Health Service wheelchair services.

As such, we do not currently have any plans to assess the adequacy of the provision of NHS wheelchair services provided by AJM Healthcare. NHS England is taking steps to support ICBs to make improvements and commission effective, efficient, and personalised wheelchair services.

Data on waiting times for wheelchairs provided by AJM Healthcare is not held centrally. NHS England collects quarterly data from the ICBs through the National Wheelchair Data Collection, which is available through the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/national-wheelchair/

This data supports the drive for improvements in wheelchair services, although it is ICB level data that does not include specific data on individual services. Individual service data would need to be requested from ICBs.