The Department has not held discussions with social media companies on content promoting anabolic steroid use and extreme body image ideals to young men.

However, in November 2025, the Department launched England’s first ever Men’s Health Strategy which sets out a bold vision to improve the health and wellbeing of all men and boys. The strategy recognises the role that the media plays in shaping how men interpret health information and commits to identify ways to build media literacy skills in men to help them critically assess health information and protect against misinformation that harms health.

More broadly, under the Online Safety Act, providers must take proportionate steps to reduce the risk of their services being used to facilitate illegal activity, including the unlawful supply of controlled drugs such as anabolic steroids.

The Government also supports clean competition in sport. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport supports UK Anti-Doping and UK Sport in their efforts to protect clean sport and educate athletes on the risks of performance-enhancing drugs.

NHS England operates an assurance regime to promote accurate assessment, equal access, standardisation, and consistency within NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC). This involves regional assurance meetings every two months, with a focus on reducing unwarranted variation in CHC. It will continue working with local systems to ensure appropriate application of the National Framework for CHC.

The NHS Performance and Assessment Framework for 2026/27 includes a standard for integrated care boards to monitor the percentage of Standard CHC referrals completed within 28 days.

NHS England publishes data on NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) and NHS-funded Nursing Care (FNC) on a quarterly basis. This includes the number and proportion of CHC referrals and eligibility decisions made for both the Standard and Fast Track CHC referral pathway. Fast Track CHC is provided for those individuals with a rapidly deteriorating condition, which may be entering a terminal phase. The data includes the number and proportion of referrals and eligibility decisions for Standard CHC made within 28 days of referral. It does not include average time taken for integrated care boards to complete CHC assessments. The latest published CHC and FNC data is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/nhs-chc-fnc/

The Herbert Protocol is a form that can provide the police and other emergency services with essential information about a person with dementia should they go missing.

While this is not currently mandated, it is freely available for use online and can be completed by a person living with dementia, or those that care for them. Further information is available on the Herbert Protocol website at the following link:

https://herbertprotocol.com/

There are currently no plans to create an independent review board to oversee joint medical readiness in the United Kingdom.

The Ministry of Defence and the Department of Health and Social Care’s Partnership Board facilitate joint working across the UK to address issues relating to the health of, and healthcare for, Armed Forces personnel and veterans. The Partnership Board meets three times a year, to ensure that departments and stakeholders meet the requirements of the Armed Forces Covenant and to improve the health and healthcare of the UK Armed Forces before, during, and after deployment, and of their families.

With oversight from the Partnership Board, the Department of Health and Social Care will work closely with the Ministry of Defence to consider the recommendations of The Strategic Defence Review 2025, to ensure that the National Health Service is resilient and prepared to meet the demands of any potential future conflict.

The National Health Service in England provides a range of secondary and tertiary care services for the Armed Forces personnel, including medical care for Armed Forces personnel injured in conflicts.

A partnership agreement is in place between NHS England and the Ministry of Defence that sets out how the Ministry of Defence and NHS England will work together in the planning and organising of the delivery of healthcare and supporting policies.

The Department of Health and Social Care will work closely with the Ministry of Defence to consider the recommendations of The Strategic Defence Review 2025 to ensure the national health system is resilient and prepared to meet the demands of any potential future conflict.

We took the necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, enabling the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26.

The employer National Insurance contribution rise was implemented in April 2025, and planning guidance published on 30 January 2025 sets out the funding available to integrated care boards and the overall approach to funding providers for the 2025/26 financial year. It takes into account a variety of pay and non-pay factors and pressures on providers of secondary healthcare, including charitable hospices. Further information on the planning guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/2025-26-priorities-and-operational-planning-guidance/

We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England, to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. I am delighted that the first £25 million tranche of that funding, which Hospice UK kindly allocated and distributed to hospices throughout England, was fully spent by hospices on capital projects. An additional £75 million will be allocated in the coming weeks for use in 2025/26.

We are also providing £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. This is a continuation of the funding which until recently was known as the children and young people’s hospice grant.

Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.

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.

In recognition of this, we are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England for 2024/25 and 2025/26, to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.

Additionally, children and young people’s hospices will receive £26 million in revenue funding for 2025/26. This is a continuation of the funding which until recently was known as the children and young people’s hospice grant.

In February, I met with key palliative care and end of life care and hospice stakeholders, in a roundtable format, with a focus on long-term sector sustainability within the context of our 10-Year Health Plan.

We have taken the necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, which enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26.

The Department has considered the increases in the National Living Wage and employer national insurance when consulting on the funding arrangements for community pharmacy. We have now agreed with Community Pharmacy England to increase the community pharmacy contractual framework to £3.073 billion from April 2025. This deal represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service, at over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26.

We have taken the necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, which enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26.

The Department has considered the increases in the National Living Wage and employer national insurance when consulting on the funding arrangements for community pharmacy. We have now agreed with Community Pharmacy England to increase the community pharmacy contractual framework to £3.073 billion from April 2025. This deal represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service, at over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26.

The New Medicine Service (NMS) is an advanced service offered by community pharmacies, providing patients with advice to address any possible side effects, issues, or questions that patients who are prescribed a new medicine may have. The service focuses on treatments for long-term conditions, including asthma and hypertension.

Early interventions of this type can improve medication adherence, patient outcomes, and can reduce pressure on the wider National Health Service. From October 2025, the NMS will expand to introduce depression as a further therapeutic area for which patients can receive support.

The New Medicine Service (NMS) is an advanced service offered by community pharmacies, providing patients with advice to address any possible side effects, issues, or questions that patients who are prescribed a new medicine may have. The service focuses on treatments for long-term conditions, including asthma and hypertension.

Early interventions of this type can improve medication adherence, patient outcomes, and can reduce pressure on the wider National Health Service. From October 2025, the NMS will expand to introduce depression as a further therapeutic area for which patients can receive support.

Officials have been working to develop the Down Syndrome Act 2022 statutory guidance, including engaging with sector partners and the relevant departments.

We expect to issue the draft guidance of the public consultation by the summer of 2025. The guidance will be published at the earliest opportunity following the consultation.

We have made the necessary decisions to fix the foundations of the public finances in the Autumn Budget. The employers’ National Insurance rise will be implemented in April 2025. We will set out further details on the allocation of funding for next year in due course.

Primary care providers, including general practitioners (GPs), are valued independent contractors that provide nearly £20 billion worth of National Health Services. Every year we consult with each contracted sector about the services it provides, and the money providers are entitled to in return. As in previous years, this issue will be dealt with as part of that process. We will shortly begin discussions on the annual GP Contract.

We have made the necessary decisions to fix the foundations of the public finances in the Autumn Budget. The employers’ National Insurance rise will be implemented in April 2025. We will set out further details on the allocation of funding for next year in due course.

Primary care providers, including general practitioners (GPs), are valued independent contractors that provide nearly £20 billion worth of National Health Services. Every year we consult with each contracted sector about the services it provides, and the money providers are entitled to in return. As in previous years, this issue will be dealt with as part of that process. We will shortly begin discussions on the annual GP Contract.

We have made the necessary decisions to fix the foundations of the public finances in the Autumn Budget. The employers’ National Insurance rise will be implemented in April 2025. We will set out further details on the allocation of funding for next year in due course.

Primary care providers, including general practitioners (GPs), are valued independent contractors that provide nearly £20 billion worth of National Health Services. Every year we consult with each contracted sector about the services it provides, and the money providers are entitled to in return. As in previous years, this issue will be dealt with as part of that process. We will shortly begin discussions on the annual GP Contract.

The Government is committed to expanding the pharmacy workforce and better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists, as we shift care from the hospital to the community.

We have inherited ongoing global supply problems that continue to impact medicine availability. We know how frustrating this can be for patients and community pharmacists. We are working closely with industry, the National Health Service, manufacturers, and other partners in the supply chain to resolve issues as quickly as possible to make sure patients can access the medicines they need.

Now that the budget for the Government has been set, we will shortly be resuming our consultation with Community Pharmacy England regarding the funding arrangements for 2024/25. We are unable to say more until these have been concluded.

We are committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. From 2026, all newly qualified pharmacists will be independent prescribers, and we are investing in training legacy staff to develop clinical and technical roles.

The consultation with Community Pharmacy England on the national funding and contractual framework arrangements has not yet been concluded, and we are looking into this as a matter of urgency.

We have inherited ongoing global supply problems that continue to impact medicine availability. We know how frustrating this can be for patients and community pharmacists. We are working closely with industry, the National Health Service, manufacturers, and other partners in the supply chain to resolve issues as quickly as possible to make sure patients can access the medicines they need.

Veterans can access specialist mental health support either through Op COURAGE, a bespoke integrated mental health pathway for veterans, or NHS Talking Therapies. As of 30 June 2024, Op COURAGE reported that they were actively supporting 2,702 veterans. Since its inception in April 2017, there have been over 38,500 referrals to Op COURAGE. In addition to the Op COURAGE services, between 1 April 2020 and 30 June 2024, 63,810 veterans have entered NHS Talking Therapy treatment services.

We are committed to supporting improvements to the existing treatment system, ensuring people experiencing gambling-related harm are able to access the right care at the right time.

NHS England now operates 15 specialist gambling treatment clinics, up from two in 2019, with representation across every region in England. Through these clinics, the National Health Service has capacity to treat up to 3,000 people experiencing gambling-related harms each year.

General practitioners are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance, such as that produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), to ensure that they can continue to provide high quality care to all patients.

The NICE is currently developing a gambling-related harms guideline, focused on identification, assessment, and management of people who may be harmed by gambling. Publication is expected later this year.