Tag: Department of Health and Social Care

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 8 March 2023.

Five projects will receive part of £5 million innovation fund to test new ways to reduce use of so-called recreational drugs.

• On-the-ground projects include skills development and education for young people
• Supports strategy to reduce drug use to a 30-year low and build a world-class knowledge base

Five projects aimed at reducing drug use have been awarded £734,000 of the first allocation of a £5 million grant, with the remaining funding available across two further phases.

As part of the government’s Drug Strategy Innovation Fund, Phase 1 will see the successful applicants begin the initial stage of their projects offering a range of education-based programmes, skills development for young people and community outreach.

Each project will receive initial funding to help develop interventions for evaluation. Those that are successful, and new projects, will be able to apply for further funding in Phase 2 which will launch later in the year to evaluate interventions over 12 months.

Projects for phase 1 are based in Huddersfield, Derbyshire, Manchester, Dorset and the South East of England and will include schemes tailored to meet local needs, including pop-up pods at festivals and events to educate people on the harms of using drugs – as well as workforce support to help young people develop personal and social skills to reduce vulnerability to illegal substance use.

Other projects include training programmes for night-time economy staff, such as people working in nightclubs, as well as experts from public health, voluntary services, the NHS and the police.

Health Minister Neil O’Brien said:

Stopping drug use in its tracks is essential to protecting people and the community from the harms caused by addiction, which has devastating impacts and drives half of all crime.

Projects like these will pave the way for new research into preventing drug addiction and enable us to meet our national strategy aim to cut drugs and crime.

This is part of government plans to reduce the demand for drugs and will decrease the number of people requiring treatment as well as drive down the illegal and exploitative supply chain, anti-social behaviour and wider crime.

The Department of Health and Social Care and the Joint Combating Drugs Unit – a cross governmental team based in the Home Office – have selected the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to lead the research bidding process.

The selection process focused on encouraging creativity and innovation from applicants – looking at prevention of experimental drug use or early intervention as a way to prevent people going on to problematic or dependent use in the future.

Projects showing to be successful after evaluation and implementation in specific areas will be considered for national roll out across the country to stop drug taking in its early stages. The results of the studies will also be used to build a world class evidence base on how to tackle drug use.

Professor Lucy Chappell, Scientific Advisor for the Department of Health and Social Care, NIHR Chief Executive Officer, said:

This is a really positive step towards expanding the evidence base on this important issue. I hope that the range of projects in this, and future phases, will identify effective interventions that can have a real impact across the country in the future. I look forward to seeing the outcomes of these projects.

Projects were chosen following a competitive bidding process and passing an independent assessment committee made up of experts.

Successful projects

Zoë Welch, Head of Research, Change Grow Live said:

Change Grow Live, in partnership with Middlesex University, are delighted to have the support of the NIHR Innovation Fund to Reduce Demand for Illicit Substances to prepare our Derbyshire 1625 Outreach Service for evaluation.

1625 Outreach supports young people and young adults (aged 16-25) through place-based early interventions that improve knowledge and reduce demand and harm around substance use and associated risky behaviours.

The innovative multi-strand approach works across rural and urban settings in Derbyshire and Derby city offering education programmes, responsive outreach, a branded van and pop-up pod at festivals/events, digital interventions, and night-time economy staff training.

Our aim is to prepare 1625 Outreach for robust evaluation through literature review, stakeholder feedback, data linkage and creative methods to capture process and outcomes. We will use desk research, PPI, stakeholder consultation, and county-wide collaboration to refine the model and develop a framework to evaluate the different strands of outreach activity.

Professor Michael Doyle, Professor in Mental Health Research, University of Huddersfield said:

We are excited to start work on our project to reduce demand for illicit substances in young people through co-production, skills training and early intervention. As researchers at the University of Huddersfield, we are looking forward to working in partnership with young people and a multi-agency team of practitioners and experts from public health, voluntary services, the NHS, the police and education.

We hope that getting input from all these stakeholders will help us develop learning resources that help young people build the skills they need, raise awareness and improve understanding to support positive lifestyle choices and reduce risky behaviours, including the use of illicit substances.

Fiona Spargo-Mabbs, CEO, Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation said:

We’re very excited to have secured Phase 1 of this funding, to work with Middlesex University Drug and Alcohol Research Centre team led by Prof Betsy Thom, to develop and refine the DSM Foundation’s existing universal, multi-component drug education programme. Drug use often begins during adolescence, a period of life when attitudes and behaviours are emerging, and therefore have potential to be influenced before becoming established.

There is evidence to show a multi-component approach to drug education can increase its effectiveness in preventing or delaying the onset of drug use in adolescence, but recent research is lacking, so we’re keen to establish what works, how and why.

We’ll be engaging key stakeholders’ insights through surveys and focus groups, including young people and parents, as well as revisiting our current programme theory. By the end of this project we will have developed and refined our existing programme, and produced an evaluation strategy and methodology, ready for delivery and evaluation with young people aged 13–15 in a range of schools in Phase 2.

Dr William Floodgate, Lecturer in Criminology, University of Manchester

Our project will refine a new evidence-based, harm reduction-focused drugs education programme called The Staying Safe Programme (TSSP) so that it can be rolled out to universities across the UK. TSSP has been designed to reduce the demand for drugs among university students by equipping young adults with the knowledge required to reduce harms associated with recreational drug use, by deterring or delaying the onset of drug use, or by preventing the transition to heavy, or problematic use.

We will use a range of methods to establish the appropriateness of TSSP, its in-built assessment of learning, and the effects of TSSP on the students who complete it.

The core research team consists of Dr William Floodgate, Professor Judith Aldridge, & Lydia Swan (University of Manchester), and at the University of South Wales, Professor Katy Holloway and Shannon Murray. Collaborators include: Professor Adam Winstock, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and Universities UK.”

Claire Shiels, Corporate Director of Commissioning & Partnerships, Dorset Council

The partnership in Dorset is absolutely delighted to be successful in this Phase 1 bid to test interventions that will help our workforce support young people to develop personal and social skills interventions that seek to reduce their vulnerability to illegal substance use and to develop effective communications with communities about the social impact of illegal substance use.

Active collaboration between researchers, skilled practitioners, children, young people and parents and parents and carers are central to our programme and we believe this is an excellent opportunity to make a real difference.  This work will be part of our local Combatting Drugs strategy and is an active collaboration between two local councils – Dorset and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP), the local health system and the police.

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 3 March 2023.

Nine of the most promising artificial intelligence healthcare technologies to receive nearly £16 million in government funding to accelerate research.

• Nine of the most promising artificial intelligence healthcare technologies to receive nearly £16 million in government funding to accelerate research
• Examples include systems to run cancer checks, diagnose rare diseases and identify women at highest risk of premature birth
• Successful technologies will be fast-tracked into NHS to improve speed and accuracy of diagnoses, tackle waiting lists and free up clinician time

Tens of thousands of patients across the country could benefit from quicker, earlier diagnoses and more effective treatments for a range of conditions – as the government invests nearly £16 million into pioneering artificial intelligence (AI) research.

Nine companies have been awarded funding through the third round of the AI in Health and Care Awards, which is accelerating the testing and deployment of the most promising AI technologies. The awards were set up in 2019 to develop AI technology focused on helping patients manage long-term conditions, improve the speed and accuracy of diagnosis, and ultimately help tackle the COVID backlogs and cut waiting lists. They are delivered between the NHS AI Lab, the Accelerated Access Collaborative and the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

The winners include AI systems which can help detect cancer, diagnose rare diseases, identify women at highest risk of premature birth and support the treatment of neurological conditions like dementia. The funding will be used to support the testing, evaluation and adoption of their technologies by the NHS.

So far, in total, £123 million has been invested in 86 AI technologies across 3 rounds of awards supporting over 300,000 patients and improving their care and treatment for health conditions such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, mental health and neurological disorders.

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said:

Artificial intelligence has the potential to speed up diagnoses and treatments and free up time for our doctors and nurses so they can focus on caring for patients. Around 300,000 people have already benefited from companies supported by our AI awards, with tens of thousands more set to benefit.

These schemes include technology that could recognise the signs of cancer more quickly and accurately, predict which women are more likely to give birth prematurely or analyse electronic health records to detect the signs of an undiagnosed rare disease.

Start-up Ibex has been awarded more than £1.5 million and it has developed an AI-driven algorithm to run checks for breast cancer. The technology analyses images of tissue extracts, helping pathologists detect cancer, so they can complete diagnoses more quickly. Its high accuracy rate could reduce the need for patients to repeat the biopsy process and free up more time for consultants.

Known as Galen Breast, it will be trialled at Nottingham University Hospitals, Cambridge University Hospitals, North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and University Hospitals Birmingham. Researchers will analyse its findings on 10,000 patients and evaluate improvements in the quality of diagnosis, cost-effectiveness and quicker turnaround times for patients.

Ibex previously won an AI award in 2020, enabling the roll-out of Galen Prostate – the equivalent technology for prostate cancer – at 6 hospitals including University College London and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire.

Another winner, medical device company Medtronic, has been rolling out devices and therapies to treat more than 30 chronic diseases, including Parkinson’s and diabetes, some of which are being trialled in the NHS. It has been awarded £2.5 million to further develop an AI-based medical device called GI Genius, which has been trained to process colonoscopy images and detect signs of colon cancer, enabling earlier, more accurate diagnoses. An earlier study carried out in Dublin, Ireland suggested the technology could increase the detection of hard-to-detect precancerous polyps – small growths on the inner lining of the rectum – by up to 14.4%. In the 2021 study it was shown to reduce the missed polyp rate by nearly 50%.

Digital health start-up Mendelian has been awarded £1.4 million to support an AI system which identifies patients with undiagnosed rare diseases, as well as recommending the best management options, by analysing electronic health records. In the past decade undiagnosed rare diseases have cost the NHS in excess of £3.4 billion and data shows that patients with rare diseases attend hospitals more than twice as often as other patients, costing the NHS 4 times as much on average. To complement this kind of research, a new Rare Diseases Action Plan for England was published this week to ensure those living with these conditions continue to receive better care and treatment along with fairer access to testing.

The winners also include a consortium led by the University of Bristol which has already developed an online medical tool which is identifying pregnant women who are most at risk of giving birth prematurely or of developing complications that could lead to stillbirth. Tommy’s App has been created to process information gathered at pregnancy check-ups which then generated a risk score for each patient. This is used to provide personalised care recommendations, lowering the risk of preterm birth or stillbirth. The team will receive nearly £1.9 million in government funding to build on the clinical decision tool.

Last year, data was published in obstetrics and gynaecology journal BJOG, showing the tool can help reduce health inequalities in Black, Asian and other pregnant women in ethnic minority groups. Researchers found perinatal death rates – those affecting pregnant women and others up to a year after giving birth – were 3 times higher in ethnic minority mothers. However, when the tool was used alongside targeted care, these rates fell to approximately the same across all the ethnic groups.

Professor Emad Rakha, Honorary Consultant Pathologist at the University of Nottingham and Nottingham University Hospitals NHS trust, said:

Over the last several years in the UK, cancer cases increased while the number of pathologists decreased, resulting in record-high workloads for pathology departments.

Timely and accurate diagnosis can significantly impact breast cancer survival rates, making Ibex’s solution a vital and welcome addition into NHS trusts.

Dr Jackie Cook, Consultant in Clinical Genetics and Co-Clinical Director at North East and Yorkshire NHS Genomic Medicine Service Alliance, said:

Patients with rare diseases can face a long diagnostic journey, often taking many years with multiple investigations and appointments before a diagnosis is made.

By using this technology to interrogate patient records, my hope is that patients with rare diseases will be identified much faster, avoid unnecessary investigations and achieve a diagnosis in a much shorter timeframe.

This could enable patients to receive potential treatments earlier, inform ongoing care and, where appropriate, allow reproductive decisions.

Dr Bu Hayee, Consultant Gastroenterologist and Principle Investigator of Medtronic’s study, said:

I’m pleased to be working on this project to establish whether the use of AI in colonoscopy might influence endoscopy performance and improve outcomes for patients.

There has never been a greater need for innovation in the NHS and this research may be able to shine a light on the possible benefits this technology can provide.

Our NAIAD (National study of Artificial Intelligence in Adenoma Detection for colonoscopy) study is set to explore the use of AI in a ‘real world’ setting, and how it might influence endoscopists in their day-to-day practice.

Professor Basky Thilaganathan, Clinical Director to the Tommy’s National Centre for Maternity Improvement, said:

We believe that our Clinical Decision Support Tool can make a significant change in the delivery and experience of maternity care.

We are thrilled to be able to expand our work with this funding, and further our learning to support our aim for NHS-wide adoption.

Dominic Cushnan, Director of AI, Imaging and Deployment at the NHS Transformation Directorate, said:

The AI Award is helping to develop the clinical and economic evidence for AI technologies we need to help build confidence among the NHS workforce that these technologies can not only free up some of their time but safely support them in providing care for patients.

Cutting NHS waiting times is one of the government’s top 5 priorities, backed by record funding including up to £14.1 billion for health and social care over the next 2 years. Advances in innovation and technology – including in robotics and artificial intelligence – will give patients greater control and help tackle some of the biggest healthcare challenges from cancer to genetic diseases. These kinds of innovations can free up staff time while speeding up treatments and diagnoses.

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 2 March 2023.

Plan for better, fairer access to high quality special educational needs and disabilities support.

Children and young people across England with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision (AP) will get high-quality, early support wherever they live in the country.

The SEND and AP improvement plan published today (Thursday 2 March) confirms investment in training for thousands of workers so children can get the help they need earlier, alongside thousands of additional specialist school places for those with the greatest needs – as 33 new special free schools are approved to be built as of today.

The transformation of the system will be underpinned by new national SEND and AP standards, which will give families confidence in what support they should receive and who will provide and pay for it, regardless of where they live.

There will be new guides for professionals to help them provide the right support in line with the national standards but suited to each child’s unique experience, setting out for example how to make adjustments to classrooms to help a child remain in mainstream education.

To improve parents’ and carers’ experiences of accessing support, the plan will cut local bureaucracy by making sure the process for assessing children and young people’s needs through education health and care (EHC) plans is digital-first, quicker and simpler wherever possible.

This package forms part of the government’s significant investment into children and young people with SEND and in AP, with investment increasing by more than 50% compared with 2019 to 2020 – to over £10 billion by 2023 to 2024.

Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing, Claire Coutinho said:

Parents know that their children only get one shot at education and this can have an enormous impact on their child’s ability to get on with life. Yet for some parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities, getting their child that superb education that everyone deserves can feel like a full-time job.

The improvement plan that we are publishing today sets out systemic reforms to standards, teacher training and access to specialists as well as thousands of new places at specialist schools so that every child gets the help they need.

The local authorities selected today to have 33 new special free schools built in their areas add to the 49 already in the pipeline. These new places come with the government’s £2.6 billion investment between 2022 and 2025 to increase special school and alternative provision capacity.

There will be expanded training for staff, ranging from up to 5,000 early years special educational needs co-ordinators to 400 educational psychologists, covering a wide range of educational needs. The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education will develop an apprenticeship for teachers of sensory impairments.

The £70 million change programme will work over the next 2 to 3 years with selected local authorities in 9 regions, working alongside families to implement, test and refine longer-term plans – including new digital requirements for local authority EHCP processes and options for strengthening mediation.

The changes are also underpinned by a strengthened local authority inspection regime joint between Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission.

This plan follows extensive engagement with around 6,000 consultation responses and 175 events, ensuring the new reforms take into account the views of children, young people, parents and carers. The plan sets out a clear roadmap to transform the SEND and AP system and make it sustainable over the long term.

Minister for Learning Disabilities and Autism, Maria Caulfield said:

Everyone with special educational needs and disabilities deserves to live a happy, healthy and productive life – but we know there are often barriers to accessing the right support, especially for parents navigating the start of their children’s educational experiences.

It is vital that health, care and education are working together properly from day one for people with additional needs, which is why we’re making sure steps are being taken to better join up the system and provide support more readily for children and young people with special educational needs and for their families.

Children’s Commissioner for England Dame Rachel de Souza said:

Children with SEND and their families have, for too long, felt penalised by a system that doesn’t support their needs.

I am particularly pleased to see this plan’s focus on early help, which will prevent families from reaching breaking point, and the increase in specialist school places so that many more children are able to attend a great school, every day.

I have called for children’s voices to be at the heart of this plan, so I am encouraged by the move to make EHC Plans digital, standardised, and more focused on what each child wants.

Our focus must now be on delivering these reforms, in tandem with those for children’s social care, and matching the ambition that children have for themselves.

Dame Christine Lenehan, Director of Council for Disabled Children said:

The SEND and AP improvement plan has set out the DfE’s understanding of the complexity and level of challenge that exists in the system whilst also acknowledging the difficult experiences of some children and families as a result.

CDC welcome the focus on early intervention and providing families support at the earliest opportunity which is key to ensuring needs are met effectively. It will be vital to provide strengthened accountability routes and to continue to focus on the improved experiences of children and families to ensure outcomes are met.

We look forward to continuing to engage children, young people and their families as well as practitioners across the SEND sector in ongoing opportunities to input into the plans moving forwards.

Additional measures confirmed today in the improvement plan include:

• a new leadership level Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator National Professional Qualification (SENCo NPQ) will be created, ensuring teachers have the training they need to provide the right support to children
• a new approach to AP will focus on preparing children to return to mainstream or prepare for adulthood. AP will act as an intervention within mainstream education, as well as high-quality standalone provision, in an approach that meets children’s needs earlier and helps prevent escalation
• an extension of AP Specialist Taskforces, which work directly with young people in AP to offer intensive support from experts, including mental health professionals, family workers, and speech and language therapists, backed an additional £6 million investment
• a doubling of the number of supported internship places by 2025, from around 2,500 to around 5,000, backed with £18 million of funding to help young people make the transition into adulthood
• £30 million to go towards developing innovative approaches for short breaks for children, young people and their families, providing crucial respite for families of children with complex needs – the programme funds local areas to test new services including play, sports, arts and independent living activities, allowing parents time to themselves, while their child enjoys learning new skills

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 28 February 2023.

Government campaign promotes NHS advice on weaning as survey finds half of parents in England are confused about how much to feed their baby in the process.

Parents are being supported to safely introduce their babies to solid food through a government campaign that promotes NHS advice on weaning.

Weaning is a key milestone within the first 1,001 critical days. It teaches babies to move food around their mouth, chew and swallow, and influences children’s eating habits and their health later in life.

The campaign highlights there are 3 clear signs that mean your baby is ready for solid food, such as if they can stay in a sitting position, holding their head steady. It also includes information on when to begin introducing solid foods alongside breastmilk or first infant formula, why it’s important to wait until your baby is around 6 months old and what to feed babies at each stage.

The campaign comes as a new survey conducted by Censuswide has found that half of parents in England (50%) were confused about how much to feed their baby and what age to start weaning (47%), with many saying they had received conflicting advice on both points. It also found that nearly half of parents were influenced by behaviours that can be mistaken by parents as signs that their baby is ready for solid foods, such as seeing their baby grabbing food (47%) or looking at food (43%).

Minister for Primary Care and Public Health Neil O’Brien said:

The first 1,001 days are crucial for a child’s development and weaning can influence a baby’s eating habits and their health later in life.

This campaign will ensure parents have the confidence to introduce their babies to solid food at the appropriate time and provide practical advice and a support hub to ensure their diets include a wide variety of foods.

We’re committed to supporting the early years, including by providing over £300 million to create family hubs in 75 local authorities to join up and enhance services, ensuring all parents and carers can access the support they need at the time that they need it.

The survey also found that nearly half (46%) of parents believed that solid foods should be introduced at around 5 months or earlier. But, according to NHS guidance, it is recommended to gradually introduce solid foods from around 6 months – alongside breast milk or infant formula. This is because it gives babies time to develop properly so they can cope with solid foods.

Breast milk or first infant formula provides everything that babies need for healthy development for the first 6 months. When babies are around 6 months old, they start to need solid foods as well as breast milk or first infant formula to meet their nutritional needs.

With more than 1 in 4 (27.7%) children being overweight when they reach school age, according to the latest National Child Measurement Programme data, the Better Health Start for Life ‘introducing solid foods’ campaign supports parents to develop their children’s healthy eating habits at the earliest stage.

In addition to the campaign, an online weaning hub is available to support parents on their weaning journey. Packed with NHS-endorsed advice, videos and tips, plus simple healthy recipes, it puts everything parents need to know in one place.

Child nutritionist, Charlotte Stirling Reed, said:

As a mum and a nutritionist, I’m in agreement with today’s survey findings – weaning can be a very confusing and overwhelming time for parents.

You can start with single vegetables and fruits that are mashed or blended. I’ve always found preparing food from scratch is the easiest and cheapest way to create healthier meals for my children, and have used the Start for Life weaning hub for great recipes which are really easy to make and nutritious.

GP Dr Helen Lawal said:

Weaning is a crucial milestone in the first 1,001 critical days of a baby’s life; however, today’s research results are showing that almost half of parents are introducing solid foods to their babies too early.

The Start of Life weaning hub will help you to spot the right signs which show your baby is ready for solid foods, alongside lots of tips on essential topics like allergies, food hygiene and avoiding choking, to help you wean your baby safely.

Courtnay, mum of Oshun, 8 month old, said:

As a mum I’m in agreement with today’s survey findings – weaning can be a very confusing and overwhelming time for parents.

However, it can be simple too – you can start your weaning journey with single vegetables that are mashed, blended or offered as soft finger foods. The Start for Life Weaning Hub has plenty of recipes to help you easily prep meals for your baby, which are easy to make and nutritious.

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 28 February 2023.

The 2023 England Rare Diseases Action Plan goes further than ever before to support people living with rare diseases.

• The 2023 England Rare Diseases Action Plan goes further than ever before to support people living with rare diseases
• Building on progress made in the last year, it will make sure people can access specialised care, treatment, holistic support across services and can take part in research should they want to
• The government has worked closely with the healthcare system and rare diseases community to identify 13 actions to drive further improvement

A new Rare Diseases Action Plan for England has been published today that will ensure those living with these conditions receive better care and treatment, fairer access to testing and have continued support.

This builds on the first ever Rare Diseases Action Plan for England published in 2022, which has developed digital tools to put information on rare diseases at the fingertips of healthcare staff. It has also helped 1,000 new complex diagnoses for people with rare diseases to be made thanks to advances in genomic research, helping to inform appropriate clinical care for patients.

The new plan lists 13 actions that have been developed with the rare diseases community focussing on faster diagnosis, increased awareness of rare diseases among healthcare staff, better coordination of care and improved access to specialist care, treatments and drugs.

Although rare diseases are individually rare, they are collectively common, with 1 in 17 people affected by a rare disease at some point in their lives, such as spinal muscular atrophy, haemophilia A, epidermolysis bullosa or Huntington’s disease. This new plan will increase data-sharing so we can, for the first time, get a full picture of how people are tested for genetic diseases across England and help get patients a diagnosis faster.

With more than 7,000 rare diseases affecting an estimated 3.5 million people in the UK it is vital that healthcare professionals have the right training to care appropriately for their needs. The new plan will collect evidence on health inequalities faced by people living with rare diseases so they can be addressed by health services, for instance for people not living in areas where specialist centres exist.

Health Minister, Helen Whately, said:

Rare diseases are individually rare but collectively common, affecting 3.5 million people in the UK.

We’ve made huge progress in the last year, making 1,000 complex new diagnoses thanks to advances in genomic research.

But there is still more to do. Our Rare Diseases Action Plan will reduce health inequalities, help people participate in research and join up specialist services better for patients.

Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Lucy Chappell, said:

The impacts of rare diseases on individuals and their families are wide-ranging. Our research plays an important underpinning role in furthering the understanding, diagnosis, treatment and care for people living with rare diseases.

The action plan highlights significant advances in rare disease research supported through our funding. There is always more to do and our commitments will be supported by the recently announced funding for ground-breaking research into the NIHR Biomedical Research Centres and the Medical Research Council (MRC)-NIHR UK Rare Disease Research Platform.

This research will continue to drive progress and foster collaboration to translate scientific breakthroughs into clinical advances.

Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England Medical Director, said:

We’ve made great progress in securing new medicines for people with a range of rare conditions, including life-saving gene therapy, advancements in genomic testing and sequencing, made possible through the NHS Genomic Medicine Service, where we are a truly world-leading health system.

As well as being an adopter of innovation today, the NHS is developing a strategic approach to prepare for the breakthroughs of tomorrow and enable rapid patient access to future tests and treatments for rare conditions.

Dr Ellen Thomas, Deputy Chief Medical Officer at Genomics England, said:

A decade on from the launch of the ground-breaking 100,000 Genomes Project, it’s vital that we continue to harness the potential of genomics to deliver benefits in diagnosis, treatment and care for those living with rare conditions. Connecting research and clinical care and doing both at national scale is crucial to this and a great strength of the approach we are taking as a country.

In 2022, thanks to this link and work carried out in the National Genomic Research Library, we returned over 1,000 new, complex diagnoses for people with rare conditions to the NHS to help inform the most appropriate clinical care.

We must continue to build on this progress, working alongside national delivery partners across the health system and in close consultation with the rare disease community, to deliver on our shared vision to improve the lives of people living with rare conditions across the UK.

We are also making it easier for people with rare diseases to participate in research should they choose to do so and this will help improve access to specialist care, treatments and drugs.

We will commission work to assess the effectiveness of the UK Rare Diseases Framework and England’s rare diseases action plans in making a difference to people living with rare diseases.

Clear, substantive progress has been mde since the publication of the 2022 Rare Diseases Action Plan for the care and treatment of people with rare diseases. They include:

• improvements to newborn screening for rare diseases, laying the groundwork for families to get a definitive diagnosis as early as possible
• making over 1,000 new complex diagnoses for people with rare diseases thanks to advances in genomic research, helping to inform appropriate clinical care for patients
• the creation and rollout of a toolkit for virtual healthcare consultations to help people with complex, multi-system rare diseases access multiple specialists without needing to travel
• the launch of the Innovative Medicines Fund (IMF) by NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), to fast-track the most promising, cutting-edge medicines to NHS patients
• the pioneering MELODY COVID-19 study, which allowed people to participate from their own home and informed targeted treatment policies

Looking to the future, the government is funding research and fostering collaborations to accelerate the understanding, diagnosis and therapy of rare diseases. These include the ground-breaking £12 million MRC–NIHR UK Rare Disease Research Platform and £790 million NIHR biomedical research centres, many of which include a focus on rare disease research.

This investment underlines the government’s commitment to securing better, in some cases transformational, outcomes including on gene therapies, which can have transformative outcomes for patients living with rare diseases such as ADA-SCID, haemophilia A or Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

This action plan will help improve the lives of people living with rare diseases across the country and ensure that we can deliver the best possible care to patients as we tackle the COVID backlogs.

Louise Fish, Chief Executive of Genetic Alliance UK, said:

The UK Rare Disease Framework set out a great set of aspirations to improve the lives of people living with rare conditions, and we welcome this second annual action plan setting out the practical steps that will be delivered this year.

We are particularly pleased that National Institute for Health and Care Research funding will be awarded in autumn 2023 to develop the evidence base needed to operationalise better coordination of care in the NHS. Many rare conditions are life-long and complex, and we know from listening to people living with rare conditions and their families that well-coordinated care makes a real difference to their quality of life.

Kerry Leeson-Beevers, Chief Executive of Alström Syndrome UK and Breaking Down Barriers, said:

It has been a privilege to continue working with the England Rare Disease’s Framework Delivery Group as a patient representative.

I have been impressed with the effort the DHSC has made to engage with the rare disease community at different stages throughout the development of England’s second action plan. The DHSC and Breaking Down Barriers (BDB) have continued to work together to ensure the voices of people from diverse and marginalised communities who are also affected by rare conditions are included in these discussions and it was a pleasure to chair the BDB focus group.

While there is clearly more work to be done, I welcome the progress that has been made and the new proposed actions.

I look forward to working with the delivery group in the year ahead to monitor these actions and to identify areas for further development as we work towards ensuring that all people affected by rare conditions have equitable access to appropriate care and support.

Philippa Farrant, Adult Support Coordinator, Wolfram Syndrome UK, said:

I have been involved with the Rare Disease Framework work as a patient representative on the delivery group from when the report was first being written.

It has been a privilege to work with all the agencies involved in putting this complex piece of work together.  Seeing how we can achieve an effective and useful document going forward that not only reflects the official organisations and what they do, but takes into account the patient’s views to help shape the actions has been a really worthwhile time.

For an orphan rare disease community that I represent with less than 100 people in the country, this action plan should mean a better quality of life, more information and more awareness to professionals so that our community is supported better and able to access all services required managing their complex condition.

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 18 February 2023.

The government will streamline the system to modernise regulatory legislation to boost patient safety and support staff.

• Regulating thousands of medical associate professions will help increase their deployment on the frontline
• Potential for their role to be expanded, including looking at the case for extending prescribing responsibilities to PAs and AAs, reducing pressure on other frontline staff

The government has reaffirmed its commitment to streamline the system, improve patient safety and expand the role of medical support staff in the NHS to relieve pressure on GPs and improve access to services.

A new consultation will be launched today seeking views on draft legislation to provide the General Medical Council (GMC) with powers to regulate physician associates (PAs) and anaesthesia associates (AAs) for the first time.

These professions support doctors and surgeons in providing medical care and anaesthetic services to patients. With over 3,500 PAs and 160 AAs working already, regulation will enable them to play an increasingly important part in supporting the workforce to deliver the medical care appropriate for a growing, changing and ageing population.

Regulation is key to help maximise the potential of these roles to boost the workforce and increase their deployment on the frontline, particularly in primary care. For example, once regulated, opportunities could be explored for PAs to help relieve pressure on GPs, including looking at the case for extending prescribing responsibilities to PAs. This would free up clinician time to focus on seeing patients and boosting the number of appointments.

The government consultation, launched today, also represents the next step in the government’s commitment to modernise the regulatory system for healthcare professionals across the UK. These changes will give all regulators the powers to design their own regulatory processes to improve patient safety and help to streamline the system to enable staff to join the NHS frontline more easily.

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said:

I want all parts of modern, multi-skilled healthcare teams to able to work to their full potential.

That’s why we’re modernising out of date regulatory legislation to harness the full potential of roles such as physician and anaesthesia associates to provide the highest quality care for patients and relieve pressure on the NHS.

This could also open the door to expanding prescribing powers, helping free up GPs, improve access to appointments and reduce pressure on hospitals.

The wider proposals also include:

• Streamlining the system to allow regulatory bodies to update and change their day-to-day regulatory processes and standards, without needing the approval of Parliament or the Privy Council, allowing them to respond to changes quickly.
• Modernising and improving registration and regulatory processes to enable professions to respond to emerging healthcare challenges more quickly and ensure patients can continue accessing high quality services, confident they are provided by practitioners who are fit to practice. For example, during the Covid pandemic, regulators wanted to introduce remote fitness to practise hearings to boost workforce numbers, but this required to enable regulators to open emergency registers, slowing down the process.
• Ensuring consistent powers for each of the healthcare professional regulators as there is currently variation in the powers regulators have available. This means regulators across different professions will be working with similar powers, presenting opportunities for collaboration and sharing of best practice, ultimately aimed at improving patient safety and outcomes.

PAs and AAs undergo two years of post-graduate studying on average. PAs deliver health care and treatment to patients, such as diagnosing illnesses, performing diagnostic and therapeutic procedures and developing treatment management plans, under the supervision of doctors whilst AAs generally work in hospitals and emergency environments and provide care for patients before, during and after their operation or procedure, including taking a history, performing physical examinations, and using diagnostic data to identify relevant problems.

The government’s ambition is to increase training places for AAs and PAs, with 1,000 PAs being trained each year from 2023/24 and 250 AAs being trained each year from 2024/25.

The proposals will help provide a template for future reforms to support the NHS and improve access for patients.

There are record numbers of staff working in the NHS helping to ease winter pressures and we will publish a comprehensive workforce strategy this year to help recruit and retain more staff, with independently verified forecasts for the number of doctors, nurses and other professionals that will be needed in five, 10- and 15-years’ time.

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 18 February 2023.

Nearly 17.5 million eligible people received their Covid autumn booster jab, with tens of thousands coming forward in the final week of the programme.

Millions of eligible people across England have come forward for their Covid autumn booster, giving them the protection they need from serious illness and helping to ease pressure on the NHS.

The Covid autumn booster programme – which started on 5th September 2022 and ended on 12th February 2023 – saw 17.46 million jabs given to eligible people including those aged 50 and over, residents in care homes, people aged 5 and over in an at risk group, and health and social care staff.

Tens of thousands of people responded to the call from the Chief Medical Officer, Prof Chris Whitty, and NHSE England before the programme ended, with 74,692 people getting jabbed in the final week – almost double the 40,947 jabs administered in the previous seven days.

Overall, 64.9% of people aged 50 and over took up the offer of an autumn booster. Take up was highest among the 75 to under 80s (82.8%), over 80s (82.7%), and 70 to under 75s (79.2%).

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said:

Our phenomenal Covid vaccination programme has helped us to live with the virus, protected the most vulnerable from serious illness, and reduced hospital admissions.

Millions of eligible people came forward for their autumn booster, rolled up their sleeves and got their immunity topped up.

I want to thank everyone who came forward for their jab, and for playing their part in reducing pressure on the NHS and helping to clear the Covid backlogs.

The latest data shows 20.9 million eligible people have had their flu jab, but take up is low among pregnant women and children aged two and three.

Eligible people – including pregnant women, young children, and those with an underlying health condition – have till 31st March to come forward for their flu jab.

Dame Jenny Harries, Chief Executive of the UK Health Security Agency, said:

Our ability to combat Covid and flu this winter has been dramatically improved by the incredible efforts of a whole legion of professionals who continue to get these important vaccines to those who need them – from our local authority public health teams, our experts in UKHSA and MHRA and our front-line NHS staff.

Millions of people answered our call and came forward to protect themselves and their loved ones against these serious illnesses.

Vaccines save lives and there is no doubt that this mammoth effort has helped prevent many people from ending up seriously ill in hospital.  We are thankful to everyone who took part.

The UKHSA’s flu data published on Thursday shows flu levels continue to fall sharply and they advise people not to pass it on by staying at home if they’re unwell, and not visiting vulnerable people.

NHS director of vaccinations and screening, Steve Russell, said:

The NHS Covid-19 Vaccination Programme has once again delivered life-saving protection to millions of people across England and it is fantastic that more than 17 million people received a booster jab this winter, helping to keep themselves and their loved ones out of hospital.

The fastest and largest vaccine drive in health service history has now delivered almost 145 million Covid vaccinations in just over two years since the programme began and I would like to thank the NHS staff, volunteers and local government and partners who have made this possible – we will be ready again to stand up future campaigns to protect our communities when given the green light.

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 16 February 2023.

A new app offering incentives such as vouchers for shops, gym discounts and cinema tickets for people who eat healthily and exercise more has been launched in Wolverhampton.

• New app will offer incentives, such as supermarket vouchers and cinema tickets, to people in Wolverhampton who eat healthily and exercise more
• The Better Health: Rewards app is free to download and users will earn points for taking simple actions or achieving healthy goals which they can use to get rewards
• Backed by £3 million from the government, the pilot could support people to live healthier longer lives while helping us deliver one of our 5 priorities – to cut waiting lists

A new app which will offer incentives such as vouchers for shops, gym discounts and cinema tickets for people who eat healthily and exercise more has been launched in Wolverhampton today (17 February 2023).

The government-backed trial – the first of its kind in England – will see participants given free fitness trackers which will be linked to the Better Health: Rewards app.

The free app will generate personalised health goals for every participant – such as increasing their step count or eating more fruit and vegetables – in line with the Chief Medical Officer’s physical activity guidelines and the Eatwell Guide for a healthy balanced diet.

Over 20 weeks, participants will collect points for each goal they complete, which they can exchange for rewards including discounts for cinema tickets, and clothes or food vouchers.

The government has made £3 million available for incentives, if users meet weekly challenges and improve their diet and physical activity behaviours. The app includes budget-friendly tips that support users to develop healthier habits, and challenges have been designed to be completed anywhere, no gym required.

National supermarkets including Sainsburys, ALDI, Morrisons, Tesco and Asda will be participating in the scheme so users can earn money off their food shop. Hundreds of other rewards are also on offer, including vouchers and merchandise from retailers including Amazon, Argos, Primark, M&S, John Lewis and Currys.

Gyms and leisure centres across Wolverhampton including PureGym, Places Leisure, Complexions and WV Active are offering vouchers and discounts, and users can also swap points for cinema tickets or family activities.

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Steve Barclay said:

The launch of the new Better Health: Rewards app today in Wolverhampton will help us see how we can empower people to make healthy changes to their lifestyle.

The pilot is an opportunity to explore how we can further harness technology to support people to improve their physical health, prevent illnesses before they develop and help to ease pressure on the NHS.

I would encourage all adults in Wolverhampton to download the app today to improve their wellbeing and start earning exciting rewards.

Adults aged over 18 who live in Wolverhampton can sign up by downloading the Better Health: Rewards app via their app store, or they can search wolverhampton.gov.uk/rewards to find out more.

Health Minister Neil O’Brien said:

The government is investing £3 million to help people in Wolverhampton lead healthier, happier lives. The Better Health: Rewards app aims to put people in control of their own health.

It’s about making it easier for people to eat better and increase physical activity. If you live in Wolverhampton, please don’t hesitate to sign up.

The pilot, which is being delivered by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities in partnership with Wolverhampton City Council, has benefited from expert advice from Sir Keith Mills, pioneer of leading reward programmes Airmiles and Nectar.

Health Incentives Adviser Sir Keith Mills said:

This scheme is a fantastic opportunity to explore how government and business can work together to deliver a new and engaging way of supporting the public to make healthier choices.

Through the pilot we will have exciting and innovative partners on board which will help motivate people to want to earn incentives, but also should help them overcome barriers to making healthy decisions in future. I’m looking forward to see how this scheme develops.

The City of Wolverhampton Council was appointed after an expression of interest and all residents over the age of 18 are eligible to sign up.

Wolverhampton is leading the way to trial innovative solutions to improve the health and wellbeing of their population, of which one-third is classed as being physically inactive, and a below-average number of adults in the city are eating their 5 a day.

These include a £1 million upgrade of equipment at the council’s 3 WV Active leisure centres and the development of a free activity programme for children and young people through WV Active.

Councillor Ian Brookfield, Leader of the City of Wolverhampton Council, said:

We are working hard to improve the overall health of everyone in Wolverhampton by providing innovative solutions which can help our residents get more active.

We are already making significant progress in tackling physical inactivity, improving infrastructure and making environmental changes to enable people to be more active, and we are delighted to be working with the Department of Health and Social Care and HeadUp on this important pilot programme to see whether offering incentives can help people make positive changes to improve their health and wellbeing.

This is an incredible opportunity for the people of Wolverhampton, so please sign up today.

Addressing obesity and poor diet remains a priority for this government and alongside the Better Health: Rewards pilot we are delivering an ambitious programme of work to create a healthier environment for people.

It is estimated that obesity costs the NHS £6.5 billion annually. Tackling this serious health problem could save the NHS billions over time, ensuring vital funds are spent on key frontline services and cutting waiting lists, as well as improving the quality of life for millions of people.

In November 2022, the government announced £20 million funding to trial how best to deliver new medicines and technologies for people living with obesity, particularly in deprived communities across the UK.

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 16 February 2023.

Local authorities across England to receive funding to combat drug and alcohol misuse, with areas of highest need prioritised.

Local authorities across England will benefit from an extra £421 million government funding through to 2025 to improve drug and alcohol addiction treatment and recovery, the government announced today (16 February 2023).

The extra funding means that total local authority funding for treatment will have increased 40% between 2020 to 2021 and 2024 to 2025. It will enable the creation of over 50,000 high-quality places in drug and alcohol treatment.

The funding will enable local authorities to:

• recruit more staff to work with people with drug and alcohol problems
• support more prison leavers into treatment and recovery services
• invest in enhancing the quality of treatment they provide – in turn helping make streets safer by getting people out of the addictions which are known to drive offending

More people will benefit from residential rehabilitation or inpatient detoxification, while improvements to the recovery services will sustain them outside of treatment – helping to reduce relapse rates.

One hundred and fifty-one local authorities across England are being allocated funding to increase the quality and capacity of drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services. The funding includes £154.3 million for 2023 to 2024, and indicative funding of £266.7 million for 2024 to 2025.

The government’s drug strategy, published in December 2021, set out our ambition to significantly increase the capacity of treatment and recovery services as part of the whole-system approach to tackling supply and demand. It is estimated that, over the first 3 years of the strategy, the additional investment in treatment and recovery will prevent nearly 1,000 drug-related deaths – reversing the upward trend in drug deaths for the first time in a decade.

The strategy also set out that illegal drugs drive half of all homicides, and nearly half of all burglaries, robberies and other acquisitive crimes are linked to heroin and crack addiction. Dame Carol Black’s independent review of drugs found the best way to tackle this issue is by boosting the capacity of the treatment and recovery system.

This comes alongside the government’s work to clamp down on the criminal gangs profiting from the trade in illegal drugs, backed by £300 million investment to dismantle over 2,000 county lines, make thousands more arrests and protect those being exploited.

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said:

Drug misuse has a massive cost to society – more than 3,000 people died as a result of drug misuse in 2021.

This investment in treatment and recovery services is crucial to provide people with high-quality support, with services such as expanding access to life-saving overdose medicines and outreach to young people at risk of drug misuse already helping to reduce harm and improve recovery.

This funding will help us build a much improved treatment and recovery service, which will continue to save lives, improve the health and wellbeing of people across the country, and reduce pressure on the NHS by diverting people from addiction into recovery.

Health Minister Neil O’Brien said:

Addictions drive about half of all theft, burglary and robbery, so boosting treatment for addicts will help cut crime.

This funding will help improve the quality and capacity of drug and alcohol recovery services right across the country, helping more people access the support they need, saving lives and benefiting communities.

Examples of the work supported in 2022 to 2023 include:

• Leeds plans to target unmet need from groups with greatest social and economic deprivation with the poorest health outcomes, expand treatment options, and grow their workforce by 85 full-time posts this year
• Lambeth plans to recruit additional nurses to ease frontline pressures on the substance misuse service, develop a nurse-led outreach prescribing service for residents in the Vulnerable Adults Pathway, and offer one-to-one support for offenders referred via the local HM Prison and Probation Service Chemsex and Crime Lead this year
• Portsmouth plans to develop the peer-led outreach service, which engages with hard-to-reach drug users and enhances the criminal justice team so that they can offer a 7-day-a-week service in Portsmouth custody suite, as well as providing residential rehabilitation placements for people in the criminal justice system, including those leaving prison
• Nottinghamshire identified over 170 young adults (aged 18 to 24 years old) living in hostel and move-on accommodation who are not accessing structured drug and alcohol treatment, and have recruited an outreach post to support them into accessing treatment and recovery. They have also continued to invest in a long-acting medicine that treats opiate addiction (Buvidal) with the intention of increasing uptake from 9 people to 40 this year

This funding is prioritised for areas with the highest need, based on the rate of drug deaths, deprivation, opiate and crack cocaine prevalence and crime, taking into account of the size of the treatment population.

Treatment will be available for a wide range of substances, including powder cocaine, ecstasy, prescription drugs and cannabis – the latter remaining the most common substance (87%) for which young people receive treatment.

Today’s funding announcement builds on the additional £95.4 million made available from 2022 to 2023, and a recent announcement of £53 million to improve housing support for drug and alcohol recovery. Through this investment, the government is delivering on its commitments in the 10-year drug strategy to break the cycle of addiction and reduce overall drug use to a historic 30-year low.

The allocations will support the work of local authorities and their partners to improve their services in line with the ambitions set out in the strategy. Local authorities can invest the funding in activity that will increase the capacity and quality of their treatment and recovery system, based on the recommendations made by Dame Carol Black’s independent review of drugs.

Professor Dame Carol Black, independent adviser to the government on combating drug misuse, said:

This continued investment is very welcome, and will be crucial in supporting local authorities and their partners to increase the capacity and quality of their services for people with drug and alcohol dependence, in line with the key recommendations of my independent review of drugs.

This will help realise the ambitions of the government’s 10-year drug strategy to deliver a world-class treatment and recovery system, reduce drug use and drug-related crime, and save lives.

Danny Hames and Kate Hall, chair and vice-chair of the NHS Addictions Provider Alliance (APA), said:

The NHS APA welcomes this further commitment to investment in England’s drug treatment system as part of the 10-year drug strategy.

We hope that the additional £421 million funding allocated to local authorities across England will be utilised to shape a joined-up system that ensures everyone in need has equal access to high-quality care.

This cannot be achieved without partnership work across the sector, something that we are committed to doing as an alliance of NHS trusts, in a continued effort to reduce the rising number of drug-related deaths seen annually and positively change the lives of thousands of people.

Clare Taylor, Chief Operating Officer at Turning Point, a social enterprise, said:

We welcome the funding announced today. The investment into drug and alcohol treatment services on the back of the government’s 10-year drug strategy will enable local services to reach more people, improve outcomes for individuals and reduce the harm caused by drugs.

Today we have certainty over the funding situation for the next 2 years, which means that, as a sector, we can plan for the future and focus on ensuring that services are accessible to anyone who needs support, building on the progress already made in joint working across mental health, criminal justice and treatment agencies, and creating safer communities for us all.

Tim Young, Chief Executive of The Alcohol and Drug Service (ADS), said:

We welcome today’s announcement as, without funding, the ambitions set out in the national drug strategy would remain just words on a page. So, while there are no quick or easy fixes for systemic problems such as substance misuse, this presents an opportunity to turn those ambitions into reality, and provide hope for individuals, families and communities.

Lea Milligan, Chair of Collective Voice, said:

In 2021, the 10-year drug strategy ‘From harm to hope’ heralded a significant step change for the treatment and recovery system. We are now over a year on and, despite the challenges of the last 12 months, the strategy is beginning to make a difference.

We welcome the government today continuing to unlock new investment to support people facing substance misuse, who are among our communities’ most vulnerable and stigmatised members. Now is the time to press on with the transformational, whole-system approach advocated by Dame Carol Black and set in motion by the drug strategy.

Paul Townsley, Chief Executive Officer of Human Kind Charity, said:

We welcome the confirmation of local authority funding for vital, evidence-based drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services.

Dame Carol Black laid out an ambitious vision of how, as a society, we can rebuild our treatment and recovery services to help those most in need.

Funding from the 10-year drug strategy that brought Dame Carol Black’s vision to life has already supported us to develop our services in areas with the greatest need.

It has also aided the development of our multifaceted approach to supporting people with multiple disadvantage. This is evidenced by the expansion of our Individual Placement and Support offer, an employment support scheme that is integrated into treatment and recovery services.

We look forward to working in partnership with the government, local authorities, and in Combating Drugs Partnerships to progress Dame Carol Black’s vision through the 10-year drug strategy.

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 13 February 2023.

Tens of thousands of patients across England to get quicker access to life-saving tests as 19 additional community diagnostic centres (CDCs) to open this year.

• 92 operational CDCs have carried out an additional three million, tests, checks and scans across the country as the NHS works on the biggest ever catch-up programme
• The one-stop shops are located in a range of convenient settings for patients, from shopping centres to football stadiums

Tens of thousands of patients across the country will benefit from quicker access to tests, with 19 new community diagnostic centres which will perform 1.1 million tests, checks and scans every year set to open later this year.

CDCs are central to the government’s elective recovery plan and the Prime Minister’s priority of reducing NHS waiting lists to tackle the backlogs in the NHS and social care, providing additional capacity for potentially lifesaving tests including cancer screening.

New data shows 92 operational CDCs have already significantly bolstered NHS capacity as part of the most ambitious catch-up plan in NHS history, delivering an additional three million checks since the programme started in in July 2021, helping patients to get the diagnosis they need as quickly as possible so they can access the treatment they need where and when they need it.

The one-stop shops, backed by £2.3 billion in government funding, are based in convenient locations such as shopping centres and football stadiums allowing people to access tests more quickly.

The CDCs house a range of equipment including MRI, CT, X-ray and ultrasound scanners and offer services including blood tests or heart rhythm and blood pressure monitoring.

The 19 approved new centres will be rolled out across the country, including Milton Keynes, Nottingham and Dorset. Once referred by a GP, pharmacist or hospital, patients can access CDCs in their local area to get any concerning symptoms checked out.

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said:

Rapid diagnosis offers reassurance to patients, reduces waiting lists, and, crucially, saves lives.

CDCs have been fundamental to this effort, delivering over 3 million extra tests which are helping to diagnose conditions from cancer to lung disease more quickly across the country.

The new centres will take us even further, utilising cutting-edge MRI, CT and X-ray machine to transform the way we deliver care closer to people’s homes helping tens of thousands of people.

NHS National Director of Elective Recovery, Sir James Mackey, said:

The NHS’s ambitious elective recovery plan, published just over a year ago, had these innovative ‘one stop shops’ at its heart. Since then they have played a key role in helping us virtually eliminate the number of people waiting more than two years for treatment and keeping the NHS on track to do the same for people waiting over 18 months by the end of April, with the centres – often based in convenient places such as in shopping centres, high streets and community hospitals – now having delivered an incredible 3 million tests and checks.

These 19 new centres will boost access for tens of thousands more patients and build on the great work of NHS staff in recovering services, helping the NHS deliver an extra 9 million tests a year by 2025 – an increase in capacity of more than a quarter on pre-pandemic levels.

Once fully operational, the new CDCs will plan to deliver over 1.1 million tests, checks and scans a year.

The facilities will take the total of approved CDCs – including those that are already operational and those still set to be rolled out – to 143. This is over 80% of the government’s ambition to roll out up to 160 centres across the country by 2025 to perform up to 9 million additional tests a year.

Since the first of these CDCs opened they have already played a valuable role in helping the NHS to reduce the backlogs, and in November 2022 CDCs delivered approximately 5% of all diagnostic activity.

Just over a year ago, the government and NHS set out the Elective Recovery Plan to recover NHS services and give patients greater control over their own health. Significant progress has since been made – with healthcare workers virtually eliminating the longest waits for treatment and cutting 18-month waits by more than 50%.

These new CDCs will build on this effort, ensuring that patients get access to the best medical advice when and where they need it while tackling healthcare disparities across the country.

Dozens of new surgical spaces are also being created to bring down waiting times. An estimated 780,000 additional surgeries and outpatient appointments will be provided at 37 new surgical hubs, 10 expanded existing hubs and 81 new theatres.

The government has also set up an Elective Recovery Taskforce to unlock spare capacity in the independent sector to tackle the backlogs. It is made up of academics and experts from the NHS and independent sector, who will help deliver on the remaining targets in the Elective Recovery Plan – such as virtually eliminating 18-month waits by April 2023 and waits of longer than a year by March 2025.

Notes to editors

• 12 of the new facilities are spoke sites, which deliver more diagnostic services in addition to a standard CDC.
• They can use commercial estate, or existing non-acute NHS estate such as community health care settings.

The full list of approved CDCs is as follows:

• North Bedfordshire CDC
• North Bedfordshire (Lloyds Court) – spoke
• North Bedfordshire CDC (Whitehouse Health Centre) – spoke
• Thurrock CDC (Braintree) – spoke
• Queen Mary’s Hospital Roehampton CDC (New Addington) – spoke
• Northamptonshire CDC
• Northamptonshire CDC (Kings Heath) – spoke
• Mansfield CDC
• Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin CDC
• ICP North CDC (Metrocentre)
• North Cumbria CDC
• Warrington and Halton CDC (Shopping City) – spoke
• Clatterbridge Diagnostics CDC (Liverpool City) – spoke
• Lymington New Forest Hospital CDC (South Hants) – spoke
• Crawley Collaborative CDC (Caterham Dene) – spoke
• Bexhill Community CDC (Hastings) – spoke
• CDC Poole@Dorset Health Village Hub
• CDC@Dorset Health Village (Weymouth) – spoke
• CDC@Dorset Health Village (Boscombe AECC) – spoke