The following table shows the number of finished admission episodes (FAEs) for children aged five to 10 years old where the main purpose was for a dental procedure, in each year from 2020/21 to 2024/25:

An FAE is the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. These figures do not represent the number of patients, as a child may be admitted to hospital more than once during the period.

Data is not specifically collected on the average cost of such instances from admission to discharge.

The following table sets out the revenue spend categories for the specified services commissioned by NHS England and clinical commissioning groups, now integrated care boards, using audited figures between 2015/16 to 2024/25:

Notes:

1. delegated specialised commissioning has been included within the specialised commissioning line as well as directly commissioned spec comm to remain consistent with previous years; and
2. prescribing and delegated pharmacy/ophthalmology/primary and secondary dental all sit within the ‘other’ category.

Information for 2025/26 is unvalidated and not quality assured. In-year data is not routinely reported on with the breakdown of spend used for this answer and would be subject to material change between plan and outturn as a result.

75% of NHS England commissioned social services are within the community services line.

The National Consultant Information Programme (NCIP) is publicly accessible to patients on the Getting It Right First Time website.

The NCIP portal is a free data platform containing consultant and provider-level activity and outcomes data for over 500 procedures in 13 surgical specialties. It covers National Health Service practices, NHS funded work in the independent sector, and privately funded work carried out in the NHS. Over time, the ambition is to add independent sector data, to provide a single repository of whole practice. Currently, patients are not able to access this data.

NCIP allows consultants in 13 surgical specialties to access their individual outcomes data, for personal learning, clinical governance, and appraisals. NCIP does not record practising privileges in the independent sector.

NCIP is a critical part of the response to the Paterson Inquiry, which recommended that there should be a single repository of the whole practice of consultants across England. By sharing high-quality outcome data, consultants, their appraisers, and responsible officers can compare outcomes for their practice or use peer review to improve their performance in a way that is measurable and objective, leading to better safety and efficiency across the NHS.

The UK Health Security Agency is currently exploring how artificial intelligence (AI) technologies may be used across a range of public health analyses and threat identification.

Hospital acquired infections (HAIs) are a major public health concern because bacteria in healthcare settings are often exposed to antibiotics, increasing the likelihood that they will develop resistance. These resistant infections are more difficult to treat and can lead to poorer patient outcomes. Through the Pathogen Risk Intelligence Modelling Project, we are generating metagenomic data from wastewater and air samples collected in hospitals and using AI and, in particular, supervised machine learning, to track the spread of antimicrobial resistance between different types of bacteria. Wastewater metagenomic surveillance is a cost-effective approach that provides a broad picture of microbial communities without targeting specific species. Our aim is to detect emerging resistance early, enabling healthcare professionals to take timely infection prevention and control measures. We are currently evaluating the performance of this approach to determine how effectively it can identify and monitor antibiotic resistance in realworld healthcare settings.

The New Hospital Programme (NHP) is currently backed with investment which will increase up to £15 billion over each consecutive five-year wave, averaging around £3 billion a year from 2030.

This Government will replace James Paget Hospital which is in Wave 1 of the NHP and expected to cost between £1 billion to £1.5 billion.

As set out in the NHP Plan for Implementation, Wave 1 schemes are expected to enter main construction between 2025 and 2030. The scheme’s Strategic Outline Case was approved in March 2026, and the trust is working at pace to develop its Outline Business Case for submission next year.

While no specific assessment on the potential impact of helipad accessibility on patient outcomes has been carried out centrally, the National Health Service is extremely grateful for the vital contribution air ambulances make to patient care and outcomes.

The Department continues to work with NHS England, the Civil Aviation Authority, and other partners to consider and monitor issues relating to hospital helipad access and resilience. Responsibility for the provision and operation of hospital helicopter landing sites rests with local NHS organisations.

Hospital helipads play an important role in supporting the transfer of critically ill patients and access to specialist services. Responsibility for the provision and management of hospital helipads rests with local National Health Service organisations, working with relevant planning, aviation, and local authority bodies. Decisions on investment in hospital helicopter landing sites, including any upgrades required to support night-time operations, are primarily a matter for local NHS organisations. Organisations may consider such improvements as part of their wider estate planning and capital investment priorities, subject to the availability of funding and any relevant local planning, environmental, and operational requirements.

The Department continues to work with NHS England, the Civil Aviation Authority, and other partners to consider issues relating to hospital helipad access and resilience.

Hospital helipads play an important role in supporting the transfer of critically ill patients and access to specialist services. Responsibility for the provision and management of hospital helipads rests with local National Health Service organisations, working with relevant planning, aviation, and local authority bodies. Decisions on investment in hospital helicopter landing sites, including any upgrades required to support night-time operations, are primarily a matter for local NHS organisations. Organisations may consider such improvements as part of their wider estate planning and capital investment priorities, subject to the availability of funding and any relevant local planning, environmental, and operational requirements.

The Department continues to work with NHS England, the Civil Aviation Authority, and other partners to consider issues relating to hospital helipad access and resilience.

The Government is committed to ensuring that all patients are discharged from hospital appropriately with the right care and support in place. The Model Discharge Pathway has been published, to support timely, safe, and clinically led discharge from hospital. The Model Discharge Pathway is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/model-discharge-pathway/

It provides a framework that organisations can use to review and strengthen local discharge arrangements. The publication was developed with clinical and operational leaders and brings together good practice already being delivered across the National Health Service.

Additionally, in February 2026, the Government published guidance setting out new arrangements for the Better Care Fund, requiring NHS integrated care boards and local authorities to pool over £9 billion of funding to prevent avoidable hospital admissions and reduce delayed hospital discharges with more integrated health and social care services.

We are continuing to work with NHS trusts and local authorities to embed best practice in discharge processes. Areas experiencing the most significant challenges with discharge delays and urgent and emergency care performance are receiving targeted support to drive those improvements.

We recognise that corridor care is unacceptable and should not become a normal part of National Health Service care. It reflects pressure across the whole urgent and emergency care pathway, including in hospitals and across wider health and care services. As part of delivering the Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/2026, the Government and NHS England have provided over £450 million of capital investment to expand urgent and emergency care capacity, and we introduced a maximum 45-minute standard to tackle unacceptable ambulance handover delays. We have also published new national clinical standards, including Model Emergency Department, The Model Acute Pathway, and the Model Discharge Pathway, supporting more consistent, high‑quality care and improved flow through hospitals.

The Medium-Term Planning Framework sets out a clear three-year trajectory to improve urgent and emergency care performance year-on-year toward the waiting time standards set out in the NHS Constitution, reducing long waits and improving patient experience. This is backed by a further £1.9 billion of capital investment between 2026/27 and 2029/30 to support improvements to emergency departments, Same Day Emergency Care, urgent treatment centres, ambulance infrastructure, and additional bed capacity where appropriate.

We are also expanding neighbourhood health services and virtual wards to support more patients to receive care closer to home where clinically appropriate. Additionally, in February 2026, the Government published guidance setting out new arrangements for the Better Care Fund, requiring NHS integrated care boards and local authorities to pool over £9 billion of funding to prevent avoidable hospital admissions and reduce delayed hospital discharges with more integrated health and social care services.

The Government has already made progress in increasing the number of frontline staff, improving working conditions, and making the NHS a rewarding and fulfilling place to work. However, we must go further. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will help ensure the NHS has the skilled workforce needed to deliver high-quality care for patients.

NHS England now publishes trust-level corridor care data as part of its regular NHS Performance Statistics Publication. As this is a new dataset, it is currently designated as Statistics in Development while data quality and completeness continue to improve. The Department has not made a separate assessment of the prevalence of corridor care specifically across National Health Service trusts serving Merseyside beyond consideration of the published NHS England data.

NHS England provides targeted support to organisations experiencing the highest levels of corridor care. This includes expert Getting It Right First Time teams working with local NHS leaders to improve patient flow, strengthen discharge arrangements, and reduce overcrowding. Trusts serving Merseyside, like all NHS organisations, can access this support where appropriate.

NHS England introduced a national definition of corridor care and began publishing validated corridor care data at a trust level for the first time on 11 June 2026. The data continues to be published through the monthly NHS Performance Statistics publication.

As this is a new national dataset, it is currently designated as Statistics in Development. NHS England will continue to improve data quality and completeness over time before considering whether the statistics are ready to move beyond this designation. The Department has not set a date by which this will occur.

Trust level data will continue to be published alongside the national statistics.

The Government recognises the important role that hospital helipads play in supporting the transfer of critically ill patients and accessing specialist services. Responsibility for the provision and management of hospital helipads rests with local National Health Service organisations, working with relevant planning, aviation, and local authority bodies.

The Department continues to work with NHS England, the Civil Aviation Authority, and other partners to consider issues relating to hospital helipad access and resilience. While there are currently no plans to mandate safeguarded 24/7 on-site helipads through national requirements, the Government will keep this position under review in light of emerging evidence and operational requirements.

The 10 Year Capital Plan confirms that we will continue providing targeted support to National Health Service trusts affected by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), with the aim of eradicating RAAC from the NHS estate by 2035. Over the next four years, we will eradicate RAAC from 22 hospitals and progress works at the remaining hospital sites to protect patients, staff, and the public, backed by £1.6 billion of investment. This includes targeted safety mitigations to keep the seven hospitals that are constructed wholly or primarily made from RAAC safe to operate until completion of their rebuilds as part of Wave 1 of the New Hospital Programme.

Our 10 Year Capital Plan for Health and Social Care set out a clear commitment to renew our focus on climate resilience.

The Plan is backed by record investment, including £6.75 billion to address the most serious infrastructure risks across the National Health Service estate, including critical ventilation and cooling systems. Looking forward, new hospitals and neighbourhood health centres will be designed to modern environmental and resilience standards, helping to reduce overheating risks and improve long-term resilience to climate change.

All NHS organisations are required to maintain robust arrangements for adverse weather, including heatwaves, and are supported by national heatwave planning and UK Health Security Agency guidance. NHS organisations monitor temperatures locally and are expected to take appropriate action to protect patients, staff and services during periods of extreme heat. Technical standards and guidance support trusts in managing overheating risks, ventilation and cooling.