No such assessment has been made.

We expect all National Health Services, and those contracted to carry out NHS services, to ensure they have sufficient workforce, including the required skill mix, to provide those services.

The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.

Each National Health Service provider is responsible for the procurement and operation of appointment booking systems, as well as communication with patients about their appointments. National guidance expects trusts to use the Digital Technology Assessment Criteria (DTAC) when buying and implementing digital health tech. DTAC covers standards, policies, and best practice for clinical safety, data protection, technical security, interoperability, usability and accessibility.

Decisions on the organisation of phlebotomy and pathology services are made locally by integrated care boards and National Health Service providers, reflecting local clinical pathways, safety requirements, and operational arrangements. This includes ensuring that providers have appropriate access to the original general practice test request so that the correct tests are taken, samples are handled and labelled safely, and results are returned to the requesting clinician.

Local arrangements are closely linked to laboratory systems, digital requesting and reporting processes, and established transport and handling requirements for samples. Enabling universal access across providers irrespective of existing arrangements would therefore require careful consideration of clinical governance, sample integrity, digital interoperability, and funding flows.

The Department recognises the potential benefits to patients of more flexible access to blood testing. The NHS is improving access to diagnostic services, including through community diagnostic centres and testing closer to home, and is taking forward wider work to improve data sharing and integration across services to support more joined‑up diagnostic pathways over time.

It is important that people have access to the services they need, and, especially for vulnerable and terminally ill patients, for them to be located in the community, where possible.

Community diagnostic centres (CDCs), such as the Devon and Torbay CDC in Torquay, and the Exeter Nightingale CDC, are supporting one of the Government’s top priorities for health, to shift care from the hospital to the community. CDCs offer local populations a wide range of diagnostic tests, including phlebotomy, closer to home, and greater choice on where and how they are undertaken, whilst also reducing pressure on hospitals.

The 2025 Spending Review confirmed over £6 billion of additional capital investment over five years across new diagnostic, elective, and urgent care capacity. This money is allocated to systems for them to invest as locally determined.

Investment in diagnostic services, including phlebotomy, is delivered through CDCs and local commissioning arrangements. It is up to local systems to determine how investment supports clinic-based services and domiciliary provision.

In Devon, the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (RDUH) operates community phlebotomy services across the county, including in rural areas. The service provides planned weekday blood tests across local community hospitals, such as Holsworthy Community Hospital and Torrington Hospital. RDUH provides a "Community Collect" service, while home visits for housebound patients can be arranged. Some general practices in Devon are also providing blood tests for patients, as required for a hospital purpose. Further information on the RDUH is available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/services/acute-trust/royal-devon-university-healthcare-nhs-foundation-trust/RH8

Blood tests are among the most commonly requested diagnostic investigations across primary and secondary care, and they are readily available across all 27 National Health Service pathology networks. Phlebotomy – the procedure to collect blood samples – is widely available across general practice, community health services, and secondary care phlebotomy clinics, supporting equitable access to blood testing.

Where phlebotomy services are provided by general practice, they are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs). ICBs are responsible for commissioning phlebotomy services based on local population need and are funded for these services as part of their annual funding allocations.

In January 2025, we published the Elective Reform Plan, which sets out the productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the 18-week constitutional standard by the end of this parliament. The Plan commits to transform and expand diagnostic services and speed up waiting times for tests, a crucial part of reducing overall waiting times.

Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs), including those in Gloucestershire and Herefordshire, are supporting one of the governments key strategic shifts – moving care from the hospital to the community. CDCs offer local populations a wide range of diagnostic tests, including phlebotomy, closer to home and greater choice on where and how they are undertaken.

We are continuing to invest in expanding diagnostic capacity in the NHS. As set out in the Elective Reform Plan, we plan to build up to five more CDCs in 2025/26, alongside increasing the operating hours of existing sites so that more offer services 12 hours a day, seven days a week. This is backed by part of the £600 million of capital investment for diagnostic services announced at the October 2024 Spending Review.

Phlebotomists in England are paid on the Agenda for Change (AfC) pay scale which is underpinned by the Job Evaluation Scheme (JES). The JES is a structured method of comparing job demands as set out in the job documentation, for example the job description, to determine the appropriate AfC pay band for any given role.

Employers are responsible for correctly and consistently implementing the JES locally to ensure staff are paid correctly for the work they are asked to deliver.

Regarding AfC pay in general, the Government remitted the Pay Review Bodies on 22 July to begin the 2025 to 2026 pay round, with the target of getting uplifts into the pockets of health workers earlier next year.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, community pharmacies will have a vital role in the Neighbourhood Health Service, working closely with other primary care providers at a neighbourhood level and delivering more clinical services.

What a Neighbourhood Health Service or Neighbourhood Health Centre looks like is best decided locally, depending on local needs. We expect that the skills of community pharmacists and their teams will be fully used by local commissioners and that community pharmacies will be provided with access to local phlebotomy pathways in those neighbourhoods where they are commissioned services that require blood tests.

Phlebotomists are paid on an “Agenda for Change” pay scale, which is underpinned by the job evaluation scheme. It is something the Secretary of State and I discussed with the trade union Unison last week; I should declare that I am a member of Unison. It is working closely with the trust in question, but I am happy to discuss the matter with my hon. Friend further.

Phlebotomists across the country play a vital role in our NHS. Will the Minister consider making the job role band 3 across the nation to ensure that everybody is paid fairly?

The Government is committed to putting patients first. This means making sure that patients are seen on time and ensuring that patients have the best possible experience during their care.

Community diagnostic centres (CDCs) offer local populations a wide range of diagnostic tests closer to home as well as greater choice on where and how they are undertaken. This reduces the need for hospital visits, reduces pressure on hospitals, and speeds up diagnosis. CDCs are expected to offer their services to children and young people where it is safe and appropriate to do so. The Oxfordshire, Oxford CDC in Cowley delivers a range of diagnostic services, including phlebotomy services.

Phlebotomy services are also provided by general practices (GPs). Where services are provided by GP, they are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs), based on local population need, and are funded as part of their annual funding allocations.

In Oxfordshire, the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICB has commissioned GPs to deliver phlebotomy services for all ages, including children. Services must be led by suitably trained professionals.

Guidance communicated to GPs from the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Local Medical Committee, the body representing all NHS GPs practising in the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and Berkshire area, is that GPs should not perform blood tests for patients under 12 years old and instead that these should be performed by specialist paediatric trained staff. Where GPs have clinical staff with the training, competence, and experience to perform blood tests on patients under 12 years old, these services may be available. However, at practices that do not have these staff, they will instead refer the child to alternative providers, such as in a children’s hospital clinic.

The Government is committed to putting patients first. This means making sure that patients are seen on time and ensuring that people have the best possible experience during their care.

We also recognise that care, including phlebotomy, should be more easily accessible, and located in the community where possible, which is more convenient for patients than going to hospital.

The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the 18-week constitutional standard by the end of this parliament. The plan commits to transform and expand diagnostic services and speed up waiting times for tests, a crucial part of reducing overall waiting times and returning to the RTT 18-week standard.

Community diagnostic centres (CDCs) are supporting one of the Government’s top priorities for health, to shift care from the hospital to the community. CDCs offer local populations a wide range of diagnostic tests, including phlebotomy, closer to home and greater choice on where and how they are undertaken whilst also reducing pressure on hospitals. Latest management information data shows that CDCs have delivered over 3.7 million phlebotomy tests since July 2021.

Healthcare services provided by general practice, including phlebotomy are commissioned locally by integrated care boards based on population need.

The Government greatly values the expertise and contribution of all health professionals, including phlebotomists.

A central part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the National Health Service needs to care for patients across our communities.

Phlebotomists are paid under the Agenda for Change pay scale, which is underpinned by the Job Evaluation Scheme (JES). The JES is a structured method of comparing job demands as set out in the job documentation, for example the job description, to determine the appropriate Agenda for Change pay band for any given role.

The model of weighting and scoring job documentation via the JES has been legally tested and proven to be robust, therefore we have no current plans to review the system.

Employers are responsible for correctly and consistently implementing the JES locally, to ensure staff are paid correctly for the work they are asked to deliver.

The Government is committed to putting patients first, including in Lincolnshire. This means making sure that patients, including those waiting to see a phlebotomist, are seen on time, and ensuring that people have the best possible experience during their care.

The Government recognises that care, including phlebotomy, needs to be easily accessible, and in locations convenient to patients, in order to support the shift towards greater care being provided in the community.

That is why in January 2025, we published the Elective Reform Plan. The plan sets out the productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the 18-week constitutional standard by the end of this Parliament. The Elective Reform Plan commits to transforming and expanding diagnostic services and speeding up waiting times for tests, a crucial part of reducing overall waiting times and returning to the 18-week constitutional standard.

Community diagnostic centres, including those in Lincolnshire, are supporting one of the Government’s key strategic shifts, moving care from the hospital to the community. They offer local populations a wide range of diagnostic tests, including those related to phlebotomy, closer to home, as well as greater choice on where and how they are undertaken, reducing the need for hospital visits and speeding up diagnosis, whilst also reducing pressure on hospitals.

Local organisations are responsible for supporting their workforce, including staff in phlebotomy roles. We are aware of local industrial action in Gloucester. This is a local issue for the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to manage, working in partnership with trade unions.

It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service in catching cancer, including blood cancers, as early as possible, to treat these diseases faster and more effectively, and thereby improve outcomes.

NHS England does not currently commission any phlebotomy or full blood count services from community pharmacies. Patients can access these services in community diagnostic centres (CDCs), which offer local populations a wide range of diagnostic tests closer to home, and greater choice on where and how they are undertaken, reducing the need for hospital visits and speeding up diagnosis.

The Elective Reform Plan commits to transform and expand diagnostic services and speed up waiting times for tests, including for blood tests. We will also expand the number of CDCs operating seven days a week and 12 hours a day, as well as the tests they offer, so that patients have greater access to these more convenient tests. We will also deliver additional CDC capacity in 2025/26 by expanding a number of existing CDCs and building up to five new ones.

We are taking meaningful steps to improve cancer diagnostic performance for all cancers, including leukaemia. The 2025/26 NHS Planning Guidance sets a stretching target for cancer diagnosis that will see approximately 100,000 more people every year having cancer confirmed or ruled out within 28 days.

This will be supported by our commitment to improve diagnostic performance. We are delivering an additional two million operations, scans, and appointments during our first year in Government, as a first step in our commitment to ensuring that patients can expect to be treated within 18 weeks. As of December 2024, community diagnostic centres are now delivering additional tests and checks on 168 sites across the country and have delivered over 12.2 million additional tests since July 2021, including phlebotomy service tests.

We have also announced plans for a revised NHS Long Term Workforce Plan in summer 2025 to ensure the National Health Service has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it.

Finally, the National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology. The plan will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care to improve the experience and outcomes for people with cancer, including leukaemia.

NHS England does not currently include pathology and phlebotomy in their monthly published diagnostic datasets.