Social Care

The Department of Health and Social Care explains its arrangements for holding medical stockpiles and securing additional supplies through suppliers and partner organizations. UK-wide reserves include chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials and pandemic medicines and clinical supplies, while England maintains pandemic-related personal protective equipment and hygiene stockpiles. Hospital medicine suppliers in England must hold at least eight weeks of secondary-care demand, NHS Supply Chain usually holds about four weeks of various medical products, and the UK Health Security Agency maintains supplies such as antitoxins, immunoglobulins and antivenoms. The department plans to continue replenishing stockpiles and using dynamic stockpiling where appropriate to improve resilience and reduce waste.

The UK government is introducing a fast-track care pathway for people with motor neurone disease to reduce delays and fragmentation across health, social care and housing services. The pathway will draw on the integrated model of the Rob Burrow Centre in Leeds and will be developed with patients, carers, specialist organisations and frontline services. Immediate measures include faster care assessments, joint planning between services, quicker Disabled Facilities Grant processing and waiving the grant’s means test for people with MND. The initiative forms part of wider social care reforms and is intended to address urgent needs while longer-term plans for a national care service are developed.

The Department of Health and Social Care explains how it compiles and publishes UK medicine supply disruption statistics twice a year. The data primarily come from formal reports submitted by pharmaceutical suppliers through the Discontinuations and Shortages (DaSH) portal. The methodology document covers data sources, coverage, definitions, quality assurance processes and limitations.

The Department of Health and Social Care publishes twice-yearly official statistics on medicine supply issues and discontinuations reported by pharmaceutical suppliers in the UK. The release covers monthly notifications submitted through the Discontinuations and Shortages (DaSH) portal from July 2025 to June 2026, identifies the root causes of supply issues reported in 2025, and provides earlier data for comparison. It also points readers to separate background and methodology information covering data sources, definitions, quality assurance and limitations.

A coordinated programme outlining how the Department of Health and Social Care will prevent, detect and address fraud, bribery and corruption by strengthening data use, system-wide collaboration, workforce capability and enforcement. Emphasis is placed on analytics, emerging technologies and shared resources across the health sector, led nationally by the DHSC Anti-Fraud Unit and involving the NHS Counter Fraud Authority.

£4.5 million is being allocated to improve maternity and neonatal services in Berkshire, targeting urgent safety risks such as outdated infrastructure and fire safety. The funding forms part of £187 million in national improvements since 2025 and builds on wider reforms prompted by the Amos Review, including recruiting additional midwives and expanding safety initiatives. Newly appointed Health Secretary Yvette Cooper emphasises the priority of high-quality maternity care during a visit to Royal Berkshire Hospital, highlighting ongoing challenges and recent progress in strengthening services across England.

The UK government is promoting Joe Wicks’ animated fitness series Activate to help children remain active during the summer, responding to concerns that most parents expect high levels of inactivity during the holidays. The free five‑minute episodes, available on BBC iPlayer and CBeebies, aim to make physical activity enjoyable and accessible while supporting updated UK Physical Activity Guidelines. Officials highlight the programme’s role in encouraging healthy habits, reducing sedentary behaviour and alleviating long‑term pressures on the NHS. Sport England emphasises the importance of positive early experiences with movement, while the initiative forms part of the government’s broader prevention‑focused health strategy.

The UK and the EU Drugs Agency formalize an agreement to strengthen public‑health protection through reciprocal sharing of intelligence on emerging drug threats. The arrangement enhances early‑warning capabilities, supports prevention and treatment collaboration, and advances commitments made at the 2025 UK‑EU Summit. Officials highlight rising harms from synthetic and illicit drugs and emphasize that improved information exchange will help disrupt trafficking, reduce drug‑related deaths and bolster community safety across the UK and Europe.

A national framework is introduced to cut premature deaths from heart disease and stroke by 25 percent over the next decade through improved prevention, early diagnosis, faster treatment and more consistent care. The plan includes a new partnership with Diabetes UK to raise awareness of links between type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease and expand the use of risk‑assessment tools. The framework outlines 12 priorities for identifying high‑risk individuals, supporting better management of conditions such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol, improving acute response for cardiac and stroke emergencies, and ensuring access to rehabilitation. Health charities and NHS leaders broadly welcome the initiative, highlighting its focus on prevention, reducing inequalities and strengthening community‑level interventions. The programme forms a major part of the government’s 10‑year plan to shift the NHS toward proactive, preventative care and reduce strain on health services.

The report details progress of England’s New Hospital Programme in the 2025 to 2026 financial year, marking a transition from programme reset to sustained delivery. Seven schemes are now open to patients, with continued advancement across waves through construction, business case development, enabling works and governance improvements. The programme strengthened assurance, clarified responsibilities between DHSC and NHS England, and expanded standardised design work through Hospital 2.0 and related frameworks. An amber delivery confidence rating reflects feasible delivery with ongoing risks, including market capacity and complex scheme requirements. Funding totaled £1.83 billion since 2021 to 2022, supporting construction, enabling works and land acquisition across all waves. Priorities for 2026 to 2027 include progressing wave 1 construction, advancing wave 2 and 3 enabling works, and ensuring readiness for future phases aligned with the implementation plan.

Sets out the Department of Health and Social Care’s plan to strengthen fraud prevention, detection and recovery across England’s health and social care system from 2026 to 2029. Establishes a £600 million target for prevented and recovered fraud, supported by annual action plans and alignment with national counter‑fraud standards. Details organisational changes, risk factors such as cyber‑enabled crime and AI, and outlines measures to improve analytics, governance, capability and culture. Defines roles for DHSC, NHS bodies, the NHS Counter Fraud Authority and the Public Sector Fraud Authority, with regular reporting, oversight and continuous improvement requirements to ensure public money is protected and health services remain resilient.

The third operational review of the 2024 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access and growth assessed scheme performance, reporting requirements, pricing mechanisms and investment activity. The accelerated review of payment rates for newer medicines remains pending after geopolitical delays, with a conclusion expected shortly and companies facing a 30 September 2025 decision point on continued participation. VPAG payments have increased while new active substance sales and market share have declined, and DHSC is improving reporting tools, audit processes and communications on older-medicine classifications and exemptions. NHS and industry representatives discussed medicines access, indication-based pricing, NICE alignment, formularies and evidence requirements. The investment programme was reported as on track across clinical trials, manufacturing and health technology assessment, although industry raised concerns about workforce delivery, biosimilar support, metrics and communications.