theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a target for at least 75% of children and young people to be (a) diagnosed and (b) have cancer ruled out within 10 days of their first symptom presentation to a clinician. \p Ashley Dalton: We are committed to getting the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster so that more patients survive, including children and young people. The forthcoming National Cancer Plan will outline our approach to delivering this.

In the meantime, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has set out detailed guidance for general practitioners on the symptoms of cancer in children and young people, recommending referral within 48 hours for those presenting with a range of potential cancer symptoms.

The Department is also taking steps to improve waiting times for cancer diagnosis and treatment across all cancer patient groups, including children and young people. This will be achieved by delivering an extra 40,000 scans, appointments, and operations each week to ensure that patients are seen and treated as quickly as possible.

To further support timely investigation after referral, we are working with the NHS to maximise the pace of the roll-out of additional diagnostic capacity, delivering the final year of the three-year investment plan for establishing community diagnostic centres, with capacity prioritised for cancer.

On 4 February 2025, the Department relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce. The taskforce will explore a range of issues, including early detection and diagnosis, in order to identify areas of improvement for this patient group.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the availability of jobs for newly qualified nurses in Nottinghamshire. \p Karin Smyth: Decisions about the employment of newly qualified nurses in Nottinghamshire is a matter for individual National Health Service trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level to ensure they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing the Parkinson's UK Parky Charter. \p Ashley Dalton: We acknowledge the challenges that neurology services have been facing, particularly regarding the workforce, delays to treatment and care, and the lack of information and support that some patients have experienced.

However, whilst no assessment has been made on the potential merits of the Parkinson’s UK Parky Charter, I am pleased that there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with Parkinson’s disease.

These national initiatives include the RightCare Progressive Neurological Conditions Toolkit, the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology, and the Neurology Transformation Programme, a multi-year, clinically led programme to develop a new model of integrated care for neurology services.

Furthermore, we have delivered an additional two million appointments between July and November 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, seven months ahead of schedule, as a first step in our commitment to ensuring patients can expect to be treated within 18 weeks. These additional appointments have taken place across a number of specialities, including neurology.

This summer, we will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients, including those with Parkinson’s, on time again. We will 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.

Approximately 89% of prescription items are currently dispensed free of charge, and there are a wide range of exemptions from prescription charges already in place. People with Parkinson’s who are 60 years old or over are entitled to free prescriptions. For those that have to pay for prescriptions, the cost can be capped by purchasing a pre-payment certificate. Additionally, the NHS Low Income Scheme can provide help with health costs on an income-related basis.

The Government spent £79.06 million on research into Parkinson’s between 2019/20 and 2023/24, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation and the National Institute for Health and Care Research, and is continuing to invest in Parkinson’s disease research.
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of closing Long Covid clinics on patients with Post-Covid syndrome. \p Ashley Dalton: Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services for people with long COVID. ICBs are allocated funding by NHS England to meet local need and priorities, and to improve outcomes.

NHS England has recently completed a long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), stocktake, aiming to provide a nationwide overview of service delivery in commissioning and contracting, assessing access, activity, and outcomes. The findings confirmed the widely recognised challenges of significant variation in care delivery across England and a lack of comprehensive activity data.

Executive NHS England board members were updated on the current provision of long COVID and ME/CFS services, noting those challenges. Discussions considered service prioritisation and potential COVID Inquiry recommendations. It was agreed that long COVID and ME/CFS services are rightly commissioned by ICBs, which have responsibility for ensuring coverage for their population.
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Jas Athwal:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the effectiveness of HIV health promotion campaigns in reaching (a) under served and (b) at risk communities. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is committed to ending new transmissions of HIV in England by 2030. The Department, the UK Health Security Agency, NHS England, and partners are developing the new HIV Action Plan for England, which we aim to publish this year. The plan will address improving preventive HIV care and HIV health promotion campaigns across England, including in London.

HIV testing is partly funded by local authorities through the ringfenced Public Health Grant (PHG). In 2025/26, we are increasing funding through the PHG to £3.858 billion, providing local authorities with an average 5.4% cash increase and a 3% real terms increase, the biggest real-terms increase after nearly a decade of reduced spending.

The London HIV Prevention Programme (LHPP) and Sexual Health London (SHL) are key organisations at the centre of London’s HIV prevention efforts, working to reduce new HIV diagnoses and improve access to testing. The LHPP promotes early testing and prevention, particularly among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, through its Do It London campaigns and targeted outreach. In parallel, SHL offers free, easy-to-access sexually transmitted infection testing for Londoners aged 16 years old and over via online self-sampling and local collection points.
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Jonathan Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve (a) trust and (b) accountability on staff complaints in NHS organisations; and what steps he is taking to prevent (i) discrimination and (ii) bullying in the NHS. \p Karin Smyth: National Health Service staff should have the confidence to speak out and come forward if they have concerns. There is support in place for staff who wish to raise concerns, including a network of more than 1,200 local Freedom to Speak Up Guardians across healthcare in England, whose role it is to help and support NHS workers. In November 2024, the Department launched a consultation on options for regulating NHS managers, with the aim of improving leadership quality and accountability. This will help ensure that the NHS has strong and effective leadership in place, and that leaders and managers are held accountable for their practise.

Discrimination and bullying are unacceptable in any workplace and have no place in the NHS. All employers across the NHS should have robust policies in place on how these behaviours should be handled, and what support should be made available to staff.

In June 2023, NHS England published their Equality Diversity and Inclusion Improvement Plan, which set out a series of High Impact Actions, including the requirement for NHS organisations to review data by protected characteristics on bullying, harassment, discrimination, and violence, and to develop plans to improve staff experience. NHS England has also developed an NHS Civility and Respect programme to tackle bullying and harassment in the NHS, and to create a culture of civility and respect.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has stipulated that hospitals in the New Hospital Programme include renewable power. \p Karin Smyth: The New Hospital Programme will ensure that new facilities are designed to minimise their carbon footprint, to help achieve the National Health Service’s commitments to implement net zero by 2040 for the emissions it directly controls, and by 2045 for the emissions it influences. To achieve these targets, local renewable energy will be used to offset some of the energy consumption of buildings. Currently, it is assumed that, where possible, this will come predominantly from photovoltaic panels on the roof. Buildings will be more energy efficient than the current building estate, by using electricity and reducing fossil fuel consumption.

The Department of Health and Social Care continues to work across Government to secure investment for on-site renewable energy generation across the acute estate. On 21 March 2025, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero announced a £100 million partnership with Great British Energy that will increase the NHS’s onsite renewable power capacity by 300%.
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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many smart meters he expects to be installed in NHS buildings in each year between 2025 and 2030. \p Karin Smyth: Data on National Health Service smart meter usage in the NHS is not collected or projected centrally by NHS England. The annual Estates Return Information Collection does collect data on electricity meters, but this does not currently differentiate smart meters. Further information on the annual Estates Return Information Collection is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/estates-returns-information-collection
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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the projected cost for spend on ultra-low carbon measures for NHS buildings in England by 2030. \p Karin Smyth: The Department of Health and Social Care has not provided targeted funding for heat decarbonisation measures since 2015, nor does it hold a list of any net zero building contracts entered by individual National Health Service trusts. Since 2019, targeted funding for low carbon heating measures has been provided by the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, where NHS trusts have secured £1.2 billion in grant funding. This scheme is funded and led by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

Alongside this, the Department of Health and Social Care has invested in reducing the NHS’s energy bills through the National Energy Efficiency Fund, with associated decarbonisation benefits. This has provided targeted funding for high-return measures, like LED lighting and building management systems, of £40 million in the 2023/24 financial year, and £95 million in the 2024/25 financial year. NHS England has also provided substantial guidance to the system on decarbonisation issues, including the 2023 Net Zero Health Building Standard, and the 2020 Delivering a Net Zero NHS report.

Looking ahead to 2025/26, we are working with Great British Energy to invest £100 million in trusts’ renewable energy infrastructure across 196 NHS sites, where the average trust could save up to £45,000 on their yearly energy bills.

Spending plans beyond 2025/26 will be determined through the forthcoming Spending Review.
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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much each NHS trust in England has spent on purchasing electric vehicles in each year since 2015. \p Karin Smyth: Data on the costs of purchasing electric vehicles is not collected centrally by NHS England. This data is held by National Health Service organisations locally.
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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of NHS trusts that have spent funding on (a) installing charge points and (b) upgrading the local distribution network in each year since 2015. \p Karin Smyth: National Health Service trusts have submitted data on electric vehicle (EV) charging points through the annual Estates Return Information Collection since 2018/19, with further information available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/estates-returns-information-collection

The following table shows the number of trusts that have increased their number of EV charging points, each year from 2018/19 to 2023/24:

Year

Number of trusts that have increased EV charging points

2018/19

47

2019/20

48

2020/21

59

2021/22

104

2022/23

87

2023/24

81

Please note that this data does not account for trust mergers, as, for example, a newly formed trust merged from two trusts with no change to the number of charging points will be recorded as an increase. There is no centrally collected data recording costs or differentiating whether the charging points are trust-funded or externally funded. NHS England does not collect data on distribution network upgrades relating to EV charger installation.
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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much he expects average energy bills to be for NHS buildings in each year between 2025 and 2030. \p Karin Smyth: The Department of Health and Social Care does not make independent energy price projections for National Health Service buildings. However, as matter of course, we make full use of official energy data in policy development, including the central HM Treasury Green Book scenario on energy prices, and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s energy and emissions projections, where appropriate. We continue to focus on increasing energy efficiency across the NHS estate, including by investing over £90 million in energy saving measures through National Energy Efficiency Fund in 2024/25, and through our recently announced partnership with Great British Energy, where £100 million will be invested in solar panels across the NHS during 2025/26.
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Wera Hobhouse:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which Department or agency leads on the Cross Government Working Level Group on Indoor Air Quality; how often it has met since Public Health England closed in September 2021; and which Ministers are involved in its meetings. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department co-ordinated the Cross Government Working Level Group on Indoor Air Quality following the closure of Public Health England in September 2021. Since that date the group has met five times, most recently in July 2023. Ministers have not attended this official-level group. Government departments involved in the group have included the Department for Business and Trade, the Department for Education, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Department of Health and Social Care, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and the Department for Transport, as well as the Scottish Government, the UK Health Security Agency, and the Health and Safety Executive.
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Ellie Chowns:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to require NHS hospitals to operate pay on exit parking. \p Karin Smyth: The NHS car parking guidance 2022 for NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts states that trusts should consider installing ‘pay on exit’ or similar schemes so that drivers pay only for the time that they have used.

National Health Service organisations should continue to work with their patients and staff, local authorities, and public transport providers to make sure that users can get to the site, and park, if necessary, as safely, conveniently, and economically as possible. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the availability of NHS appointments. \p Karin Smyth: We have already achieved our pledge to deliver two million extra elective appointments in England, as a first step to delivering on the commitment that 92% of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029.

The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the productivity and reform efforts needed to deliver more elective care in England. This includes: expecting community diagnostic centres to open 12 hours a day, seven days per week; launching and expanding 17 new surgical hubs; investing in new DEXA scanners to deliver 29,000 more scans; and streamlining patients’ care pathways and reducing unnecessary appointments.

We are also committed to improving access and capacity in general practices (GPs). That’s why, in October 2024, we provided an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, enabling the recruitment of 1,000 newly qualified GPs across England. This will increase the number of appointments delivered in GPs, benefitting thousands of patients.
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Dr Roz Savage:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of reducing funding for level 7 healthcare apprenticeships on skills shortages in the NHS; and what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on that funding. \p Karin Smyth: Skills England and the Department for Education are reviewing the growth and skills offer, including whether employers will fund level 7 apprenticeships outside of the levy. Ministers, officials, NHS England, and a range of stakeholders across the sector have been feeding into this review and will continue to work closely with Skills England to ensure that the National Health Service has access to the skilled workforce patients need, as we rebuild the NHS and make sure it is there for us all when we need it.
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Mr Will Forster:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to work with volunteers to (a) add resilience to the NHS workforce, (b) reduce waiting lists and (c) move care out-of-hospital and into the community. \p Karin Smyth: The National Health Service has always benefitted from the generous support of volunteers. Volunteers will continue to play an important and complementary role in the NHS and care system, supporting patients, families, and staff.

NHS England invested £10 million last year to support programmes across 15 integrated care systems to improve volunteering infrastructure. NHS England is also continuing to invest in the NHS volunteer recruitment portal and deliver on recommendations from the NHS Volunteer Taskforce Report from 2023.

A central part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce and those who support our workforce, so we can ensure the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the right care to patients when they need it.
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Clive Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that people living in the most deprived areas receive earlier cancer diagnoses. \p Ashley Dalton: We recognise that there are challenges for several different populations, particularly for people living in the most deprived areas of the country, and that this impacts early diagnosis rates. The National Health Service’s wider Core20Plus5 approach to reducing healthcare inequalities includes early cancer diagnosis as a specific priority.

To ensure that people living in the most deprived areas receive earlier cancer diagnoses, we are directly targeting our activity in areas we know will make a difference. This includes awareness-raising campaigns such as the NHS Help Us, Help You campaign, to increase awareness of cancer symptoms and encourage people to get checked.

We know that some cancers disproportionately impact those living in deprived areas, notably lung cancer. People living in deprived areas are four times more likely to smoke, and smoking causes 72% of lung cancers. Through the lung cancer screening programme, early diagnosis rates have increased for all deprivation quintiles, with biggest gains among those living in most deprived areas. When fully rolled out, the programme is expected to detect approximately 9,000 cancers earlier each year.
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Danny Beales:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help reduce inequalities in prostate cancer outcomes. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government understands that more needs to be done to improve outcomes for all people with prostate cancer.

To address disparities and find ways to better detect prostate cancer earlier, we have invested £16 million in the United Kingdom-wide TRANSFORM trial, aimed at helping find the best ways of detecting prostate cancer in men, even if they are not displaying any symptoms. This research will aim to address some of the inequalities that exist in prostate cancer diagnosis by targeting black men in trial recruitment, ensuring that one in ten participants are black men. We have also asked the National Screening Committee to review the evidence for prostate cancer screening, including for high-risk groups.

The NHS England Cancer Programme also commissions clinical cancer audits, which provide timely evidence for cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, increase the consistency of access to treatments, and help stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients, including those with prostate cancer.

Following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, we will develop a new National Cancer Plan. The plan will seek to improve outcomes and address disparities for all cancers, including for prostate cancer. A call for evidence, seeking contributions from individuals and organisations, including ideas on how to improve outcomes and reduce inequalities for prostate cancer, is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/shaping-the-national-cancer-plan/shaping-the-national-cancer-plan
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Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) Officials in his Department have undertaken with the sporting and cultural events sector to discuss proposals for the Care Quality Commission to increase its regulation over them. \p Ashley Dalton: Following the Manchester Arena Inquiry Volume Two report, the Government sought to make the necessary changes in the law to enable the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to regulate event healthcare at sporting venues and gymnasiums, and at temporary sporting and cultural events. The CQC will not be responsible for regulating sports and cultural events as a whole.

The CQC has taken steps to ensure that any changes are implemented in a way that gives healthcare providers appropriate time to register with the CQC. This provides further reassurance to both event organisers and the public on the level of healthcare expected.

In addition to the recent public consultation, the CQC will consult further on their approach to regulating these activities. The Government and the CQC continues to engage with stakeholders within the health, sports, and events sector regarding the changes in the regulations.
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Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for its policies of recommendation on (a) screening and (b) research on prostate cancer in Council of the EU recommendation on cancer screening (update), adopted in December 2022. \p Ashley Dalton: The United Kingdom is not bound by the Council of the European Union's recommendations. The UK National Screening Committee is currently looking at the evidence for prostate cancer screening in accordance with its published processes. This work will evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the implementation of organised prostate cancer screening programmes. It therefore aligns with the Council of the European Union's recommendations.
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Jeremy Corbyn:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many families are receiving Healthy Start in Islington North constituency. \p Ashley Dalton: The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. Monthly figures for the number of people on the digital Healthy Start scheme are published on the NHS Healthy Start website, which is available at the following link:

https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/healthcare-professionals/

The NHSBSA does not hold data on the number of families receiving Healthy Start. The number of people on the scheme in March 2025 in Islington North was 1,763.
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Llinos Medi:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of participating in the EU4Health programme as a third country. \p Ashley Dalton: A closer, more cooperative relationship with the European Union is in the United Kingdom’s national interest, and we are working to identify areas where we can strengthen cooperation for mutual benefit. However, the UK currently has no plans to join the EU4Health programme as an associated third country.
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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the quality of maternity care for women from Black and Asian backgrounds. \p Karin Smyth: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Rachael Maskell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the impact assessment for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill will be published. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the sustainability of local brain injury reablement services. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government wants a society where every person, including those with a long-term condition such as an acquired brain injury (ABI), receives high-quality, compassionate continuity of care.

The former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention met the original proponent of the ABI strategy, Sir Chris Bryant MP, at the end of 2024 to discuss acquired brain injuries and had a very fruitful discussion about what might be achievable in both the short and long term. Sir Chris remains a huge advocate for those that have suffered from an ABI, and the Department fully agrees with him that the Government should, and importantly will, do more.

As such, whilst no assessment been made on the sustainability of local brain injury reablement services, the Department and NHS England are keen to showcase those areas that have effectively integrated post-hospital care and support, including rehabilitation, to other areas where patients are not getting the care and support they deserve.

A decision on the next steps for ABIs at the national level will be taken in due course.
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Rachael Maskell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many families receive support under the Healthy Start scheme in York. \p Ashley Dalton: The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. Monthly figures for the number of people on the digital Healthy Start scheme are published on the NHS Healthy Start website, which is available at the following link:

https://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/healthcare-professionals/

The NHSBSA does not hold data on the number of families receiving Healthy Start. The number of people on the scheme in March 2025 in York was 595.
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Paul Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure Parkinson's services in Integrated Care Systems meet the requirements of the neurology service specifications. \p Ashley Dalton: We have delivered an additional two million appointments in England, seven months ahead of schedule. This includes operations, consultations, diagnostic tests, and treatments. These additional appointments have taken place across a number of specialities, including neurology.

Once diagnosed, and with a management strategy in place, the majority of people with Parkinson’s disease can be cared for through routine access to primary and secondary care. NHS England commissions the specialised elements of Parkinson’s care that patients may receive from 27 specialised neurology centres across England. One of these neurological centres is based at the Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust in Greater Manchester.

Within specialised centres, neurological multidisciplinary teams ensure patients can access a range of health professionals, including Parkinson’s disease nurses, psychologists, and allied health professionals such as dieticians and speech and language therapists, and that they can receive specialised treatment and support, according to their needs.

The service specification for neurology, which is in the process of being updated and published later this year, sets out the requirements for specialised neurology services, as well as the expectations of non-specialised neurology services, to support a system-wide approach.

Service specifications must be included in all future provider contracts for specialised services. This is agreed in jointly signed delegation agreements between integrated care boards (ICBs) and NHS England regional teams. ICBs are responsible for monitoring provider compliance with service specifications and may periodically carry out more detailed compliance exercises with providers, as a means of ensuring and improving the quality of care.
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Satvir Kaur:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help improve diagnostic rates for cardiovascular conditions and diseases in young people in (a) Southampton and (b) England. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is committed to tackling the biggest killers, including cardiovascular disease (CVD), and our Health Mission sets an ambition to reduce premature mortality from heart disease and stroke by 25% within a decade. The 10-Year Health Plan, once published, will set out the Government's overarching vision for delivering the critical shift from a focus on treating illness to preventing conditions such as CVD.

Specific national strategies targeting the improvement of CVD diagnostic rates in children and young people are not featured in current public health programs. However, NHS England’s work emphasises the importance of early intervention and prevention across all age groups, and is committed to improving CVD care and outcomes through enhanced diagnostic support in the community, better personalised planning, and increased access to disease-specific rehabilitation.

Southampton City Council’s Children and Young People’s Strategy 2022-2027 outlines how they will invest in prevention, working with schools and communities to identify needs and deliver services as early as possible. The Health and Wellbeing Strategy similarly focuses on promoting healthy choices and behaviours in children to reduce CVD risk factors. The Government and NHS England will support local leaders to make the best choices to meet the needs of their local populations.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_117

Nick Timothy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to consult on the temporary exemption for sporting and cultural events at associated premises to the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. \p Ashley Dalton: From 26 April 2024 to 21 June 2024, a public consultation was run to gather views on the Government’s proposal. An easy read version was then made available from 13 August 2024 to 27 September 2024. The Government’s response to the consultation was published on 18 December 2024. A copy of the consultation response can be viewed on the GOV.UK website, at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/changes-to-regulations-relating-to-the-care-quality-commission/outcome/government-response-to-the-results-of-the-consultation-on-changing-regulations-relating-to-the-cqc#:~:text=Across%20the%20easy%20read%20and,72%20hours%20of%20its%20use..
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_118

Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to provide additional funding for plasma (a) collection and (b) automation technologies; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of such funding on the resilience of plasma-derived medicine supply chains. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department, NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), and NHS England are working in partnership to develop a more sufficient and resilient supply of plasma, reducing the need for reliance on imports of plasma derived medicines.

A new end-to-end supply chain has been built, enabling the first National Health Service patients to receive life-saving plasma treatments made from the blood of United Kingdom donors in March, and increasing self-sufficiency for plasma derived medicines, specifically for immunoglobulins, from 0% to 25% self-sufficiency, and for albumin, from 0% to 80% self-sufficiency.

NHSBT has incorporated plasma collection into its business model, enabling growth in domestic plasma collection. This includes the use of modern automated collection technologies, used to enhance efficiency and consistency in the donation process. NHSBT is currently exploring future locations to expand its collection footprint and develop more donor centres.

Plasma collection is benefitting from the Department’s investment in NHSBT’s work to increase blood collection capacity and resilience, as plasma is collected from whole blood donations as well as dedicated plasma donation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_119

Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the NHS's genomic testing capacity for patients diagnosed with cancer. \p Ashley Dalton: Genomic testing in the National Health Service in England is provided through the NHS Genomic Medicine Service and delivered by a national genomic testing network of seven NHS Genomic Laboratory Hubs (GLHs). The NHS GLHs deliver testing as directed by the National Genomic Test Directory, which includes tests for over 200 cancer clinical indications, and which sets out the eligibility criteria for patients to access testing.

In the 2019 NHS Long Term Plan, NHS England set the commitment to offer whole genome sequencing as part of routine care, including for children with cancer and for adults suffering from specific cancers. The latest data, from April 2024 to December 2024, showed cancer genomic testing activity of 129,610, which was half of all types of genomic testing in the same period.

To support more extensive cancer genomic testing, NHS England is working to ensure collaboration between pathology and genomics networks to address issues, including capacity, networking, and optimisation of cancer tissue pathways.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_120

Afzal Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle disparities in prostate cancer outcomes for Black men. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government understands that more needs to be done to improve outcomes for all people with prostate cancer, including for black men.

To address disparities and find ways to better detect prostate cancer earlier, we have invested £16 million in the United Kingdom-wide TRANSFORM trial, aimed at helping find the best ways of detecting prostate cancer in men, even if they are not displaying any symptoms. This research will aim to address some of the inequalities that exist in prostate cancer diagnosis by targeting black men in trial recruitment, ensuring that one in ten participants are black men. This is vital as previous trials have not included enough black men to adequately demonstrate the harms and benefits of screening for this group specifically, despite their significantly higher risk.

In addition, following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, we will develop a new National Cancer Plan. The plan will seek to improve outcomes and address disparities, including for prostate cancer. A call for evidence, seeking contributions from individuals and organisations, including ideas on how to improve outcomes for prostate cancer, is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/shaping-the-national-cancer-plan/shaping-the-national-cancer-plan
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_121

Danny Beales:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of how the NICE Late-Stage Assessment programme aligns with the ambitions of the upcoming Life Sciences Sector Plan. \p Ashley Dalton: Through the Life Sciences Sector Plan and the wider industrial strategy, the Government will take targeted, concerted, and aggressive action to unlock growth. The plan will focus on enabling world-class research and development, making the United Kingdom one of the best places in the world to start, scale, and invest in life sciences, and driving healthcare innovation and reform. This approach will support high-growth businesses, deliver better health outcomes, and cement the UK’s global leadership in life sciences. Backed by deep engagement with industry, the plan will tackle barriers head-on and lay the foundations for long-term, sustainable growth.

The reforms to Part IX of the Drug Tariff and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) late-stage assessments align with this approach by supporting the adoption of innovation. The Part IX reforms include a new two-year temporary listing mechanism so that innovative products can be made available for patients more quickly. The NICE’s late-stage assessments are a central element of the NICE’s lifecycle approach to evaluation, valuing incremental innovation in transformative products once they have become established or widely available to the National Health Service. The assessments will provide guidance on value, especially where there are claims of improvements and innovation over time, to support NHS commissioners, procurement teams, patients, and clinicians to select the most effective and cost-effective products, from those available on the market.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_122

Munira Wilson:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Turkish counterpart on the arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu. \p Stephen Doughty: As a close friend and ally of Turkey, the Government is closely monitoring the situation. Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu is subject to an ongoing domestic Turkish legal process. The UK expects Turkey to uphold its international commitments and the rule of law, including swift and transparent judicial processes. The Government has been engaging with the Turkish Government and Foreign Secretary spoke with Foreign Minister Fidan on 29 March to raise these issues. The UK supports democracy, human rights and the rule of law across the world and will always support the fundamental rights to freedom of speech, peaceful assembly and media freedom.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_123

Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what his Department's policy is on the use of co-operatives in supporting the Government's international development objectives. \p Stephen Doughty: The Government recognises the important contribution cooperatives make in serving local communities around the world. Cooperatives are a tried-and-tested model in international development, that can enable citizens and producers to access services or markets and strengthen their voice in local processes. Cooperatives can enable sustainable and inclusive development centred on self-help, democratic ownership, and concern for the community. The UK has supported cooperatives and producer organisations in developing countries, including, for example in agriculture through funding to the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme (GAFSP), which supports producer organisations, and the Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness Programme (CASA), which partners with cooperatives and small agribusinesses in low-income countries to improve smallholder farmers' access to markets.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-02)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-02 conversation_124

Charlotte Cane:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of proposed reductions to Official Development Assistance funding on the implementation of his Department's disability inclusion and rights strategy, published on 16 February 2022. \p Stephen Doughty: The Prime Minister has set out a new strategic vision for government spending on defence and security and Official Development Assistance (ODA). Detailed decisions on how the ODA budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review based on various factors including impact assessments.