theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many households in Ashfield constituency are outside the recommended minimum distance from a defibrillator. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department does not maintain a register of automated external defibrillators (AEDs); this information is held on The Circuit, an independently operated database. Therefore, the Department does not hold the data requested.

The Government is committed to improving access to AEDs in public spaces and to reducing inequalities in access to these life saving devices. Following the depletion of the existing AED Fund, launched in September 2023, the Government approved a further £500,000 in August 2024 to fulfil existing applications to the fund.

Applications to the fund were allocated where there is the greatest need, for instance remote communities with extended ambulance response times, places with high footfall and high population densities, hotspots for cardiac arrest including sporting venues and venues with vulnerable people, and deprived areas.

There are now over 100,000 defibrillators in the United Kingdom registered on The Circuit. There has been an increase of 30,000 since September 2023. 58.6% of the over 100,000 defibrillators are accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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Adam Jogee:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will support the establishment of Centres of Excellence for each less survivable cancer type. \p Ashley Dalton: To support cancer care for rarer and less survivable cancer type, the Government is committed to helping the National Health Service to diagnose all cancers earlier and to treat them faster.

The Government is also committed to improving waiting times for cancer treatment, so that people with cancer, including less survivable cancer, can get access to the care they need more quickly. As the first step to ensuring faster diagnosis and treatment, the National Health Service is delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week.

Moreover, full roll out of non-specific symptom (NSS) pathways, designed to speed up the diagnosis of cancer, has been achieved across England. NSS pathways introduce a route to possible diagnosis for patients who display symptoms that could indicate cancer, but which do not align to specific cancers, often the case for less survivable cancers. The new non-specific pathway complements current cancer diagnostic pathways, as well as providing elements that can be applied to existing pathways. The National Cancer Plan, planned for publication later in 2025, will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including those with rarer and less survivable cancer, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology. The Department ran a public Call for Evidence to determine priorities for the plan; responses are currently being analysed. The plan will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care, to improve the experience and outcomes for people with cancer, including less survivable cancer.

For these reasons, the Department does not currently have plans to support the establishment of Centres of Excellence for each survivable cancer type.
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Chris Coghlan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of not including prostate cancer referral guidance for asymptomatic men in National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines. \p Ashley Dalton: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidelines on prostate cancer relate to symptomatic patients. Guidance on prostate cancer referral for asymptomatic men can be found in the Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/prostate-cancer-risk-management-programme-overview

NICE guidelines do not provide guidance on screening of asymptomatic people which is the responsibility of the UK National Screening Committee.
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Cat Smith:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the National Cancer Plan will place a priority on (a) recognising and (b) addressing the cancer risks associated with alcohol. \p Ashley Dalton: Alcohol has been identified as a causal factor in more than 200 medical conditions, including mouth, throat, stomach, liver and breast cancers. The Government is committed to reversing the trend on alcohol-specific deaths and shortening the amount of time people spend in ill-health related to due to alcohol-related harm.

Under our Health Mission, the Government is committed to prioritising preventative public health measures to support people to live longer, healthier lives. The Department will continue to work across Government to better understand how we can best reduce alcohol-related harms. Furthermore, the National Cancer Plan will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care- as well as prevention and research and innovation. The plan will build on the shift from sickness to prevention set out by the 10-Year Health Plan and will seek to reduce risk factors.

The United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ low-risk drinking guidelines state: “The risk of developing a range of health problems (including cancers of the mouth, throat and breast) increases the more you drink on a regular basis” and that “To keep health risks from alcohol to a low level it is safest not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis”. The low risk drinking guidelines are available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a80b7ed40f0b623026951db/UK_CMOs__report.pdf
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Adam Jogee:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will support the (a) rollout and (b) expansion of testing for (i) hepatitis B, (ii) hepatitis C, (iii) HIV, (iv) other precursor conditions to less survivable cancers and (v) NHS England’s risk-stratified Community Liver Health Check programme. \p Ashley Dalton: Testing for hepatitis B, C, and HIV is available through a variety of routes including, primary care, sexual health services and targeted testing to reach groups most at risk of infections. NHS England’s opt-out testing programme operates at several emergency departments and tests all adults blood test for hepatitis B, C, and HIV, unless they opt out. NHS England is exploring whether funding can be identified to allow the programme to continue beyond the current financial year.

The Department supports testing for precursor conditions to less survivable cancers through several programmes. The NHS Cancer Programme works to detect more hepatocellular carcinomas, namely liver cancer, at an early stage. Six-monthly liver ultrasound surveillance for patients with cirrhosis or advanced fibrosis is carried out to identify liver cancers earlier. In 2025/26, community liver health checks will continue to be rolled out across 20 areas to identify patients with cirrhosis or advanced fibrosis.

To speed up diagnosis of cancer, a full roll-out of non-specific symptom pathways has been achieved in England. These introduce a diagnosis route for patients displaying symptoms not aligned to specific cancers. This programme has provided funding to Cancer Alliances in 2023/24 and in 2024/25 to invest in local liver surveillance programmes.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of sexual assaults on hospital sites in the last three years. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is committed to tackling the appalling crimes of rape and sexual assault. NHS England has introduced a comprehensive package of measures to improve sexual safety across the National Health Service. The Department feels strongly about this matter, which is why the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Baroness Merron) met with Surviving in Scrubs in February 2025 and agreed further action to address issues of sexism, sexual harassment and sexual assault including a focus on medical students. Actions include ensuring students know how to raise concerns, developing good practice on how investigations should be carried out and strengthening communications on the importance of protecting medical students on placements.

NHS providers have a mandatory duty to notify the Care Quality Commission of all incidents that affect the health, safety, and welfare of people who use services, including allegations of sexual abuse.

NHS England is investing in improving the collection and analysis of sexual violence data to support organisations to implement policies that reduce incidents of sexual misconduct in the NHS.

Data relating to rape and sexual assault would be held at NHS trust level. There is no single national dataset in the NHS which captures information on rape and sexual assault for all combinations of staff, patients or visitors to NHS hospitals. Local police forces hold data where there has been a report to the police of rape or sexual assault.

For assaults on staff, the NHS Staff Survey now includes questions about staff experiences of sexual misconduct. Results from the 2024 staff survey show 8.82% of staff received unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature from either patients, service-users or members of the public and 3.66% experienced unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature from colleagues.
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Rachel Gilmour:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will hold discussions with patient experience boards from integrated care boards to help inform the restructuring of (a) NHS England and (b) his Department. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department and NHS England are strongly committed to embedding patient experience across our work. On the transformation programme to restructure NHS England and the Department, the change is being explicitly designed to take forward the Government’s ambitious reform agenda and three strategic shifts which will be set out in the forthcoming 10-Year Health Plan. Patient experience will feature as a prominent theme in the Plan.

Work is progressing at pace to develop the design and operating model for the new integrated organisation, and plan for the smooth transfer of people, functions and responsibilities. At the appropriate time, we will ensure that the public and parliamentarians are updated on developments.
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Yuan Yang:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of access by disabled people to cancer screening; and what information his Department holds on such access. \p Ashley Dalton: NHS England is committed to improving the accessibility of the three cancer screening programmes which it commissions under the Public Health Services (S7a) agreement, particularly for under-served groups in society.

Contractually, providers of National Health Service screening services are required to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that their services are accessible to disabled people. This includes health providers ensuring that their premises are suitable for the delivery of services and are sufficient to meet the needs of their patients, including those with disabilities. If a patient requires specialist equipment, providers must ensure that their patients have access to its use in a safe environment.

Regionally and nationally, several initiatives have been implemented to ensure that information is available in 10 languages, easy read, and British Sign Language, and people can also request braille versions to ensure they have information in a format appropriate to them.

Information on access by disabled people to cancer screening is not held centrally.
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Sarah Edwards:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the proportion funding his Department provides for cancer research that is allocated to brain tumour-related research. \p Ashley Dalton: Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department invests over £1.6 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR spent £133 million on cancer research in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority.

Between 2018/19 and 2023/24, the NIHR directly invested £11.8 million in research projects focused on brain tumours. In addition, the NIHR’s wider investments in research infrastructure, for instance facilities, services, and the research workforce, are estimated to be £37.5 million, supporting the delivery of 261 brain tumour research studies and enabling over 11,400 people to participate in potentially life-changing brain tumour research in the National Health Service.

In 2024, the NIHR announced new research funding opportunities, to stimulate high quality brain tumour research applications, as part of the Government’s commitment to developing new lifesaving and life-improving research, supporting those diagnosed and living with brain tumours. Further information on the NIHR’s new research funding opportunities is available at the following link:

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/news/new-funding-opportunities-novel-brain-tumour-research-launched

Additionally, a new national Brain Tumour Research Consortium was established in December 2024 to bring together researchers from a range of different disciplines and institutions with the aim of driving scientific advancements in how we prevent, detect, manage, and treat cancers in adults and children. The NIHR is also working closely with research partners, including the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission, to attract new researchers, develop the community, and support researchers to submit high-quality research funding proposals, which should result in more effective treatments.

The NIHR continues to welcome high quality, high impact funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including brain tumours.
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Cat Smith:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support (a) GPs and (b) other healthcare professionals to distribute the pregnancy prevention program for people prescribed Sodium Valproate. \p Ashley Dalton: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), taking advice from the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM), has worked to raise awareness among healthcare professionals and patients of the risks of valproate when taken during pregnancy through several updates to the valproate Summary of Product Characteristics for healthcare professionals, as well as Patient Information Leaflets and educational materials. The magnitude and type of risks associated with valproate use in pregnancy have been communicated in articles in the MHRA’s bulletin, Drug Safety Update, and letters through the NHS Central Alerting System, supported by messages from professional bodies and reinforced through changes to clinical guidelines and improved alerts in general practitioner prescribing systems.

The valproate Pregnancy Prevention Programme, implemented in 2018, is supported by educational materials for healthcare professionals and patients, and describes the neurodevelopmental disorders and major congenital malformations associated with the use of valproate in pregnancy, with information available electronically and in a hard copy format for healthcare professionals.

In January 2024, the MHRA communicated in an article in Drug Safety Update advice from the CHM that valproate must not be started in new patients, either male or female, younger than 55 years old unless two specialists independently consider and document that there is no other effective or tolerated treatment, or there are compelling reasons that the reproductive risks do not apply. It was advised that women and girls of childbearing potential already receiving valproate should have their treatment discussed by two specialists at their next annual review. The requirement for two specialists to review these patients is a one off, and subsequent annual reviews required under the Pregnancy Prevention Programme (PPP) are undertaken by a single specialist.

In May 2025, further updates to the PPP’s educational materials have been made available to all healthcare professionals and patients electronically, and these will be sent to healthcare professionals in a hard copy format that can provided to patients, to support the discussions between healthcare professionals and patients.
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Dame Harriett Baldwin:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the UK-US trade deal on the health and social care sectors. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department continues to work closely with United Kingdom pharmaceutical firms, life sciences trade associations, and other Government departments to assess the potential impact of the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal on the health and social care sectors. The Government is clear that we will only ever sign trade agreements that align with the UK’s national interests, and that the National Health Service will never be on the table for any trade agreement.
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Anneliese Midgley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve (a) diagnosis times and (b) access to care for people with inflammatory arthritis. \p Ashley Dalton: Services for those with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, including arthritis, are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs). The Department expects MSK services to be fully incorporated into integrated care system planning and decision-making.

As announced in the Get Britain Working white paper, we are delivering the joint Department for Work and Pensions, Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England Getting It Right First-Time (GIRFT) MSK Community Delivery Programme. Launched in December 2024, with 17 ICBs selected in the first cohort, GIRFT teams have deployed their proven Further Faster model to work with ICB leaders to reduce MSK community waiting times, including for those with arthritis, and improve data, metrics, and referral pathways to wider support services. The GIRFT programme is continuing to develop the approach to better enable integrated care systems to commission the delivery of high-quality MSK services in the community, which will benefit patients now and into the future.

To support health and care professionals in the early diagnosis and management of rheumatoid arthritis, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published expert guidance for rheumatoid arthritis, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng100
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Dr Roz Savage:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to implement targeted outreach programmes in areas with low (a) HPV vaccination and (b) cervical screening rates to (i) help tackle health disparities and (ii) ensure equitable access to preventive services. \p Ashley Dalton: In March 2025, NHS England published the Cervical cancer elimination plan by 2040 – plan for England, setting out how the National Health Service will improve equitable uptake and coverage across human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and cervical screening to meet the goal to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040. Further information on the Cervical cancer elimination plan by 2040 – plan for England is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/cervical-cancer-elimination-by-2040-plan-for-england/

The plan builds on five cross-cutting themes:

- increasing access;

- raising awareness;

- reducing inequalities;

- improving digital capabilities; and

- strengthening workforce capacity.

NHS England has launched its first ever cervical cancer elimination creative campaign and communications toolkit for Cervical Screening Awareness Week, from 16 to 24 June 2025. The campaign will include digital resources that create a strong sense of shared responsibility and which aim to increase awareness of the elimination goal, educate the public about HPV, and build confidence in the HPV vaccine and cervical screening.

There are differences in vaccination and screening coverage between communities, and some groups face inequalities. Health inequalities must continue to be addressed. NHS England will continue:

- building their understanding of the barriers to and perceptions of HPV vaccination and cervical screening, and will share this with local systems to support the planning of culturally-sensitive, community-led engagements with low uptake groups;

- developing inclusive materials to better reach underserved communities through trusted voices;

- identifying groups using national and local level data who may be at higher risk of developing cervical cancer; and

- enabling trans men and non-binary people with a cervix to be routinely invited for cervical screening.
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Rachael Maskell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies on neighbourhood health of the York Frailty Hub. \p Ashley Dalton: We are committed to moving towards a Neighbourhood Health Service, with more care delivered locally to create healthier communities, spot problems earlier, and support people to stay healthier and maintain their independence for longer. Moving care from hospitals into the community will be at the heart of the 10-Year Health Plan.

Many places have already made progress in developing an integrated local approach to National Health Service and social care delivery, and there are excellent examples, such as the York Frailty Hub, of partnership working between the health and care system and its partners, including local government, other statutory services, the voluntary sector, and communities themselves.

Moving to a Neighbourhood Health Service will build on this good practice and will reinforce a new way of working for the NHS, local government, social care, and their partners, where integrated working is the norm and not the exception

In advance of the publication of the plan, NHS England published Neighbourhood Health Guidelines to help integrated care boards, local authorities, and health and care providers to continue to progress neighbourhood health in 2025/26.
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Max Wilkinson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the risk of children and young people developing cancer. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department is committed to getting the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster, so that more patients survive this horrible set of diseases, including children and young people. The Government has now exceeded its pledge to deliver two million extra operations, scans, and appointments, having delivered 3.6 million additional appointments 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, in line with the NHS constitutional standard, by March 2029.

On 4 February 2025, the Department relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce to identify tangible ways to improve outcomes and experiences for children and young people with cancer. The taskforce is exploring opportunities for improvement across genomic testing and treatment, research and innovation, patient experience, and early detection and diagnosis.

The forthcoming National Cancer Plan will include further details on improving outcomes for cancer patients, including for children and young people with cancer, and will highlight how the Department will support the NHS to reduce the risk of children and young people developing cancer in all parts of England.
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Max Wilkinson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce youth obesity rates. \p Ashley Dalton: We face a childhood obesity crisis, and the Government will take action to tackle the root causes of obesity head on, easing the strain on our National Health Service and creating the healthiest generation of children ever.

We are delivering an ambitious programme of work to create a healthier food environment. We are taking action to restrict advertisements of less healthy food and drink to children on television and online, we are limiting school children’s access to fast food, we are taking steps to ensure the Soft Drinks Industry Levy remains effective and fit-for-purpose, and we are committed to banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to under 16 year olds.

The Government has announced the extension of free school meals to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026, and that work is in progress with experts from across the sector to revise the School Food Standards, so that every school is supported with the latest nutrition guidance.

We are also working collaboratively across the Government on the Food Strategy and the Child Poverty Strategy to provide healthier, more easily accessible food to tackle obesity and give every child the best start in life.
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Mr Angus MacDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate his Department has made of the proportion of deaths linked to physical inactivity in the UK. \p Ashley Dalton: There are no official published statistics on deaths linked to physical inactivity in the United Kingdom.

Statistics on deaths from specific causes are based on the medical causes of death recorded on a death certificate, which are coded using the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). Although physical inactivity is included within the ICD, classified under lack of physical exercise, it is rarely coded as a cause of death.

Estimates of the number of deaths due to some factors that influence mortality but which are not always stated as a cause of death, such as smoking, can be made. However, there is no agreed definition of a physical inactivity-related death for use within the Government, and no official statistics on potential numbers.
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Esther McVey:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of new antimicrobial therapeutics developed by SMEs. \p Ashley Dalton: The United Kingdom’s 2024 to 2029 national action plan (NAP) to confront antimicrobial resistance (AMR) includes a commitment to work across sectors to develop new antimicrobials. The NAP also acknowledges the potential of alternative therapies, such as bacteriophage, also known as phage, therapy, in combating AMR.

NHS England launched the UK-wide subscription model for antimicrobial products in August 2024, which incentivises the development of new antibiotics through de-linking payments for products from the volumes used. This aims to provide sufficient sale revenues to make it commercially viable for a company, including small and medium sized enterprises, to bring new products to market. Furthermore, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency is committed to working with organisations to support innovation in antimicrobial therapeutics.
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Sarah Edwards:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of rates of early (a) detection and (b) treatment of brain tumours. \p Ashley Dalton: Survival rates for brain cancer, as with several other cancers, remain too low. Early diagnosis is crucial for improving outcomes, as the chances of survival are significantly higher when cancer is detected at an early stage. That is why early diagnosis remains a key priority for the Government.

We are committed to the full rollout of non-specific symptom (NSS) pathways across England, which are designed to speed up the diagnosis of cancer. As of now, there are 115 live NSS services in operation.

NSS pathways provide a diagnostic route for patients presenting with symptoms that could indicate cancer but which do not clearly point to a specific cancer type. These pathways complement existing cancer diagnostic pathways and include elements that can also enhance current models of care.

In addition, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has announced that a new National Cancer Plan for England will be published later this year. The National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and aftercare. It will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care, to improve the experience and outcomes for people with cancer. Our goal is to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer over the next ten years, including for brain cancer.
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Lewis Atkinson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress his Department has made on the rollout of Naloxone supply network coordinators. \p Ashley Dalton: Naloxone is a lifesaving medicine that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose, including for highly potent synthetic opioids which are growing in prevalence in the United Kingdom. It is more important than ever to increase access to naloxone products, which will save lives.

The Department recently amended the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 to further expand access to naloxone. The legislation will mean more services and professionals are able to supply this medication, which in turn means easier access to it for people at risk, and for their loved ones. This legislation came into force in early December 2024.

Route one of the legislation increased the number of services and professionals specified in regulations who can provide ‘take home naloxone’. However, not all services and professions have an agreed statutory definition across the four nations of the UK. As such, route two of the legislation set up the legal framework, which includes supply network coordinators, for the creation of a registration service for services and professions who fall outside of the definitions listed in route one to apply and to be able to provide take home naloxone. The Government is continuing to work with the devolved administrations and front-line services to explore the set-up and delivery of this registration service and to help deliver wider access to naloxone for all who need it.

The Department has also recently published the guidance, Supplying take home naloxone without a prescription, that sets out essential practical information such as who can supply naloxone, the products available, how to use naloxone and other basic lifesaving tools, and the training required. The guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/supplying-take-home-naloxone-without-a-prescription
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Kim Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to provide targeted funding to HIV voluntary sector organisations to support people living with HIV who have disengaged from care. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is committed to ending new transmissions of HIV in England by 2030 and is developing the new HIV Action Plan, which we aim to publish this year. The plan will address ways to improve retention and re-engagement in care.

The Government’s successful HIV emergency department opt-out testing programme helps people to re-engage with HIV care. In addition, 10% of the funding allocated to each site is recommended to be used for HIV voluntary sector organisations, to support people living with HIV who have disengaged from care.

NHS England is responsible for delivering HIV care, and in April 2024, it published the updated national Service Specification for Adult HIV services, which requires services to have a policy describing how they aim to ensure retention in care and re-engage those lost to care. NHS England will continue to work with stakeholders to consider what further actions can be taken to address retention and re-engagement in care.
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Max Wilkinson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase accessibility to healthier foods. \p Ashley Dalton: Under the Health Mission, the Government is committed to prevention and to tackling obesity, creating a fairer, healthier food environment. We are taking action to restrict the advertisements of less healthy food and drink products to children on television and online, we are limiting school children’s access to fast food, and are taking steps to ensure the Soft Drinks Industry Levy remains effective and fit-for-purpose. We are also committed to banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to under 16 year olds.

Through the Healthy Start scheme we encourage a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies, and young children under four years old from very low-income households, supporting the Government’s aim to create the healthiest generation of children in our history.

We are also working closely with the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs to develop their cross-Government Food Strategy which will set the food system up for long-term success and will provide wide ranging improvements. The Food Strategy will work to provide healthier, more easily accessible food to help people live longer, healthier lives.
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Liz Jarvis:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve access to HIV support services for people affected by HIV. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is committed to ending new transmissions of HIV in England by 2030 and is developing the new HIV Action Plan, which we aim to publish this year. The plan will address ways to optimise rapid access to treatment and retention in care, and will improve the quality of life for people living with HIV, including consideration of peer support services.

A key component of the Government’s successful HIV emergency department opt-out testing programme includes a recommendation that 10% of the funding allocated to each site should be used to support community and peer services for individuals diagnosed with a blood borne virus.

NHS England is responsible for delivering HIV care, including support services for those living with HIV. In April 2024, it published the updated national Service Specification for Adult HIV services, which sets out the standards of care that HIV providers are expected to meet, including the availability of community, psychological, and psychosocial support for patients.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-30 conversation_68

Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's planned timetable is for the rollout of histotripsy treatment through the NHS. \p Ashley Dalton: Histotripsy is a non-invasive ultrasound treatment that destroys tumours without the need for surgery or radiation. It is delivered through the Edison System, developed by HistoSonics, which is one of eight transformative technologies supported through the Government’s Innovative Devices Access Pathway pilot, which aims to streamline patient access to medical devices that address an unmet clinical need in the National Health Service.

At this stage, the detailed timetable for the potential NHS rollout of histotripsy treatment is still under development. The Department is working with system partners to determine the most appropriate, effective, and equitable approach and aims to communicate this later in the summer. Our aim is to ensure that any rollout is informed by ongoing evidence, supports early adoption in appropriate sites, and aligns with wider NHS priorities.
wrans/answers2025-06-30 conversation_69
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-30 conversation_69

Mr Angus MacDonald:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase physical activity in the population. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government and National Health Service recognise that reducing physical inactivity in people of all ages is important in helping people live longer, healthier lives. Building movement back into people’s everyday lives is a key part of the Health Mission and requires action across the Government and the NHS, to deliver the shift from treatment to prevention.

The Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Education, and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport currently provide funding to schools and the school games network to support children to have fun and move more through Physical Education classes, sport, play, and other forms of physical activity. Building healthy habits early on, in and out of school, is essential to helping children thrive, develop, and stay fit and healthy.

The Department of Health and Social Care is also working with the Department for Transport to promote active travel and embed health, and inequality impacts, into transport policies and programmes.

The NHS Better Health Campaign promotes ways for people of all ages to move more, and signposts to digital support like the NHS Couch to 5k and the NHS Active 10 walking app, providing free and accessible ways of building movement into everyday life.
wrans/answers2025-06-30 conversation_70
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-30 conversation_70

Liz Jarvis:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the adequacy of the funding into Parkinson's Disease research. \p Ashley Dalton: Government responsibility for delivering Parkinson’s disease research is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation.

Between the financial years 2019/20 and 2023/24, the Government spent a total of £79.1 million on research into Parkinson’s disease. Research spend is calculated retrospectively, with a time lag due to annual reporting lapses, and so 2023/24 is the most recent financial year we have data for.

As well as funding research itself, the NIHR invests significantly into research expertise and capacity, specialist facilities, support services, and collaborations to support and deliver research in England. Collectively this forms NIHR infrastructure. NIHR infrastructure enables the country’s leading experts to develop and deliver high-quality translational, clinical, and applied research into Parkinson’s disease. For example, in the financial year 2022/23, the NIHR Clinical Research Network enabled 114 studies related to Parkinson’s disease to be conducted in the National Health Service.

The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including Parkinson’s disease. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.

Welcoming applications on Parkinson's disease to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.
wrans/answers2025-06-30 conversation_71
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-30 conversation_71

Zöe Franklin:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that babies and young children are included in the 10-Year Health Plan. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever.

The 10-Year Health Plan to reform the National Health Service will make it fit for the future. This includes policies that will impact on babies, and young children. The plan will draw directly from the extensive engagement we have undertaken with the public, patients, and staff, including organisations who represent babies and young children as well as children themselves.

We are in the final stages of developing the plan and will publish it shortly.
wrans/answers2025-06-30 conversation_72
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-30 conversation_72

Brian Mathew:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of a national register of defibrillators. \p Ashley Dalton: The Circuit is the independently operated national automated external defibrillator databased, developed by a partnership of the British Heart Foundation, the National Health Service, the Resuscitation Council UK, and the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives. The Circuit provides a national database of where defibrillators can be found so that ambulance services can quickly identify the nearest defibrillator.

There are now over 100,000 defibrillators in the United Kingdom registered on The Circuit. There are no plans to establish a separate national register.
wrans/answers2025-06-30 conversation_73
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-30 conversation_73

Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment he has made of trends in the level of late diagnosis of (a) blood cancers and (b) solid tumour cancers. \p Ashley Dalton: There are no current plans to introduce a specific proxy staging measure or a corresponding national target to support the earlier diagnosis of blood cancers. To tackle late diagnoses of blood cancers, the National Health Service is implementing non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. Blood cancers are one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.

It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including blood cancer, as early and quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, to improve outcomes. We will get the NHS diagnosing blood cancer earlier and treating it faster, and we will support the NHS to increase capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment, including for magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners.

The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including those with blood cancer and other cancers with lower survival rates.
wrans/answers2025-06-30 conversation_74
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-30 conversation_74

Navendu Mishra:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with (a) the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and (b) voluntary sector organisations on the implementation of the forthcoming Civil Society Covenant in relation to the next HIV Action Plan for England. \p Ashley Dalton: While not specifically in relation to the Civil Society Covenant, Department of Health and Social Care officials have engaged with officials from across the Government, including at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, to align resources and efforts across the Government in relation to the next HIV Action Plan for England.

Collaboration is at the core of the next action plan, which we aim to publish this year, and we are therefore engaging a wide range of system partners in its development, including people with lived experience, the voluntary and community sector (VCS), professional bodies, and local partners, amongst others.

We recently hosted engagement sessions with approximately 60 VCS and external partners to discuss what the next action plan should look like, though the Civil Society Covenant has not been discussed specifically. Professor Kevin Fenton, the Government’s Chief Advisor on HIV, has also hosted a series of engagement workshops, with approximately 250 system partners, including the VCS, industry, primary care, and integrated care board colleagues, to inform our plan.