theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
wrans/answers2025-02-03 conversation_1
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-03 conversation_1

Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to (a) increase diagnostic capacity at memory clinics, (b) prepare primary care, (c) increase numbers of specialists capable of prescribing new medicines, (d) adopt new diagnostic technology including blood biomarkers, (e) ensure adequate CT scanning capacity and (f) raise awareness among patients of new medications for Alzheimer's Disease. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Government is committed to transforming diagnostic services and will support the National Health Service to increase diagnostic capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment in new capacity, including magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners.

Our Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, builds on the investments already made with an ambitious vision for the future of diagnostic testing. This will include more straight-to-test pathways, increasing and expanding Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs), and better use of technology. With 170 CDCs due to be up and running by the end of March 2025, CDCs can take on more of the growing diagnostic demand within elective care. We will also deliver additional CDC capacity in 2025/26 by expanding a number of existing CDCs and building up to five new ones.

Alongside Alzheimer’s Research UK, the Alzheimer’s Society, Gates Ventures, and the People’s Postcode Lottery, the National Institute for Health Research is funding the Blood Biomarker Challenge, which seeks to produce the clinical and economic data that could make the case for the use of a blood test in the NHS to support the diagnosis of dementia.

New disease modifying drugs for Alzheimer’s disease are in development. NHS England is working closely with system partners to ensure that arrangements are in place to support the adoption of any new licensed and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence-recommended treatments as soon as possible.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS dental providers have had to return their contracts in each month since April 2024. \p Andrew Gwynne: The following table shows the total number of general dental practice contracts that were terminated by contractors each month from April to December 2024:

Month

Number of contractor terminations

April

4

May

7

June

7

July

6

August

5

September

5

October

4

November

3

December

1

Source: data for December is incomplete, as it only includes contracts terminated between 1 and 28 December.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to announce the unit of dental activity rate for 2025-26; and from what date dentists will receive payments at that rate. \p Andrew Gwynne: From 1 April 2024, the Department raised the minimum Unit of Dental Activity (UDA) rate to £28 to support practices with historically low UDA rates. Minimum UDA rates are not uplifted annually by the Department, however overall contract values are uplifted annually following the recommendations of the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration. Integrated care boards have the flexibility to influence the UDA rate locally, which may help to support local interventions, and there are differential UDA rates across England. Differential UDA rates allow providers to use differing pay rates to reflect local market rates.
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Vikki Slade:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will offer provisionally registered status to overseas-qualified dentists. \p Stephen Kinnock: In 2024, the Department carried out a consultation on introducing legislation that would give the General Dental Council (GDC) powers to provisionally register overseas-qualified dentists who have not yet met the GDC’s requirements for full registration. Dentists that meet our high standards should be able to enter the workforce efficiently.

Further information on the consultation is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/provisional-registration-for-overseas-qualified-dentists

We are determined to rebuild National Health Service dentistry, but it will take time and there are no quick fixes. Strengthening the workforce is key to our ambitions and we are considering whether to proceed with the proposal to introduce provisional registration. Our position on this proposal will be set out in due course.
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Samantha Niblett:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to coordinate the roll out of (a) the Respiratory Syncytial Virus vaccine and (b) other vaccines across all English regions to maximise effectiveness. \p Andrew Gwynne: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination programmes for pregnant women, to protect newborns, and adults aged 75 to 79 years old began in England on 1 September 2024. The programmes are being delivered by general practices and commissioned maternity services, as well as a small number of community pharmacies in the East of England. General practices are responsible for proactively inviting aged-based eligible patients for vaccination, and for providing the vaccine to eligible patients from 28 weeks of pregnancy, either opportunistically or on request. RSV vaccinations are offered to eligible individuals year-round, rather than seasonally, though vaccination should be undertaken at the earliest opportunity to maximise protection against RSV.

NHS England continues to focus on maximising vaccine uptake across both seasonal and routine vaccination programmes, including by improving access to vaccinations through outreach services, improving the National Booking Service, and working across the system to ensure coadministration of vaccines wherever possible and advisable. This approach supports the healthcare system to take every opportunity to vaccinate those who are eligible and to maximise the uptake of all vaccines.

For older adults, whilst the RSV vaccine is not routinely given at the same appointment or on the same day as seasonal flu or COVID-19 vaccines, if the individual is unlikely to return for a second appointment or immediate protection is necessary then the RSV vaccine can be administered at the same time as the COVID-19 and/or flu vaccine. Older adults can get the RSV vaccine at the same time as the shingles and pneumococcal vaccines where eligible.

The RSV and pertussis vaccines are not routinely scheduled at the same time during pregnancy. However, if a pertussis-containing vaccine has not been given to pregnant women by the time of attendance for an RSV vaccine, both vaccines can and should be given at the same appointment to ensure prompt development of immune response. The seasonal flu and COVID-19 vaccines can be given at any time in pregnancy when the campaigns are running, and at the same time as the pertussis and RSV vaccines.

Healthcare professionals should take the opportunity to check immunisation status and offer or signpost vaccination where possible. Maternity services commissioned to deliver the maternal RSV programme are also encouraged to have vaccination discussions with pregnant women early in pregnancy.
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Liz Jarvis:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the (a) efficacy of and (b) adequacy of the provision of Clozapine. \p Karin Smyth: Clozapine is licenced by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Products are licenced by the MHRA where the benefit-risk assessment has been found to be positive in relation to quality, safety, and efficacy. Clozapine is marketed in different strengths and formulations, for the following indications.

Firstly, Clozapine is indicated in treatment-resistant schizophrenic patients and in schizophrenia patients who have severe, untreatable neurological adverse reactions to other antipsychotic agents, including atypical antipsychotics. Treatment resistance is defined as a lack of satisfactory clinical improvement despite the use of adequate doses of at least two different antipsychotic agents, including an atypical antipsychotic agent, prescribed for an adequate duration. Secondly, Clozapine is indicated in psychotic disorders occurring during the course of Parkinson's disease, in cases where standard treatment has failed. Further information is available on the MHRA’s website, which is available at the following link:

https://products.mhra.gov.uk/

The Department is not aware of any supply issues regarding the provision of this medicine. Furthermore, decisions about what medicines to prescribe are made by the doctor or healthcare professional responsible for that part of the patient’s care. Prescribers are accountable for their prescribing decisions.

It is for the responsible clinician to work with their patient and decide on the best course of treatment, with the provision of the most clinically appropriate care for the patient always being the primary consideration. Prescribers must always satisfy themselves that the medicines they consider appropriate for their patients can be safely prescribed and that they take account of appropriate national guidance on clinical effectiveness, as well as the local commissioning decisions of their respective integrated care boards (ICBs). The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has developed a Quality Standard on psychosis and schizophrenia in adults. NICE quality standards are concise sets of statements designed to drive quality improvements within a particular area of care and cover the NHS, public health, and social care. The Quality Standard recommends that adults with schizophrenia that have not responded adequately to treatment with at least two antipsychotic drugs are offered Clozapine, and provides quality measures to be used by service providers, commissioners, and healthcare professionals to assess the quality of care or service provision.
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Noah Law:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will direct NICE to undertake an assessment of the potential merits of the use of hydrotherapy treatments in the NHS. \p Karin Smyth: I have no plans to direct the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to assess hydrotherapy treatments, and it would not be appropriate for ministers to circumvent the NICE’s established process for prioritising topics for guidance development.

When developing its guidelines, the NICE considers all the available evidence within the scope of the topic under consideration. Where good quality evidence supports the use of a therapy as clinically and cost effective, the NICE’s independent committee may recommend it for use in the National Health Service.

Hydrotherapy is already recommended as a form of rehabilitation therapy following nerve injury in the NICE’s Rehabilitation after traumatic injury 2022 guideline. It is also recommended in the 2017 guideline Spondyloarthritis in over 16s: diagnosis and management, as an adjunctive therapy to manage pain and maintain or improve function for people with axial spondyloarthritis.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the size of the backlog of Remedial Pensions Savings Statements currently outstanding by the NHS Business Services Authority. \p Karin Smyth: The Department understands that approximately 135,000 NHS Pension Scheme members may require a remedial pension savings statement as part of their remedy to the discrimination identified by the McCloud judgment. More than 70,000 statements have been issued to date, with approximately another 60,000 individuals still to be contacted. The Department understands the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) will issue the majority of these by the end of February 2025.

The Department became aware of a calculation error in 2023/24 Pension Savings Statements issued by NHSBSA on 6 January 2025, and is working with the NHSBSA to ensure this is quickly rectified.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-03)

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Liz Jarvis:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) monitor and (b) tackle the illegal availability of Ozempic injections online. \p Karin Smyth: The illegal sale and supply of human medicines is recognised as a significant challenge for regulators across the world. Buying medicines, including weight loss medicines, from illegally trading websites can be harmful to health, as the medicines received are generally unlicenced in the United Kingdom, and can contain too little, too much, or incorrect active ingredients. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) works hard with law enforcement partners and others to tackle illegal sales and prevent products from entering the UK. Offending often takes place beyond the geographical reach of UK legislation, but where offences are identified in the UK, the MHRA can investigate and, where appropriate, bring those involved to justice. In addition to taking enforcement action where possible, the MHRA operates the #FakeMeds campaign, offering safety advice and providing practical tools to help the public stay safe when buying medicines online.
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Adam Dance:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people not taking prescribed medication due to prescription charges. \p Karin Smyth: No assessment has been made of the number of people not taking prescribed medication due to prescription charges.

There are extensive arrangements in place in England to ensure that prescriptions are affordable for everyone. Approximately 89% of prescription items are dispensed free of charge in the community in England, and there is a wide range of exemptions from prescription charges already in place for which those with long term or chronic conditions may be eligible. Eligibility depends on the patient’s age, whether they are in qualifying full-time education, whether they are pregnant or have recently given birth, whether they have a qualifying medical condition, or whether they are in receipt of certain benefits or a war pension.

People on low incomes can apply for help with their health costs through the NHS Low Income Scheme. Prescription prepayment certificates (PPCs) are also available. PPCs allow people to claim as many prescriptions as they need for a set cost, with three-month and 12-month certificates available. The 12-month PPC can be paid for in instalments.
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Laurence Turner:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what contracts (a) BFS Group Limited and (b) subsidiary companies of BFS Group Limited hold with (i) his Department and (ii) agencies of his Department. \p Karin Smyth: Neither the Department or its executive agencies, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the UK Health Security Agency, hold any contracts with BFS Group Limited or any of its subsidiary companies.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what purposes the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months. \p Karin Smyth: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has advised that it has not used artificial intelligence over the last 12 months.
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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2025 to Question 24596 on Caesarean Sections, what steps he is taking with NHS England to ensure that women are not unnecessarily discouraged from having elective caesarean sections. \p Karin Smyth: NHS England’s three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services recognises the importance of listening to women and families. It aims to ensure that women have clear choices, supported by unbiased information and evidence-based guidelines, and that all women are offered personalised care and support plans.

Personalised care and support plans take account of physical health, mental health, social complexities, and choices. Personalised care includes open, honest, and ongoing dialogue between a woman, her midwife, and other clinicians, to understand the care she wants.

If a woman would prefer a caesarean for non-medical reasons, they can ask their midwife or doctor, who will explain the overall benefits and risks of a caesarean to the woman and their baby compared with a vaginal birth. If, after discussing all the risks and hearing about all the support on offer, a woman feels that a vaginal birth is not an acceptable option, they should be offered a planned caesarean.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what purposes the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months. \p Karin Smyth: In November 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published a statement of intent for artificial intelligence (AI). It outlines the NICE’s approach to using AI to streamline its processes and increase efficiency and effectiveness. The NICE currently uses a natural language processing solution to facilitate the searching of its recommendations, and machine learning based text classifiers within its evidence management software. To assist with daily tasks, NICE staff have access to Microsoft’s Copilot, and the NICE communications team is trialling the Government Communications Service’s Assist tool. Further information on the NICE’s statement of intent for AI is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/corporate/ecd12/chapter/purpose-of-this-document
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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of expediting a NICE appraisal for Givinostat. \p Karin Smyth: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) works with companies on timelines for its evaluations of new medicines, and aims, wherever possible, to issue guidance close to the point of licensing to support rapid access for National Health Service patients to clinically and cost-effective medicines. The NICE’s timeline for its evaluation of givinostat was rescheduled at the request of the company, to facilitate a suitably comprehensive and robust submission. The NICE’s Appraisal Committee is due to meet to consider its recommendations on givinostat in May 2025.
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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reducing the level of car parking charges for staff in NHS hospitals in Surrey Heath constituency. \p Karin Smyth: No assessment has been made of the potential merits of reducing the level of car-parking charges for staff in National Health Service hospitals in the Surrey Heath constituency.

NHS trusts are expected to follow the principles set out in the NHS Car Parking Guidance. The guidance makes clear that charges, where they exist, should be reasonable for the area.

All NHS trusts that charge for car parking provide free hospital car parking in England for those most in need. This includes Blue Badge holders, frequent outpatient attenders, parents of sick children staying overnight in hospital, and NHS staff working night shifts. The Department has issued guidance to NHS trusts on the implementation of this commitment.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what purposes the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months. \p Karin Smyth: During 2024, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) identified 20 artificial intelligence (AI) use-cases for prototyping with different technologies with different AI paradigms.

The use-cases range from productivity through to decision making, across all areas of the business, including communications, customer services, and helpdesks, as well as across the regulatory activities for the whole product lifecycle, including post-market surveillance. MHRA technical specialists have collaborated closely with science, health, and regulation subject matter experts to produce the first batch of AI prototypes.

As a result of the successful outcomes in the prototyping phases, the team is now considering next steps in productionising the prototypes, whilst maintaining safety and efficacy. The work takes a risk-proportionate approach, tailored to each use-case, rather than a one size fits all risk-averse blanket approach to all scenarios.
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Luke Murphy:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of clinical commissioning groups that have implemented more restrictive policies on the prescription of gluten-free products for people with coeliac disease; and whether his Department is monitoring the potential impact of those policy changes on affected groups. \p Karin Smyth: The Department and NHS England do not hold this information and are not monitoring the potential impact of those policy changes on the affected groups.

Decisions about the commissioning and funding of local health services, including the prescription of gluten-free products for people with coeliac disease, are the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). NHS England’s guidance should be taken into account when ICBs formulate local policies, and prescribers are expected to reflect local policies in their prescribing practices. The guidance does not remove the clinical discretion of prescribers in accordance with their professional duties.

The national prescribing position in England remains that gluten free bread and mixes can be provided to coeliac patients on a National Health Service prescription, and a wide range of these items continue to be listed in part XV of the Drug Tariff. This means that prescribers can issue NHS prescriptions, based on a shared decision between prescriber and patient, while also being mindful of local and national guidance.
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Abtisam Mohamed:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of including Band 2 NHS workers in pay progression policies. \p Karin Smyth: As part of the 2023 Agenda for Change pay deal between the Government, employers, and trade unions, there was a mutual agreement to uplift the value of the bottom pay point of band two to the same value as the top pay point, and this position was ratified by the NHS Staff Council.

Any further changes to the pay structure will be for the NHS Staff Council to ratify or agree to, as part of any future negotiations.
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Ian Roome:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of potential increased maintenance costs for NHS Hospitals whose construction projects have been delayed under(a) wave 2 and (b) wave 3 of the New Hospital Programme review. \p Karin Smyth: The safety of National Health Service staff and patients is of vital importance to the Government. That is why repairing and rebuilding our hospital estate is a key part of our ambition to create an NHS that is fit for the future through our 10-Year Health Plan. The New Hospital Programme review considered the clinical impacts of the quality of the estate as part of the prioritisation exercise involving a multi-criteria decision support analysis tool.

Integrated care boards will collectively receive over £4 billion in annual capital allocations in 2025/26. These allocations are managed at a local level, with funds allocated according to local priorities, including estate maintenance works. In addition, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer also committed over £1 billion to make inroads into the backlog of critical maintenance and to tackle dangerous reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete. Further detail on funding will follow at the earliest opportunity, including local capital allocations and national capital programmes for 2025 to 2026, as part of NHS planning guidance. Capital funding levels for future years will be determined through the current Spending Review which concludes in June 2025. Future Spending Reviews will consider needs across the NHS estate, including hospitals whose constructions have been delayed.
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Paul Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 4.5 of the Autumn Budget 2024, how many new (a) surgical hubs and (b) diagnostic scanners will be located in Yorkshire. \p Karin Smyth: The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the 18-week Referral to Treatment constitutional standard by March 2029. The standard has not been met consistently since September 2015.

Surgical hubs offer productive solutions by focusing on providing high volume low complexity surgery, and will contribute to providing the surgical capacity needed to return to the constitutional standard. There are 112 elective surgical hubs operational across England as of December 2024. There are 14 surgical hubs already operational in the North East and Yorkshire region, and three more are planned to open. These three are:

- the Dewsbury and District Hospital Combined Elective Centre in Dewsbury;

- the St Luke's Hospital Day Case Unit in Bradford; and

- the Castle Hill Hospital Elective Hub in Cottingham.

The Department cannot yet confirm the location of all the new surgical hubs and diagnostic scanners from the capital investment announced in the Autumn Statement. NHS England is working with local National Health Service systems to identify the most appropriate locations for investments, including new surgical hubs and diagnostic scanners. Details will be set out at the earliest opportunity.

As detailed in the 2025/26 capital guidance, NHS England has provided systems with indicative allocations based on a combination of population-weighted shares and national and regional intelligence on where investment is needed and if it can be delivered within 2025/26. These allocations include funding for additional surgical hubs, diagnostic scanning capacity, urgent treatment centres co-located with emergency departments, and same day emergency care provision in those systems prioritised for these investments by national teams.
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Julia Buckley:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of preventative impact of ear wax removal on the NHS for children presenting with hearing loss. \p Karin Smyth: In line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance, an adult or child may require ear wax removal treatment if the build-up of earwax is linked with hearing loss. A general practice could then consider referring the patient into audiology services. The patient's clinician is best placed to make this assessment. The NICE has published guidelines on hearing loss, and specifically on ear wax removal treatment, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng98/chapter/Recommendations#removing-earwax
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the support for out of hours doctors services in Lincolnshire. \p Karin Smyth: No such assessment has been made by the Department. The commissioning of out of hours services, and the extent to which those services are supported, is the responsibility of local commissioners in partnership with their providers, to serve the best interests of their populations.
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Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to retain (a) doctors and (b) other health professionals, in the context of the abolition of the lifetime allowance on pension savings. \p Karin Smyth: The abolition of the lifetime allowance for tax-free pension saving incentivises senior doctors and other health professionals to continue their National Health Service work. Following extensive engagement with staff, the 10 Year Plan will set out a wide-ranging programme to improve staff retention, including for doctors. Alongside this, NHS England is leading targeted retention work through their NHS Retention Programme. This programme, coupled with the NHS People Promise, aims to improve the support that employers offer to their staff and build a more resilient and supportive workplace culture. It includes initiatives focussed on creating a flexible work environment, addresses career development opportunities, and seeks to enhance staff wellbeing. These elements are crucial in reducing attrition.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing additional short term funding to hospitals who are the (a) second and (b) third phase of the New Hospital Programme to help mitigate the impact of deteriorating infrastructure on working conditions. \p Karin Smyth: The safety of National Health Service staff and patients is of vital importance to the Government. That is why repairing and rebuilding our hospital estate is a key part of our ambition to create an NHS that is fit for the future through our 10-Year Health Plan.

Integrated care boards will collectively receive over £4 billion in annual capital allocations in 2025/26. These allocations are managed at a local level, with funds allocated according to local priorities, including estate maintenance works at New Hospital Programme sites. In addition, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer also committed over £1 billion to make inroads into the backlog of critical maintenance and to tackle dangerous reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete. Further detail on funding will follow at the earliest opportunity, including local capital allocations and national capital programmes for 2025 to 2026, as part of NHS capital planning guidance. Capital funding levels for future years will be determined through the current Spending Review which concludes in June 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-03)

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Esther McVey:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2025 to Question 23741 on Coronavirus: Vaccination, for what reason the MHRA has temporarily withdrawn the collection of minutes from the Commission on Human Medicines' Vaccine Benefit Risk Expert Working Group (meetings between 25 August 2020 and 5 May 2023). \p Karin Smyth: To ensure the accuracy of redactions within the minutes in question the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has temporarily withdrawn the meeting minutes of the Vaccine Benefit Risk Expert Working Group to ensure accurate and transparent records.

The MHRA anticipates republishing all minutes as soon as possible.

For further transparency, when the minutes are republished, an alert will be sent to all subscribers who have registered for updates to the GOV.UK website for content of this type. I have also asked the rt hon member is alerted.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the length of waiting lists for a lifesaving organ in Lincolnshire. \p Andrew Gwynne: The active transplant waiting list in the United Kingdom is above pre-pandemic levels, with people waiting longer for a transplant than they have previously. As of 31 December 2024, there were 6,858 people on the transplant waiting list in England, and 113 people in Lincolnshire, excluding temporarily suspended patients.

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) manage transplant services across the UK. They are working to reduce the number of patients on the waiting list by revising the National Organ Retrieval Service to improve its efficiency, supporting clinical teams to increase the use of extended criteria donors, implementing new technology to improve non-use rates, and encouraging people to register to donate through high profile year-round campaigns including Organ Donation Week, World Sight Day, and World Kidney Day, in partnership with a wide range of charities and community groups.

The Department, NHSBT, and NHS England are working together to improve utilisation of all solid organs following recommendations from the Organ Utilisation Group 2023 report. Once fully implemented, the aim is to utilise more donor organs for transplant to save and improve the lives of those on the waiting list.
wrans/answers2025-02-03 conversation_28
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-03 conversation_28

Graeme Downie:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding the Government has provided for endometriosis research in each of the last five years; and what proportion of Government-funded medicinal research that accounts for. \p Andrew Gwynne: The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The following table shows how much funding the NIHR has awarded for endometriosis research, as well as that spend as a percentage of total urogynaecology research spend, for each year from 2019/20 to 2023/24:

Financial year

Spend

Proportion of total urogynaecology spend

2019/20

£493,945

8.9%

2020/21

£554,151

10.5%

2021/22

£973,089

16.8%

2022/23

£1,360,614

24.9%

2023/24

£1,325,329

21.9%

This information reflects in-year payments to 10 research awards that were active during this time period. It does not reflect the total award value. The total award value for these awards, across their full duration, is £7,714,953.

In addition, between 2019/20 and 2023/24, there were 18 awards with relevance to endometriosis active on UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) portfolio. These awards had a total value of £8.43 million. The following table shows the in-year expenditure for this research, for each year from 2019/20 to 2023/24:

Financial year

In year spend

Percentage of spend versus UKRI research base outturn

2019/20

£585,662

<1%

2020/21

£683,812

<1%

2021/22

£1,017,417

<1%

2022/23

£1,264,127

<1%

2023/24

£1,589,230

<1%

The remaining spend is slated for future financial years.
wrans/answers2025-02-03 conversation_29
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-03 conversation_29

Clive Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NHS England on the collection of patient data which indicates the level of disease progression of blood cancers at the point of diagnosis. \p Andrew Gwynne: Unfortunately, not all blood cancers can be staged. Most types of leukaemia are not staged in the same way as cancers that form tumours, because they have typically spread through the body via the blood by the time they are found.

However, all cases of cancer diagnosed and treated in the National Health Service in England are registered by the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS). Blood cancer is included as a distinct category, labelled haematological neoplasms. This creates a clinically rich data resource that is used to measure diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes for patients diagnosed with cancer. The data held by the NCRAS supports service provision and commissioning in the NHS, clinical audits, and public health and epidemiology.

The Department and NHS England continue to discuss data insights across a range of areas. This includes patient data collection for all cancers, including blood cancer.
wrans/answers2025-02-03 conversation_30
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-03 conversation_30

Alicia Kearns:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to provide additional (a) interventions and (b) support to areas with higher rates of asthma. \p Andrew Gwynne: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the British Thoracic Society, and the Scottish Intercollegiate Guideline Network published a new collaborative guideline for asthma in November 2024.

The guideline covers diagnosing, monitoring, and managing asthma in adults, young people, and children. It aims to improve the accuracy of diagnosis, help people to control their asthma, and reduce the risk of asthma attacks

The recommendations offer the opportunity to simplify the diagnostic processes and improve the treatment of people with asthma, and NHS England is working with specialist groups and partners to encourage a joined-up approach to implementation.

Through its national respiratory programme and focused work on children and young people with asthma, NHS England is already supporting systems to improve outcomes for people with asthma.
wrans/answers2025-02-03 conversation_31
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-03 conversation_31

Clive Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to consult with (a) cancer charities and (b) patient representative bodies during the development of a national cancer plan. \p Andrew Gwynne: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 23 January 2025 to Question 25063.

The Government recognises that a cancer-specific approach is needed to meet the challenges in cancer care, and the value in engaging in wide-ranging and meaningful engagement and consultation on how cancer services can meet the needs of those living with cancer. We plan to engage with a wide range of cancer partners, including charities and patient representative bodies.

We are now in discussions about what form the National Cancer Plan should take, and what its relationship to the 10-Year Health Plan and the Government’s wider Health Mission should be, and will provide updates on this in due course.
wrans/answers2025-02-03 conversation_32
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-03 conversation_32

Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which health foundation trusts other than Devon are under NHS Oversight Framework Level 4. \p Karin Smyth: The NHS Oversight Framework (NOF) sets out NHS England’s approach to oversight of the National Health Service trusts and integrated care boards (ICBs). NHS England allocates all ICBs and NHS trusts, including foundation trusts, to one of four segments. A segmentation decision indicates the scale and nature of support needs, from no specific support needs, or segment one, to a requirement for mandated intensive support, or segment four. NHS England publishes the segmentation decisions. This is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/nhs-oversight-framework-22-23/.

Trusts and ICBs in NOF segment four receive mandated intensive support via NHS England’s Recovery Support Programme (RSP). There are currently 20 trusts and three ICBs in the RSP. The trusts in the RSP are shown in the following list:

The list of trusts and ICBs in the RSP is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/system-and-organisational-oversight/national-recovery-support-programme/
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-03 conversation_33

Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much additional funding for maintenance at delayed schemes in the New Hospital Programme has been made available for each hospital in each year. \p Karin Smyth: The safety of National Health Service staff and patients is of vital importance to the Government. That is why repairing and rebuilding our hospital estate is a key part of our ambition to create an NHS that is fit for the future through our 10-Year Health Plan.

Integrated care boards will collectively receive over £4 billion in annual capital allocations in 2025/26. These allocations are managed at a local level, with funds allocated according to local priorities, including estate maintenance works at New Hospital Programme sites. In addition, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer also committed over £1 billion to make inroads into the backlog of critical maintenance and to tackle dangerous reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete. Further detail on funding will follow at the earliest opportunity, including local capital allocations and national capital programmes for 2025 to 2026, as part of NHS planning guidance. Capital funding levels for future years will be determined through the current Spending Review, which concludes in June 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-03 conversation_34

Mary Glindon:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people on home dialysis who do not receive reimbursement of the energy costs of that dialysis; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of that number on the ability of his Department to shift care from hospital to community. \p Karin Smyth: Increasing access to home therapies is a priority for NHS England, and this is reflected in its inclusion in the Renal Transformation toolkit that was published in 2023, which recommends that 20% of all patients on kidney replacement treatment should receive treatment at home.

Commissioned renal clinical networks across England have included improving access to home therapies in their work plans as per the recommendations within the toolkit. NHS England’s national team supports renal clinical networks with the implementation of home dialysis transformation.

Commissioned renal providers in England have a contractual obligation to reimburse the additional utility costs for patients who receive home haemodialysis therapy, as stipulated within the Haemodialysis to treat established renal failure performed in a patients home national service specification and the Paediatric medicine renal service specification. Reimbursement costs are managed directly between providers and patients, and therefore there is no central record of how many patients seek reimbursement. Further information on the Paediatric medicine renal service specification is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/paediatric-medicine-renal-service-specification/

Renal clinical networks are working towards increasing home dialysis rates in line with the Renal Service Transformation Programme toolkit recommendations.
wrans/answers2025-02-03 conversation_35
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-02-03 conversation_35

Mr Mark Francois:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on when the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust plans to publish it's 2024-25 Annual Report. \p Karin Smyth: The Annual Report and Accounts of the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust for 2024/2025 will be published ahead of the trust’s Annual General Meeting, which is usually held at the end of September. Publication can only take place after the Annual Report and Accounts have been laid before Parliament, in line with NHS England guidance.