Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding is currently available to Integrated Care Boards to deliver community‑level engagement programmes aimed at increasing awareness and early detection of prostate cancer in high‑risk groups.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
While the Department does not ring-fence integrated care board (ICB) funding exclusively for prostate cancer public awareness campaigns, community-level engagement programmes aimed at increasing awareness and early detection are supported via broader communication programmes, working in partnership with charities and local Cancer Alliances.
To increase knowledge of cancer symptoms, and to address barriers to acting on them, the National Health Service has run Help Us Help You campaigns. These campaigns focused on recognising a range of symptoms, as well as encouraging body awareness, to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers, including prostate cancer, at an earlier stage. NHS England and other NHS organisations, nationally and locally, publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including prostate cancer. This information can be found at sources including the NHS website, which is available at the following link:
The National Cancer Plan, published in February 2026, is backed by significant funding committed by the Government at the Spending Review, including £200 million next year for local Cancer Alliances. Alliances are encouraged to allocate a proportion of this funding to the delivery of local early diagnosis plans, to drive progress on data-led priorities. This can include work to support the diagnosis of prostate cancer, but it will vary by alliance depending on local need. In 2025/26, several alliances have undertaken work to support awareness and earlier diagnosis of prostate cancer.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of expanding the list of allergens which require highlighting on food products to include botanically classified ingredients such as pine nuts.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are many foods that people might be allergic to, but the current list of 14 allergens, defined in legislation, are those established as the most common allergenic ingredients or processing aids of public health concern across Europe. They must be clearly identified on prepacked foods and communicated effectively when eating out. Foods like pine nuts are not classified as tree nuts and as such are not named in the regulations.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is working with the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology and other stakeholders to gather more information on hidden and emerging food allergens, which will help assess the need for further research and work in this area. Any change to the current list of the 14 mandated allergens would need to be supported by robust evidence and thoroughly assessed.
The FSA continues to monitor the situation closely but at present there are no plans to amend the regulated list of 14 allergens. It advises those with an allergy or intolerance to foods outside of the mandated allergens should be able to check the ingredients list and avoid foods they need to, and in restaurants they should ask the person serving them if the food they wish to avoid is used in any of the dishes to make the right choices.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department and NHS England are taking to ensure that (a) patients with acquired brain injuries (ABI) currently resident at the Kemsley Division of St Andrews Hospital are transferred to settings with the appropriate expertise in neuropsychiatry, ABI and neurorehabilitation required to meet their needs and (b) Integrated Care Boards have access to sufficient specialist knowledge to safeguard this patient cohort during the transition.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Securing appropriate placements and clinical support for patients sits with the relevant integrated care boards (ICBs), which commission and fund the individual packages of care. NHS England’s regional specialised commissioning teams work closely with ICBs to provide clinical oversight and advice, including on the neuropsychiatric and neuro‑rehabilitation needs of patients with acquired brain injury. This includes supporting commissioners to identify suitable services, ensuring placements meet required clinical standards, and advising on safe transition planning from the independent sector.
ICBs remain accountable for arranging and maintaining placements that provide the right multidisciplinary expertise. NHS England engages with local systems, including in Northampton, to ensure that any moves are clinically appropriate, safe, and consistent with national expectations for specialised neurological care.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of treatments for patients with rare diseases in a) Slough constituency and b) the South East.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases, and we acknowledge unmet need remains, with just 5% of rare diseases having an approved and effective treatment. The UK Rare Diseases Framework sets out four priorities collaboratively developed with the rare disease community, such as improving access to specialist care, treatments, and drugs, including in Slough. We published the fifth annual England action plan in February 2026, where we report on the steps we have taken to advance these priorities. These include:
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of mandatory pre-referral Advice and Guidance requirements from 1 April 2026 on workload transferred to GP practices, including the workload arising from acting on specialist advice responses, requesting and reviewing diagnostic investigations recommended by specialists, and managing patients while awaiting responses; and whether additional funding has been allocated to reflect that workload transfer.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Advice and Guidance (A&G) is designed to support quicker, clearer clinical decision making, by enabling general practitioners (GPs) and specialists to discuss and agree on the most appropriate next steps for a patient. The 2026/27 GP Contract does not mandate the use of A&G in all circumstances. Instead, practices are expected to use A&G prior to or in place of a planned care referral, where clinically appropriate, and to follow locally agreed referral pathways.
In 2025/26 we introduced a £20 payment for GPs for each A&G request, allocating up to a total of £80 million of new funding, which has supported significant increases in A&G. For 2026/27, this funding is being incorporated into the GP Contract to provide a consistent, streamlined approach that recognises the vital role of GPs in delivering A&G. Embedding A&G in the GP Contract recognises it as routine clinical practice, removes annual signups, and provides more predictable funding while supporting consistent patient pathways.
We are investing £485 million in GPs in 2026/27, bringing the total spend on the GP Contract to over £13.8 billion. This builds on last year’s £1.1 billion of investment. This uplift represents a 3.6% cash increase, or 1.4% real terms increase, and includes an assumed pay increase of 2.5%. As with previous years, we have asked the independent pay review body for Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration, for a pay recommendation for 2026/27 for the Government to consider.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the consistency of the mandatory Single Point of Access triage process with NHS England's Jess's Rule guidance; and what safeguards are in place to ensure that a mandatory Single Point of Access triage process does not return to primary care a patient whom a GP has referred in accordance with that guidance.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Single Point of Access (SPoA) triage process is consistent with Jess’s Rule.
Jess’s Rule is an NHS England patient safety initiative for primary care. It is designed for general practitioners (GPs) and supports them to reconsider a patient’s presentation and/or diagnosis where the patient has attended a GP three or more times and symptoms have escalated, or the diagnosis is uncertain.
Jess’s Rule can be used to support a GP’s decision on an appropriate referral within the SPoA model. SPoA will provide a more efficient approach to triaging patients, with all appropriate requests and referrals, excluding urgent suspect cancer, flowing through a single ‘front door’. SPoA supports clinical triage to the most appropriate service or outcome, meaning timelier, more joined-up care for patients. Patients will still have a choice about where they receive care.
Safeguards within the SPoA model include senior clinical oversight of triage decisions and the ability for primary care clinicians to re‑escalate concerns where symptoms persist, worsen, or remain unexplained. These arrangements aim to ensure patients who require specialist assessment are not inappropriately managed in the community, and that shared clinical judgement remains central to decision‑making.
Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Local Authorities have the right to move adults with disabilities to residential care away from their families and against the wishes of the individual and/or their families.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under section 9(5) of the Care Act 2014, local authorities are required to involve the adult concerned and, where appropriate, their carers, family members, or others with an interest in their welfare, when carrying out a needs assessment and considering how care and support needs should be met.
Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are also tasked with the duty to shape their care markets to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes commissioning a diverse range of care and support services that enable people to access quality care.
Local authorities should engage with people who draw on care and support, and their families and carers, to inform commissioning decisions and to consider the outcomes which matter to them. This is reflected in the Care and Support Statutory Guidance, which supports local authorities to fulfil their Care Act duties, including expectations around involvement and co‑production with people who draw on care and support and their families.
Under the Health and Care Act 2022, the Care Quality Commission has a statutory duty to assess how well local authorities are delivering their adult social care duties.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help encourage the use of community-based rehabilitation in the treatment of alcohol and substance use and addiction.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to ensuring that anyone with a drug or alcohol problem can access the help and support they need, and we recognise the need for evidence-based, high-quality treatment.
Local authorities are responsible for assessing local need for alcohol and drug prevention and treatment in their area and for commissioning services to meet these needs. Through the Public Health Grant, we are providing local authorities with £3.4 billion in ringfenced funding over the next three years for drug and alcohol treatment and recovery. This first multi-year settlement in over a decade gives local authorities the certainty to plan and invest for the medium term.
Additionally, the Department provides guidance and support to improve outcomes, for example last year we launched a self-assessment toolkit to help local areas to improve residential drug and alcohol treatment, which is available at the following link:
The Department also maintains regular engagement with commissioners and providers and works closely with other Government departments to improve pathways into treatment and foster recovery.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has for non-specific symptom pathways for earlier diagnosis of leukaemia and other blood cancers.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Early diagnosis is a key focus of the National Cancer Plan. It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including blood cancers, as early and quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, to improve outcomes.
To tackle the late diagnoses of blood cancers including leukaemia, the NHS 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, including leukaemia, are one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.
The NHS will improve early diagnosis and quicker treatment of blood cancers, including leukaemia, by expanding diagnostic services with investments in magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners. Furthermore, the 10-Year Health Plan’s commitment to putting digital health at the heart of the future health service and integrating that with a single patient record and neighbourhood health services, will mean that cancer patients will get the joined-up care they deserve.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what size by attendance of sporting or cultural events are within the scope of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) Regulations 2026.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
For providers of treatment of disease, disorder, or injury (TDDI), regulatory obligations do not vary by event type or the number of attendees. Restricting Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulation to larger events would risk unregulated providers operating at events where attendance is higher than anticipated and would create gaps in oversight at smaller events that may also require TDDI services.
The level of risk associated with an event cannot be determined by attendance figures alone. Event organisers are expected to draw on risk assessments, advice from Statutory Advisory Groups, and sector guidance such as the Purple and Green Guides to identify the appropriate level of event healthcare provision.
If, following this process, an organiser determines that first aid is sufficient for a small event, this position is unaffected. First aid does not fall within the definition of TDDI and will remain outside CQC regulation.