Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 5 February (HL13800), whether they plan to conduct periodic reviews of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation's cost-effectiveness methodology to ensure that it remains up-to-date and appropriate.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have one of the most comprehensive vaccination programmes in the world. Our approach to evaluating vaccination programmes is informed by expert recommendations and advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). Working closely with the UK Health Security Agency‑based JCVI secretariat, the Department ensures that the cost-effectiveness methodology for assessing vaccination programmes continues to enable the committee to advise on programmes that deliver the greatest health benefit to the greatest number of people.
The Department maintains oversight of this methodology on an ongoing basis, with particular focus when the range of available evidence and underlying evidence landscape changes over time. Those changes may arise from time to time at irregular intervals, and so it is unlikely to be helpful to review the methodology at fixed and regular intervals.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 5 February (HL13800), what assessment they have made of whether a health-systems focus on the benefits of vaccines and immunisations may disadvantage prevention within the health technology appraisals process.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The cost-effectiveness methodology used by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) ensures that decisions are objective, consistent, and based on high-quality data on health benefits and costs. This approach is not understood to disadvantage vaccinations and immunisations as a form of prevention when compared with treatments, therapeutic health measures, or other forms of prevention.
This is because, similar to the JCVI, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence also applies a health‑sector perspective when appraising preventative and treatment interventions. Beyond vaccines, many other health interventions can generate wider societal or economic benefits, and so applying an appraisal approach across the health system which is consistently focused on health benefits does not uniquely disadvantage vaccinations or immunisations.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential merits of including a dementia diagnosis pathway in the Modern Service Framework for Dementia and Frailty.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In developing the Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Frailty and Dementia, we are engaging with a wide group of partners to understand what should be included to ensure the best outcomes for people living with frailty and dementia.
We will consider what interventions should be supported to improve diagnosis waiting times, which we know are too long in many areas. We are considering all options to help reduce variation, including reviewing metrics and targets.
We will also review existing guidance and literature, including the Dementia 100 pathway assessment tool, which continues the work of the Dementia Care Pathway and covers all elements of the Well Pathway, including diagnosis.
We are working to develop the content of the framework as soon as possible and we will keep partners updated on progress and timings as this work unfolds. We are committed to publishing an interim product in September this year to feed into National Health Service and local government planning cycles, and will aim to publish the full MSF by the end of this calendar year.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what appointments they have made to the task and finish groups responsible for developing the modern service frameworks for (1) dementia, and (2) frailty; what meetings those groups have held to date; and when those groups plan to meet next.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Frailty and Dementia Modern Service Framework Task and Finish Group is an advisory body to offer insight and guidance, helping to shape the Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia by drawing on expertise from across the health and care system. It will be co-chaired by:
We are unable to confirm the names of others invited to join the task and finish groups at this time, as we are still awaiting confirmation that they have accepted the invite. The first meeting is scheduled for 25 March 2026, and these meetings will occur monthly. We are working to develop the content of the framework as soon as possible and we will keep partners updated on progress and timings as this work unfolds.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what diagnostic and performance data will be collected by services as part of the modern service framework for frailty and dementia, and whether this data will be reported publicly.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In developing the Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia, we are engaging with a wide group of partners to understand what should be included to ensure the best outcomes for people living with frailty and dementia.
As part of this exercise, we will consider what interventions and performance data should be supported to improve care for those living with dementia and frailty. We are considering all options to help reduce variation and to improve care, including reviewing metrics, data, and targets.
We are working to develop the content of the framework as soon as possible and we will keep partners updated on progress and timings as this work unfolds.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what measures will be included in the modern service framework for frailty and dementia to address current waiting times, and whether this will include a specific target for referral-to-treatment waiting times.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In developing the Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia, we are engaging with a wide group of partners to understand what should be included to ensure the best outcomes for people living with frailty and dementia.
As part of this exercise, we will consider what interventions should be supported to improve diagnosis waiting times, which we know are too long in many areas. We are considering all options to help reduce variation, including reviewing metrics and targets.
We are working to develop the content of the framework as soon as possible and we will keep partners updated on progress and timings as this work unfolds.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure transparency and accountability in evaluation of the modern service framework.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In developing the Modern Service Framework for Frailty and Dementia, we are engaging with a wide group of partners to understand what should be included to ensure the best outcomes for people living with dementia and frailty.
We are working to develop the content of the framework as soon as possible and we will keep partners updated on progress and timings as this work unfolds. We will also consider how best to evaluate the implementation of the modern service framework.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the support for travel costs for children and young people with cancer introduced in the National Cancer Plan for England will be for England only or whether support will also be available for those in other nations, who may travel to England for some or all of their care; and whether any Barnett consequentials will arise from this funding.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department knows that the cost of travel is an important issue for many young cancer patients and their families across the United Kingdom.
Through the National Cancer Plan for England, the Government is committing up to £10 million a year to a new fund open to all children and young people in England with cancer and their families regardless of income, to support them with the cost of travelling to and from treatment. This commitment sits alongside wider action to transform cancer care for children and young people. The Department is currently working with its partners to define the scope and parameters of the scheme and further detail will be announced in due course.
Health is predominately devolved. Devolved governments receive funding through the Barnett Formula, and it is ultimately for them to allocate, prioritise, and manage their budgets. This funding is not new and so Barnett consequentials do not apply. However, the Department does work closely with our counterparts in the devolved governments to share expertise and identify new opportunities to improve health and social care delivery across the UK.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve targeted case-finding and earlier diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in community settings.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
To enable faster diagnosis of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and earlier treatment, access to spirometry tests in community diagnostic centres (CDCs) is growing and will continue to do so as more sites come online. The first five months of 2025/26 saw an increase in CDC spirometry testing of approximately 2,000 tests per month more than in the previous year.
As of November 2025, CDCs are now delivering additional tests and checks in 170 sites across the country. 101 CDCs across the country now offer out of hours services, 12 hours a day, seven days a week, meaning patients can access vital diagnostic tests around busy working lives.
Research into new diagostic tests for COPD, such as computed cardiopulmonography and N-Tidal Diagnose, is underway. Discussions on whether new diagnostic pathways could be developed will be dependent on the research findings.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the National Cancer Board will be accountable for the children and young people’s chapter of the National Cancer Plan for England; and, if so, how it will ensure sufficient representation from the children and young people sector.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Cancer Plan for England, published on the 4 February 2026, sets out several commitments and ambitions, to be delivered within the next 10 years. The role of the reformed National Cancer Board will be to support and monitor the delivery of the commitments and ambitions and provide regular updates to ministers.
The board will be co-chaired by the Director General for Planned Care in the Department, as well as an independent representative. It is important to choose the most suitable appointment process for selecting an independent representative to co-chair the board. Officials from NHS England and the Department are carefully following the required public appointments procedures for the selection of the independent representative.
The reformed National Cancer Board will be established once a co-chair is appointed, which will include a children and young people cancer lead that will support the delivery of the children and young people commitments in the National Cancer Plan.