Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she expects joint non-statutory guidance from the Department for Education, the Department for Health and Social Care and the NHS on how clinical healthcare is delivered in schools to be published.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Schools are not responsible for clinical healthcare tasks. Healthcare tasks can be delegated to staff in schools and other education settings where the responsible healthcare professional considers delegation safe and appropriate.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) both include a regulatory standard requiring registrants to delegate only when they are satisfied that the other person is competent to carry out the delegated task safely and require the healthcare practitioner to supervise and support those who are delegated to. Further information can be found at: https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards/code/ and https://www.hcpc-uk.org/standards/standards-of-conduct-performance-and-ethics/.
The department and the Department of Health and Social Care will publish guidance on clinical healthcare in schools in due course.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what action she is taking to support school teachers who are responsible for administering healthcare to students with medical conditions.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Schools are not responsible for clinical healthcare tasks. Healthcare tasks can be delegated to staff in schools and other education settings where the responsible healthcare professional considers delegation safe and appropriate.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) both include a regulatory standard requiring registrants to delegate only when they are satisfied that the other person is competent to carry out the delegated task safely and require the healthcare practitioner to supervise and support those who are delegated to. Further information can be found at: https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards/code/ and https://www.hcpc-uk.org/standards/standards-of-conduct-performance-and-ethics/.
The department and the Department of Health and Social Care will publish guidance on clinical healthcare in schools in due course.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
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 ensure that people diagnosed with leukaemia have adequate access to haematology specialists.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Cancer Plan for England, released on 4 February 2026, sets out a commitment to diagnose cancers earlier and ensure people receive timely, effective treatment.
The Government is committed to helping the NHS England detect cancers, including blood cancers, earlier and provide faster treatment to improve outcomes.
NHS England uses non‑specific symptom pathways for people presenting with symptoms such as unexplained weight loss, fatigue or general illness that do not point to a particular cancer type. These pathways are especially important for detecting blood cancers, which often present with vague or non‑specific symptoms.
In addition to ongoing investment in diagnostic capacity, including new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) scanners, we will support NHS England to diagnose all cancers, including blood cancers, earlier and ensure patients can begin treatment as quickly as possible.
The Department will work to end the postcode lottery to ensure that access to the best cancer diagnosis, treatment and care is available for everyone, including leukaemia patients.
The Department is working with partners such as the Royal College of Pathologists, Cancer Alliances, and genomics programme leads to strengthen diagnostic workforce capacity across cancer services, including pathology and cancer genomics. This includes investment in new training pathways, digital pathology, and genomics education, all of which support timely and accurate diagnosis for people with blood cancers, including leukemia.
NHS England is investing in expanding specialty training posts in high-demand disciplines, including haematology, and is supporting local systems to retain and develop multidisciplinary teams. This includes increasing medical training posts in haematology and enhancing the scientific workforce supply through initiatives such as the Scientist Training Programme and Higher Specialist Scientist Training.
As of February 2026, there are 2,318 full-time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the specialty of Haematology in National Health Service trusts and other core organisations in England. This is 130, or 6%, more than a year ago. This also includes 1,082 FTE consultants, which is 51, or 4.9%, more than a year ago.
We will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan later this spring to put the NHS workforce on a sustainable footing so staff can deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
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 reduce the number of emergency diagnoses for leukaemia patients.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including blood cancers such leukaemia, as early and quickly as possible to improve outcomes.
To tackle late diagnoses leukaemia, 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.
The NHS will diagnose leukaemia earlier and will treat it faster. In April 2026, the Department announced its plan to open four new community diagnostic centres during 2026/27. The Department also announced that a further 32 existing centres will be expanded and enhanced. The 36 centres are backed by a £237 million Government investment.
To improve survival, the National Cancer Plan for England commits to reducing the number of rare cancers, such as leukaemia, diagnosed in emergency settings. The Department and NHS England will address this by publishing regular data on the number of these cancers diagnosed in emergency settings, as a proxy for late or ineffective diagnosis. Adding this to the basket of early diagnosis metrics will help incentivise systems and providers to focus on earlier diagnosis of blood cancers.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
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 expedite full blood count referrals for patients with suspected leukaemia symptoms.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Cancer Plan for England, published on 4 February 2026, sets out a commitment to diagnose cancers earlier and ensure people receive timely, effective treatment. The Government is committed to helping NHS England detect cancers, including blood cancers, earlier and provide faster treatment to improve outcomes.
NHS England uses non‑specific symptom pathways for people presenting with symptoms such as unexplained weight loss, fatigue, or general illness that do not point to a particular cancer type. These pathways are especially important for detecting blood cancers, which often present with vague or non‑specific symptoms.
In addition, ongoing investment in diagnostic capacity, including new magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners, the Government will support NHS England to diagnose all cancers, including blood cancers, earlier to ensure patients can begin treatment as quickly as possible.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has a guideline on suspected cancer called Recognition and referral, which aims to support the identification of children, young people, and adults with symptoms that could be caused by cancer. The guideline provides guidance on appropriate investigations in primary care, and the selection of people to refer for a specialist opinion. The guideline recommends that people with specific symptoms should be offered a very urgent full blood count to assess for leukaemia. Local National Health Service organisations are expected to take NICE guidelines fully into account in ensuring that their services meet the needs of their local populations. The NHS is held to account to deliver guidelines, which include all NICE directions, at a local and regional level.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her department is taking to support autistic students with Pathological Demand Avoidance in mainstream school settings.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Manchester Rusholme, to the answer of 15 April 2026 to Question 121149.