Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to increase public confidence in policing in Gloucester.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
As part of the Safer Street’s Mission, the Government has set out an ambition to halve violence against women and girls, halve knife crime and restore public confidence in policing, including through the delivery of a Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.
Provision has been made for £1,527,344 of funding to Gloucestershire Constabulary to kickstart the increase of neighbourhood policing personnel in 2025/26.
Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
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 increase (a) funding and (b) support for research into endometriosis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Over the past 10 years, the NIHR has invested approximately £11.2 million into research with a focus on endometriosis and continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of women’s health, including endometriosis.
To support further research into women’s health, in 2024 the NIHR launched two new funding calls for studies seeking to improve the health and wellbeing of women. Details of the successful funding awards will be published on the NIHR’s website later this year.
Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
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 support phlebotomists in Gloucester.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local organisations are responsible for supporting their workforce, including staff in phlebotomy roles. We are aware of local industrial action in Gloucester. This is a local issue for the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to manage, working in partnership with trade unions.
Asked by: Alex McIntyre (Labour - Gloucester)
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 improve access to treatment for people with alopecia areata in Gloucester.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to supporting all those living with dermatological conditions, including alopecia areata. Dermatology services are being transformed to make sure that patients are seen on time. NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time Programme for Dermatology is working with National Health Service trusts to deliver rapid clinical transformation. The work brings together clinicians and operational teams to work collectively to transform patient pathways, reduce unnecessary appointments, and improve access and waiting times for patients.
In March 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended ritlecitinib as an option for treating severe alopecia areata in people 12 years old and over. The NHS is legally required to make funding available for treatments recommended in NICE technology appraisal guidance within three months of publication of the guidance, opening the way for patients across the country, including in Gloucester, to access this treatment.
It is a clinician’s responsibility to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of their patient, whilst ensuring they are taking account of appropriate national guidance on clinical effectiveness, as well as the local commissioning decisions of their respective integrated care board (ICB), in this case the NHS Gloucestershire ICB.