Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
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 potential benefits of making prostate cancer screening mandatory.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Screening for prostate cancer is currently not recommended by the UK National Screening Committees (UK NSC). This is because of the inaccuracy of the current best test, called the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA). A PSA-based screening programme could harm some men as many would be diagnosed with a cancer that would not have caused them problems during their life. This would lead to additional tests and treatments which can also have harmful side effects, such as sexual dysfunction and incontinence.
The UK NSC regularly reviews its recommendations, and the evidence review for prostate cancer screening is underway and plans to report within the UK NSC’s three-year work plan.
The evidence review includes modelling the clinical effectiveness and cost of several approaches to prostate cancer screening, including different potential ways of screening the whole population from 40 years of age onwards, and targeted screening aimed at groups of people identified as being at higher than average risk, such as black men or men with a family history of cancer.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had on the provision of Enhurtu to Her2 low metastatic breast cancer patients.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department’s ministers and officials have had a number of recent meetings at which the issue of the availability of Enhertu for the treatment of HER2 low metastatic breast cancer has been discussed, including with Breast Cancer Now and other campaigners.
The Government wants patients to be able to benefit from access to innovative and effective new treatments such as Enhertu at a price that fairly reflects the benefits that they bring to patients, and does not displace funding for other valuable treatments and services. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and NHS England have been clear with the companies that the price represents the main barrier to access to Enhertu for patients with HER2 low breast cancer, and we encourage the companies to come forward with an improved commercial offer.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
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 waiting times for non-cancerous gynaecological services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission and a top priority for the Government, as we get the National Health Service back on its feet. Equality of both access to care and outcomes will be at the heart of building an NHS that is fit for the future. This includes ensuring that women’s health is not neglected.
We have committed to achieving the NHS Constitutional standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment by the end of this Parliament, which includes those waiting for gynaecology treatment. To achieve this, we will deliver an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments per week, and will increase the number of computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and other tests, that are needed to reduce elective and cancer waits. This urgent work will help the nearly 600,000 women on gynaecology waiting lists get the care they need.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to shorten the diagnosis time for endometriosis.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Endometriosis is a common gynaecological condition, estimated to affect one in 10 women of reproductive age. Endometriosis can significantly impact women and girls’ physical and mental health, and anyone with symptoms of endometriosis should contact their general practice.
Cutting waiting lists is a key priority for the Government, and we are committed to prioritising women’s health as we build a National Health Service fit for the future. We will deliver an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments per week, as a first step in our commitment to ensuring patients can expect to be treated within 18 weeks.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to improve access to clinical trials for those affected by brain tumours.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to implementing the recommendations of Lord O'Shaughnessy’s review into commercial clinical trials, making sure that the United Kingdom leads the world in clinical trials, and ensuring that innovative, lifesaving treatments are accessible to National Health Service patients, including those with brain tumours.
The Department funded National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) funds research and research infrastructure, which supports patients and the public to participate in high-quality research.
In addition, the NIHR provides an online service called Be Part of Research, which promotes participation in health and social care research by allowing users to search for relevant studies and register their interest. This makes it easier for people to find and take part in health and care research that is relevant to them.
When designing research studies, researchers consider inclusion and exclusion criteria carefully to ensure they are not unnecessarily excluding specific groups who would benefit from the outcome of their study. The Health Research Authority is developing guidance to improve practices in this area.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that medical students receive adequate training during hospital placements.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The standard of training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC), who set the outcomes and standards expected at undergraduate level. Medical schools are responsible for their curricula, and for ensuring that they deliver high quality placements that enable their students to meet the GMC’s requirements. The GMC have issued guidance on placement quality, which is available at the following link:
In addition, placements must meet NHS England’s Quality Framework, which is monitored locally in collaboration with medical schools, and is available at the following link:
https://www.hee.nhs.uk/our-work/quality
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the availability of face-to-face GP appointments in Hitchin constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government knows that patients are finding it harder than ever to access general practice (GP) appointments. Patients can’t get through the front door of the National Health Service, so they aren’t getting the timely care they need.
We have pledged to guarantee a face-to-face appointment for all those who want one. We will make sure the future of the NHS is sustainable by training thousands more GPs, ensuring increased capacity to deliver this commitment, and securing a future pipeline of GPs.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to mental health services in Hitchin constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
People with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they deserve, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure that mental health is given the same attention and focus as physical health, so that people can be confident in accessing high quality mental health support when they need it. We will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to reduce delays and provide faster treatment, which will also help ease pressure on hospitals. By cutting mental health waiting lists and intervening earlier with more timely mental health support, we can get this country, including in the Hitchin constituency, back to health.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
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 provide (a) support and (b) resources to help GP surgeries clear (i) patient backlogs and (ii) increasing workloads in Hitchin constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government intends to fix the front door to the National Health Service, and increase the proportion of funding for primary care. We understand that this will require both investment and reform. We will also make sure the future of general practice (GP) is sustainable by training thousands more GPs across the country, to take the pressure off those currently working within the system, ensure increased capacity across the NHS, and to secure a future pipeline of GPs. Additionally, NHS England has made a number of recruitment and retention schemes available to GPs.
The Government will bring back the family doctor, incentivising continuity of care so patients can see the same doctor at each appointment, which is key in reducing duplication of work, so patients with ongoing or complex conditions get the best care possible.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Hitchin)
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 social care capacity in Hitchin constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the needs of their population, which is why, under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care market to meet the diverse needs of all local people. In performing that duty, a local authority must have regard to the need to ensure that it is aware of current and likely future demand for such services and to consider how providers might meet that demand.
The Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund (MSIF), includes grant conditions which require each local authority to submit an adult social care capacity plan. These were submitted to the department in June 2024. The member’s local authority, Hertfordshire, submitted their 2024/25 capacity plan which is currently undergoing processing and quality assurance.