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 improve NHS staff (a) training and (b) understanding of tracheobronchomalacia.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Tracheobronchomalacia is an uncommon condition that may present with unexplained breathlessness, cough and 'difficult' asthma with wheeze.
NHS England has developed free e-learning modules for healthcare professionals focused on respiratory diseases, including early diagnosis and spirometry, chronic breathlessness, and asthma.
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 address the shortage of the drug pancrelipase for pancreatic exocrine insufficiency patients.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are ongoing supply issues with pancrelipase, also known by the brand name Creon, capsules, used by patients with conditions such as cystic fibrosis and certain cancers including pancreatic and neuroendocrine cancer. The Department is continuing to work with the suppliers of Creon and other licensed alternatives to help resolve the supply issues in the short and longer term. Through these discussions supply quantities have improved this year, and we are in regular communication with suppliers on expected volumes for 2026.The Department has also reached out to specialist importers who have sourced unlicensed stock to assist in covering the remaining gap in the market. We have widely disseminated comprehensive guidance to healthcare professionals, including National Health Service trusts, general practices, and pharmacies, about these supply issues, which provide advice on how to manage patients whilst there is disruption to supply. The Department will continue to work closely with the suppliers to resolve the issues as soon as possible, to ensure patients have continuous access to medicines.
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 help increase the availability of hydrocortisone for people with adrenal insufficiency.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is aware of supply issues affecting hydrocortisone sodium phosphate 100 milligram /1 millilitre solution for injection and has been in contact with the supplier of the alternative, hydrocortisone sodium succinate 100 milligram powder which remains available for patients.
We have issued comprehensive management guidance to healthcare professionals on how to manage patients while supply is disrupted. The guidance highlighted the differences between the two hydrocortisone injections. It also included resources for patients and healthcare professionals on how to administer the alternative hydrocortisone injection. Any patient who is worried about their condition should speak to their clinician in the first instance.
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 discussions he has had with NHS England on ensuring that NHS speech and language therapy services use evidence-based intervention dosages for children with moderate to severe speech sound disorders.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
All National Health Services, including speech and language therapy, should operate in accordance with the best available evidence-based practices. Where sufficient evidence exists, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) publishes formal guidance. Frontline services, including those delivering speech and language therapy, are expected to adhere to NICE guidance wherever it is available and applicable. A relevant NICE quality statement can be found at the following link:
In 2020, Public Health England published the Best Start in Speech, Language and Communication guidance to support local commissioners and service leads in meeting the needs of children in the early years, which can be found in the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/best-start-in-speech-language-and-communication
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 all brain tumour patients are routinely informed of opportunities to take part in (a) research and (b) clinical trials.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with brain tumours have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments.
The Department is ensuring that patients, including those with brain tumours, are informed about research opportunities relevant to them through 'Be Part of Research', a free service provided by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) that allows people in the UK to search for research studies and register their interest.
In addition, the Department funds research and research infrastructure across England through the NIHR which supports patients and the public to participate in high-quality research, including on brain tumours.
The Government is also supporting the Rare Cancers Private Members Bill. The Bill will make it easier for clinical trials on brain cancer to take place in England, by ensuring the patient population can be more easily contacted by researchers.
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 supply of Hyoscine hydrobromide 1.5mg patches.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is aware that hyoscine hydrobromide (Scopoderm) 1.5 milligram patches are currently out of stock with a resupply date yet to be confirmed. We are continuing to work closely with the sole supplier of this product and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to resolve this issue as soon as possible.
The Department issued comprehensive management guidance to the National Health Service, including all general practices and community pharmacists, on 21 September 2023. This management guidance includes information on a variety of alternative licensed medicines, and should these not be suitable or appropriate, clinicians can consider prescribing unlicensed hyoscine hydrobromide (Scopoderm) 1.5 milligram patches.
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 discussions he has had on increasing access to Palforzia treatment.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) assesses the clinical and cost effectiveness of new medicines on behalf of the National Health Service in England. Palforzia is an oral immunotherapy treatment for peanut allergy. In February 2022, NICE recommended Palforzia for NHS use as a possible treatment for peanut allergy in children and young people aged between four and 17 years old.
Once a medicine has been recommended for use in the NHS by NICE, the relevant NHS commissioners have 90 days within which to implement the NICE recommendation, after which they have a legal responsibility to make the treatment available to NHS patients. Additionally, any qualified prescriber can prescribe any medicine recommended by NICE, such as Palforzia. It is each integrated care board’s responsibility to commission services that will allow this medicine to be offered to their patients safely and effectively.
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 his Department has considered locating anaphylaxis kits in (a) schools, (b) supermarkets and (c) other public places.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Since October 2017, the Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2017 have allowed all schools to buy adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs) without a prescription, for emergency use on children who are at risk of anaphylaxis but whose own device is not available or not working. The Department has published non-statutory guidance to accompany this legislative change, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/using-emergency-adrenaline-auto-injectors-in-schools
This guidance advises schools on the recognition and management of an allergic reaction and anaphylaxis, and outlines when and how an AAI should be administered for pupils. The guidance makes clear that any AAIs held by a school should be considered a spare device and not a replacement for a pupil’s own AAIs. It also states that children at risk of anaphylaxis should have their own prescribed AAIs at school for use in an emergency, and that they should always carry two devices.
There are many implications that would need to be given careful consideration if anaphylaxis kits were to be located in supermarkets and other public places. For example, we would need to consider the impacts on supplies of AAIs for patients to whom they are prescribed. There are currently only two suppliers of AAIs and, whilst there is close monitoring of continuity of supply at current levels, a significant increase in demand for AAIs would require close collaboration with suppliers.
There are other technical and practical challenges. It is not uncommon for AAIs to reach the market with around 15 months or less to expiry, and so establishments holding spare AAIs would need to conduct regular checks on their expiry dates and replace them quite frequently.
The susceptibility of adrenaline to deterioration at high temperature, and of the delivery mechanism to be impaired at very low temperature, make a temperature-controlled environment necessary. AAIs could, therefore, not be placed in direct sunlight or in an outside environment susceptible to freezing.
AAIs are marketed with different adrenaline doses and needle lengths. Individual prescriptions take into account age and body weight.
The administration of AAIs is not intuitive for an untrained individual. There are different brands of AAIs and they are not considered generic equivalents of each other. There are device-specific characteristics, including needle length, dose and propulsion, that affect the delivery of adrenaline into the circulation. Certain brands have different instructions for use, according to the device mechanism. Each has a different mode of operation and requires specific training in use.
There is also concern for the security of AAIs in public places against malicious tampering and theft with criminal intent.
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 assessment he has made of the potential impact of widening the deployment of play therapy in supporting paediatric MRI scans on costs.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever. This involves ensuring that children receive the appropriate care and support whenever they need it.
To support this, NHS England and the charity Starlight have jointly launched the Play Well toolkit to help services identify opportunities to improve health play services. This guidance is the first publication of its kind, and is aimed at improving the experiences of babies, children, and young people.
Tools like the Play Well toolkit are intended to support best practice and reduce the need for sedation, which can contribute to better outcomes and potential cost savings. No formal assessment has yet been made of widening the deployment of play therapy in supporting paediatric MRI scans, specifically, on costs.
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, with reference the Answer of 12 May 2025 to Question 50325, what his planned timeline is for publishing the update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s report.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is carefully considering the valuable work done by the Patient Safety Commissioner and the resulting Hughes Report, which set out options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh. This is a complex area of work, involving several government departments and it is important that we get this right. We will be providing an update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s Report at the earliest opportunity however we are not currently able to give a timeline for a response.