Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
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 help people in South East Cornwall constituency to access healthcare services in Devon using the Tamar Crossings.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government acknowledges that the Tamar Crossings are an important local issue. We are determined to work with the National Health Service to ensure that everyone can access a general practice and other healthcare services, and we will move towards a Neighbourhood Health Service, with more care delivered in local communities.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
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 gambling harm (a) prevention and (b) early intervention services will receive support following the transition of gambling harm treatment commissioning to the NHS (i) in isolated communities and (ii) for vulnerable and higher-risk groups in Cornwall.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 12 February 2025, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) was appointed as the lead commissioning body for the prevention of gambling-related harms in England, alongside the appropriate bodies in Scotland and Wales.
OHID is progressing work on the design of the new commissioning programme, working closely with NHS England as a future treatment commissioner, and with the responsible bodies in Scotland and Wales, to ensure alignment across prevention, early intervention, and treatment, so that those in need can access the right help at the right time. Decisions on how the levy funding will be allocated will be confirmed at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made in determining which body will be responsible for (a) commissioning and (b) providing strategic direction for (i) community engagement, (ii) prevention and (iii) early intervention for gambling harms.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 12 February 2025, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) was appointed as the lead commissioning body for the prevention of gambling-related harms in England, alongside the appropriate bodies in Scotland and Wales.
OHID is progressing work on the design of the new commissioning programme, working closely with NHS England as a future treatment commissioner, and with the responsible bodies in Scotland and Wales, to ensure alignment across prevention, early intervention, and treatment, so that those in need can access the right help at the right time. Decisions on how the levy funding will be allocated will be confirmed at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to allocate funding for community-based programmes for gambling harm (a) prevention and (b) early intervention in (i) rural, (ii) hard-to-reach and (iii) other areas.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 12 February 2025, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) was appointed as the lead commissioning body for the prevention of gambling-related harms in England, alongside the appropriate bodies in Scotland and Wales.
OHID is progressing work on the design of the new commissioning programme, working closely with NHS England as a future treatment commissioner, and with the responsible bodies in Scotland and Wales, to ensure alignment across prevention, early intervention, and treatment, so that those in need can access the right help at the right time. Decisions on how the levy funding will be allocated will be confirmed at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
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 help improve health outcomes for patients with rare diseases, in the context of the recent announcement by NHS Specialised Commissioning on (a) dabrafenib and (b) trametinib.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In January 2021, the Government published the UK Rare Diseases Framework providing a national vision for how to improve the lives of those living with rare diseases. The 2025 England Rare Diseases Action Plan was published on 28 February 2025.
Dabrafenib and trametinib are medicines mostly used for children with cancer. We are committed to getting the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster so that more children and young people survive, and we will improve young cancer patients’ experience across the system.
That is why on 4 February 2025 we relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce to identify tangible ways to improve outcomes and experience for children and young people with cancer. The taskforce will explore opportunities for improvement across detection and diagnosis, genomic testing and treatment, research and innovation, and patient experience.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
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 meet priority four of the policy paper entitled The UK Rare Diseases Framework, published on 9 January 2021.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases. The UK Rare Diseases Framework sets out four priorities collaboratively developed with the rare disease community, which includes priority four on improving access to specialist care, treatments, and drugs. We remain committed to delivering under the framework, and published the fourth England action plan on 28 February 2025.
Under priority four:
- we have worked with industry, clinicians, and patients to understand the challenges and opportunities of early access pathways for rare disease therapies;
- we have committed to continuing to keep the effectiveness of the schemes for rare treatments under review;
- the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has launched a review of its highly specialised technology programme for evaluating rare disease treatments;
- introduced action 38 on reforming clinical trial regulations; and
- introduced action 39 on developing an operational framework for individualised therapies in the National Health Service.
For further details, the 2025 England Rare Diseases Action Plan is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/england-rare-diseases-action-plan-2025
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
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 access to targeted treatments for patients with rare cancers, such as Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis and Erdheim Chester Disease.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to working with the pharmaceutical industry to develop a more efficient, more competitive, and more accessible clinical research system in the United Kingdom, ensuring that all patients, including those with rarer cancers like Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis and Erdheim Chester disease, have access to cutting-edge clinical research and innovative, lifesaving treatments.
We are also committed to improving waiting times for cancer treatment, so that people with cancer, including rarer cancers, can get access to the care they need more quickly. We will start by delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, as the first step to ensuring early diagnosis and faster treatment.
Finally, the National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology. The plan will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care, to improve the experience and outcomes for people with cancer, including rare and less common cancers.