Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
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 (a) diagnosis times and (b) access to care for people with inflammatory arthritis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Services for those with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, including arthritis, are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs). The Department expects MSK services to be fully incorporated into integrated care system planning and decision-making.
As announced in the Get Britain Working white paper, we are delivering the joint Department for Work and Pensions, Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England Getting It Right First-Time (GIRFT) MSK Community Delivery Programme. Launched in December 2024, with 17 ICBs selected in the first cohort, GIRFT teams have deployed their proven Further Faster model to work with ICB leaders to reduce MSK community waiting times, including for those with arthritis, and improve data, metrics, and referral pathways to wider support services. The GIRFT programme is continuing to develop the approach to better enable integrated care systems to commission the delivery of high-quality MSK services in the community, which will benefit patients now and into the future.
To support health and care professionals in the early diagnosis and management of rheumatoid arthritis, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published expert guidance for rheumatoid arthritis, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng100
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
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 support people living with rheumatoid arthritis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Services for those with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, including arthritis, are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs). The Department expects MSK services to be fully incorporated into integrated care system planning and decision-making.
As announced in the Get Britain Working white paper, we are delivering the joint Department for Work and Pensions, Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England Getting It Right First-Time (GIRFT) MSK Community Delivery Programme. Launched in December 2024, with 17 ICBs selected in the first cohort, GIRFT teams have deployed their proven Further Faster model to work with ICB leaders to reduce MSK community waiting times, including for those with arthritis, and improve data, metrics, and referral pathways to wider support services. The GIRFT programme is continuing to develop the approach to better enable integrated care systems to commission the delivery of high-quality MSK services in the community, which will benefit patients now and into the future.
To support health and care professionals in the early diagnosis and management of rheumatoid arthritis, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published expert guidance for rheumatoid arthritis, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng100
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to increase the number of specialist rheumatology nurses in the workforce.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The training of nurses is the responsibility of the health care independent statutory regulatory body, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). It has the general function of promoting high standards of education and coordinating all stages of education to ensure that nursing students and newly qualified nurses are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes essential for professional practice.
The training curricula for postgraduate training for nurses to specialise as a specialist rheumatology nurse is set by the Royal College of Nursing, and has to meet the standards set by the NMC.
We will publish a new workforce plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and to ensure the National Health Service has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency will complete its consideration of the recommendations of the Commission on Human Medicines on the findings of the Danielsson et al on primodos.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), together with wider Government, has committed to reviewing any new scientific evidence which comes to light.
The new publication by Danielsson et al has been reviewed by the MHRA, and advice has been sought from the Government’s independent advisory body, the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM), who have provided their independent expert advice on our assessment of whether the findings of the latest publication justify a further review. The MHRA will consider the recommendations given by the CHM before deciding whether any further action is warranted.
The minutes of the November CHM meeting will be made publicly available through the GOV.UK website at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to help support people affected by Primodos in Knowsley constituency.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
While the Government is sympathetic to the families who believe that they have suffered because of using Hormone Pregnancy Tests, the currently available scientific evidence does not support a causal association between the use of Hormone Pregnancy Tests during early pregnancy and adverse pregnancy outcomes.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has committed, together with the wider Government, to review any new scientific evidence which comes to light since the conclusions of the 2017 independent Expert Working Group convened by the Commission on Human Medicines.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department had allocated to the National Cancer Plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made a specific funding allocation for preparing the National Cancer Plan. Further funding for cancer services will be considered as part of the upcoming spending review.
The National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and aftercare. It will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care to improve the experience and outcomes for people with cancer, including anyone with secondary and metastatic cancer. Our goal is to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer over the next ten years. On 4 February 2025, we launched a Call for Evidence, in which the views of people across the country will inform our plan to improve cancer care. Those who wish to share their views can do so on the new online platform. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/shaping-the-national-cancer-plan
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
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 access to specialist speech and language therapy services in Knowsley constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust is committed to improving timely access to Knowsley Paediatric Speech and Language Therapy. There are currently 115 children and young people awaiting their first appointment in Knowsley. 94% of these are within the 18-week waiting time standard, with the average wait time approximately eight weeks.
The trust continues to work with partners to reduce waiting times with children and young people being prioritised for follow up appointments based on clinical need, the level of clinical risk and we ensure they are waiting safely. The trust will also continue to work in partnership with partners and families to meet the speech, language and communication needs of children and young people in the most appropriate setting to their therapy needs and speech therapy goals.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to specialist speech and language therapy services for children in (a) Merseyside and (b) Knowsley constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department regularly monitors waiting lists for community services, including speech and language therapy, and is committed to reducing long waits and improving timely access to community health services, including for speech and language therapy services for children. Community health services, including speech and language therapy, are locally commissioned to enable systems to best meet the needs of their communities.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
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 care for people living with arthritis.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
Services for those with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, including arthritis, are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs). The Department expects MSK services to be fully incorporated into integrated care system planning and decision-making.
As announced in the Get Britain Working white paper, we are delivering the joint Department for Work and Pensions, the Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England Getting It Right First-Time (GIRFT) MSK Community Delivery Programme. With a £3.5 million funding boost, the GIRFT teams will deploy their proven Further Faster model to work with ICB leaders to further reduce MSK community waiting times, including for those with arthritis, and improve data and metrics, and referral pathways to wider support services.
We will deliver an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments per week during our first year in Government, as a first step in our commitment to ensuring patients can expect to be treated within 18 weeks. The Government announced £1.5 billion of new capital investment in the Autumn Budget, including investment for new diagnostic scanners and surgical hubs. This investment in scanners will build capacity for over 30,000 additional procedures and 1.25 million diagnostic tests as they come online.
To support health and care professionals in the early diagnosis and management of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, and in the provision of services for people living with arthritis, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published expert guidance for rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, which are available, respectively, at the following two links:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng100
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng226
The Department funds research into MSK conditions, including arthritis, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Through that route, the Department spent approximately £26.3 million on MSK research in 2023/24 and £79.2 million since 2019/20. In particular, the Leeds Biomedical Research Centre aims to improve treatment for osteoarthritis. The NIHR, in collaboration with Versus Arthritis, also funds a dedicated UK Musculoskeletal Translational Research Collaboration, aligning investment in MSK translational research and creating a United Kingdom-wide ambition and focus to drive cutting edge research and improve outcomes for patients.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
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 potential implications for his policies of the level of health inequalities in Knowsley constituency.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The United Kingdom faces significant health inequalities, with life expectancy varying widely across and within communities. The Government is committed to building a fairer Britain by tackling the structural inequalities that contribute to poor health, particularly for disadvantaged groups.
Existing initiatives to reduce inequalities in relation to health services in England include NHS England’s ‘Core 20 Plus 5’, which focuses on improving the five clinical areas at most need of accelerated improvement in the poorest 20 percent of the population, along with other underserved population groups identified at a local level, including groups that share protected characteristics, and socially excluded groups such as people experiencing homelessness.
The Office of Health Improvement and Disparities’ North West Regional Team provides system leadership for population health and reducing health inequalities across the North West. Across Cheshire and Merseyside, partners are working together as part of the All Together Fairer collaborative to improve health equity and the social determinants of health through measurable actions for each place to create a fairer, more equitable society.
Knowsley is one of 75 local authorities with high levels of deprivation receiving funding to improve outcomes for families with babies as part of the approximately £300 million Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme.