Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
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 merits of making additional funding available to support the work of the Institute of Cancer Research.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment the Department has made of the potential impact of using the Making Every Contact Count approach on improving access to (a) HPV vaccination and (b) cervical screening, as part of the Government's ambition to eliminate cervical cancer in England by 2040.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Cervical Screening Programme is highly effective at preventing cancer as well as detecting disease early, primarily through the identification and treatment of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) and pre-cancerous changes.
On 25 August 2026, the National Health Service in England announced the roll out the new self-testing kits to encourage more women to complete their potentially lifesaving screening to detect HPV, which can increase the risk of cervical cancer.
NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency do not routinely report or publish HPV vaccination coverage data for post-school-age catch-up cohorts. Approaches to evaluating the impact of the 2025/26 general practice HPV vaccination catch-up campaign on vaccination uptake among eligible young people are currently being explored.
Health is a devolved matter, and cancer services in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are the responsibility of their respective administrations. The National Cancer Plan therefore applies to England only, while we continue to work closely with devolved administrations to share learning and best practice.
No formal assessment of the Making Every Contact Count impact on HPV vaccination or cervical screening is planned although we recognise its importance in encouraging uptake of vaccination and screening services. Uptake of HPV vaccination and coverage of cervical screening will continue to be monitored through established programme arrangements.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when does the Department plan to publish data on the outcomes of the national 2025–26 GP human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination catch-up campaign; and what assessment has it made of the campaign's effectiveness in improving HPV vaccination coverage among eligible young people.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Cervical Screening Programme is highly effective at preventing cancer as well as detecting disease early, primarily through the identification and treatment of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) and pre-cancerous changes.
On 25 August 2026, the National Health Service in England announced the roll out the new self-testing kits to encourage more women to complete their potentially lifesaving screening to detect HPV, which can increase the risk of cervical cancer.
NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency do not routinely report or publish HPV vaccination coverage data for post-school-age catch-up cohorts. Approaches to evaluating the impact of the 2025/26 general practice HPV vaccination catch-up campaign on vaccination uptake among eligible young people are currently being explored.
Health is a devolved matter, and cancer services in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are the responsibility of their respective administrations. The National Cancer Plan therefore applies to England only, while we continue to work closely with devolved administrations to share learning and best practice.
No formal assessment of the Making Every Contact Count impact on HPV vaccination or cervical screening is planned although we recognise its importance in encouraging uptake of vaccination and screening services. Uptake of HPV vaccination and coverage of cervical screening will continue to be monitored through established programme arrangements.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what arrangements are in place to enable the sharing of good practice on cervical cancer elimination between the UK Government, the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Cervical Screening Programme is highly effective at preventing cancer as well as detecting disease early, primarily through the identification and treatment of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) and pre-cancerous changes.
On 25 August 2026, the National Health Service in England announced the roll out the new self-testing kits to encourage more women to complete their potentially lifesaving screening to detect HPV, which can increase the risk of cervical cancer.
NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency do not routinely report or publish HPV vaccination coverage data for post-school-age catch-up cohorts. Approaches to evaluating the impact of the 2025/26 general practice HPV vaccination catch-up campaign on vaccination uptake among eligible young people are currently being explored.
Health is a devolved matter, and cancer services in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are the responsibility of their respective administrations. The National Cancer Plan therefore applies to England only, while we continue to work closely with devolved administrations to share learning and best practice.
No formal assessment of the Making Every Contact Count impact on HPV vaccination or cervical screening is planned although we recognise its importance in encouraging uptake of vaccination and screening services. Uptake of HPV vaccination and coverage of cervical screening will continue to be monitored through established programme arrangements.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she has taken to prepare the NHS for the health impacts of future heatwaves, including measures to improve cooling infrastructure in healthcare settings.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 16 July 2026 in response to Question 17199.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 7 July 2026 to Question 15439, which national clinical guideline or professional standard sets out the requirement for healthcare providers to evaluate a patient's comorbidities, psychiatric history and risk of adverse drug reactions before initiating preventive migraine treatment; and where in that guideline or standard the requirement is stated.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline CG150, Headaches in over 12s: diagnosis and management, explicitly directs healthcare professionals to discuss the benefits and risks of prophylactic treatment with the patient, taking into account the patient’s preferences, comorbidities, and the risk of adverse events, as per Recommendation 1.3.17.
While "comorbidities" and "adverse events" serve as the overarching rule for all preventatives, NICE includes explicit instructions to evaluate psychiatric history and self-harm risks when choosing specific first-line medications, specifically Propranolol and Amitriptyline, as per Recommendation 1.3.18. For clinicians considering Amitriptyline as a preventative option, CG150 directs them to align their evaluation with NICE Guideline NG215, Medicines associated with dependence or withdrawal symptoms, requiring a thorough review of the patient's full medical and psychological history before prescribing.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, What was the gender and ethnic breakdown of donations deffered due to low Hb levels for the period between a) 1st June 2024 - 31st May 2025 and b) 1 June 2025–31 May 2026.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, How many blood donations were a)completed and b) deffered between a) 1st June 2024 - 31st May 2025 and b) 1 June 2025–31 May 2026, and whether he will provide the gender and ethnic breakdown of donors.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of blood donors with Ro blood type have had their donations deferred in the period between 1 May 2025 and 30 April 2026; and what was the reason for those deferrals.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for collecting blood donations across England, in order to fulfil hospital requests to meet patient need.
Between 1 May 2025 and 30 April 2026, there were 60,928 attendances by Ro blood type donors at blood donation appointments in England, 8,021 of which resulted in deferral. This represents 13.2% of Ro donor attendances.
The following table shows the number of Ro donor deferrals, the percentage of Ro donor attendances, and the percentage of total Ro deferrals, broken down by the reason for deferral:
Reason | Number of Ro donor deferrals | Percentage of Ro donor attendances | Percentage of total Ro deferrals |
Administrative | 218 | 0.4% | 2.7% |
Blood Pressure | 59 | 0.1% | 0.7% |
Clinical | 84 | 0.1% | 1.0% |
Haemoglobin | 4588 | 7.5% | 57.2% |
Infection/Contact | 502 | 0.8% | 6.3% |
Medical | 1447 | 2.4% | 18.0% |
No Suitable Vein | 220 | 0.4% | 2.7% |
Other | 308 | 0.5% | 3.8% |
Skin Piercing | 267 | 0.4% | 3.3% |
Surgery | 94 | 0.2% | 1.2% |
Travel/Malaria | 194 | 0.3% | 2.4% |
Vaccination | 40 | 0.1% | 0.5% |
Total | 8021 | 13.2% | 100.0% |
This data is from NHSBT’s Deferrals Dashboard and was extracted on 17 July 2026. It refers to whole blood donors only and does not include plasma or platelet donors.
The broad deferral reasons above cover a range of more specific reasons for deferral. A more detailed breakdown cannot be provided without accessing individual donor records.
It is the intention of NHSBT to start publishing relevant data in this area on a more regular basis in future as part of its official statistical publications.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 21 May 2026 to Question 2142 on Blood: Donors, how does the number of blood donors with the RO subtype who completed donations in the 12 month period compare with the number of donations completed by this group in the same 12 month period the year prior.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for collecting blood donations across England, in order to fulfil hospital requests to meet patient need.
Between 1 May 2025 and 30 April 2026, 27,984 donors with Ro subtype blood completed at least one blood donation. This data was extracted from NHSBT’s Monthly Collections Dashboard on 20 May 2026.
Between 1 May 2024 and 30 April 2025, 26,675 donors with Ro subtype blood completed at least one blood donation. This data was extracted from NHSBT’s Monthly Collections Dashboard on 17 July 2026.
It is the intention of NHSBT to start publishing relevant data in this area on a more regular basis in future as part of its official statistical publications.