Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timetable is for completion of the TRANSFORM trial into prostate cancer screening.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The TRANSFORM study, funded in partnership with Prostate Cancer UK, will look at new ways of screening for prostate cancer, and will include a national randomised control trial that will provide the definitive data for policymakers to decide on whether screening for prostate cancer should be recommended. The study is broken down into three phases: Phase 1, between 2025 and 2027; Phase 2, between 2028 and 2033; and Phase 3, between 2034 and 2043.
Phase 1 is focusing on making the trial run smoothly, testing a number of different possible screening approaches, and also determining the best way to engage men in the community to take part in the study. Critically, it is also determining the best form of randomisation to carry out. Recruitment for phase one is currently open.
Phase 2 will take forward the most robust randomisation strategy and the most promising screening approach or approaches with tens of thousands of consenting participants, in order to prove that these new screening strategies are beneficial.
Phase 3 will involve monitoring the trial participants over the following 10 years to determine the long-term impact of screening on rates of disease progression and survival.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
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 (a) collating and (b) publishing NHS tribunal data.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information is not held centrally by the Department or NHS England. There are currently no plans for an analysis of the potential merits of collating and publishing National Health Service tribunal data.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
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 merits of producing a national strategy to help improve (a) access to and (b) the quality of eating disorder services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is currently refreshing guidance on children and young people's eating disorders. The refreshed guidance will highlight the importance of awareness and early recognition of eating disorders within schools, colleges, primary care, and broader children and young peoples’ mental health services.
The Government is currently developing the 10-Year Health Plan, which will consider the views of a wide range of stakeholders, including those with lived experience of eating disorders. The consultation process has provided invaluable feedback, and we are in the process of exploring how we best take this forward.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
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 merits of (a) establishing an NHS information campaign to raise awareness of prostate cancer referral routes for GPs and (b) issuing specific guidance to GPs on informing patients about the (i) NICE and (ii) PCRMP referral routes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government takes the management of the risk of prostate cancer seriously. Too many men are waiting too long for diagnosis and treatment, and this must change. We have asked the UK National Screening Committee to look at the evidence for screening for prostate cancer and we will await their findings before making an evidence-based decision.
A public awareness campaign at this stage would not be appropriate. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidance relates to symptomatic patients, while the Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme is guidance for general practitioners (GPs) on how to counsel non-symptomatic men about the risks associated with using the current best test for prostate cancer, because of its lack of accuracy. Before we direct asymptomatic individuals to GPs, we need a better test, and that is why the Government has invested £16 million into the TRANSFORM trial, which is looking for more effective ways of accurately detecting prostate cancer.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
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 resolving NHS employment disputes early.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made this specific assessment. National Health Service employment disputes arising at a local level are for employers to manage and resolve locally. At a national level, the Government has prioritised improving industrial relations following the General Election in July 2024. The deal we agreed with resident doctors in England, negotiated within four weeks of being in Government, brought an end to their prolonged strikes and we will continue to work with resident doctors to improve their working lives and keep them in the NHS.
Our ambition remains to reset the relationship between the Government and all NHS staff, and we want to work collaboratively with trade unions to address concerns and foster a productive and positive relationship with the NHS workforce.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will meet the honourable Member for Dorking and Horley to discuss his proposed amendment to the Mental Health Bill.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I would be happy to meet with the Hon. Member to discuss his proposed amendment to the Mental Health Bill. My Private Office will be in touch with him shortly to make the arrangements.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
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 independent pharmacy closures on (a) local GP capacity, (b) hospital capacity, (c) the healthcare needs of the local community and (d) local pharmacists in need of employment.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The impact of any specific pharmacy closure will differ depending on the remaining access to health services in the area. We monitor access carefully and in general, access to pharmacies in England continues to be good, with 80% of people able to reach a pharmacy within a 20 minute-walk and twice as many pharmacies in the most deprived areas. We continue to support those in areas where there are fewer pharmacies through the Pharmacy Access Scheme. Additionally, in rural areas where there is no pharmacy, general practitioners are permitted to dispense medicines. Patients can also choose to access medicines and pharmacy services through any of the nearly 400 National Health Service online pharmacies that are contractually required to deliver prescription medicines free of charge to patients and deliver other services remotely.
Local authorities are required to undertake a pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA) every three years to assess whether their population is adequately served, and must keep these assessments under review in the interim. Integrated care boards must give regard to the PNAs when reviewing applications to open new pharmacies in their areas.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
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 (a) increase the capacity of and (b) reduce delays in medical examiner services.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is monitoring the impact of the death certification reforms which came into legal effect on 9 September 2024. Medical examiner offices are staffed at a trust level and arrangements at each office should reflect local health priorities and the needs of communities. NHS England has published guidance which outlines principles for medical examiner offices and advice on how to provide flexible and sustainable cover during busy periods
Early data since the introduction of the reforms indicated the median time taken to register a death appeared to have risen by one day, from seven days to eight days prior to Christmas. This figure is for all deaths, as it includes those certified by a doctor and those investigated by a coroner. The average time taken to register increased further over the Christmas weeks, but this was expected given increases are observed during this period every year; the average has subsequently decreased.
The median time taken to register a death varies depending on the type of certification. Deaths certified by a doctor, that comprise approximately 80% of deaths registered each week, have typically had a median time to registration of seven days, though there can be variation at a local level. It is important to note that the medical examiner system was active on a non-statutory basis before the introduction of the statutory system on 9 September 2024, and this makes direct ‘before’ and ‘after’ comparisons challenging to draw conclusions from.
Ensuring the system is appropriately resourced and works for all those who interact with it is crucial, and something the Department will continue to monitor with NHS England.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
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 number of GP positions in the UK.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We hugely value the critical role that general practitioners (GPs) play and are determined to address the issues they face by shifting the focus of the National Health Service beyond hospitals and into the community.
The Government committed to recruiting over 1,000 newly qualified GPs through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) over 2024/25, as part of an initiative to address GP unemployment and secure the future pipeline of GPs. My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has confirmed that recently qualified GPs who are employed via the ARRS will continue to be supported through the scheme in 2025/26.
We have also announced an £889 million uplift to the GP contract in 2025/26, which will support practices to increase capacity. Changes to the GP contract in 2025/26, including ARRS adjustments and other important reforms, will be confirmed following consultation with the GP Committee of the British Medical Association before April 2025.
The data requested on the number of unemployed and underemployed qualified GPs is not held centrally.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of qualified GPs who are (a) unemployed and (b) underemployed.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We hugely value the critical role that general practitioners (GPs) play and are determined to address the issues they face by shifting the focus of the National Health Service beyond hospitals and into the community.
The Government committed to recruiting over 1,000 newly qualified GPs through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) over 2024/25, as part of an initiative to address GP unemployment and secure the future pipeline of GPs. My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has confirmed that recently qualified GPs who are employed via the ARRS will continue to be supported through the scheme in 2025/26.
We have also announced an £889 million uplift to the GP contract in 2025/26, which will support practices to increase capacity. Changes to the GP contract in 2025/26, including ARRS adjustments and other important reforms, will be confirmed following consultation with the GP Committee of the British Medical Association before April 2025.
The data requested on the number of unemployed and underemployed qualified GPs is not held centrally.