Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
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 ensure that people living in the most deprived areas receive earlier cancer diagnoses.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise that there are challenges for several different populations, particularly for people living in the most deprived areas of the country, and that this impacts early diagnosis rates. The National Health Service’s wider Core20Plus5 approach to reducing healthcare inequalities includes early cancer diagnosis as a specific priority.
To ensure that people living in the most deprived areas receive earlier cancer diagnoses, we are directly targeting our activity in areas we know will make a difference. This includes awareness-raising campaigns such as the NHS Help Us, Help You campaign, to increase awareness of cancer symptoms and encourage people to get checked.
We know that some cancers disproportionately impact those living in deprived areas, notably lung cancer. People living in deprived areas are four times more likely to smoke, and smoking causes 72% of lung cancers. Through the lung cancer screening programme, early diagnosis rates have increased for all deprivation quintiles, with biggest gains among those living in most deprived areas. When fully rolled out, the programme is expected to detect approximately 9,000 cancers earlier each year.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
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 implement the recommendations made by NICE in the House of Commons Coronavirus: Long Covid Research Briefing, published on 31 October 2024 for future research into the management of long covid.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) research recommendations for managing the long-term effects of COVID-19 were made in 2020 and 2021. Since this time, the Government has invested £58 million in research through two specific funding calls to better understand long COVID and how to treat it. Many of the funded research projects address the NICE’s research recommendations.
As findings emerge from the current research, we encourage researchers to apply for funding to build on and develop the newly established infrastructure, partnerships, and research capabilities. Government research funders remain available to support long COVID researchers in their applications for funding. For example, the National Institute for Health and Care Research has an open call for applications to meet the research recommendations identified in NICE guidance.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
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 the absorption of NHS England into his Department on his Department's timetable for the publication of the updated NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Sir Jim Mackey will lead the transition team bringing the work of NHS England and the Department together over the next two years. This work will have no impact on the forthcoming publication of the 10-Year Health Plan and the subsequent reconsideration of the long-term workforce needs of the National Health Service which will follow.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what NHS England's functions are; and which (a) existing and (b) new Government bodies will take those functions on.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is being abolished as an arm’s length body and being brought back into the department. Ministers will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir James Mackey, to lead this transformation and return many of NHS England’s current functions to the Department.
The functions of NHS England are set out in legislation, these include but are not limited to:
- Commissioning services in the National Health Service;
- The establishment, oversight and support of integrated care boards;
- The oversight and support of NHS trusts and foundation trusts;
- Designing, developing and operating national digital and technology products and services and disseminate data to support the health and care system;
- Planning, recruiting, educating and training the health workforce; and
- Overseeing and promoting the use of research and innovation within the health service.
The team will be focussed on ensuring that layers of bureaucracy are cut and more resources flow to the frontline as well as grasping the untapped potential of the NHS as a single payer public service, to get cutting-edge technology and treatments into the hands of staff and patients much faster and secure a better deal for taxpayers.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
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 impact of the abolition of NHS England on the coordination of screening programmes.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by James Mackey, to lead this transformation. As we work to return many of NHS England’s current functions to the Department, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds.
The abolition of NHS England will strip out the unnecessary bureaucracy and cut the duplication that comes from having two organisations doing the same job; we will empower staff to focus on delivering better care for patients, driving productivity up and getting waiting times down.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
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 impact of the abolition of NHS England on the timing of the publication of the NHS 10-year plan.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We do not envisage that the changes set out by the Prime Minister on 13 March 2025 will affect the publication of the 10-Year Health Plan. We still intend to publish the Plan later in spring 2025.
The changes will set the National Health Service up to deliver on the three big shifts needed to make the service fit for the future: from hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what independent bodies are part of NHS England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is currently an executive non-departmental public body which is sponsored by the Department. In the last 10 years, NHS England has taken on the functions of what were once separate arm’s length bodies, including NHS Improvement, NHS Digital and Health Education England.
As announced on 13 March 2025, NHS England will be brought into the Department. This will be done in the first instance by administrative means and will be followed by legislation to abolish NHS England once Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2025 to Question 32470 on Radiotherapy: Medical Equipment, if he will publish the funding allocation for the investment for replacing older radiotherapy machines.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has written to those trusts which have been allocated funding for replacement radiotherapy machines. There remain no plans to publish full details of the funding allocation.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2024 to Question 12286 on Pension Credit: Uptake, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of reducing the complexity of the Pension Credit application form.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
As the Department continues to modernise the Pension Credit service, we review the user experience, balancing simplification of application with capturing the right information to ensure accuracy of award. A key objective of DWP’s Service Modernisation Programme is to utilise end user research to understand how the application process should operate in the future and consider the opportunities on how services can be more user friendly and easily accessible for citizens. To that end we are streamlining all Pension Credit application routes by using information held internally to reduce the number of questions the citizen must answer.
Claims for Pension Credit can be made online, by telephone or by post. By far, the most popular way to claim is online where a claim can be made 24/7 with the help of a family member, a friend or a third party. The online claim form means it now takes just 16 minutes on average to complete, with 90 per cent of new customers applying using the simple online form, or over the phone.
With the telephone service, the caller will be guided through the claim process. We will keep the Pension Credit application process under review.
Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
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 take steps through the national cancer plan to help prepare for innovations in (a) diagnostics and (b) treatments.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Cancer Plan will look at how we can maximise our impact through the most up-to-date technology and innovations. The plan will ensure that we continue to maximise the access to and the impact of clinical trials in diagnostics and treatments, building on the success of projects such as the NHS cancer vaccine launch pad. The plan will also consider the ways that we can accelerate the uptake of innovative, life-saving treatments so all National Health Service patients can benefit. We will work closely with partners including the National Institute for Health and Care Research on this.