Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what measures in the NHS 10 Year Plan will support earlier diagnosis of heart valve disease in primary and community care settings.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out the three big shifts the National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention. All three shifts are relevant to improving outcomes for those experiencing heart valve disease.
More tests and scans delivered in the community, better joint working between services, and greater use of apps and wearable technology will all help people manage their conditions closer to home and help to reduce hospital admissions.
In line with the goals of the 10-Year Health Plan, NHS England has already undertaken measures to improve earlier detection of heart valve disease (HVD). It is commissioning the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society to develop a new referral form to support the investigation of HVD. The referral form is to guide primary healthcare teams to confidently refer patients with suspected, or known, valve disease for specialist assessment and/or echocardiography, where appropriate.
NHS England is also establishing an Expert Advisory Group on HVD which brings together experts and key stakeholders from across the United Kingdom, with the aim of ensuring excellence in care whilst exploring ways to improve heart valve disease management nationwide. Additionally, NHS England is undertaking a review of health inequalities for all specialised cardiac services which will include aortic stenosis, a type of HVD. This will specifically consider the presentation of males versus females with aortic stenosis where research shows that women are likely to present with symptoms at an older age. It is also working with providers to implement a single point of access pathway for severe aortic stenosis.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps NHS England is taking to raise awareness of (a) heart valve disease and (b) its symptoms among the (i) population and (ii) healthcare professionals.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Continuous improvements have been made in the heart valve disease (HVD) pathway for service users, but there remains unwarranted variation and inequalities in terms of care for patients with HVD for example in access to surgery for aortic stenosis, a form of HVD; and late presentation which increases the risk of surgery and limits recovery after surgery.
NHS England produced an e-learning for healthcare on heart failure and heart valve disease in early 2023. This package of education supports clinicians across primary care and community settings to better recognise the symptoms, diagnose, manage, and support patients with heart failure and heart valve disease, including palliative and end of life care. In doing so, clinicians are supported to identify and manage patients in primary care where appropriate, to reduce avoidable admissions to hospital.
In 2024 NHS England commissioned the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society to develop a new referral form to support the investigation of heart valve disease. The referral form is to guide primary healthcare teams to confidently refer patients with suspected, or known, valve disease for specialist assessment and/or echocardiography, where appropriate. The resource includes:
- a comprehensive checklist to support patient referral for further assessment;
- important signs and symptoms; and
- referral pathways for suspected heart valve disease.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
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 regions where (a) cancer outcomes are poorer and (b) research infrastructure is historically underfunded receive a fair share of national cancer research investment and clinical trial opportunities.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to funding health and care research via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) across England, and to ensuring that the research we support is inclusive and representative of the populations we serve. We know that cancer survival rates are generally lower in people living in more deprived areas.
In 2024, the NIHR made equity, diversity, and inclusion a condition of funding for all domestic research awards. This means applicants must demonstrate how their research will contribute towards the NIHR’s mission to reduce health and care inequalities, with a focus on participant inclusion from diverse populations of the United Kingdom.
NIHR research infrastructure has national coverage across the whole of England. Our infrastructure schemes aim to build research capacity and capability across the country across all geographies and settings. In line with prior commitments, the Department has increased funding for research infrastructure schemes delivering cancer research outside the Greater South East, including Biomedical Research Centres, Clinical Research Facilities, and HealthTech Research Centres.
Through the NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN), the NIHR supports 100% of National Health Service trusts in England to deliver research, operating across 12 regions throughout the country. From 2026/27, the RDN will adopt a new national funding model for NHS support costs and research delivery. This will be a consistent, nationally agreed funding distribution model across all regions of England and will reduce regional variations of health research delivery investment, and better enable clinical trial opportunities across all areas, including underserved areas and settings.
The NIHR also provides an online service called Be Part of Research which promotes participation in health and social care research by allowing users to search for relevant studies and register their interest. This makes it easier for people to find and take part in health and care research that is relevant to them.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of expanding prehabilitation and rehabilitation services in cancer care on (a) NHS costs and (b) patient outcomes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and NHS England are taking a number of steps to support systems to deliver cost-effective, lifesaving prehabilitation and rehabilitation services. Local planning for prehabilitation and rehabilitation services is devolved to National Health Service trusts and Cancer Alliances in their locality.
NHS England has highlighted the positive impact of efficient prehabilitation and rehabilitation on cancer outcomes and the potential for them to lead to cost savings. The PRosPer Cancer Prehabilitation and Rehabilitation learning programme, launched in partnership between NHS England and Macmillan Cancer support, aims to support allied health professionals and the wider healthcare workforce in developing their skills in providing personalised care, prehabilitation, and rehabilitation in the cancer pathway.
The forthcoming National Cancer Plan will look at how we can improve patient outcomes and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care, including prehabilitation and rehabilitation services where appropriate.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the National Cancer Plan will include measures to expand innovations in cancer screening initiatives to ensure more people from deprived areas are encouraged to participate.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Early diagnosis is a key focus of the National Cancer Plan, which will build on the shifts in care set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, to diagnose cancers earlier. Through the 10-Year Health Plan, we will make it easier for people to access cancer screening, diagnostics, and treatment in patients’ local areas, backed by the latest technology to drive up this country’s cancer survival rates. We will increase participation in screening programmes by taking innovative approaches like self-sampling for cervical screening and digital booking.
The National Cancer Plan, to be published later this year, will include further details on how we will speed up diagnosis, as well as how we will prioritise screening programmes and improve participation, including participation from people in deprived areas.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to implement automatic enrolment into stop smoking support at (a) A&E departments, (b) cancer screening appointments, (c) mental health services and (d) other NHS touchpoints (i) across Yorkshire and (ii) nationally.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan for England, we are committed to ensuring all hospitals integrate ‘opt-out’ smoking cessation interventions into routine care. As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, NHS England has prioritised and put new funding out to integrated care boards (ICBs), which includes Humber and Yorkshire ICB, South Yorkshire ICB and West Yorkshire ICB, for the rollout of tobacco dependence services in hospital settings, including acute and mental health inpatient settings and maternity services. Future funding decisions are subject to the Spending Review process.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of support for women in making informed choices about (a) hormonal and (b) non-hormonal treatment options for (i) menstrual and (ii) reproductive health.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the importance of women and girls being able to access adequate information and care for menstrual health conditions and reproductive health.
The women’s health area on the National Health Service website brings together over 100 health topics including pages on heavy periods, endometriosis, adenomyosis, and contraception. This provides women with information on hormonal and non-hormonal treatment options for menstrual health conditions, and information on the different types of hormonal and non-hormonal contraception methods, including where to get them and how well they work at preventing pregnancy.
NHS England has also developed a shared decision tool to help women and general practitioners make decisions about the best treatments for heavy menstrual bleeding. This is available at the following link:
Clinical guidelines also support healthcare professionals to provide evidence-based care. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published guidelines on a range of women’s health topics, including heavy menstrual bleeding, endometriosis, and contraception, and has also published a guideline on shared decision making.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
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 (a) reduce the sex and gender gap in participants for (i) healthcare research and (ii) clinical trials and (b) ensure that sex and gender dimensions are accounted for in the development of medical (A) treatments and (B) interventions.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department funds health and care research primarily through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR has made research inclusion a condition of its funding. Applicants to domestic research programmes are required to demonstrate how inclusion is being built into all stages of the research lifecycle, with significant emphasis on how participant selection is considered. Before the end of March 2026, this will also be required for global health research and infrastructure awards.
The NIHR is developing a sex and gender policy to be implemented subsequently in 2025, to ensure that NIHR research accounts for sex and gender across every stage of the research cycle, allowing for a greater understanding of how men and women might be impacted differently by the same health condition, treatment, or intervention.
The Department is also developing a new research and development innovation strategy to accelerate the development of equitable, transformational medical technology solutions. Part of the aims of this work are to eliminate sex bias in medical technology research and development, ensuring that innovations are effective and accessible for all.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
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 raise awareness of cervical cancer; and whether he is taking steps with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs to help raise awareness of cervical cancer in other countries.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
NHS England runs Help Us Help You campaigns to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms and address barriers to acting on them, to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner. The campaigns focus on a range of symptoms, encouraging body awareness to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers at an early point.
Department of Health and Social Care officials work closely with colleagues in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to raise awareness of cervical cancer in lower and middle income countries. For example, the Government has committed £1.65 billion to Gavi from 2021 to 2025, which provides the human papillomavirus vaccine to help protect the most vulnerable girls from the leading cause of cervical cancer.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
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 ensure that women with spinal cord injuries receive adequate (a) breast feeding assistance, (b) breast feeding assistance and (c) other postnatal support.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will prioritise women’s health, placing women’s equality at the heart of our agenda and ensuring women’s health is never again neglected. Spinal cord injury centres provide life-long services and support, providing ongoing advice and management for those under their care. They provide advice to general maternity services in managing pregnancy in line with individual need, as well as information, advice, and support to women regarding the practical elements of breast feeding, as required.
The Three-Year Delivery plan for Maternity and Neonatal services sets out the vision for women to experience personalised, joined-up, high-quality care right through to the postnatal period with handover to health visiting services and general practices (GPs). According to NHS England guidance, all women who have given birth should be offered a check-up with their GP six to eight weeks after giving birth. The check-up will cover a range of topics such as mental health, physical recovery, breastfeeding, and support with family planning. Women should be provided with practical support and information that reflects how they choose to feed their babies. Providers should ensure that, for women with spinal cord injuries, care is tailored to their individual needs.
NHS England is also rolling out perinatal pelvic health services to reduce rates of perineal tears, and maternal mental health services to provide additional mental health support and improve outcomes for women.
The Department is working closely with 75 local authorities across England, including Sheffield, to improve their infant feeding services, including breastfeeding support, through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme. These services are helping families to access face-to-face and virtual infant feeding support whenever they need it, and in a location that suits them. This could be at home, in their family hub, or in a hospital setting.
At a national level, families across the United Kingdom can access round-the-clock support and advice on breastfeeding through the National Breastfeeding Helpline.