Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
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 address health inequalities in breast cancer prevention by ensuring that women in disadvantaged areas have (a) safe and (b) affordable access to (i) facilities and (ii) resources to maintain a healthy (A) lifestyle, (B) diet and (C) level of physical activity.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Tackling health inequalities, including in breast cancer prevention, requires a whole-Government effort. That is why there is ongoing work across the Government, from housing and education to employment and welfare, to ensure that health is built into all policies.
NHS England is working with integrated care systems, local authorities, and the directors of public health to embed regional and local solutions to reducing inequalities, ensuring that communities, including in deprived areas, have the power and resources to improve health outcomes, for instance through the maintenance of a healthy lifestyle.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is developing an ambitious new cross-Government Food Strategy that will set the food system up for long-term success and provide wide ranging improvements. The Food Strategy will work to provide healthier, more easily accessible food to help people live longer, healthier lives.
By aligning policy efforts across health, social care, local government, and the voluntary sector, the Government is committed to driving real change, so that everyone, regardless of their background, has the opportunity to live a longer, healthier life.
The Government’s goal is to reduce the time people spend in ill health, support independence, and close the healthy life expectancy gap, ensuring that no one’s health outcomes are determined by their background or where they are born.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress his Department has made on the Women's Health Strategy in relation to (a) healthy lifestyle choices, (b) breast cancer and (c) women's health generally.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health as we build a National Health Service fit for the future.
The Government and the NHS provide a range of services to support people, including women, to make healthy lifestyle choices. For example, through stop smoking services, sexual health services, and weight management services. The National Smoke-free Pregnancy Incentives Scheme is also supporting pregnant women to quit smoking.
Reducing unwarranted variation in cancer treatment is a strategic priority for the NHS. On World Cancer Day this year, the Department announced a major world-leading artificial intelligence trial to transform cancer care, helping radiologists catch breast cancer earlier. Also, in February 2025 NHS England launched its first-ever awareness campaign to highlight the benefits of breast screening and encourage more women to participate. Further information about this campaign is available at the following link:
We are continuing to improve the health of women and girls, for example by supporting those who have experienced pregnancy loss through a full rollout of baby loss certificates, through menopause support in the workplace, access to emergency hormonal contraception, and by boosting women’s participation in research and clinical trials.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) investing in auditory verbal therapy and (b) expanding access to support for deaf children and their families.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Audiology services are locally commissioned, and the responsibility for meeting the needs of non-hearing children lies with local National Health Service commissioners. It is important that local commissioners have the discretion to decide how best to meet the needs of their local population, and we are giving systems greater control and flexibility over how funding is deployed to support this.
We expect local commissioning to be informed by the best available evidence, relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, and guidance issued by NHS England. In 2019, NHS England, with input from the National Deaf Children’s Society, produced a guide for commissioners and health and local authority providers which supports non-hearing children and young people. This is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/what-works-chswg-guide.pdf
The Government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunities and ensuring that every child, including children with hearing loss, has the best start in life. I met with Auditory Verbal UK and heard their views about the potential benefits of guidance on auditory verbal therapy, which I agreed to consider.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to issue guidance to ICBs on providing equality of access to auditory verbal therapy for deaf babies and young children.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Audiology services are locally commissioned, and the responsibility for meeting the needs of non-hearing children lies with local National Health Service commissioners. It is important that local commissioners have the discretion to decide how best to meet the needs of their local population, and we are giving systems greater control and flexibility over how funding is deployed to support this.
We expect local commissioning to be informed by the best available evidence, relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, and guidance issued by NHS England. In 2019, NHS England, with input from the National Deaf Children’s Society, produced a guide for commissioners and health and local authority providers which supports non-hearing children and young people. This is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/what-works-chswg-guide.pdf
The Government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunities and ensuring that every child, including children with hearing loss, has the best start in life. I met with Auditory Verbal UK and heard their views about the potential benefits of guidance on auditory verbal therapy, which I agreed to consider.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
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 increasing the alcohol-free threshold from 0.05% ABV to 0.5% ABV.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under our Health Mission, the government is committed to prioritising preventative public health measures to support people to live longer, healthier lives.
While the Government has not made a specific assessment of changing the alcohol-free threshold, the Department will continue to work across Government to better understand how we can best reduce alcohol-related harms, including exploring the potential opportunities presented by alcohol-free and low-alcohol drinks.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with health stakeholders on the potential merits of introducing (a) allergy nurses and (b) dietitians in every integrated care system.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have committed to develop a 10-Year Health Plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future, by driving three shifts in the way health care is delivered. The plan will set out bold ambitions to provide more care in the community, make greater use of technology, and build a more preventative health service.
We will be carefully considering input from the public, patients, health staff, and our stakeholders as we develop the plan over the coming months. The engagement process has been launched and I would encourage parliamentarians and stakeholders to engage with that process to allow us to fully understand what is not working as well as it should and what the potential solutions are, including for allergies. This engagement process is available at the following link:
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Prime Minister's speech on the NHS at the King's Fund on 12 September 2024, whether his Department has plans to move allergy services to primary care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have committed to develop a 10-Year Health Plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future, by driving three shifts in the way health care is delivered. The plan will set out bold ambitions to provide more care in the community, make greater use of technology, and build a more preventative health service.
We will be carefully considering input from the public, patients, health staff, and our stakeholders as we develop the plan over the coming months. The engagement process has been launched and I would encourage parliamentarians and stakeholders to engage with that process to allow us to fully understand what is not working as well as it should and what the potential solutions are, including for allergies. This engagement process is available at the following link:
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has targets for the time it takes to complete evaluations of new medicines.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) aims wherever possible to publish recommendations for the National Health Service on new medicines within 90 days of the date of a marketing authorisation. NICE uses key performance indicators to report on the timeliness of its technology appraisals. NICE has achieved a 28% improvement in the timeliness of its medicines appraisals since April 2024.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care what discussions he has had with NICE on the potential impact of its approval of medicines for use in the NHS on (a) economic productivity, (b) health outcomes and (c) reducing the burden of disease on (i) patients and (ii) caregivers.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Departmental officials regularly discuss a range of issues with colleagues in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), including the impact of its recommendations.
NICE develops its guidance independently and based on an assessment of the available evidence, considering all health-related costs and benefits for patients and caregivers, including health outcomes, in line with its established methods and processes.
NICE does not take account of economic productivity in its assessments. It would involve valuing interventions differently based on the working status of the recipient population, which would be methodologically and ethically challenging and could systematically disadvantage certain groups including children, long-term sick and unemployed people, and result in fewer treatments being recommended for these populations.
Asked by: James Frith (Labour - Bury North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to increase the use of hospices in social and community care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We want a society where every person, their families, and carers, receive high-quality, compassionate care, from diagnosis through to end of life. The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure that patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting, and palliative and end of life care, including hospices, will have a big role to play in that shift.