Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 encourage young girls to attend smear tests.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Cervical Screening Programme in England provides all women and people with a cervix between the ages of 25 and 64 years old with the opportunity to be screened routinely to detect human papillomavirus (HPV) infection or cervical abnormalities at an early, more treatable stage. The screening test does not look for cancer, but for HPV, which causes nearly all cervical cancers. As it takes approximately ten years for HPV to cause cancerous cells, it is rare for women below the age of 25 years old to develop cervical cancer. This is why the age limit is set as it is.
NHS England launched its first ever cervical cancer elimination creative campaign and communications toolkit for Cervical Screening Awareness Week, which took place between 16 and 24 June 2025. The campaign included digital resources that create a strong sense of shared responsibility and aim to increase awareness of the elimination goal, educate the public, and build confidence in cervical screening.
In March 2025, NHS England published its Cervical cancer elimination plan by 2040 – plan for England, setting out how the National Health Service will improve equitable uptake and coverage across cervical screening to meet the goal to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040. NHS England will build on what is already working well to drive vaccination and screening uptake and coverage, focussing on five cross-cutting themes: increasing access; raising awareness; reducing inequalities; improving digital capabilities; and strengthening workforce capacity. Further information on the Cervical cancer elimination plan by 2040 – plan for England is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/cervical-cancer-elimination-by-2040-plan-for-england/
From early 2026, screening providers in the NHS Cervical Screening Programme in England will be able to offer HPV self-sampling kits to women if they have not attended their appointment for six months or more following routine invitation.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 encourage young women to attend cervical cancer screenings.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Cervical Screening Programme in England provides all women and people with a cervix between the ages of 25 and 64 years old with the opportunity to be screened routinely to detect human papillomavirus (HPV) infection or cervical abnormalities at an early, more treatable stage. The screening test does not look for cancer, but for HPV, which causes nearly all cervical cancers. As it takes approximately ten years for HPV to cause cancerous cells, it is rare for women below the age of 25 years old to develop cervical cancer. This is why the age limit is set as it is.
NHS England launched its first ever cervical cancer elimination creative campaign and communications toolkit for Cervical Screening Awareness Week, which took place between 16 and 24 June 2025. The campaign included digital resources that create a strong sense of shared responsibility and aim to increase awareness of the elimination goal, educate the public, and build confidence in cervical screening.
In March 2025, NHS England published its Cervical cancer elimination plan by 2040 – plan for England, setting out how the National Health Service will improve equitable uptake and coverage across cervical screening to meet the goal to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040. NHS England will build on what is already working well to drive vaccination and screening uptake and coverage, focussing on five cross-cutting themes: increasing access; raising awareness; reducing inequalities; improving digital capabilities; and strengthening workforce capacity. Further information on the Cervical cancer elimination plan by 2040 – plan for England is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/cervical-cancer-elimination-by-2040-plan-for-england/
From early 2026, screening providers in the NHS Cervical Screening Programme in England will be able to offer HPV self-sampling kits to women if they have not attended their appointment for six months or more following routine invitation.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 estimate of the number of people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities publishes a liver disease profile that compares local areas within England. Data on the number of people in the population, or the prevalence of people, with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is not collected.
The liver disease profile provides NAFLD hospital admission and mortality rates. However, these rates underestimate the level of NAFLD in the population as the great majority of people with NAFLD never experience any symptoms from the condition. Only a minority may progress to more serious forms of the disease that require hospital admission. It is unclear what proportion of people experience this serious disease, and therefore we cannot make a reasonable estimate of the number of people with NAFLD.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to help ensure that the national cancer plan includes measures to support collaboration with partners across the cancer ecosystem.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Cancer Plan will seek to foster improved collaboration with partners across the cancer ecosystem, including the voluntary and community sector.
The 10-Year Health Plan laid out our vision for a Neighbourhood Health Service, which will rebalance our health system so that it fits around people’s lives, not the other way round. At its core, the Neighbourhood Health Service will embody our new preventative principle that care should happen as locally as it can: digitally by default, in a patient’s home if possible, in a neighbourhood health centre when needed, in a hospital if necessary.
The Neighbourhood Health Service will mean millions of patients are treated and care for closer to their home by new teams of professionals; and neighbourhood health centres will provide easier, more convenient access to a full range of healthcare services on people’s doorsteps.
We will soon launch the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme (NNHIP). The NNHIP will support systems across the country to test new ways of working, share learning, and scale what works, making Neighbourhood Health the norm, not the exception.
The National Cancer Plan will be published later in 2025 and will set out further details on measures to support collaboration with cancer partners.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans for the (a) voluntary and (b) community sector to have a role in implementing the neighbourhood cancer care model set out in the national cancer plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Cancer Plan will seek to foster improved collaboration with partners across the cancer ecosystem, including the voluntary and community sector.
The 10-Year Health Plan laid out our vision for a Neighbourhood Health Service, which will rebalance our health system so that it fits around people’s lives, not the other way round. At its core, the Neighbourhood Health Service will embody our new preventative principle that care should happen as locally as it can: digitally by default, in a patient’s home if possible, in a neighbourhood health centre when needed, in a hospital if necessary.
The Neighbourhood Health Service will mean millions of patients are treated and care for closer to their home by new teams of professionals; and neighbourhood health centres will provide easier, more convenient access to a full range of healthcare services on people’s doorsteps.
We will soon launch the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme (NNHIP). The NNHIP will support systems across the country to test new ways of working, share learning, and scale what works, making Neighbourhood Health the norm, not the exception.
The National Cancer Plan will be published later in 2025 and will set out further details on measures to support collaboration with cancer partners.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 family hubs on (a) neighbourhood health and (b) integrated community-based health services.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to moving towards a Neighbourhood Health Service, with more care delivered locally to create healthier communities, spot problems earlier, and support people to stay healthier and maintain their independence for longer.
The Family Hubs and Start for Life programme supports the three reform shifts set out in the Government’s Health Mission, including the shift from hospital to community. It is already delivering a community-based model to transform health outcomes for babies, children, and their families.
The effectiveness of the programme will take time to be realised, as long-term evaluation is required. The programme is subject to two national, independent evaluations to understand its implementation and impact.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take through the national cancer plan to help (a) reduce inequalities in cancer care and (b) improve outcomes in underserved communities.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Mid Leicestershire on 16 June 2025 to Question 58897.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 improve the (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment of multiple sclerosis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
At the national level, there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), including the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology and the RightCare Progressive Neurological Conditions Toolkit.
NHS England has also established a Neurology Transformation Programme, a multi-year, clinically led programme, which has developed a new model of integrated care to support integrated care boards (ICBs) to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients, including those with MS. This focuses on providing access equitably across the country, care as close to home as possible, and early intervention to prevent illness and deterioration in patients with long-term neurological conditions. A toolkit is being developed to support ICBs to understand and implement this new model, which will include components on delivering acute neurology services, improving health equity in neurology, and improving community neurology services. The Neurology Transformation Programme has developed an Adult Neurology ICB dashboard, which includes specific data on MS disease-modifying therapies. Additionally, NHS England has also developed guidance for systems on improving access to disease-modifying treatments for MS closer to home, which includes successful delivery models and good practice case studies.
We have set up a United Kingdom-wide Neuro Forum, facilitating formal, biannual meetings across the Department, NHS England, the devolved administrations and health services, and the Neurological Alliances of all four nations. The new forum brings key stakeholders together, to share learnings across the system and discuss challenges, best practice examples, and potential solutions for improving the care of people with neurological conditions, including MS.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced guidance on the management of MS in adults, which includes a number of recommendations on recognising the signs and symptoms of MS and the initial assessment and diagnosis of MS. NICE has recommended a number of new medicines for use in the treatment of relapsing-remitting MS that are now routinely available for use in the treatment of National Health Service patients. In December 2024, NICE recommended Ublituximab for treating relapsing-remitting MS, and more recently in April 2025, NICE recommended Cladribine for treating active relapsing-remitting forms of MS.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 improve awareness of symptoms of (a) lung and (b) pancreatic cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to improving symptom awareness of lung cancer and pancreatic cancer, and NHS England is also taking steps to improve awareness.
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 as well as encouraging body awareness to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers at an earlier point. NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, also publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including lung cancer and pancreatic cancer. This information can be found on the NHS website.
The Department has also committed support to the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce, which is a group of charities focusing on cancers with poor survival rates. This partnership focuses on raising awareness of less survivable cancers, including lung cancer and pancreatic cancer, so more people understand their symptoms and go to see their general practitioner if they have concerns.
As part of developing the forthcoming National Cancer Plan for England, the Department has been working with members of the Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce to identify how to improve diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes for less survivable cancers, including lung cancer and pancreatic cancer.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 improve the use of innovative technologies to treat glaucoma through the 10-Year Plan.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts our National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention. All of these are relevant to preventing and managing conditions such as glaucoma in all parts of the country. More tests and scans delivered in the community and better joint working between services will support the management of conditions including glaucoma, closer to home.
The 10-Year Health Plan aims to benefit everyone, and eye health will likely benefit from these reforms. The 10-Year Health Plan ensures that the system and framework are in place to support the delivery for people with glaucoma. The plan has been developed through the extensive engagement we have undertaken with the public, patients, and staff, including with the eye care sector.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence will continue to play a crucial role in evaluating new medicines, medical devices, and other technologies to determine their clinical and cost-effectiveness before recommending them for NHS use.