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 his Department has made of the potential impact of the UK National Screening Committee’s draft recommendation on prostate cancer screening on future demand for PSMA PET-CT imaging, including modelling of the different demand scenarios included in the current public consultation.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The independent UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), which is made up of leading medical and screening experts, advises ministers in all four nations of the United Kingdom on the evidence on screening. They have carried out an evidence review to look at screening for prostate cancer. Where the committee is confident that screening provides more good than harm, they recommend a screening programme. Treatment can lead to immediate life changing side effects which need to be balanced against potential benefits some years in the future.
On 28 November 2025, the UK NSC opened a 12-week public consultation on an evidence review to look at screening for prostate cancer and a draft recommendation to:
Alongside the consultation, work is being carried out to assess the costs and resources required to deliver the possible screening pathway, this could include an assessment of future demand for PSMA PET-CT imaging.
We anticipate that the UK NSC will make a final recommendation on screening for prostate cancer in early 2026. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, will consider this and make a decision on whether to accept and next steps at this point.
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 discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Department of Health on the application of learning from the NHS England Neurology Transformation Programme to improve access to specialised neurology care for people living with multiple sclerosis in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to sharing learning and best practice across the United Kingdom health systems.
The Neurology Transformation Programme in England aims to improve access, coordination, and outcomes for people with neurological conditions, including multiple sclerosis, through service redesign and workforce development.
Officials continue to engage through the UK Neuro Forum to ensure that insights from this work are available to colleagues in Northern Ireland and other devolved administrations.
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 his Department has made of trends in the level of health inequalities associated with a) asthma and b) chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is aware of the disproportionate impact that asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) have on deprived communities. The Government is acting on smoking, air pollution, and poor housing that will particularly benefit such communities.
Smoking is the number one preventable cause of COPD. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will be the biggest public health intervention since the 2007 indoor smoking ban and will help deliver our ambition for a smoke-free United Kingdom.
Poor air quality can exacerbate COPD and asthma. To address this, DHSC is working across Government with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to tackle air pollution, and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to fix housing and reduce damp and mould. Infections can also exacerbate COPD and asthma, so the National Health Service is running winter vaccine campaigns against respiratory infections including COVID-19, flu, and pneumococcal disease.
To enable faster diagnosis of asthma and COPD and earlier access to treatment, access to spirometry tests in community diagnostic centres (CDCs) is growing and will continue to do so as more sites come online. The first five months of 2025/26 saw an increase in CDC spirometry testing of approximately 2000 tests per month more than in the previous year.
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 adequacy of the recent uptake of covid boosters.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
COVID-19 vaccination uptake figures are published regularly during the spring and winter campaigns, as part of the National flu and COVID-19 surveillance report, available at the following link:
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 his Department plans to support the adoption of the a) Asthma Control Test and b) COPD Assessment Test as part of annual reviews for respiratory patients in primary care.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Asthma Control Test and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Assessment Test are accessible online for patients to use and the results can be taken to a general practice to help inform an annual assessment or other general practice appointment associated with these conditions.
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 been made of the adequacy of national production capacity for PSMA radiotracers in the context of projected clinical demand for prostate cancer diagnosis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) radiotracers are commissioned for use as part of PET-CT prostate cancer imaging, as set out in the published clinical commissioning policy. Access to PET-CT, as with any healthcare service, is closely monitored.
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 recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to asthma diagnostics, including fractional exhaled Nitric Oxide (FeNO) testing.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to improving access to fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) testing.
FeNO testing is a recommended core test for any standard community diagnostic centre (CDC). Currently 112 CDC sites in England offer FeNO testing.
In November 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the British Thoracic Society and the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network published a guideline on "Asthma: diagnosis, monitoring and chronic asthma management". This covers diagnosing, monitoring and managing asthma in adults, young people and children. The guideline includes a recommendation to use FeNO testing and is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng245/chapter/Recommendations
NHS England has been working jointly with the Health Innovation Networks to form a national respiratory partnership to improve asthma outcomes, including through implementation of this asthma guideline.
FeNO testing is also a key diagnostic for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Health systems across England are beginning to roll out new ways of diagnosing and supporting people with COPD this winter, thanks to £2.61 million of National Health Service investment. Nine local initiatives have received funding from the NHS England Pathway Transformation Fund to increase access to diagnostic tests such as spirometry and FeNO testing.
Access to FeNO testing in England is audited annually as part of the National Physiological Science Data Collections, with the next collection taking place in January 2026.
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 assessment of the adequacy of access to fractional exhaled Nitric Oxide (FeNO) testing.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to improving access to fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) testing.
FeNO testing is a recommended core test for any standard community diagnostic centre (CDC). Currently 112 CDC sites in England offer FeNO testing.
In November 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the British Thoracic Society and the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network published a guideline on "Asthma: diagnosis, monitoring and chronic asthma management". This covers diagnosing, monitoring and managing asthma in adults, young people and children. The guideline includes a recommendation to use FeNO testing and is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng245/chapter/Recommendations
NHS England has been working jointly with the Health Innovation Networks to form a national respiratory partnership to improve asthma outcomes, including through implementation of this asthma guideline.
FeNO testing is also a key diagnostic for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Health systems across England are beginning to roll out new ways of diagnosing and supporting people with COPD this winter, thanks to £2.61 million of National Health Service investment. Nine local initiatives have received funding from the NHS England Pathway Transformation Fund to increase access to diagnostic tests such as spirometry and FeNO testing.
Access to FeNO testing in England is audited annually as part of the National Physiological Science Data Collections, with the next collection taking place in January 2026.
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 his Department plans to expand fractional exhaled Nitric Oxide (FeNO) testing for asthma diagnosis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to improving access to fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) testing.
FeNO testing is a recommended core test for any standard community diagnostic centre (CDC). Currently 112 CDC sites in England offer FeNO testing.
In November 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the British Thoracic Society and the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network published a guideline on "Asthma: diagnosis, monitoring and chronic asthma management". This covers diagnosing, monitoring and managing asthma in adults, young people and children. The guideline includes a recommendation to use FeNO testing and is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng245/chapter/Recommendations
NHS England has been working jointly with the Health Innovation Networks to form a national respiratory partnership to improve asthma outcomes, including through implementation of this asthma guideline.
FeNO testing is also a key diagnostic for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Health systems across England are beginning to roll out new ways of diagnosing and supporting people with COPD this winter, thanks to £2.61 million of National Health Service investment. Nine local initiatives have received funding from the NHS England Pathway Transformation Fund to increase access to diagnostic tests such as spirometry and FeNO testing.
Access to FeNO testing in England is audited annually as part of the National Physiological Science Data Collections, with the next collection taking place in January 2026.
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 levels of access to PSMA PET-CT imaging on regional and ethnic inequalities in prostate cancer diagnosis and outcomes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises that access to PSMA PET-CT imaging varies across England and that this may exacerbate existing disparities.
NHS England has introduced a commissioning policy for PSMA PET-CT imaging for patients with high-risk or recurrent prostate cancer, and work is underway to expand capacity and improve resilience in diagnostic services
Tackling health inequalities remains a core priority. Through the Core20PLUS5 framework, NHS England is working to reduce disparities in cancer outcomes. The forthcoming National Cancer Plan will set out further actions to improve early diagnosis and equitable access to cancer services across England.