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 has been made of the adequacy of the current palliative care strategy.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England.
The MSF will drive improvements in the services that patients and their families receive at the end of life and will enable integrated care boards to address challenges in access, quality, and sustainability through the delivery of high-quality, personalised care. This will be aligned with the ambitions set out in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan.
It would not be right to pre-empt exactly what will be in the final MSF at this time, as we develop it with our palliative care and end of life stakeholders. It is our intention to work together with those stakeholders to ensure that everyone has access to the care they need, in the right place, at the right time. As part of the MSF, we have invited representatives from a number of organisations to engage with us as part of this process, which has already commenced.
Further information about the MSF is set out in the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087, which I gave on 24 November 2025.
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 estimate he has made of the number of unregistered pharmacies that are operating.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Pharmacy is a protected title in law, and it is a criminal offence for a business to engage in regulated activity, for example supplying pharmacy only medicines to the public, and call themselves ‘a pharmacy’ if they are not registered with the pharmacy regulator. Any concerns about a business that is operating as a pharmacy while not being registered should be raised with either the General Pharmaceutical Council for Great Britain or the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency Criminal Enforcement Unit (MHRA CEU) actively seeks to identify individuals involved in unlawful activity. Where appropriate, the MHRA CEU prosecutes those who put public health at risk, although are not able to release information on the number of ongoing investigations.
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 the department are taking to mark international day of disabled people.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not taken any specific steps to mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities this year. However, we remain committed to championing the rights of disabled people.
As the Lead Minister for Disability (LMD) for the Department, I will continue to work with fellow LMDs across the Government towards our shared goal of breaking down barriers to opportunity for disabled people.
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 is taking steps to raise awareness of grief awareness week.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government understands the importance and significance of National Grief Awareness Week. Grief is something we will all encounter during our lives, and it’s important that grieving families and friends who have lost loved ones have access to the support they need, when they need it.
As part of National Grief Awareness Week 2025, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety, Women’s Health and Mental Health met with the UK Commission on Bereavement. This was highlighted on social media, with further information available at the following link:
Furthermore, the Department chairs the cross-Government Bereavement Working Group, with representatives from over 10 departments, to consider options to improve bereavement support and services.
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 improve early diagnosis of COPD.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
To enable faster diagnosis and earlier access to treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), 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 2,000 tests per month more than in the previous year.
As of November 2025, CDCs are now delivering additional tests and checks in 170 sites across the country. 101 CDCs across the country now offer out of hours services, 12 hours a day, seven days a week, meaning patients can access vital diagnostic tests around their busy working lives.
Diagnosis times for COPD from spirometry tests are not routinely collected or available in a centralised dataset.
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 diagnosis times for COPD.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
To enable faster diagnosis and earlier access to treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), 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 2,000 tests per month more than in the previous year.
As of November 2025, CDCs are now delivering additional tests and checks in 170 sites across the country. 101 CDCs across the country now offer out of hours services, 12 hours a day, seven days a week, meaning patients can access vital diagnostic tests around their busy working lives.
Diagnosis times for COPD from spirometry tests are not routinely collected or available in a centralised dataset.
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, how many diagnoses have been made for diabetes so far in 2025.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is available from the National Diabetes Audit which provides a count of the number of people with a general practice record of diabetes. The latest published data from the audit for April 2024 to March 2025 is 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, how many people are currently being treated for Mesothelioma.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The latest data for England from Cancer Waiting Times shows that for the month of September 2025 the number of people that started first or subsequent treatment for Mesothelioma after a decision to treat was 168, and the number of people that started their first treatment for Mesothelioma following referral was 107.
We have now launched our first Men’s Health Strategy which includes targeted support to address health inequalities in ex-mining and industrial communities, who often face persistent respiratory and cardiovascular disease burdens. We will expand the existing Respiratory Pathways Transformation Fund initiative by investing an additional £1 million to develop targeted case-finding initiatives in former coalfield areas to help us to identify the individuals who need support to access appropriate local services.
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, how many children under the age of 10 have been diagnosed as deaf across the UK.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 21 October 2025 to Question 77507.