Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
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 (a) trust and (b) accountability on staff complaints in NHS organisations; and what steps he is taking to prevent (i) discrimination and (ii) bullying in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service staff should have the confidence to speak out and come forward if they have concerns. There is support in place for staff who wish to raise concerns, including a network of more than 1,200 local Freedom to Speak Up Guardians across healthcare in England, whose role it is to help and support NHS workers. In November 2024, the Department launched a consultation on options for regulating NHS managers, with the aim of improving leadership quality and accountability. This will help ensure that the NHS has strong and effective leadership in place, and that leaders and managers are held accountable for their practise.
Discrimination and bullying are unacceptable in any workplace and have no place in the NHS. All employers across the NHS should have robust policies in place on how these behaviours should be handled, and what support should be made available to staff.
In June 2023, NHS England published their Equality Diversity and Inclusion Improvement Plan, which set out a series of High Impact Actions, including the requirement for NHS organisations to review data by protected characteristics on bullying, harassment, discrimination, and violence, and to develop plans to improve staff experience. NHS England has also developed an NHS Civility and Respect programme to tackle bullying and harassment in the NHS, and to create a culture of civility and respect.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
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 (a) engage healthcare professionals in the early diagnosis and treatment of facial palsy and (b) support patients in the days following a facial palsy diagnosis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The provision of care and management for people with facial palsy, also known as Bell’s palsy, is the responsibility of general practices, under local integrated care boards.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced a clinical knowledge summary on Bell’s palsy, last revised in February 2023, which provides primary care practitioners with a readily accessible summary of the current evidence base and practical advice on best practice for Bell’s palsy. This clinical knowledge summary is available on the NICE’s website, at the following link:
https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/bells-palsy/
Our 10-Year Health Plan will consider what actions are needed to improve patient access and reduce waiting times for patients, including those with facial or Bell’s palsy, by setting out a bold agenda to deliver on the big shifts needed, including the shift from the hospital to the community.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
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 merits of including nanopore sequencing-based brain tumour methylome classification in the National Genomic Test Directory.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department funded the Cancer 2.0 initiative in 2021, delivered by Genomics England in close partnership with NHS England. The three-year programme demonstrated that nanopore sequencing-based brain tumour classification demonstrates significant promise for the National Genomic Test Directory. Full validation is required before full clinical implementation can be considered.
Other genomic testing for brain cancer is already included in the National Genomic Test Directory. This testing can be delivered using a range of technologies, including whole genome sequencing (WGS) or Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology, namely large cancer gene panels, to ensure that a patient receives the most appropriate genomic testing depending on their individual circumstances.
To date no application has been made to NHS England to evaluate nanopore sequencing-based brain tumour methylome classification. If an application were received, NHS England would assess the evidence in line with the Test Directory policy.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
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 support individuals living with Cauda Equina Syndrome with access to (a) treatment, (b) rehabilitation and (c) financial assistance.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases, such as cauda equina syndrome. The UK Rare Diseases Framework sets out four priorities collaboratively developed with the rare disease community: these include improving access to specialist care, treatments, and drugs. We remain committed to delivering under the Framework and published the annual England action plan in February 2025.
The Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme is a national NHS England programme designed to improve the treatment and care of patients through in-depth review of services, benchmarking, and presenting a data-driven evidence base to support change.
GIRFT has worked collaboratively with a multidisciplinary group of more than 60 health professionals to develop an interactive pathway for those patients with suspected cauda equina syndrome, designed to support clinical teams to diagnose and treat the condition without delay and improve patient outcomes. The pathway offers best practice along all stages of the patient pathway, including post-operative care and best practice for surgical techniques, pain control and other post-operative support, which includes a section on finances. More information is available at the following link:
https://girft-interactivepathways.org.uk/cauda-equina-1/
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
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 communication systems between GP surgeries and pharmacies.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the importance of effective communication between general practice (GP) surgeries and pharmacies, to ensure safe and coordinated patient care. Over recent years, several digital initiatives have been introduced to reduce the reliance on fax and paper, and to enhance this communication, including NHSmail, the Electronic Prescription Service, and the Summary Care Record. These systems allow pharmacists to access patient information and support prescription processing.
GP Connect is a national service introduced in 2018, and further strengthened in the 2025/26 GP Contract, that allows authorised health and social care workers in a variety of care settings to access their patients' GP records. The aim of GP Connect is to support better, more joined-up clinical care by opening up information and data held within GP IT systems, so that registered community pharmacists can view and update records. This initiative supports the Pharmacy First service, which empowers pharmacists to offer a full consultation and provide treatment for seven common health conditions.
The Community Pharmacy Information Standard informed the plan to recover access to primary care published in May 2023. This set out a range of actions to improve communication between GP surgeries and community pharmacies, harnessing digital technology to streamline referrals, increase access to clinical information to support patient care and update the patient record in an efficient and timely way. The Government remains committed to strengthening primary care integration and to fixing the front door of the National Health Service.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
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 with Cabinet colleagues of the impact of patent lengths on research into treatments for glioblastoma.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Intellectual property rights in the United Kingdom are not condition specific. The Government considers the UK’s current patent system to strike the right balance between incentivising research and innovation and supporting access to medicines for the National Health Service.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many prescription prepayment certificates have been issued in (a) England and (b) Mid Derbyshire in the last five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Prescription Prepayment Certificates (PPCs) are issued by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) on behalf of the Department. The following table shows the number of three and 12 month PPCs issued in England over the last five years, as well as the current financial year up to 27 February 2025:
Financial year | Certificate type | Certificate count |
2019/2020 | PPC | 2,521,102 |
2020/2021 | PPC | 2,505,297 |
2021/2022 | PPC | 2,685,102 |
2022/2023 | PPC | 2,900,859 |
2023/2024 | PPC | 3,000,387 |
2024/2025 | PPC | 2,872,956 |
Total | PPC | 16,485,703 |
It has not been possible to collate data for the Mid Derbyshire area alone, as this would require the NHSBSA to hold postcodes for all addresses in this area, which it does not have. However, the following table shows the number of PPCs issued in the NHS Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) over the last five years, as well as the current financial year up to 27 February 2025:
Financial year | Certificate type | Certificate count |
2019/2020 | PPC | 54,650 |
2020/2021 | PPC | 54,013 |
2021/2022 | PPC | 57,515 |
2022/2023 | PPC | 62,034 |
2023/2024 | PPC | 64,229 |
2024/2025 | PPC | 61,550 |
Total | PPC | 353,991 |
In addition, the following two tables show the number of hormone replacement therapy PPCs issued since its launch, in England and the NHS Derby and Derbyshire ICB, respectively, for the financial year 2023/24 and the current financial year up to 27 February 2025:
Financial year | Certificate count |
2023/2024 | 565,754 |
2024/2025 | 498,767 |
Total | 1,064,521 |
Financial year | Certificate count |
2023/2024 | 12,414 |
2024/2025 | 10,668 |
Total | 23,082 |
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS staff are absent from work due to musculoskeletal health issues; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of fast-tracking treatment for such staff.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data published by NHS England shows that during the month of October 2024, there were 317,167 full time equivalent days lost due to musculoskeletal health issues for National Health Service staff. These account for 13% of all sickness absences over the month. The published data does not allow for the identification of the specific number of staff absent from work due to musculoskeletal health issues.
On 1 March 2025, the Government and Nuffield Health announced access for 4,000 NHS staff to Nuffield Health’s Joint Pain Programme. The programme is aimed at those staff who are off work due to chronic joint pain or who are struggling with pain whilst at work.
Sickness absence is managed at an organisational level across the NHS. NHS organisations have policies and procedures to manage attendance and reduce sickness absence. Employers should develop local policies and procedures in line with Annex 26 of the NHS staff terms and conditions of service (Agenda for Change) handbook and should access NHS England’s Employer’s Sickness Absence Toolkit.
In 2023, NHS England published a strategy for the NHS and partner organisations to work together to develop and invest in occupational health and wellbeing services for NHS staff over the next five years. NHS England is currently leading a comprehensive review, the Staff Treatment Access Review, of how to deliver a more equitable and consistent offer to staff that supports their wellbeing.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's policy is on supporting NHS trusts to meet their annual sickness absence targets.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data published by NHS England shows that during the month of October 2024, there were 317,167 full time equivalent days lost due to musculoskeletal health issues for National Health Service staff. These account for 13% of all sickness absences over the month. The published data does not allow for the identification of the specific number of staff absent from work due to musculoskeletal health issues.
On 1 March 2025, the Government and Nuffield Health announced access for 4,000 NHS staff to Nuffield Health’s Joint Pain Programme. The programme is aimed at those staff who are off work due to chronic joint pain or who are struggling with pain whilst at work.
Sickness absence is managed at an organisational level across the NHS. NHS organisations have policies and procedures to manage attendance and reduce sickness absence. Employers should develop local policies and procedures in line with Annex 26 of the NHS staff terms and conditions of service (Agenda for Change) handbook and should access NHS England’s Employer’s Sickness Absence Toolkit.
In 2023, NHS England published a strategy for the NHS and partner organisations to work together to develop and invest in occupational health and wellbeing services for NHS staff over the next five years. NHS England is currently leading a comprehensive review, the Staff Treatment Access Review, of how to deliver a more equitable and consistent offer to staff that supports their wellbeing.
Asked by: Jonathan Davies (Labour - Mid Derbyshire)
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 availability of prostate cancer screenings.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
Screening for prostate cancer is currently not recommended by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC). This is because of the inaccuracy of the current best test, called the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA). A PSA-based screening programme could harm some men, as many would be diagnosed with a cancer that would not have caused them problems during their life. This would lead to additional tests and treatments which can also have harmful side effects, for example sexual dysfunction and incontinence.
The UK NSC regularly reviews its recommendations. The evidence review for prostate cancer screening is underway and will conclude at the end of 2025.