Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
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 Research has commissioned any research into the link between Bisphenol A (BPA) and breast cancer.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Cancer remains a priority for the Government, and we spend £1.5 billion on health and care research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) each year. Cancer is our biggest area of spend, and in 2022/23 the NIHR spent over £121.8 million on cancer research. This includes significant research on breast cancer risk, screening, and early detection and diagnosis.
While we have not funded research looking into a link between Bisphenol A and breast cancer, we welcome high quality research proposals into any aspect of health and care, including potential cancer risks.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the total sleep in back pay liability is estimated to be for providers in (a) Hornchurch and Upminster constituency and (b) London Borough of Havering Council.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Worsley and Eccles South (Barbara Keeley) on 26 February 2018 to Question 128962.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to widen access to proton radiotherapy for cancer patients in England.
Answered by Steve Brine
In April 2012, my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced that £250 million will be invested to build proton beam therapy facilities at The Christie Hospital in Manchester and University College London Hospitals in London. Building work is well underway on both sites and service planning and development is on schedule to begin treating patients from August 2018 at The Christie and summer 2020 for University College London Hospitals.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans to ensure that NHS England provides (a) complementary wifi and (b) basic television services in children's hospital wards.
Answered by Steve Barclay
Being in hospital can be traumatic for any patient, but especially so for children. Providing a warm and caring environment, including access to television services, is therefore very important and National Health Service trusts are expected to provide this as a matter of course. Data for 2017 shows that 93% of organisations provide children in hospitals with a range of equipment appropriate to their age, including a bedside TV, radio and telephone.
NHS Digital is working to make sure that everyone can access free WiFi in NHS sites in England. NHS WiFi will provide a secure, stable, and reliable WiFi capability, consistent across all NHS settings. It will allow patients and the public to download health apps, browse the internet and access health and care information.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans to promote volunteering in IBM's World Community Grid to support research into childhood cancers.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The Department promotes active public involvement in research into all conditions, including cancer. The Department does this through its funding of the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) INVOLVE organisation, which aims to support active public involvement in National Health Service, public health and social care research.
Underlining the Department’s commitment to the fight against cancer, NIHR funding for cancer research has risen from £101 million in 2010/11 to £137 million in 2016/17.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what analysis his Department has undertaken of the (a) cost and (b) effectiveness of mandatory testing of babies at birth for neuroblastoma.
Answered by Steve Brine
The United Kingdom National Screening Committee (UK NSC) last reviewed the evidence to screen for neuroblastoma in 2015 and recommended that screening should not be offered. This is because the evidence published at the time of the review was insufficient in terms of quality and volume to accurately answer key questions to introduce screening which included no evidence that a screening test that would only detect cases of neuroblastoma that needed treatment; and no evidence that neuroblastoma screening (at any age) would reduce the number of deaths from neuroblastoma.
The UK NSC is due to review the evidence for neuroblastoma in 2019.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the referral pathway for patients with familial hypercholesterolemia.
Answered by Steve Brine
Work is ongoing to help develop pathways of care for patients once a positive diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is made.
Public Health England is working with NHS England, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, HEART UK and the British Heart Foundation on the development of an implementation guide; expected to be published shortly. The guide is for commissioners and local health economies, and aims to help facilitate the development of local FH services, supporting better identification and management of people and families affected by FH, across England.
NHS England and Genomics England are working to reconfigure genetic services in England and this should help ensure that genetic testing is more widely available.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to introduce a nationwide, family-based, follow-up system to ensure comprehensive identification of people affected by familial hypercholesterolemia.
Answered by Steve Brine
Public Health England (PHE) is part of a cross-organisation national familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) Steering Group, led by the National Clinical Director for Heart Disease.
PHE is working with NHS England, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), HEART UK and the British Heart Foundation on the development of an implementation guide which will be published in early 2018. The guide is for commissioners and local health economies, and aims to help facilitate the development of local FH services, supporting better identification and management of people and families affected by FH, across England.
A cholesterol test is included as part of an NHS Health Check. Guidance alerts practitioners conducting the check to consider the possibility of FH in line with NICE. Emerging evidence shows that compared to routine primary care practice, the NHS Health Check programme is detecting more cases of FH.