Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people are waiting to receive a spirometry test for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Greater Manchester integrated care board.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Data on the number of people waiting to receive a spirometry test for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board (ICB) is not held centrally.

The Government is committed to putting patients first, including in Greater Manchester. This means making sure that patients, including those waiting to receive a spirometry test or other diagnostic tests for COPD, are seen on time, and ensuring that people have the best possible experience during their care.

The Government is supporting the Greater Manchester ICB to increase the speed of diagnostic tests for COPD, for instance through community diagnostic centres (CDCs). There are seven CDCs across the Greater Manchester ICB, of which four are either a standard or large model CDC. All standard and large CDCs are required to offer respiratory tests such as spirometry, and full lung function tests.

The Greater Manchester ICB is also exploring and testing innovative case finding tools for patients with COPD and asthma as part of a Greater Manchester toolkit for respiratory care, including developing remote spirometry as a proof of concept. The Greater Manchester ICB has also trained approximately 300 staff to provide quality assured spirometry to patients, and is currently working towards getting staff accredited to Association for Respiratory Technology and Physiology standards.

In January 2025, we published the Elective Reform Plan. The plan sets out the productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the 18-week constitutional standard by the end of this Parliament. The Elective Reform Plan commits to transform and expand diagnostic services and speed up waiting times for tests, a crucial part of reducing overall waiting times and returning to the Referral to Treatment 18-week standard.

This includes expanding existing CDCs, as well as building up to five new ones in 2025/26, to support the NHS to return to meeting the elective waiting time constitutional standard. The plan also commits to CDCs opening 12 hours per day, seven days a week, delivering more same-day tests and consultations, and to an expanded range of tests.

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 Greater Manchester ICB to increase the speed of access to diagnostic tests for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Data on the number of people waiting to receive a spirometry test for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board (ICB) is not held centrally.

The Government is committed to putting patients first, including in Greater Manchester. This means making sure that patients, including those waiting to receive a spirometry test or other diagnostic tests for COPD, are seen on time, and ensuring that people have the best possible experience during their care.

The Government is supporting the Greater Manchester ICB to increase the speed of diagnostic tests for COPD, for instance through community diagnostic centres (CDCs). There are seven CDCs across the Greater Manchester ICB, of which four are either a standard or large model CDC. All standard and large CDCs are required to offer respiratory tests such as spirometry, and full lung function tests.

The Greater Manchester ICB is also exploring and testing innovative case finding tools for patients with COPD and asthma as part of a Greater Manchester toolkit for respiratory care, including developing remote spirometry as a proof of concept. The Greater Manchester ICB has also trained approximately 300 staff to provide quality assured spirometry to patients, and is currently working towards getting staff accredited to Association for Respiratory Technology and Physiology standards.

In January 2025, we published the Elective Reform Plan. The plan sets out the productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the 18-week constitutional standard by the end of this Parliament. The Elective Reform Plan commits to transform and expand diagnostic services and speed up waiting times for tests, a crucial part of reducing overall waiting times and returning to the Referral to Treatment 18-week standard.

This includes expanding existing CDCs, as well as building up to five new ones in 2025/26, to support the NHS to return to meeting the elective waiting time constitutional standard. The plan also commits to CDCs opening 12 hours per day, seven days a week, delivering more same-day tests and consultations, and to an expanded range of tests.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients in (a) Greater Manchester ICB and (b) England are waiting for an appointment with a specialist respiratory clinician following a referral from their GP.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The number of cases where patients on a consultant-led referral to treatment pathway were waiting for a first appointment under the Respiratory Medicine or Paediatric Respiratory Medicine treatment functions as of 20 April 2025 in the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board was 7,417, and in England was 150,484.

Question to the Attorney General:

To ask the Solicitor General, what steps she is taking to help increase prosecution rates in cases of violence against women and girls.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)

This Government was elected with a landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. A key part of this will be delivering effective prosecutions, and we continue to see improvements in the prosecution of VAWG offences.

As Solicitor General, I superintend the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which is continuing to transform its approach to adult rape prosecution through the implementation of its new national operating model, based on robust evidence from Operation Soteria. Through this work, the CPS has seen substantial increases in referral, charge, and prosecution volumes for adult rape.

These improvements have also informed the Domestic Abuse Joint Justice Plan with policing which launched in November 2024. Better partnership with policing has already led to modest initial increases in domestic abuse referrals, setting a strong foundation for future improvements. Pilots are now underway in three CPS areas, to improve timeliness of investigations, efficiency of charging decisions and communication throughout cases.

To address the increasingly complexity of VAWG offending and the holistic needs of victims, the CPS will also begin implementation of its 2025-30 VAWG strategy. This will ensure prosecutors have the right skills and tools to prosecute VAWG effectively.

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 help tackle health inequalities linked to the (a) diagnosis and (b) management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Respiratory disease, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), is a clinical priority and the National Health Service is investing in the provision of more and better rehabilitation services for respiratory patients. This has the objective of improving outcomes for people with COPD through early diagnosis and increased access to treatments.

The NHS RightCare COPD pathway has been rolled out nationally and defines the optimal service for people with COPD. Furthermore, the National Respiratory Audit Programme aims to improve quality of care, services, and clinical outcomes for patients with asthma and COPD, by collecting and providing data on a range of indicators and pulmonary rehabilitation activity

A national programme of work is underway to support systems with improving access to Pulmonary Rehabilitation for the eligible population; increase capacity of provision to reduce waiting lists; and improve the quality and consistency of rehabilitation programmes through accreditation. Pulmonary rehabilitation is effective for people with COPD, improving exercise capacity or increased quality of life in 90% patients who complete a programme.

The NHS England Core20PLUS5 approach strives to inform action that targets the most deprived 20% of the population and other inclusion health groups, with the aim of reducing health inequalities. The approach focuses on improving the 5 clinical areas at most need of accelerated improvement, namely cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory, maternity and mental health outcomes, in the poorest 20 percent of the population, along with other disadvantaged population groups identified at a local level.

Within NHS Greater Manchester, steps to address health inequalities linked to COPD include: improving equity of access to diagnostic spirometry and FeNO, particularly for disadvantaged population groups; increasing capacity and reducing waiting times for pulmonary rehabilitation services; increasing vaccination uptake and focusing on secondary prevention of pneumonia; running smoking cessation services; and introducing a respiratory standard to improve quality in general practice in managing COPD.

This standard utilises a tool to identify patients with COPD who are at the highest risk and asks practices to do an enhanced review and management of these patients to help manage their COPD better.

Found: (84.2%) Rosie Duffield (Independent, Canterbury) (added 25 Nov 2024) 11 of 15 (73.3%) Kirith Entwistle

Found: David Burton-Sampson (Labour; Southend West and Leigh) Rosie Duffield (Independent; Canterbury) Kirith Entwistle

Found: meeting Members present: Sarah Owen (Chair); Alex Brewer; David Burton-Sampson; Rosie Duffield; Kirith Entwistle

Found: Q116 Kirith Entwistle: My first question is for you, Andrew.

Found: NC1 to NC4 _NC1 Tonia Antoniazzi Tracy Gilbert Lizzi Collinge Uma Kumaran Alex Brewer Kirith Entwistle

Found: Dame Caroline Dinenage Irene Campbell Llinos Medi Ben Lake Helen Hayes Richard Baker Kirith Entwistle

Found: Dame Caroline Dinenage Irene Campbell Llinos Medi Ben Lake Helen Hayes Richard Baker Kirith Entwistle

Found: Dame Caroline Dinenage Irene Campbell Llinos Medi Ben Lake Helen Hayes Richard Baker Kirith Entwistle

Found: Dame Caroline Dinenage Irene Campbell Llinos Medi Ben Lake Helen Hayes Richard Baker Kirith Entwistle

Found: Dame Caroline Dinenage Irene Campbell Llinos Medi Ben Lake Helen Hayes Richard Baker Kirith Entwistle

Found: Dame Caroline Dinenage Irene Campbell Llinos Medi Ben Lake Helen Hayes Richard Baker Kirith Entwistle

Found: Dame Caroline Dinenage Irene Campbell Llinos Medi Ben Lake Helen Hayes Richard Baker Kirith Entwistle

Found: Dame Caroline Dinenage Irene Campbell Llinos Medi Ben Lake Helen Hayes Richard Baker Kirith Entwistle

Found: Dame Caroline Dinenage Irene Campbell Llinos Medi Ben Lake Helen Hayes Richard Baker Kirith Entwistle

Found: Dame Caroline Dinenage Irene Campbell Llinos Medi Ben Lake Helen Hayes Richard Baker Kirith Entwistle

Found: Dame Caroline Dinenage Irene Campbell Llinos Medi Ben Lake Helen Hayes Richard Baker Kirith Entwistle

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