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Written Question
Drugs: Manufacturing Industries
Tuesday 5th December 2023

Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress she has made on negotiations with the pharmaceutical sector.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

  • A new voluntary scheme has been agreed in principle by the government, NHS England and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry and will run for 5 years from 1st January 2024.

  • It is a landmark deal that is set to save the NHS around £14 billion over 5 years in medicines costs that can be used to provide the best possible treatment and care for NHS patients, grow the workforce and cut waiting lists.


Written Question
Pancreatic Cancer: Mortality Rates
Monday 16th October 2023

Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)

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 tackle regional disparities in pancreatic cancer survival rates.

Answered by Will Quince

Reducing inequalities and variation in cancer treatment is a priority for the Government, as is increasing early cancer diagnosis, which is a key contributor to reducing cancer health inequalities and improving survival rates, as set out in the NHS Long Term Plan.

The pancreatic cancer clinical audit, led by the Royal College of Surgeons, began in 2021, with the first outcomes expected in 2024. A key aim of the audit is to support services in the National Health Service to stimulate improvements in cancer detection, treatment, and outcomes for patients, including improving survival rates.

To improve early diagnosis, the NHS is implementing non-specific symptom pathways (NSS) for patients who present with vague and non-site specific symptoms which do not clearly align to a tumour type. This includes symptoms of pancreatic cancer. By March 2024, the NSS programme will achieve full population coverage across England for non-specific symptom pathways as set out in the 2023/24 NHS Operational Planning Guidance.

On 24 January 2023, the Government announced that it will publish a Major Conditions Strategy. The strategy will cover cancer as one of the six conditions that contribute most to morbidity and mortality across the population in England. The strategy will apply a geographical lens to each condition to address regional disparities in health outcomes, supporting the levelling up mission to narrow the gap in healthy life expectancy by 2030.  We published the Major Conditions Strategy Case for Change and Our Strategic Framework on 14 August 2023 which sets out our approach to making the choices over the next five years that will deliver the most value in facing the health challenges of today and of the decades ahead, including for cancer.


Written Question
Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma: Medical Treatments
Tuesday 12th September 2023

Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)

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 increase funding for the research and development of treatments for diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma.

Answered by Will Quince

The Department invests in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG).

DIPG is a difficult research area with a relatively small research community, and we are relying on researchers to submit high-quality research proposals. In May 2018 the Government announced £40 million for brain tumour research as part of the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission. The Government is committed to funding high-quality brain cancer research, and we expect to spend more as new research progresses. The £40 million funding remains available; if we can spend more on the best quality science we will do. It is also worth noting that all applications that were fundable in open competition have been funded.

The NIHR has supported delivery in the health and care system for eight DIPG research studies funded by research funding partners in the charity and public sectors since 2018.


Written Question
Breasts: Plastic Surgery
Thursday 20th July 2023

Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)

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 take further steps to support women who were affected by Poly Implant Prothèse breast implants prior to 2012.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The Government remains committed to protecting patient safety and women’s health.

Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP) breast implants have not been re-introduced to the United Kingdom market since their withdrawal in 2010.

The 47,000 women who were given PIP implants, mainly in private clinics, can come forward and have those implants removed on the National Health Service if their doctors agree. Information and advice for women who think they might have PIP implants is available on NHS webpages.

Since PIP breast implants were withdrawn in 2010, the health system has enacted important changes to protect against future events. The Breast and Cosmetic Implant Registry collects and publishes data on all types of breast implant and removal surgery in the UK since 2016.

The future regulations for medical devices will enhance the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) proactive patient safety monitoring of devices, enabling earlier identification of safety issues. The future regulations will also look to enhance pre-market requirements, ensuring medical devices receive increased risk-proportionate scrutiny before they reach the market.

In addition, the MHRA will improve the traceability of devices through the introduction of Unique Device Identifier requirements. The MHRA gained powers from the Medicines and Medical Devices Act 2021 to improve transparency with respect to safety issues with devices, such as breast implants.


Written Question
Mental Health Services
Wednesday 14th June 2023

Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the responses to his Department's call for evidence on long-term mental health support which closed on 7 July 2022.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

A summary of the responses received in response to the call for evidence was published on 17 May 2023 and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/mental-health-and-wellbeing-plan-discussion-paper-and-call-for-evidence

The responses we received will feed into the development of mental health and suicide prevention policies we include in the Major Conditions Strategy and the Suicide Prevention Strategy.


Written Question
Infectious Diseases: Disease Control
Thursday 8th June 2023

Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)

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 implications for his Department's oversight of health policy of negotiations on an international agreement on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response..

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

We have been clear that the United Kingdom will not sign up to a pandemic instrument or any instrument that would compromise the UK’s ability to make domestic decisions on national measures concerning public health policy. Protecting states’ sovereign rights to determine and manage their approaches to public health is a guiding principle for negotiators of the pandemic instrument. Other Member States have also identified this as a priority.

The UK has been and will continue to play an active role in shaping this instrument to deliver on the UK’s global health priorities and protect the health of people in the UK and around the world. No content of the instrument has yet been agreed and Member States are still in the early stages of the negotiation process.


Written Question
Dental Services: Standards
Tuesday 16th May 2023

Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to tackle the shortage of NHS dentist appointments.

Answered by Neil O'Brien

In July 2022, we announced a package of improvements to the National Health Service dental system, detailed in ‘Our plan for patients’, which outlined the steps we are taking to meet oral health need and increase access to dental care. The changes we have implemented include a contractual requirement for NHS dentists to keep their NHS.UK profiles up to date to make it easier for patients to seek treatment, improvements to ensure dentists are renumerated fairly for more complex work and greater flexibility to reallocate resources and to utilise dentists with greater capacity to deliver NHS treatment, while enabling full use of the dental team.

These changes came into effect towards the end of 2022. NHS England have published additional guidance for dentists and commissioners as part of this package. Patients who are struggling to find a local dentist can contact NHS England’s Customer Contact Centre for assistance or contact NHS 111 if seeking urgent care.

NHS England, regional teams and integrated care boards across England are also working together to ensure that patients continue to have access to NHS dental care. We know that we need to do more, and we are working with NHS England and stakeholders to consider additional reforms of the NHS dental system coming shortly this year.


Written Question
Down's Syndrome: Maternity Services
Monday 17th April 2023

Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)

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 ensure that people who give birth to a child with Down's syndrome are provided with adequate maternity care.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

Women who give birth to a child with Down syndrome need maternity care that is tailored to the needs of the woman and those of her baby. The National Health Service, through its three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services, is committed to listening to each woman and offering her a Personalised Care and Support Plan.

The Down Syndrome Act 2022, which received Royal Assent in April 2022, requires my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to publish guidance for relevant authorities across health, social care, education, and housing on practical steps that organisations should take to meet the needs of people with Down syndrome. By setting out in guidance the steps it would be appropriate for health authorities to take when providing services and support to people with Down syndrome and their families, we believe there will be a wider positive impact for expectant parents who are told their unborn baby may have Down syndrome.


Written Question
Breast Cancer: Ashfield
Monday 13th March 2023

Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)

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 increase the uptake of breast screenings in Ashfield and Eastwood constituency.

Answered by Neil O'Brien

Steps being taken to increase the uptake of breast screenings in Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and Sherwood Forest Hospitals Foundation Trust include:

· Implementation of SMS text messages reminders;

· Systems to telephone patients directly to offer appointments;

· Women with learning disabilities are offered extended appointments, supportive pre-visits, an easy read breast screening leaflet and are able to attend with a friend, family member or carer;

· Provision of translation services;

· Work to establish a health inequalities breast screening register; and

· Allocation of £827,200 capital funding to Nottingham University Hospitals to boost activity and uptake of breast screening.

However, data is not collected by constituency. Patients in Ashfield are usually invited for screening by the Sherwood Forest Hospitals Breast Screening Programme and patients in EastWood are usually invited for screening by the Nottingham University Hospitals Breast Screening Programme.


Written Question
Breasts: Plastic Surgery
Friday 10th March 2023

Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the date PIP implants were reintroduced to the UK.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP) breast implants have not been re-introduced to the UK market, since their withdrawal in 2010. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) which regulates medical devices such as breast implants, is working towards implementing a future regulatory regime as outlined in the Government response to the public consultation on the future Medical Device Regulations, published on the 26 of June 2022. The future regime will enhance the MHRA’s proactive patient safety monitoring of devices, enabling earlier identification of safety issues. The future regulations will also look to enhance pre-market requirements, ensuring medical devices receive increased risk-proportionate scrutiny before they reach the market.

The Government remains committed to protecting patient safety and women’s health.