Asked by: Lee Pitcher (Labour - Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme)
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 commission updated research into the long-term health effects of Poly Implant Prothèse breast implants on women.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR is not currently funding any specific research into long-term health effects of Poly Implant Prothèse breast (PIP) implants but welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of women’s health. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made based on the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.
The Department does not hold information related to breast implant safety research funded by other sources.
Asked by: Lee Pitcher (Labour - Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme)
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 with complex dementia needs, including those requiring one-to-one support, can access safe and suitable care placements following discharge from hospital.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the challenges in securing suitable care placements for people with complex needs including dementia. National Health Service bodies and local authorities are expected to work together to plan discharge early and ensure that care arrangements, including one-to-one support, are reflective to individual needs following discharge from hospital.
Through reforms to the Better Care Fund, integrated care boards and local authorities are expected to strengthen joint planning and work with providers to develop more integrated and effective care services to meet demand, including for people with complex dementia needs.
Additionally, the Government will deliver the first ever Modern Service framework for Frailty and Dementia, setting national standards for dementia and frailty care and redirecting NHS and adult social care priorities to provide the best possible care and support. Those with dementia and/or frailty will also benefit from more joined up care through co-created care plans, and by 2027, 95% of those with complex needs will have an agreed care plan.
Asked by: Lee Pitcher (Labour - Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme)
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 patients prescribed dopamine agonists are informed about the risk of impulse control disorders.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for ensuring that medicines and healthcare products meet appropriate standards of safety, quality, and effectiveness and are supported by detailed product information, via the Patient Information Leaflet (PIL) and the Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC). The PIL and SmPC are designed to support safe use of the medicine by providing essential information. It is the responsibility of the healthcare professional prescribing medicines to consider the risk of the medicine and the suitability of that medicine for their patient, and to relay any safety information on the side-effects of the medicine to their patient.
The association between impulse control disorders with dopamine agonists is recognised and it’s recommended that patients should be regularly monitored and also made aware of the risk of impulse control disorders. These risks are outlined in the product information for all dopamine agonists.
The MHRA is considering whether further regulatory action is needed to improve awareness and understanding of the established risks of impulse control disorders among patients and healthcare professionals. This work does not reassess the safety of these medicines, but focuses on whether additional regulatory measures could strengthen communication of these risks.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is responsible for producing guidance for the National Health Service and wider health and care system. The NICE guideline, reference code NG71, covers diagnosing and managing Parkinson's disease in people aged 18 years old and over and includes advice about discussing the risks of impulse control disorders. The NICE guideline is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng71/chapter/Recommendations
Asked by: Lee Pitcher (Labour - Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme)
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 ensure that integrated care boards are held accountable for commissioning services for those with very severe ME/CFS the absence of a national specialised service.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are expected to commission services for people with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) across all levels of severity, including those with severe and very severe ME/CFS, in line with national standards, service specifications and clinical access policies set by NHS England. Prioritisation and funding remain at the discretion of ICBs.
Officials have begun work to develop a template service specification for mild and moderate ME/CFS. This template will provide best practice examples to guide the commissioning of services for ME/CFS and will now include reference to severe ME/CFS as an interim support measure.
To help support healthcare professionals in the diagnosis and management of ME/CFS, the Department has worked with NHS England to develop an e-learning programme for healthcare professionals. All four sessions of the e‑learning programme are now available, with sessions one, two and three having universal access, while the fourth session, which focuses on the management of severe ME/CFS, is only available to healthcare professionals. The e-learning is available at the following link: https://learninghub.nhs.uk/catalogue/mecfselearning?nodeId=7288
Asked by: Lee Pitcher (Labour - Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme)
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 equitable access England to (a) diagnosis, (b) treatment and (c) specialist rehabilitation services for patients with Functional Neurological Disorder.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The majority of services for people with neurological conditions, including functional neurological disorder (FND), are commissioned locally. Integrated care board (ICB) commissioners are best placed to configure services for their populations and are supported by clinical guidance.
More widely, NHS England’s Neuroscience Transformation Programme is supporting ICBs to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients, which includes providing care closer to home.
NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology and RightCare Toolkits, including the Progressive Neurological Conditions Toolkit, the Headache and Migraine Toolkit, and the Epilepsy Toolkit, aim to improve care for patients with neurological conditions by reducing variation.
On 15 October 2025, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published new guidance, titled Rehabilitation for chronic neurological disorders including acquired brain injury. The guideline covers rehabilitation in all settings for children, young people, and adults with a chronic neurological disorder, neurological impairment, or disabling neurological symptoms resulting from acquired brain injury, spinal cord injury, peripheral nerve disorder, progressive neurological disease, or FND. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ng10181
Asked by: Lee Pitcher (Labour - Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to extend eligibility for NHS lung screening programmes to include people with a history of occupational exposure to (a) asbestos, (b) coal dust and (c) other hazardous substances.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The NHS Lung Cancer Screening Programme is offered to people between the ages of 55 and 74 years old who are current smokers or have previously been smokers. This is in line with the recommendation made by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) in 2022.
The UK NSC recognised that there are other causes of lung cancer such as air pollution and occupational exposure to inhaled carcinogens but as 72% of lung cancer is largely attributable to age and smoking status, the benefits of screening would have the most impact in this cohort of people.
When appraising the viability of a targeted screening the UK NSC takes into consideration the feasibility of identifying the cohort of people eligible for targeted screening. This would be necessary if the NHS Lung Cancer Screening Programme were to be extended to these groups.
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), welcomes any new published peer reviewed evidence which suggests the case for a new or modified screening programme via its annual call, of which details are available at the following link:
Asked by: Lee Pitcher (Labour - Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme)
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 increase the supply of Creon; and what support his Department is providing to patients who are not able to use alternative medicines.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department continues to engage with suppliers of Creon and other pancreatic enzyme replacement therapies (PERT) to boost production to mitigate the supply issue. The supplier of Creon expects to receive increased quantities for 2025. Suppliers of alternative PERT and specialist importers of unlicensed medicines continue to supply increased volumes to assist in covering the gap in the market. The Department has issued management advice to healthcare professionals which directs clinicians to unlicensed imports when licensed stock is unavailable, and which includes actions for integrated care boards to ensure local mitigation plans are implemented. The Department, in collaboration with NHS England, has created a webpage to include the latest update on PERT availability and easily accessible prescribing advice for clinicians.