Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help improve the 37% referral rates of eligible patients for pulmonary rehabilitation.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
To improve referral rates for pulmonary rehabilitation (PR), NHS England has issued detailed guidance to integrated care boards on strengthening PR workforce capacity, ensuring safe staffing levels, and developing accessible service models to reduce health inequalities. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/pulmonary-rehabilitation-workforce/
NHS England has additionally recently published guidance on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) biologics that reiterates the need for PR to be taken into account when planning care for people with COPD. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/business-case-guidance-copd-biologics/
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the potential impact of increasing national pulmonary rehabilitation referral rates on (a) clinical outcomes for patients, (b) NHS emergency admission rates, and (c) economic productivity lost to respiratory-related illness and caring responsibilities.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is a clinically proven intervention that improves outcomes and reduces hospital admissions for people with chronic respiratory conditions. Health Education England reported in 2022 that increasing access to PR for people with lung conditions could save NHS England £69 million every year and see a reduction of 150,924 general practice appointments, and 26,633 fewer hospital admissions per year. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.hee.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Respiratory%20Disease%20Report.pdf
NHS England has additionally recently published guidance on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) biologics that reiterates the need for PR to be taken into account when planning care for people with COPD. This provides cost and health benefit information for integrated care boards to help create business cases for setting up COPD services. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/business-case-guidance-copd-biologics/
NHS England holds a quarterly PR steering group that provides direction, challenge and support for decision-making, and monitors progress against set metrics as reported through the national respiratory audit programme. Further information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to improve access to pulmonary rehabilitation for adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease living in Blaydon and Consett constituency.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
In the Blaydon and Consett area, pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is primarily delivered by the Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust. Since April 2024, the trust's physiotherapy and occupational therapy services have undertaken a comprehensive redesign of the PR service. This restructure aims to ensure equity of access for all patients across the referral catchment area and to guarantee consistency in both the clinical content and delivery of the course.
The redesigned service is now fully operational, and the trust will be monitoring patient outcomes and attendance figures throughout the coming year to ensure the new structure delivers the intended improvements in patient health and service reach.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he make an assessment of the potential merits of a Modern Service Framework for respiratory health to help improve referral and take up rates of pulmonary rehabilitation.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will consider long-term conditions for future waves of modern service frameworks (MSFs), including respiratory conditions. The criteria for determining other conditions for future MSFs will be based on where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. After the initial wave of MSFs is complete, the National Quality Board will determine the conditions to prioritise for new MSFs as part of its work programme.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)
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 merits of promoting the document entitled BS 30480 Suicide and the workplace: Intervention, prevention and support for people affected by suicide, published on 4 November 2025, to employers as part of workplace wellbeing initiatives.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I am grateful to the hon. Member for her tireless work on suicide prevention. Every suicide is a tragedy that leaves a profound and enduring impact on families, friends, and communities. Tackling suicide is one of the Government’s top priorities and we are committed to delivering the Suicide Prevention Strategy for England with a range of partners.
Everyone has a part to play in preventing suicide and employers are essential to ensuring supportive workplace communities and to highlighting the importance of intervention, prevention, and support for people affected by suicide.
We have referenced BS 30480 in the Men’s Health Strategy, published on 19 November 2025, alongside our plans to invest up to £3.6 million over the next three years to deliver neighbourhood-based suicide prevention support pathfinders for middle-aged men, co-designed with experts and men with lived experience.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that hospitals follow NICE guidelines on (a) suicide and (b) self-harm risk assessment (i) tools and (ii) scales.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Improving risk management and safety planning for suicide and self-harm prevention is a priority in the Government’s suicide prevention strategy. The strategy highlights the importance of compliance with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidelines on risk assessment. NHS England is taking forward work in this area.
We would expect health professionals to have regard to guidelines from the NICE, which state that risk assessment tools should not be used to predict future suicide or repetition of self-harm.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of automatically notifying women with neurofibromatosis type 1 before their 40th birthday that they are eligible to attend breast cancer screening from the age of 40 years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Currently women with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) who are considered at moderate or high risk of breast cancer, can be referred through clinical professionals such as specialists in genetics or oncology for annual breast screening which is managed at a local level.
An assessment has not made of the potential merits of automatically notifying women with NF1 before they are 40 years old that they are eligible to attend breast cancer screening from the age of 40 years.