Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
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 improve awareness of DES-related risks (a) among general practitioners and (b) within medical education.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
The Department is working with NHS England to improve awareness of the risks associated with in utero exposure to diethylstilbestrol (DES). National Health Service cervical screening guidance states that women who know or believe they were exposed to DES in utero may require regular colposcopy outside the routine screening programme and should speak to their general practitioner so that appropriate local follow-up arrangements can be made.
In December 2025, Professor Peter Johnson, the National Clinical Director for Cancer, sent a letter to all NHS cancer alliances highlighting the effects of DES. This message was directed to healthcare professionals, including general practitioners, and referenced existing NHS guidance on screening that is available at the following link:
The standard of training for doctors is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC). The GMC does not deliver, design, or commission education and training but sets the outcome standards expected at undergraduate level and approves courses and medical schools to write and teach the curricula content that enables their students to meet the GMC’s outcome standards. Each medical college sets its own undergraduate curriculum.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
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 the use of medical technologies that help people living with diabetes in North Durham constituency to (a) better understand the impact of (i) diet and (ii) lifestyle on their glucose levels, (b) improve diabetes management and (c) reduce the incidence of related comorbidities.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
Indicative data on access to continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) in North Durham is available on OpenPrescribing. The available data shows that North Durham was above the national median for CGM sensor prescribing per 1000 patients. The data is available at the following link:
https://openprescribing.net/measure/cgm_sensors/sicbl/84H/
The National Diabetes Audit (NDA), and the National Peadiatric Diabetes Audit (NPDA) provide comprehensive data on care processes and outcomes and highlight inequalities across different demographic and socioeconomic groups. NHS Digital’s NDA dashboards and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health’s NPDA dashboards are designed to help integrated care boards, providers, and paediatric diabetes units benchmark themselves and target improvements.
To help people in County Durham better understand the impact of diet and lifestyle on their type 2 diabetes, they can be referred to the Diabetes Information and Education Team within County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust for structured education, including support with using technology such as CGM. During 2025/26, the team received 2502 referrals, with 778 referrals from the North Durham area.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to continuous glucose monitoring technology for patients with type 2 diabetes in North Durham constituency; and what comparative assessment his Department has made of this and the national rate.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
Indicative data on access to continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) in North Durham is available on OpenPrescribing. The available data shows that North Durham was above the national median for CGM sensor prescribing per 1000 patients. The data is available at the following link:
https://openprescribing.net/measure/cgm_sensors/sicbl/84H/
The National Diabetes Audit (NDA), and the National Peadiatric Diabetes Audit (NPDA) provide comprehensive data on care processes and outcomes and highlight inequalities across different demographic and socioeconomic groups. NHS Digital’s NDA dashboards and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health’s NPDA dashboards are designed to help integrated care boards, providers, and paediatric diabetes units benchmark themselves and target improvements.
To help people in County Durham better understand the impact of diet and lifestyle on their type 2 diabetes, they can be referred to the Diabetes Information and Education Team within County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust for structured education, including support with using technology such as CGM. During 2025/26, the team received 2502 referrals, with 778 referrals from the North Durham area.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to increase the uptake of continuous glucose monitoring technology for people with type 2 diabetes in North Durham.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
Indicative data on access to continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) in North Durham is available on OpenPrescribing. The available data shows that North Durham was above the national median for CGM sensor prescribing per 1000 patients. The data is available at the following link:
https://openprescribing.net/measure/cgm_sensors/sicbl/84H/
The National Diabetes Audit (NDA), and the National Peadiatric Diabetes Audit (NPDA) provide comprehensive data on care processes and outcomes and highlight inequalities across different demographic and socioeconomic groups. NHS Digital’s NDA dashboards and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health’s NPDA dashboards are designed to help integrated care boards, providers, and paediatric diabetes units benchmark themselves and target improvements.
To help people in County Durham better understand the impact of diet and lifestyle on their type 2 diabetes, they can be referred to the Diabetes Information and Education Team within County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust for structured education, including support with using technology such as CGM. During 2025/26, the team received 2502 referrals, with 778 referrals from the North Durham area.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
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 individuals affected by Diethylstilbestrol.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) regulates medicines supplied in the United Kingdom. Our activity spans the whole of a medicine’s lifecycle. The MHRA continuously assesses the benefit risk balance of all medicines at the time of initial licensing and throughout their use in clinical practice, carefully evaluating any emerging evidence on their benefits and risks.
Diethylstilbestrol (DES), also referred to as stilbestrol/stilboestrol, is an oestrogenic hormone formerly used in the treatment of threatened miscarriage and suppression of lactation. There are safety concerns with DES related this historical usage. Its use is now contra-indicated in pregnant women, it is not suitable for pre-menopausal women, and it should not be prescribed to children or young people due to its carcinogenic potential.
The first concern relates to women exposed to DES in utero when their mothers were pregnant and taking the drug for threatened miscarriage. Daughters of individuals exposed to DES in utero are at increased risk of clear cell cancer of the cervix and vagina.
The second concern relates to women who were exposed to DES whilst pregnant to prevent miscarriage or following pregnancy, in order to supress lactation. A potential risk of breast cancer in women who were given DES was identified in the 1980’s and confirmed in further studies in the 1990s.
The current advice from UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is that routine cervical screening is appropriate for those who were exposed to DES in utero. Participation in the National Breast Screening Programme is also recommended for those women exposed to DES. The UKHSA’s advice is available at the following link:
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference Answer of 9 February 2026 to Question HL14107, whether his Department has plans to assess the health needs of male veterans and service personnel in particular.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
Veterans have access to all National Health Services across the United Kingdom and male veterans will benefit from the implementation of the Men’s Health Strategy. In addition, NHS England has introduced several bespoke services to improve healthcare support available to veterans. This includes Op RESTORE, Op COURAGE, and Op NOVA.
The health of service personnel is the responsibility of the Defence Medical Services.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the provision of gender dysphoria clinics in the North East of England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is committed to supporting people who need these specialist gender services and commissions three adult gender dysphoria clinics in Newcastle, Sheffield, and Leeds. While they are regionally commissioned to meet the demand of the local population, these services are accessed by patients from across the country and this has an impact on waiting times.
In some areas, general practices (GPs) are also supporting stabilised patients by prescribing their treatment locally with specialist support, ensuring the care and treatment needs of these individuals are met locally when appropriate.
NHS England has now completed its review of adult gender services, which looked at how to overcome the challenges that some individuals continue to face in accessing services in a timely manner. The review includes 20 recommendations and NHS England, in full partnership with regions and the Department, will now lead the next stage of the system-wide response.
A National Portfolio Board is being established to build and develop a full implementation plan, which will address each of the recommendations in turn and be aligned with the ambitions of the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan for England, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/10-year-health-plan-for-england
Immediate priorities include working with professional bodies to establish a new professional role of GP with an Extended Role in Gender Medicine, to provide support to those who have completed their care within the adult gender service clinics and to provide leadership and knowledge sharing with primary care in every neighbourhood.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people are currently on the waiting list for gender dysphoria clinics in i) the North East of England and ii) nationally.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The number of adult patients who are registered with a general practice in the North East and Yorkshire region and who are on a waiting list for an adult gender dysphoria clinic is 5,966 at the date of 31 January 2026.
The total number of adult patients on a waiting list for an adult gender dysphoria clinic is 44,579 at the date of 31 January 2026.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
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 impact of the £80 million funding announced for children’s hospices in October 2025 on the (a) availability and (b) sustainability of community-based social palliative care services for children with life-threatening or terminal illnesses.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales
Children’s hospices often provide holistic care, wrap-around services and additional support to children and their families that extend beyond core healthcare provision. This, for example, includes complementary therapies, respite care, and short breaks. The £80 million of revenue funding should help give children’s hospices the stability they need to plan ahead and will help them to continue to offer social palliative care services, such as respite care and short breaks, for children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions, as well as their families.
We see children’s hospices and children’s social palliative care services as playing an important role in neighbourhood health and the shift to community. Achieving our vision for a Neighbourhood Health Service will rely critically on strong partnership working between health and social care, also working closely with wider local government services and the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector to better understand and meet the needs of individuals and local populations in a holistic way.
We expect neighbourhood teams and services to be designed in a way that reflects the specific needs of local populations. Our aim is to have a Neighbourhood Health Centre in each community that brings together National Health Service, local authority, and voluntary sector services in one building to help create a holistic offer that meets the needs of local populations.
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
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 role of community-based social palliative care services for children in the context of his policy on shifting care from hospital to community settings.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales
Children’s hospices often provide holistic care, wrap-around services and additional support to children and their families that extend beyond core healthcare provision. This, for example, includes complementary therapies, respite care, and short breaks. The £80 million of revenue funding should help give children’s hospices the stability they need to plan ahead and will help them to continue to offer social palliative care services, such as respite care and short breaks, for children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions, as well as their families.
We see children’s hospices and children’s social palliative care services as playing an important role in neighbourhood health and the shift to community. Achieving our vision for a Neighbourhood Health Service will rely critically on strong partnership working between health and social care, also working closely with wider local government services and the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector to better understand and meet the needs of individuals and local populations in a holistic way.
We expect neighbourhood teams and services to be designed in a way that reflects the specific needs of local populations. Our aim is to have a Neighbourhood Health Centre in each community that brings together National Health Service, local authority, and voluntary sector services in one building to help create a holistic offer that meets the needs of local populations.