Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 ensure that patients referred for a potential diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease are seen by a neurologist within 18 weeks.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to delivering the National Health Service constitutional standard for 92% of patients to wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment by March 2029, a standard which has not been met consistently since September 2015. This includes patients waiting for elective treatment on neurological pathways.
We have taken our first step towards delivering this commitment goal by exceeding our pledge to deliver an extra two million operations, scans, and appointments in our first year in office, having now delivered over three million more appointments.
The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the specific productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the constitutional standard.
The Getting It Right First Time programme, which provides tailored regional and national support to providers, also has a neurology specific Further Faster workstream. This is a clinically led initiative supporting peer to peer learning and improvement. A neurology 'handbook' and checklist with benchmarked data and case studies has been published and there are regular neurology online sessions for clinical and operational leads.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease have access to (a) appropriate information, (b) treatment options and (c) a multidisciplinary care team.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are 27 specialised neurological treatment centres across the National Health Service in England, which provide access to neurological multidisciplinary teams to ensure that patients with Parkinson’s disease can receive specialised treatment and support, according to their needs.
Most services for long-term conditions are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs), including for Parkinson’s. It is the responsibility of ICBs, working with clinicians, service users, and patient groups, to develop local services and care pathways that are convenient and that meet patients’ needs.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) publishes guidance on the diagnosis and treatment of long-term conditions for use by healthcare professionals and commissioners. The NICE published Parkinson’s disease in adults guidance in July 2017, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng71/chapter/recommendations
The NICE guidance includes that communication with people with Parkinson's disease should aim towards empowering them to participate in judgements and choices about their own care, and individually tailored and consistent communication from the professionals involved.
We have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS and improve care for people with long-term conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease. A central and core part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the NHS needs to make it more accessible, proactive, and tailored for patients.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 a cross-government mental health strategy for children and young people.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to taking a cross-government strategic approach to children and young people’s mental health.
We are currently co-developing the NHS 10 Year Health Plan with the public, staff and patients. We continue to listen to emerging insights on children and young people’s mental health and are taking the concerns of participants seriously. The consultation process has provided invaluable feedback, and we are in the process of exploring how we best take this forward.
Whilst the National Health Service is responsible for evidence-based treatment of mental ill health, we recognise the levers to prevent mental ill health sit largely outside of the health system. That’s why we are using the cross-government missions as a strategic tool to tackle the socioeconomic determinants of mental ill health amongst children and young people.
We continue to work with the Department for Education to deliver our commitment of providing access to a specialist mental health professional in every school in England. We are also working across government and with NHS England to set up a network of community Young Futures hubs.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 impact of AI-based auto contouring on radiotherapy waiting times.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made. However, the Department supports the National Health Service in reviewing opportunities to utilise artificial intelligence to transform performance, bring down waiting times, and support staff with their workload. We expect that radiotherapy treatment centres will use all appropriate technology for treating patients, to ensure that they receive the best possible care. This includes the use of artificial intelligence where available.
The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, as well as reducing waiting times for diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 reduce waiting times for radiotherapy.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to improving cancer care and reducing waiting times for treatment. To ensure the most advanced radiotherapy treatment is available to patients, we are investing £70 million in 28 new radiotherapy machines. The Department is committed to improving waiting times for cancer treatment across England and aims to ensure that no one is waiting longer than they should for lifesaving treatment. As a first step to achieving this, we will deliver an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, helping to ensure earlier diagnoses and faster treatment for those who need it most.
The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, as well as reducing waiting times for diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 (a) recruitment of nurses and (b) availability of jobs for newly qualified nurses.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions about the employment of newly qualified nurses are a matter for individual National Health Service trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.
We will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to ensure the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 cutting ICB running costs by 50% on (a) Nottingham, (b) Nottinghamshire and (c) other areas with higher levels of deprivation.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has asked integrated care boards (ICBs) to act primarily as strategic commissioners of health and care services and to reduce the duplication of responsibilities within their structure, to achieve a 50% cost reduction in their running cost allowance. NHS England provided additional guidance to ICBs, National Health Service trusts, and NHS foundation trusts on 1 April 2025, with ICBs being tasked to develop plans by the end of May 2025 setting out how they will manage their resources to deliver across their priorities.
NHS England will be working closely with ICBs to support the development of these plans, ensuring that their implementation reduces duplication and supports patient care. Further details are available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/working-together-in-2025-26-to-lay-the-foundations-for-reform/
In his letter to ICBs, Sir Jim Mackay committed to greater transparency and moving back to a fair shares allocation policy over time. The Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB is within range of its fair shares allocation targets.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will (a) take steps to help reduce financial pressures on pharmacy students and (b) make an assessment of the potential merits of including pharmacy students in the Learning Support Fund scheme.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to financially supporting healthcare students in England, including pharmacy students, throughout their studies. Support is predominantly provided through the Department for Education and the student loans system.
For the 2025/26 academic year, the Government has announced that the maximum loans and grants for living and other costs from Student Finance England will increase by 3.1% to meet forecast inflation.
There are no immediate plans to make changes to the NHS Learning Support Fund scheme design. The Government keeps the funding arrangements for all healthcare students under close review. At all times the Government must strike a balance between the level of support students receive and the need to make the best use of public funds to deliver value for money.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with independent pharmacy owners on the contracts offered to community pharmacies.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that pharmacies are an integral part of the fabric of our communities. They provide an easily accessible ‘front door’ to the National Health Service, staffed by highly trained and skilled healthcare professionals.
We have now concluded the consultation on funding for 2024/25 and 2025/26, and have agreed with Community Pharmacy England to increase the community pharmacy contractual framework to £3.073 billion. Community Pharmacy England represent all pharmacy contractors in England, including independent community pharmacies. This deal represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the NHS, at over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. This shows the Government’s commitment to rebuilding the sector.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 ensure the adequacy of the level of funding for independent pharmacies.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that pharmacies are an integral part of the fabric of our communities. They provide an easily accessible ‘front door’ to the National Health Service, staffed by highly trained and skilled healthcare professionals.
We have now concluded the consultation on funding for 2024/25 and 2025/26, and have agreed with Community Pharmacy England to increase the community pharmacy contractual framework to £3.073 billion. Community Pharmacy England represent all pharmacy contractors in England, including independent community pharmacies. This deal represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the NHS, at over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. This shows the Government’s commitment to rebuilding the sector.