Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
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 encourage more people from ethnic minority backgrounds to become blood donors in Greater Manchester.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is responsible for blood donation in England.
Recruiting donors from black heritage backgrounds is a strategic priority for NHSBT, driven by the clinical need to provide better matched blood for patients with conditions like sickle cell, which disproportionately affects people of black heritage. As a result, NHSBT is delivering marketing and communication activities that target key diverse areas. Greater Manchester is one of NHSBT's key target regions for their Giving Types campaign, with proactive public relations and regional media stories being deployed to drive the appeal for more blood donors using real-life case studies from the local area. Further information on the Giving Types campaign is available at the following link:
https://www.blood.co.uk/news-and-campaigns/campaigns/giving-type/
The NHSBT Community Grants Programme funds community and faith/belief organisations to drive awareness, understanding, and behaviour change amongst black, Asian, mixed heritage, and minority ethnic communities to build support for blood donation. NHSBT has two Community Grant Programme groups operating in Manchester, specifically Become United and the Caribbean and African Health Network (CAHN). They host events, webinars, and produce videos on behalf of NHSBT to promote blood donation within their communities. Further information on the NHSBT Community Grants Programme is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/how-you-can-help/get-involved/community-grants-programme/
NHSBT attends and hosts specific events which will attract a high number of people from ethnic minority backgrounds to encourage blood donation, for example the recent attendance at CAHN’s Windrush Day 2025 in Alexandra Park, Greater Manchester.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
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 on the adequacy of waiting times for audiology appointments in (a) Stockport constituency and (b) Greater Manchester.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We do not hold specific data on audiology waiting lists in the Stockport constituency, Greater Manchester, or nationally.
In May 2025, the waiting list for Ear, Nose and Throat, which includes audiology appointments, stood at 4,492 in the Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, and stood at 37,477 in the NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board (ICB). In the same month, Ear, Nose and Throat performance against the 18-week referral to treatment standard was 54.6% at the Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, and 50.5% in the NHS Greater Manchester ICB.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people are on the waiting list for tinnitus treatment in Stockport constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold information on this particular condition. However, the latest published data on the waiting list for Ear, Nose and Throat, which includes those waiting for tinnitus treatment, stood at 4,492 in the Stockport NHS Foundation Trust as of May 2025. This represents a 2.8% reduction compared to the start of July 2024.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2025 to Question 62269 on IVF: Finance, whether his Department has had discussions with NHS Greater Manchester on the proposed reduction in the number of NHS-funded IVF cycles.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No such discussions have taken place.
Funding decisions for health services in England are made by integrated care boards, and are based on the clinical needs of their local population. We expect these organisations to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, ensuring equal access to fertility treatment across England.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of NHS Greater Manchester’s proposed reduction in the number of NHS-funded IVF cycles from two to one on residents of Stockport.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We expect integrated care boards to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. The NICE’s Fertility problems: assessment and treatment guideline recommends that the standard for the best outcome is offering three cycles of in vitro fertilisation for women aged between 22 and 39 years old, and one cycle for women aged 40 to 42 years old. NICE is currently reviewing the fertility guidelines and will consider whether the current recommendations for access to National Health Service funded treatment are still appropriate.
In the light of broader pressures on the NHS and on-going changes within NHS England, we have been looking again at achievable ambitions to improve access to fertility services and fairness for all affected couples.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with (a) the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and (b) voluntary sector organisations on the implementation of the forthcoming Civil Society Covenant in relation to the next HIV Action Plan for England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
While not specifically in relation to the Civil Society Covenant, Department of Health and Social Care officials have engaged with officials from across the Government, including at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, to align resources and efforts across the Government in relation to the next HIV Action Plan for England.
Collaboration is at the core of the next action plan, which we aim to publish this year, and we are therefore engaging a wide range of system partners in its development, including people with lived experience, the voluntary and community sector (VCS), professional bodies, and local partners, amongst others.
We recently hosted engagement sessions with approximately 60 VCS and external partners to discuss what the next action plan should look like, though the Civil Society Covenant has not been discussed specifically. Professor Kevin Fenton, the Government’s Chief Advisor on HIV, has also hosted a series of engagement workshops, with approximately 250 system partners, including the VCS, industry, primary care, and integrated care board colleagues, to inform our plan.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 27 May 2025 to Question 53645 on Parkinson's Disease: Greater Manchester, whether his Department plans to (a) collect and (b) publish regional data on the average waiting time for Parkinson’s patients to see a neurologist.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no current plans to collect and publish regional data on the average waiting time for patients with Parkinson’s disease to undergo their first neurology appointment following referral.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department has allocated to medical research into Parkinson's disease in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department delivers research into Parkinson’s disease via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Between the financial years 2022/23 and 2024/25, the NIHR has allocated over £24 million to medical research into Parkinson’s disease through its research programmes. The following table shows a breakdown of the allocated funding to medical research into Parkinson’s disease via the NIHR for the financial years 2022/23, 2023/24, and 2024/25:
Year | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | Total |
Allocated funding | £1,900,000 | £21,000,000 | £1,400,000 | £24,300,000 |
The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including Parkinson’s disease. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality. Welcoming applications on Parkinson’s disease to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
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 adequacy of the availability of Produodopa treatment for people with Parkinson’s in (a) Stockport and (b) Greater Manchester.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is not aware of a supply issue affecting Produodopa.
The Department monitors and manages medicine supply at a national level so that stocks remain available to meet regional and local demand. Information on stock levels within Stockport and Greater Manchester is not held centrally.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new licensed medicines should be routinely funded by the NHS based on an assessment of their costs and benefits.
NICE has recommended Produodopa, also known as foslevodopa–foscarbidopa, for the treatment of advanced Parkinson's with motor symptoms. This treatment should now be available to NHS patients in line with NICE’s recommendations.
Decisions about what medicines to prescribe are made by the doctor or healthcare professional responsible for that part of the patient’s care. Prescribers must always satisfy themselves that the medicines they consider appropriate for their patients can be safely prescribed and that they take account of appropriate national guidance.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will review the medical exemption list for free prescriptions.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have no plans to review the list of medical conditions that entitle someone to apply for a medical exemption certificate.