Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
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 (a) timely adjustments of medications and (b) access to treatments for people with Parkinson's.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Clinicians are responsible for making prescribing decisions for their patients, taking into account best prescribing practice and the local commissioning decisions of their respective integrated care boards. They are also expected to take account of appropriate national guidance on clinical and cost effectiveness, and are accountable for their prescribing decisions, both professionally and to their service commissioners.
Timely adjustment and optimisation of medicines are important to ensure patients are receiving the most clinically appropriate and effective treatment to support their health and wellbeing. It is also critical in underpinning the six rights of safe medicines management: the right person; right medicine; right route; right dose; right time; and right to decline.
The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for translating evidence into authoritative guidance for the health and care system on best practice. The NICE has produced guidance on the management of Parkinson’s disease, which includes recommendations on pharmacological management, including the timing of medicine administration. The NICE has also developed a Quality Standard for Parkinson’s disease that states that adults with Parkinson's disease who are in hospital, or a care home, should take levodopa within 30 minutes of their individually prescribed administration time. Clinicians are expected to take relevant national guidance fully into account when making clinical decisions regarding their patients, including the adjustment of medications.
The Department is aware of supply constraints with one supplier of amantadine 100 milligram capsules used in the management of Parkinson’s disease, however stocks remain available from alternative suppliers to cover demand. The Department has also been notified of a discontinuation of apomorphine (APO-go PFS) 50 milligram/10 millilitre pre-filled syringes from April 2025. Alternative formulations of apomorphine remain available for patients and management guidance has been issued to the National Health Service.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
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 patients with Parkinson receive regular consultations.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have delivered an additional two million appointments, seven months ahead of schedule. This includes operations, consultations, diagnostic tests and treatments. These additional appointments have taken place across several specialities, including neurology.
We have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the National Health Service. The plan will set out a bold agenda to deliver on the three big shifts needed to move healthcare from hospital to the community, analogue to digital and treatment to prevention. 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 care for patients across our communities.
There are several initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with Parkinson’s disease in England, including the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Programme for Neurology, the RightCare Progressive Neurological Conditions Toolkit and the Neurology Transformation Programme (NTP).
The GIRFT National Specialty Report made recommendations designed to improve services nationally and to support the NHS to deliver care more equitably across the country. The report highlighted differences in how services are delivered and provided the opportunity to share successful initiatives between trusts to improve patient services nationally. In addition, the NTP has developed a model of integrated care for neurology services to support integrated care boards to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients, including providing care closer to home.
Once diagnosed, and with a management strategy in place, most people with Parkinson’s can be cared for through routine access to primary and secondary care. NHS England commissions the specialised elements of Parkinson’s care that patients may receive from 27 neurology centres across England. Within specialised centres, neurological multidisciplinary teams ensure patients can access a range of health professionals, including Parkinson’s disease nurses, psychologists and allied health professionals such as dieticians and speech and language therapists, and that they can receive specialised treatment and support, according to their needs.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 4.5 of the Autumn Budget 2024, how many new (a) surgical hubs and (b) diagnostic scanners will be located in Yorkshire.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the 18-week Referral to Treatment constitutional standard by March 2029. The standard has not been met consistently since September 2015.
Surgical hubs offer productive solutions by focusing on providing high volume low complexity surgery, and will contribute to providing the surgical capacity needed to return to the constitutional standard. There are 112 elective surgical hubs operational across England as of December 2024. There are 14 surgical hubs already operational in the North East and Yorkshire region, and three more are planned to open. These three are:
- the Dewsbury and District Hospital Combined Elective Centre in Dewsbury;
- the St Luke's Hospital Day Case Unit in Bradford; and
- the Castle Hill Hospital Elective Hub in Cottingham.
The Department cannot yet confirm the location of all the new surgical hubs and diagnostic scanners from the capital investment announced in the Autumn Statement. NHS England is working with local National Health Service systems to identify the most appropriate locations for investments, including new surgical hubs and diagnostic scanners. Details will be set out at the earliest opportunity.
As detailed in the 2025/26 capital guidance, NHS England has provided systems with indicative allocations based on a combination of population-weighted shares and national and regional intelligence on where investment is needed and if it can be delivered within 2025/26. These allocations include funding for additional surgical hubs, diagnostic scanning capacity, urgent treatment centres co-located with emergency departments, and same day emergency care provision in those systems prioritised for these investments by national teams.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
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 make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) introducing a proxy staging measure for non-stageable blood cancers and (b) applying a national target to (i) measure and (ii) support a reduction in levels of late diagnosis.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
There are no current plans to introduce a specific proxy staging measure or a corresponding national target to support the earlier diagnosis of blood cancers.
It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including blood cancer, as early and quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, to improve outcomes. We will get the NHS diagnosing blood cancer earlier and treating it faster. We will start by delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, as the first step to ensuring early diagnosis and faster treatment.
In addition to improving cancer waiting time performance, the NHS has implemented non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with vague and non-site-specific symptoms, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. This includes blood cancer, which the national evaluation found was one of the most common cancers diagnosed via these pathways.
The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including those with blood cancer and other cancers with lower survival rates. We are now in discussions about what form that plan should take, and what its relationship to the 10-Year Health Plan and the Government’s wider Health Mission should be and will provide updates in due course.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
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 mitigate the impact of (a) delayed diagnosis and (b) emergency presentation rates on people with blood cancer.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The Government has not taken a specific assessment on the potential impact of late diagnosis on outcomes for people with blood cancer. It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including blood cancer, as early and quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, to improve outcomes. We will start by delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, as the first step to ensuring early diagnosis and faster treatment.
In addition to improving cancer waiting time performance, the NHS has implemented non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with vague and non-site-specific symptoms, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. This includes blood cancer, which the national evaluation found was one of the most common cancers diagnosed via these pathways, therefore mitigating the impact of late diagnosis, and reducing emergency presentation.
The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including those with blood cancer and other cancers with lower survival rates. We are now in discussions about what form that plan should take, and what its relationship to the 10-Year Health Plan and the Government’s wider Health Mission should be, and we will provide updates in due course.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
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 on the potential impact of late diagnosis on outcomes for people with blood cancer.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The Government has not taken a specific assessment on the potential impact of late diagnosis on outcomes for people with blood cancer. It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including blood cancer, as early and quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, to improve outcomes. We will start by delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, as the first step to ensuring early diagnosis and faster treatment.
In addition to improving cancer waiting time performance, the NHS has implemented non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with vague and non-site-specific symptoms, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. This includes blood cancer, which the national evaluation found was one of the most common cancers diagnosed via these pathways, therefore mitigating the impact of late diagnosis, and reducing emergency presentation.
The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including those with blood cancer and other cancers with lower survival rates. We are now in discussions about what form that plan should take, and what its relationship to the 10-Year Health Plan and the Government’s wider Health Mission should be, and we will provide updates in due course.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
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 mandatory suicide prevention training for all frontline workers is (a) fully funded and (b) effectively implemented in (i) healthcare, (ii) education, (iii) prisons and probation, (v) emergency services, and (v) money, housing, and employment services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of the Government’s mission to build a National Health Service fit for the future, we have set out our commitment to deliver a renewed drive to tackle the biggest killers, including suicide, while ensuring people live well for longer. As part of this, an additional 8,500 mental health workers will be recruited across child and adult mental health services, and those new workers will be specially trained to support people at risk.
The NHS is committed to ensuring that all healthcare professionals receive the necessary mental health training to meet the current and future needs of patients. NHS England has responsibility for working with partners to plan, recruit, educate, and train the health workforce. In September 2023, NHS England published its suicide prevention toolkit for NHS staff to use.
It is for employers in the other emergency services, education, prisons and probation, money, housing, and employment services to ensure that their staff receive the appropriate training needed in order to carry out their duties effectively.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a yearly evaluation of the suicide prevention training programme; and what steps he is taking to ensure (a) transparency and (b) accountability in the programme.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of the Government’s mission to build a National Health Service fit for the future, we have set out our commitment to deliver a renewed drive to tackle the biggest killers, including suicide, while ensuring people live well for longer. As part of this, an additional 8,500 mental health workers will be recruited across children and adult mental health services, and those new workers will be specially trained to support people at risk.
We recognise that bringing in the staff needed will take time, as will ensuring they have the necessary training. We are working to develop a plan to deliver this expansion of the mental health workforce, including where they should be deployed to achieve maximum effect.
The NHS is committed to ensuring that all healthcare professionals receive the necessary mental health training to meet the current and future needs of patients. In September 2023, NHS England published its suicide prevention toolkit for NHS staff to use.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the cancer plan will contain measures to improve (a) pathology and (b) testing within the (a) overall cancer and (b) triple negative breast cancer pathway.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The Government recognises that a cancer-specific approach is needed to meet the challenges in cancer care, and to improve outcomes for people living with different types of cancer including rare cancers, sub-types of cancer and triple-negative breast cancer.
The Government has set out plans to publish a ten-year health plan to reform the National Health Service. Following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, we will publish a new national cancer plan. We are now in discussions about what form that plan should take, and what its relationship to the 10-Year Health Plan and the Government’s wider Health Mission should be and will provide updates on this in due course.
Data on triple negative breast cancer for England is collected through the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS). An NDRS Quality Assurance Team is in place to identify, investigate, and monitor data quality issues, with over 130 Quality Assurance reports being run each month as well as quarterly reports to assess the completeness of key data.
To drive up the completeness of the data for triple negative breast cancer, progesterone receptor status, human epidermal growth factor receptor in situ hybridization status, and oestrogen receptor status are part of the Cancer Outcomes and Services Data set, which supports national registration.
In January 2025, the Government published the Elective Reform Plan as part of the government’s Plan for Change. The plan sets out the reform and productivity efforts needed to ensure that patients, including those waiting for pathology tests are seen on time and have the best possible experience during their care.
To improve the NHS Constitution standard for diagnostics, the cancer waiting time standards and the referral to treatment standard, we expect all community diagnostic centres (CDCs) and hospital-based diagnostic services to be open 12 hours a day, seven days a week so that patients have improved access and availability to diagnostic tests, including pathology.
Productivity and reform in CDCs will also be underpinned by investment in digital interventions. This will include all pathology networks reaching maturity in 2025. Networks are essential for facilitating diagnostic digitisation and ensuring the standardisation of systems needed for sharing results and optimising slot booking capacity. Networks can reduce variation and provide patients with equity of services' quality and efficiency, as well as maximise workforce efficiencies that can help to offset workforce shortages.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to improve patient outcomes for (a) rarer cancers, (b) sub-types of cancer and (c) triple negative breast cancer in the cancer plan.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The Government recognises that a cancer-specific approach is needed to meet the challenges in cancer care, and to improve outcomes for people living with different types of cancer including rare cancers, sub-types of cancer and triple-negative breast cancer.
The Government has set out plans to publish a ten-year health plan to reform the National Health Service. Following publication of the 10-Year Health Plan, we will publish a new national cancer plan. We are now in discussions about what form that plan should take, and what its relationship to the 10-Year Health Plan and the Government’s wider Health Mission should be and will provide updates on this in due course.
Data on triple negative breast cancer for England is collected through the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS). An NDRS Quality Assurance Team is in place to identify, investigate, and monitor data quality issues, with over 130 Quality Assurance reports being run each month as well as quarterly reports to assess the completeness of key data.
To drive up the completeness of the data for triple negative breast cancer, progesterone receptor status, human epidermal growth factor receptor in situ hybridization status, and oestrogen receptor status are part of the Cancer Outcomes and Services Data set, which supports national registration.
In January 2025, the Government published the Elective Reform Plan as part of the government’s Plan for Change. The plan sets out the reform and productivity efforts needed to ensure that patients, including those waiting for pathology tests are seen on time and have the best possible experience during their care.
To improve the NHS Constitution standard for diagnostics, the cancer waiting time standards and the referral to treatment standard, we expect all community diagnostic centres (CDCs) and hospital-based diagnostic services to be open 12 hours a day, seven days a week so that patients have improved access and availability to diagnostic tests, including pathology.
Productivity and reform in CDCs will also be underpinned by investment in digital interventions. This will include all pathology networks reaching maturity in 2025. Networks are essential for facilitating diagnostic digitisation and ensuring the standardisation of systems needed for sharing results and optimising slot booking capacity. Networks can reduce variation and provide patients with equity of services' quality and efficiency, as well as maximise workforce efficiencies that can help to offset workforce shortages.