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 forthcoming National Cancer Plan will contain measures to ensure patients with blood cancer can access lifesaving and cutting-edge new therapies via the NHS.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Cancer Plan, to be published in the coming weeks, will set out in more detail how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology. The National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care, as well as prevention, and research and innovation. It will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care to better the experience and outcomes for people with cancer, including improving access to lifesaving and cutting-edge new treatment.
Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Government invests over £1.6 billion per year in research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Cancer is a major area of NIHR spending at £141.6 million in 2024/25, reflecting its high priority. For example, the NIHR supported the development of an immunotherapy for patients with an aggressive form of leukaemia, which was approved for routine use in the National Health Service by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in November 2025.
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 take steps to ensure NHS patients with Mantle Cell Lymphoma will continue to be able to receive the CAR-T treatment Tecartus after it has exited the Cancer Drugs Fund.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions on whether new medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service in England are made by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on the basis of an evaluation of their costs and benefits. NICE is currently re-evaluating brexucabtagene autoleucel (Tecartus) to determine whether it can be recommended for routine NHS use, taking into account real-world evidence generated through its use in the Cancer Drugs Fund. NICE has been unable to recommend the treatment in final draft guidance, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ta11545/documents
This is because the available evidence does not suggest that brexucabtagene autoleucel is value for money in this population. Final guidance has not yet been published, and consultees have until 19 January to appeal NICE’s final draft recommendations.
In line with an arrangement between NHS England and the company, if NICE’s final guidance does not recommend use, patients who started treatment during the managed access period can continue their treatment.
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 specific clinical, economic, or operational thresholds (e.g., prevalence shifts, new NICE guidance, excess out of pocket costs) would need to be met to trigger a formal review of the medical exemption list.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no current plans to review the list of prescription charge exemptions or the list of medical conditions that entitle someone to apply for a medical exemption certificate. There are no specific conditions that need to be met to trigger a formal review.
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 he plans to review the medical exemption list, in the context of their being no formal review since 1968.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no current plans to review the list of prescription charge exemptions or the list of medical conditions that entitle someone to apply for a medical exemption certificate. There are no specific conditions that need to be met to trigger a formal review.
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 provide sustainable funding for grassroots men’s mental health initiatives.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department currently has no plans to provide funding for grassroots men’s mental health initiatives.
More widely, the 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to boost mental health support across the country, including for men. This includes transforming mental health services into 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres, improving assertive outreach, expanding talking therapies, and giving patients better access to 24/7 support directly through the NHS App.
The Suicide Prevention Strategy for England, published in 2023, identifies middle aged men as a priority group for targeted and tailored support at a national level.
On 19 November, to coincide with International Men’s Health Day, we published the Men’s Health Strategy. The strategy includes tangible actions to improve access to healthcare, provide the right support to enable men to make healthier choices, develop healthy living and working conditions, foster strong social, community and family networks, and address societal norms. It also considers how to prevent and tackle the biggest health problems affecting men of all ages, which include mental health and suicide prevention, respiratory illness, prostate cancer, and heart disease.
Through the Men’s Health Strategy, we are launching a groundbreaking partnership with the Premier League to tackle male suicide and improve mental health literacy, by embedding health messaging into the matchday experience.
We also announced the Suicide Prevention Support Pathfinders programme for middle-aged men. This program will invest up to £3.6 million over three years in areas of England where middle-aged men are at most risk taking their own lives and will tackle the barriers that they face in seeking support.
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 improve access to mental health services, particularly for young people and those in rural areas.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that too many children and young people are not receiving the mental health care they need, including young people living in rural communities. For 2025/26, mental health spending is forecast to amount to £15.6 billion. This represents a significant uplift of £688 million in real terms spending on mental health compared to the previous financial year.
As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future and that is there when people need it, the Government is recruiting an additional 8,500 mental health workers by the end of this Parliament.
Additionally, approximately six in ten pupils will have access to a mental health support team by March 2026, which equates to approximately six million pupils and further education learners. Rollout will be prioritised based on NHS identification of local need and reaching the most vulnerable children first. We are accelerating the rollout of mental health support teams to achieve full national coverage by 2029.
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 his Department has made of the potential impact of volunteer-led men’s mental health groups on mental wellbeing and NHS services.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made an assessment of the potential impact of volunteer-led men’s mental health groups on mental wellbeing and National Health Services.
More widely, the 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to boost mental health support across the country, including for men. This includes transforming mental health services into 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres, improving assertive outreach, expanding talking therapies, and giving patients better access to 24/7 support directly through the NHS App.
The Suicide Prevention Strategy for England, published in 2023, identifies middle aged men as a priority group for targeted and tailored support at a national level.
On 19 November, to coincide with International Men’s Health Day, we published the Men’s Health Strategy. The strategy includes tangible actions to improve access to healthcare, provide the right support to enable men to make healthier choices, develop healthy living and working conditions, foster strong social, community and family networks, and address societal norms. It also considers how to prevent and tackle the biggest health problems affecting men of all ages, which include mental health and suicide prevention, respiratory illness, prostate cancer, and heart disease.
Through the Men’s Health Strategy, we are launching a groundbreaking partnership with the Premier League to tackle male suicide and improve mental health literacy, by embedding health messaging into the matchday experience.
We also announced the Suicide Prevention Support Pathfinders programme for middle-aged men. This program will invest up to £3.6 million over three years in areas of England where middle-aged men are at most risk taking their own lives and will tackle the barriers that they face in seeking support.
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 improve continuity of care for people with drug treatment needs on release from prison, including ensuring effective links between prison and community drug treatment services.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Everyone who has drug and/or alcohol treatment needs is assessed in prison and offered a referral to a treatment or recovery service on release. The Department works closely with national partners and with local authorities to improve continuity of care between prison and community drug and alcohol treatment systems. To support this, the Department has published a continuity of care self-assessment toolkit, and shares actionable data and good practice with drug and alcohol partnerships on a regular basis. The continuity of care self-assessment toolkit is available at the following link:
This work has enabled more people than ever to receive the treatment they need following their release from prison. The proportion of adults released from prison and successfully starting community treatment within three weeks of release was 53% in 2023 to 2024. This is a 10% increase from the proportion reported in 2022 to 2023, at 43%, and is 23% higher than when this data was first reported in 2015 to 2016, at 30%.
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 specific actions the Department is taking, in response to the Chief Medical Officer’s report on the health of people in prison, published on 6 November 2025, to improve access to effective drug treatment and support services across the criminal justice pathway, including upon release from custody.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We welcome the Chief Medical Officer’s report on the health of people in prison, on probation and in the secure National Health Service estate in England and we are carefully considering the findings and recommendations.
The Department is committed to working with partners to reduce health inequalities for prisoners and is a signatory of the National Partnership Agreement which supports commissioning and delivery of appropriate service in prisons. We recognise that there is more we need to do to address health issues for this cohort. In addition, NHS England is updating all 19 health and justice service specifications by March 2026, which should provide opportunities to improve healthcare in prisons.
With specific regard to improving access to effective drug treatment and support services across the criminal justice pathway, including upon release from custody, the Department works closely with national partners and with local authorities to improve continuity of care between prison and community drug and alcohol treatment systems. To support this the Department has published a continuity of care self-assessment toolkit and shares actionable data and good practice with drug and alcohol partnerships on a regular basis. The toolkit is available at the following link:
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 the Department’s timelines are for implementing the recommendations set out in the Chief Medical Officer’s report, Health of People in Prison, on Probation and in the Secure NHS Estate in England, published on 6 November 2025.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We welcome the Chief Medical Officer’s report on the health of people in prison, on probation and in the secure National Health Service estate in England and we are carefully considering the findings and recommendations.
The Department is committed to working with partners to reduce health inequalities for prisoners and is a signatory of the National Partnership Agreement which supports commissioning and delivery of appropriate service in prisons. We recognise that there is more we need to do to address health issues for this cohort. In addition, NHS England is updating all 19 health and justice service specifications by March 2026, which should provide opportunities to improve healthcare in prisons.
With specific regard to improving access to effective drug treatment and support services across the criminal justice pathway, including upon release from custody, the Department works closely with national partners and with local authorities to improve continuity of care between prison and community drug and alcohol treatment systems. To support this the Department has published a continuity of care self-assessment toolkit and shares actionable data and good practice with drug and alcohol partnerships on a regular basis. The toolkit is available at the following link: