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, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2025 to Question 32628 on Parkinson's Disease: Medical Treatments, what steps he is taking to improve access to treatment for people with (a) advanced and (b) complex Parkinson's.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have delivered an additional two million appointments in England, seven months ahead of schedule. This includes operations, consultations, diagnostic tests, and treatments. These additional appointments have taken place across a number of specialities, including neurology.
Once diagnosed, and with a management strategy in place, the majority of people with Parkinson’s disease 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 specialised neurology centres across England. One of these neurological centres is based at the Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust in Greater Manchester.
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.
The service specification for neurology, which is in the process of being updated and published later this year, sets out the requirements for specialised neurology services, as well as the expectations of non-specialised neurology services, to support a system-wide approach.
Service specifications must be included in all future provider contracts for specialised services. This is agreed in jointly signed delegation agreements between integrated care boards (ICBs) and NHS England regional teams. ICBs are responsible for monitoring provider compliance with service specifications and may periodically carry out more detailed compliance exercises with providers, as a means of ensuring and improving the quality of care.
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 Parkinson's services in Integrated Care Systems meet the requirements of the neurology service specifications.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have delivered an additional two million appointments in England, seven months ahead of schedule. This includes operations, consultations, diagnostic tests, and treatments. These additional appointments have taken place across a number of specialities, including neurology.
Once diagnosed, and with a management strategy in place, the majority of people with Parkinson’s disease 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 specialised neurology centres across England. One of these neurological centres is based at the Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust in Greater Manchester.
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.
The service specification for neurology, which is in the process of being updated and published later this year, sets out the requirements for specialised neurology services, as well as the expectations of non-specialised neurology services, to support a system-wide approach.
Service specifications must be included in all future provider contracts for specialised services. This is agreed in jointly signed delegation agreements between integrated care boards (ICBs) and NHS England regional teams. ICBs are responsible for monitoring provider compliance with service specifications and may periodically carry out more detailed compliance exercises with providers, as a means of ensuring and improving the quality of care.
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 hold integrated care boards to account for meeting their statutory duty and implementing policy frameworks on children’s palliative care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the commissioning of palliative and end of life care services, including for children and young people, to meet the needs of their local populations. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.
NHS England has a legal duty to annually assess the performance of each ICB in respect of each financial year, and to publish a summary of its findings. This assessment must assess how well the ICB has discharged its functions.
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 publish a Sexual Health Action Plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to improving sexual heath in England, and the Department, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), NHS England, and a broad range of system partners are working together to develop a new HIV Action Plan, which we aim to publish this year. A key objective of the new plan will be to stabilise and support wider sexual health system enablers.
To help improve local authority commissioned sexual and reproductive health services, in 2025/26 we are increasing funding through the ring-fenced Public Health Grant to £3.858 billion, providing local authorities with an average 5.4% cash increase and a 3% real terms increase. This represents a significant turning point for local health services, marking the biggest real-terms increase after nearly a decade of reduced spending.
We continue to support the delivery of local sexual health services, by providing guidance and data to support local decision makers. In October 2024, the UKHSA published the STI Prioritisation Framework, which, combined with ongoing support from the UKHSA, will enable local systems to identify which combination of interventions to focus on for which populations, informed by the local situation.
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 Government collects data on how many young people with cancer were diagnosed in A&E.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Disease Registration Service in NHS England, as the national cancer registry, collects diagnosis and treatment data on cancer patients in England. Data is available at the following link:
The most recent published data on registrations of cancer in young people is in the Accredited Official Statistics on Cancer Registrations covering 2022, which is available at the following link:
Young people, those aged zero to 24 years old, are diagnosed with types of cancer that are only stageable in half of all cases. Of those diagnoses which are stageable, the proportion of diagnoses with a valid recorded stage that are diagnosed at stage 1 is 35%. Of those diagnoses which are stageable, the proportion of diagnoses with a valid recorded stage that are diagnosed at stage 2 is 26%.
The most recent published data on how young people presented with cancer is in the Rapid Cancer Registration Data set. The most recent complete year for which data is available is 2023. Further information is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrs/data/data-sets/rcrd
Approximately 39% of young people first present in hospital as an emergency presentation.
Some of the most common cancers diagnosed in young people, like brain tumours, have very significant symptoms associated with them, and in these cases the recommended course of action is to attend accident and emergency rather than following a managed pathway.
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 collects data on how many young people with cancer were diagnosed at stage (a) one and (b) two.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Disease Registration Service in NHS England, as the national cancer registry, collects diagnosis and treatment data on cancer patients in England. Data is available at the following link:
The most recent published data on registrations of cancer in young people is in the Accredited Official Statistics on Cancer Registrations covering 2022, which is available at the following link:
Young people, those aged zero to 24 years old, are diagnosed with types of cancer that are only stageable in half of all cases. Of those diagnoses which are stageable, the proportion of diagnoses with a valid recorded stage that are diagnosed at stage 1 is 35%. Of those diagnoses which are stageable, the proportion of diagnoses with a valid recorded stage that are diagnosed at stage 2 is 26%.
The most recent published data on how young people presented with cancer is in the Rapid Cancer Registration Data set. The most recent complete year for which data is available is 2023. Further information is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrs/data/data-sets/rcrd
Approximately 39% of young people first present in hospital as an emergency presentation.
Some of the most common cancers diagnosed in young people, like brain tumours, have very significant symptoms associated with them, and in these cases the recommended course of action is to attend accident and emergency rather than following a managed pathway.
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, how many and what proportion of young people with cancer were entered into clinical trials in March 2025.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) does not currently hold data on the number of young people with cancer enrolled into clinical trials in March 2025 as this time period is still ongoing.
Department-funded NIHR research and infrastructure is enabling clinical trial participation for children and young people with cancer. Through the NIHR, the Department also jointly funds the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre Paediatric Cancer Network with Cancer Research UK and the Little Princess Trust, which brings together clinicians and translational scientists to run early phase clinical trials for children and young people with cancer.
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 increase awareness of the symptoms of cancer amongst young people.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England and other local health organisations publish information on the signs and symptoms of cancers that are most common in children and young people.
However, the Department recognises there is more to be done to improve outcomes and experience for children and young people with cancer. We also know that children's experiences of cancer are not uniform, and that there are inequalities in care and outcomes between different groups.
That is why we have relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce which will identify improvements for children across four key areas: early detection and diagnosis, genomic testing and treatment, research and innovation, and patient experience.
The Department is committed to ensuring the experiences of young cancer patients are reflected in our work. We are working with Taskforce members to assemble a Patient Experience Panel, made up of young people with lived experience of cancer and their families, which will feed directly into the work of the Taskforce.
The Taskforce will play a key role in ensuring that children and young people with cancer are carefully considered as part of the national cancer plan, which will examine how to reduce inequalities faced by different patient groups. Alongside the relaunch of the Taskforce, we have launched a Call for Evidence, in which the views of people across the country will inform our plan to improve cancer care. Those who wish to share their views can do so by 29 April 2025 on the new online platform, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/shaping-the-national-cancer-plan
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 national cancer plan will help to tackle inequalities for young people with cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England and other local health organisations publish information on the signs and symptoms of cancers that are most common in children and young people.
However, the Department recognises there is more to be done to improve outcomes and experience for children and young people with cancer. We also know that children's experiences of cancer are not uniform, and that there are inequalities in care and outcomes between different groups.
That is why we have relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce which will identify improvements for children across four key areas: early detection and diagnosis, genomic testing and treatment, research and innovation, and patient experience.
The Department is committed to ensuring the experiences of young cancer patients are reflected in our work. We are working with Taskforce members to assemble a Patient Experience Panel, made up of young people with lived experience of cancer and their families, which will feed directly into the work of the Taskforce.
The Taskforce will play a key role in ensuring that children and young people with cancer are carefully considered as part of the national cancer plan, which will examine how to reduce inequalities faced by different patient groups. Alongside the relaunch of the Taskforce, we have launched a Call for Evidence, in which the views of people across the country will inform our plan to improve cancer care. Those who wish to share their views can do so by 29 April 2025 on the new online platform, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/shaping-the-national-cancer-plan
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 meet young people with cancer to discuss their experiences.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England and other local health organisations publish information on the signs and symptoms of cancers that are most common in children and young people.
However, the Department recognises there is more to be done to improve outcomes and experience for children and young people with cancer. We also know that children's experiences of cancer are not uniform, and that there are inequalities in care and outcomes between different groups.
That is why we have relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce which will identify improvements for children across four key areas: early detection and diagnosis, genomic testing and treatment, research and innovation, and patient experience.
The Department is committed to ensuring the experiences of young cancer patients are reflected in our work. We are working with Taskforce members to assemble a Patient Experience Panel, made up of young people with lived experience of cancer and their families, which will feed directly into the work of the Taskforce.
The Taskforce will play a key role in ensuring that children and young people with cancer are carefully considered as part of the national cancer plan, which will examine how to reduce inequalities faced by different patient groups. Alongside the relaunch of the Taskforce, we have launched a Call for Evidence, in which the views of people across the country will inform our plan to improve cancer care. Those who wish to share their views can do so by 29 April 2025 on the new online platform, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/shaping-the-national-cancer-plan