Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble 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 reduce avoidable delays in the diagnosis of leukaemia.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to ensuring that the National Health Service diagnoses cancer earlier and treats it faster so that more patients, including those with leukaemia, survive.
The National Disease Registration Service collects information on how many people in England are diagnosed with or treated for cancer. Blood cancer is included as a distinct category, labelled haematological neoplasms, which is available at the following link:
https://nhsd-ndrs.shinyapps.io/incidence_and_mortality/
This creates a clinically rich data resource that is used to measure diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes for patients diagnosed with cancer.
The 28-day faster diagnosis standard is a performance standard that aims to have a patient diagnosed or cancer ruled out within 28-days from referral. This performance metric monitors diagnostic performance and delays in diagnosis across cancer types, including leukaemia. It is published monthly and is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/
The NHS is taking crucial steps to improve cancer outcomes for patients across England, including for leukaemia. We will improve cancer survival rates and hit all NHS cancer waiting time targets, so no patient waits longer than they should.
To tackle late diagnoses of blood cancers, the NHS is implementing non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. Blood cancers, like leukaemia, are one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.
To diagnose blood cancer earlier and treat it faster, we will support the NHS to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment in diagnostic capacity.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble 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 access to maternal pathways with tailored support for pregnant people experiencing homelessness.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to improving outcomes for women and babies from vulnerable and underserved groups, including those experiencing homelessness, to ensure access to safe, personalised, and equitable maternity care.
That is why the Government has committed to ending the practice of discharging newborn babies into bed and breakfast or other unsuitable shared accommodation through the Child Poverty Strategy.
The Neighbourhood Health Framework sets an ambition to improve coordination of services for people with the most complex needs, working jointly with key partners including local authorities and community organisations. The Neighbourhood Health Framework is available at the following link:
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble 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 reduce the rate of stillbirth and neonatal deaths, where the mother has recently lived or is living in temporary accommodation.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving outcomes for women and babies from vulnerable and underserved groups, and through the Tackling Child Poverty Strategy has committed to ending the practice of discharging newborn babies into bed and breakfasts or other unsuitable shared accommodation through the Child Poverty Strategy. The Tackling Child Poverty Strategy is available at the following link:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/696646bc99fbdc498faecd98/child-poverty-strategy.pdf
All women are offered personalised care and support plans, and Enhanced Midwifery Continuity of Carer teams are prioritised for women in the most deprived 10% of neighbourhoods to provide more holistic support and to help reduce inequalities in outcomes.
More widely, we are taking action to reduce the rate of stillbirth and neonatal deaths. All National Health Service trusts are implementing the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle, which provides maternity units with detailed guidance and a package of interventions to reduce stillbirths, neonatal brain injury, neonatal death, and preterm birth.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether housing status is recorded by maternity services.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Maternity services seek to understand women’s housing circumstances at their first booking appointment and later appointments, so that where concerns arise, they can be referred for housing support where needed. Housing status can be recorded locally, but it is not reported as mandatory within the Maternity Services Data Set.
NHS England's Statement on information on health inequalities includes the expectation that integrated care boards and National Health Service trusts should consider how the recording of housing status can support the upstream identification of health inequalities, in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guideline 214 on Integrated health and social care for people experiencing homelessness. Both NHS England’s statement and NICE’s guideline are available, respectively, at the following two links:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/nhs-englands-statement-on-information-on-health-inequalities/
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on infant and child mortality rates for children living in temporary accommodation; whether his Department collects data on the housing status of children at the time of death; and what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on mitigating health risks faced by children in temporary accommodation.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers at the Department of Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, as well as other departments, are engaging through the interministerial group supporting the cross-Government homelessness strategy, A National Plan to End Homelessness, including discussions to mitigate the health risks faced by children in temporary accommodation. The plan is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-national-plan-to-end-homelessness
The Department is considering the recommendations set out in the recently published Child Mortality in Temporary Accommodation Report, and taking forward actions, some of which are already in policy development, such as introducing a clinical code for children in temporary accommodation, ensuring these families are proactively contacted by health services and ending the practice of discharging newborn babies into bed and breakfasts or other unsuitable shared accommodation. The report is available at the following link:
The Department does not hold formal data on child mortality in temporary accommodation.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble 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 ensure the Modern Service Framework for Palliative and End of Life Care is put into practice by ICBs.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We will publish an interim update on the Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care shortly. The final MSF will be published this autumn.
The MSF will provide a clinically-led, evidence-based framework to support sustained improvement in patient and carer outcomes, including reducing both inequality and unwarranted variation. Areas of action will be identified for those commissioning and delivering services, with associated performance and outcome metrics to support system accountability. The MSF will seek to embed palliative care and end-of-life care within a strategic commissioning model that is centred on population need.
We have been engaging with a range of stakeholders, from approximately 70 organisations, to inform the MSF’s development, including the Ambitions Partnership. We are also undertaking engagement with integrated care systems through National Health Service regional teams. We have also been working closely with teams leading on the other MSFs, to ensure that they align with each other.
Following the publication of the interim update, Department and NHS England officials will continue to engage closely with stakeholders on the development of the final MSF.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Integrated Care Boards are required to (a) undertake and (b) publish (i) equality and (ii) patient impact assessments when commissioning decisions may result in reductions to (A) planned service activity and (B) access to care.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Commissioners must comply with duties placed on them under the Equality Act 2010 regarding the public sector equality duty and the duty to reduce health inequalities, and to secure public involvement and consultation in the planning, development, and decisions about commissioning arrangements.
NHS England has published guidance to support commissioning decisions and the impact on service users forms a key part of the assurance process. The guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/planning-assuring-and-delivering-service-change-for-patients/
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Integrated Care Boards are required to publish the (a) evidence base, (b) modelling assumptions and (c) workforce capacity assessments used to determine commissioned elective activity levels against projected population demand.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is no current requirement for integrated care boards (ICBs) to publish either the evidence base, modelling assumptions, or workforce capacity assessments used to determine commissioned elective activity levels against projected population demand.
National Health Service funding for local services, including elective activity, is allocated to ICBs using NHS England’s Fair Share model and the NHS resource allocation formula.
Medium Term Planning Framework has set clear expectations for improvements in access, levels of performance, and financial discipline. In 2026/27, every NHS trust must deliver a minimum 7% improvement in 18-week performance or be at a minimum of 65%, whichever is greater, to deliver national performance target of 70%. In line with this expectation, NHS England has engaged with systems on the development, assurance, and sign-off of ICB and NHS trust plans to ensure delivery of this ambition alongside the others set out in the planning framework.
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble 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 (a) the prevalence of respiratory disease and (b) the number of emergency hospital admissions for respiratory conditions in Hamble Valley constituency; and what steps he is taking to ensure respiratory health is prioritised nationally, including through the introduction of a Modern Service Framework for respiratory care.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will consider long-term conditions for future waves of modern service frameworks (MSFs), including respiratory conditions. The criteria for determining other conditions for future MSFs will be based on where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. After the initial wave of MSFs is complete, the National Quality Board will determine the conditions to prioritise for new MSFs as part of its work programme.
Data is available for emergency Finished Admission Episodes (FAEs) where there was a primary diagnosis of 'respiratory conditions’. The following table shows the number of FAEs where there was a primary diagnosis of 'respiratory conditions’ for Hamble Valley and England, for activity in English National Health Service hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector, for 2024/25 and provisionally for 2025/26:
Westminster Parliamentary Constituency of Residence | 2024/25 (August 2024 to March 2025) | 2025/26 (April 2025 to November 2025) |
Hamble Valley | 910 | 775 |
England | 608,449 | 423,588 |
Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS England.
Available data on trends in respiratory conditions can be found on the Department’s fingertips dataset. Data is not available by parliamentary constituency. Data is available at regional, county, unitary authority and integrated care board level. Information for Hampshire can be found at the following link:
Asked by: Paul Holmes (Conservative - Hamble Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussion he has had with the Secretary of State for Science and Technology on the potential impact of a respiratory Modern Service Framework on the UK’s life sciences ecosystem.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will consider long-term conditions for future waves of modern service frameworks (MSFs), including respiratory conditions. The criteria for determining other conditions for future MSFs will be based on where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in the quality of care and productivity. After the initial wave of MSFs is complete, the National Quality Board will determine the conditions to prioritise for new MSFs as part of its work programme.
NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care are working with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to explore innovation and policy prioritisation in respiratory health, including the cross‑Government alignment that may be required.