Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
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 15 October 2024 to Question 7682 on Cancer: Medical Treatments, when he plans to publish the updated NHS Commercial Framework for New Medicines.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England published its updated Commercial Framework for New Medicines on 29 January 2025. The publication can be found here: NHS England » NHS commercial framework for new medicines
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether any funding previously allocated to the Dental Recovery Plan has been withdrawn.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are currently reviewing the Dental Recovery Plan that was published on 7 February 2024 and the policies that can be taken forward effectively and within National Health Service budgets. It is clear the plan did not go far enough and so we are also working on further measures, prioritising initiatives that will see the biggest impact on access to NHS dental care.
Dental budgets remain ringfenced as per the 2024/25 revenue and contracting guidance, and integrated care boards should continue to seek to invest the full amount in dental activity.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to help ensure that emergency services are provided with up to date information on the (a) location and (b) status of defibrillators installed at train stations.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving access to automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in public spaces and reducing inequalities in access to these life saving devices. Following the depletion of the existing AED fund, launched in in September 2023, the Government approved a further £500,000 in August 2024 to fulfil existing applications to the fund.
The Department does not hold data on AEDs installed in train stations or whether those AEDs are registered on The Circuit, a national defibrillator and ambulance service database, operated independently by the British Heart Foundation in collaboration with the National Health Service.
However, AEDs procured through the Department’s AED fund, once installed, are required to be registered on The Circuit. Upon registration, contact details are provided for the nominated AED guardian or guardians who are local to the defibrillator’s location and conduct checks when required. The registered guardian receives an automatic email or SMS text message notification if the defibrillator has potentially been used, therefore prompting the guardian to conduct a check. The Circuit records the potential use of each registered defibrillator. The registered guardian of the defibrillator will automatically be contacted if their AED is potentially used, and may therefore require replacement pads. In addition, The Circuit will also send out an automatic notification to the guardian approximately three months before the AED battery or pads expire.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to ensure that all defibrillators installed at train stations are (a) registered and (b) visible on The Circuit national defibrillator network website.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving access to automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in public spaces and reducing inequalities in access to these life saving devices. Following the depletion of the existing AED fund, launched in in September 2023, the Government approved a further £500,000 in August 2024 to fulfil existing applications to the fund.
The Department does not hold data on AEDs installed in train stations or whether those AEDs are registered on The Circuit, a national defibrillator and ambulance service database, operated independently by the British Heart Foundation in collaboration with the National Health Service.
However, AEDs procured through the Department’s AED fund, once installed, are required to be registered on The Circuit. Upon registration, contact details are provided for the nominated AED guardian or guardians who are local to the defibrillator’s location and conduct checks when required. The registered guardian receives an automatic email or SMS text message notification if the defibrillator has potentially been used, therefore prompting the guardian to conduct a check. The Circuit records the potential use of each registered defibrillator. The registered guardian of the defibrillator will automatically be contacted if their AED is potentially used, and may therefore require replacement pads. In addition, The Circuit will also send out an automatic notification to the guardian approximately three months before the AED battery or pads expire.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
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 take steps to encourage further negotiation between (a) NICE, (b) Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited and (c) AstraZeneca on the supply of Enhertu.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions on whether new medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service in England are made on the basis of recommendations from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), following an evaluation of a treatment’s costs and benefits. These are very difficult decisions to make, and it is important that they are made independently, and on the basis of the available evidence.
The NICE published guidance in July 2024 on the use of Enhertu for the treatment of HER-2 low metastatic and unresectable breast cancer, and was unfortunately unable to recommend it for routine NHS funding. I understand that the NICE and NHS England have sought to apply as much flexibility as they can in their considerations of Enhertu for HER2-low breast cancer, and have made it clear to the companies that their pricing of the drug remains the only obstacle to access.
Earlier this year, ministers met with the manufacturers of Enhertu, AstraZeneca, and Daiichi Sankyo, to encourage them to re-engage in commercial discussions with NHS England. Despite the NICE and NHS England offering unprecedented flexibilities, the companies were unable to offer Enhertu at a cost-effective price. The NICE’s guidance will therefore remain unchanged. Although the deadline for a rapid review has now passed, the NICE has reassured me that the door remains open for the companies to enter into a new NICE appraisal, if they are willing to offer Enhertu at a cost-effective price.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will introduce regulations to ensure that a pharmacist is always present in an open pharmacy to facilitate the sale of pharmacy medicines,
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Pharmacy regulations already require that a registered pharmacy business can only operate and be open to the public, to sell or supply prescription only medicines or pharmacy medicines, when a responsible pharmacist, the pharmacist legally responsible for the safe and effective running of an individual pharmacy, is signed in. The regulations stipulate that the responsible pharmacist may be absent from the pharmacy for a maximum of two hours during the pharmacy business hours, for example to have a meeting with a general practice, attend training, or to have a lunch or a rest break. The sale of general sales list medicines, such as some aspirin and paracetamol products, may continue in the absence of the responsible pharmacist.
Case law and professional guidance dictates that the final sale or supply of prescription only medicines and pharmacy medicines requires a pharmacist to be on the registered premise, and either directly aware of the transactions or interruptible, so as to be able to intervene in a sale or supply.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason his Department's Notification of Child Death Form asks about the gender with which the child identified at the time of their death in cases where the child was over 10; and whether his Department consulted on that change.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Notification of Child Death Form, part of the National Child Mortality Database, continues to capture the sex of the child for anyone under the age of 18 years old, in line with sex being a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010.
Although questions relating to gender identity already existed within one part of the National Child Mortality Database collection, specifically for suicide and self-harm, the change in October expanded these questions to all deaths. This was to capture the language used by young people and their families to improve system learning and to support the prevention of future deaths. It was not subject to public consultation.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what short-term steps his Department is taking to help support hospices to maintain levels of service; and whether his Department is taking long-term steps to reform funding for hospices.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding from the National Health Service. The amount of funding each charitable hospice receives varies both within and between integrated care board (ICB) areas. This will vary depending on demand in that ICB area but will also be dependent on the totality and type of palliative and end of life care provision from both NHS and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each ICB area.
We do understand that, financially, times are difficult for many voluntary and charitable organisations, including hospices, due to a range of concurrent cost pressures. I recently met NHS England and discussions have begun on how to reduce inequalities and variation in access to, and the quality of, palliative and end of life care. We will consider next steps on palliative and end of life care, including funding, in the coming months.
Additionally, we have committed to develop a 10-Year Health Plan to deliver an NHS fit for the future, by driving three shifts in the way health care is delivered. We will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff and our stakeholders as we develop the plan. More information about how to input into the 10-Year Health Plan is available at the following link:
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
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 all women across England with ovarian cancer get access to the best possible treatment.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England runs the Help Us Help You campaigns to raise public awareness, increase knowledge of cancer symptoms, and address barriers to acting on them to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner. Previous phases of the campaigns have focused on abdominal symptoms which, among other abdominal cancers, can be indicative of ovarian cancer. The Department continues to work with NHS England to identify which tumour types future campaigns should focus on.
NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, also publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including ovarian cancer. This information can be found at various sources, including the NHS website.
To ensure women have access to the best treatment for ovarian cancer, NHS England commissioned an audit on ovarian cancer. The aim of the audit is to provide timely evidence for cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary to increase consistency of access to treatments, and help stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients.
The Department also invests in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR has funded six research projects into screening for ovarian cancer since 2018, with a combined total funding value of £3.8 million, including looking at the impact and effectiveness of different kinds of testing and screening, and the effectiveness of treatment options.
Asked by: Rebecca Paul (Conservative - Reigate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to launch a campaign to raise public awareness of the symptoms of ovarian cancer.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England runs the Help Us Help You campaigns to raise public awareness, increase knowledge of cancer symptoms, and address barriers to acting on them to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner. Previous phases of the campaigns have focused on abdominal symptoms which, among other abdominal cancers, can be indicative of ovarian cancer. The Department continues to work with NHS England to identify which tumour types future campaigns should focus on.
NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, also publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including ovarian cancer. This information can be found at various sources, including the NHS website.
To ensure women have access to the best treatment for ovarian cancer, NHS England commissioned an audit on ovarian cancer. The aim of the audit is to provide timely evidence for cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary to increase consistency of access to treatments, and help stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients.
The Department also invests in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR has funded six research projects into screening for ovarian cancer since 2018, with a combined total funding value of £3.8 million, including looking at the impact and effectiveness of different kinds of testing and screening, and the effectiveness of treatment options.