Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
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 increase the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of radiologists in London.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service organisations in London will have their own plans in place to manage their recruitment and retention needs, based on local workforce planning.
A clear plan for retention is an essential component of an overall supply plan for the NHS. We need to retain the experienced and skilled staff that we already have, and ensure that the NHS is an attractive place to work so that we can bring in the new trainees and recruits that we need. Nationally, the NHS retention programme is working with NHS organisations to improve culture and leadership across the NHS, addressing issues that matter to staff, such as the need for good occupational health and wellbeing support and the promotion of opportunities to work flexibly.
We have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS. 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 when and where they need it.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential health benefits of magnesium supplements.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government’s nutrition advice is based on recommendations from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) and its predecessor, the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food and Nutritional Policy (COMA).
The COMA set dietary reference values for magnesium for men and women aged 19 to 64 years old at 300 milligrams and 270 milligrams a day, respectively. Current Government advice is that individuals should be able to get all the magnesium they need by eating a varied and balanced diet.
The SACN discussed the topic of magnesium as part of its horizon scanning in 2020, 2022, and 2024. Meeting papers are available on the SACN webpage. The committee has noted that while ‘significant proportions of the population had [low intakes], there was limited evidence that this was of public health concern’. There is no agreed biomarker for measuring magnesium status.
Magnesium is therefore on the SACN’s watching brief as a low priority, and the SACN may consider it again in future, if there are any developments regarding biomarkers for magnesium status, to warrant a review of recommendations.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what representations she has made to NICE on the availability of Enhertu.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Department meets regularly with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to discuss a range of issues, including access to medicines. The NICE has recommended Enhertu, also known as trastuzumab deruxtecan and made by Daiichi Sankyo, for use through the Cancer Drugs Fund, for the treatment of HER2-positive metastatic or unresectable breast cancer. It is available to eligible National Health Service patients in England, in line with the NICE’s recommendations.
The NICE is currently evaluating Enhertu for the treatment of HER2-low metastatic or unresectable breast cancer. Following negotiations between NHS England and the company, which concluded without a commercial agreement to make it available at a cost-effective price for the NHS, the NICE published final draft guidance on 5 March 2024, that does not recommend it as an option for this indication. The NICE remains open to further discussions with NHS England and the company, and currently expects to publish final guidance on 15 May 2024.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the number of NHS trusts in (a) London and (b) England that offer MRI scans for the detection of lobular breast cancer.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s current recommendation is to offer magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the breast to people with invasive breast cancer, to assess tumour size if breast-conserving surgery is being considered for invasive lobular breast cancer (ILBC).
To improve detection of breast cancers including ILBC, the National Institute for Health and Care Research is currently funding a £1.3 million research project to determine whether an abbreviated form of breast MRI can detect breast cancers missed by screening mammography.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has she made of the adequacy of diagnosis rates for lobular breast cancer.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Department has not made a specific assessment as invasive lobular breast cancer (ILBC) can be difficult to detect through screening. ILBC is harder to diagnose than most other breast cancer types, with mammograms less effective at detecting it, particularly in women with dense breast tissue. Therefore ILBC is often diagnosed later than other breast cancer types.
Research is showing how screening for and diagnosing ILBC can be improved to detect disease earlier and more consistently than current rates, with potential to develop more targeted treatments. To further improve the detection of breast cancers including ILBC, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is currently funding a £1.3 million research project to determine whether an abbreviated form of breast magnetic resonance imaging can detect breast cancers missed by screening mammography.
The Department continues to work closely with research funding partners such as Cancer Research UK, the Medical Research Council, and cancer charities who fund research into new scientific discoveries including ILBC.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many applications for research grant funds for studies into lobular breast cancer have been submitted to the National Institute for Health and Care Research in the last 24 months.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Department invests in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR invests in research, clinical expertise, specialist facilities, workforce and support services across a range of clinical areas. NIHR expenditure on cancer research was £121.8 million in 2022/23.
The Department and NIHR are aware of lobular breast cancer and issues in detection and treatment. Lobular breast cancers can be hard to detect through screening. Relevant research includes a £1.3 million NIHR research project to determine whether an abbreviated form of breast magnetic resonance imaging can detect breast cancers missed by screening mammography. We would urge researchers working on lobular breast cancer to submit research bids for NIHR funding, including applications to fund the United Kingdom arm of international studies. Details on eligibility and how to apply for Departmental research funding through the NIHR is available and updated on the NIHR website.
Since 2021/22, there have been five research grant bids for NIHR funding into lobular breast cancer. The above project was a successful research bid, while there were four unsuccessful applications judged by a scientific panel of peers during the same period. NIHR also supports research on lobular breast cancer through its research infrastructure including Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs). Researchers at NIHR Manchester BRC have shown that women at increased risk of breast cancer who were offered enhanced screening were more likely to survive in the long-term. In addition, NIHR supports breast cancer research funded by research partners in the charity and public sectors through the NIHR’s Clinical Research Network (CRN). Over the last five years the CRN has supported 10 lobular breast cancer-related studies.
The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including lobular breast cancer. The Department also continues to work closely with research funding partners such as Cancer Research UK and cancer charities, who fund research into new scientific discoveries.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of botulinum toxin treatments for stroke victims in west London.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
All National Health Service providers in North West London Integrated Care Board area, which includes the ‘west London’ area, use botulinum toxin treatments where appropriate and in line with clinical advice.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help increase retention levels of junior doctors in west London.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The NHS People Plan and the People Promise set out a comprehensive range of actions to improve staff retention. They provide a strong focus on creating a more modern, compassionate and inclusive National Health Service culture by strengthening health and wellbeing, equality and diversity, culture and leadership and flexible working.
The NHS priorities and operational planning guidance 23/24 has asked systems to refresh their 2022/23 whole system workforce plans to improve staff retention through a systematic focus on all elements of the NHS People Promise. Staff wellbeing should be strategically aligned with elective recovery plans, including workforce demand and capacity planning. In addition, the NHS Retention Programme is continuously seeking to understand why staff leave, resulting in targeted interventions to support staff to stay whilst keeping them well.
The Long Term Workforce Plan builds on the People Plan and sets out how to improve culture and leadership to ensure that up to 130,000 fewer staff leave the NHS over the next 15 years. This includes ensuring staff can work flexibly, have access to health and wellbeing support, and work in a team that is well led. These interventions apply across staff groups and geographical regions.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help improve treatment for individuals aged over 65 with low blood pressure.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The NHS Health Check, offered to eligible people aged between 40 and 74 years old every five years, aims to prevent heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and kidney disease, and some cases of dementia. People can also now have their blood pressure tested in many community pharmacies and over 7,500 pharmacies have delivered nearly two million blood pressure checks in just over two years and we are working with NHS England to expand this service by investing up to £50 million over this and next year. In both services people will be referred to their general practitioner for further assessment and clinical treatment if required, including those with low blood pressure.
No assessment of the adequacy of treatments or advice provided by the National Health Service to individuals with low blood pressure is planned.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of (a) treatments and (b) advice provided by the NHS for individuals with low blood pressure.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The NHS Health Check, offered to eligible people aged between 40 and 74 years old every five years, aims to prevent heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and kidney disease, and some cases of dementia. People can also now have their blood pressure tested in many community pharmacies and over 7,500 pharmacies have delivered nearly two million blood pressure checks in just over two years and we are working with NHS England to expand this service by investing up to £50 million over this and next year. In both services people will be referred to their general practitioner for further assessment and clinical treatment if required, including those with low blood pressure.
No assessment of the adequacy of treatments or advice provided by the National Health Service to individuals with low blood pressure is planned.