Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the proportion funding his Department provides for cancer research that is allocated to brain tumour-related research.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department invests over £1.6 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR spent £133 million on cancer research in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority.
Between 2018/19 and 2023/24, the NIHR directly invested £11.8 million in research projects focused on brain tumours. In addition, the NIHR’s wider investments in research infrastructure, for instance facilities, services, and the research workforce, are estimated to be £37.5 million, supporting the delivery of 261 brain tumour research studies and enabling over 11,400 people to participate in potentially life-changing brain tumour research in the National Health Service.
In 2024, the NIHR announced new research funding opportunities, to stimulate high quality brain tumour research applications, as part of the Government’s commitment to developing new lifesaving and life-improving research, supporting those diagnosed and living with brain tumours. Further information on the NIHR’s new research funding opportunities is available at the following link:
https://www.nihr.ac.uk/news/new-funding-opportunities-novel-brain-tumour-research-launched
Additionally, a new national Brain Tumour Research Consortium was established in December 2024 to bring together researchers from a range of different disciplines and institutions with the aim of driving scientific advancements in how we prevent, detect, manage, and treat cancers in adults and children. The NIHR is also working closely with research partners, including the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission, to attract new researchers, develop the community, and support researchers to submit high-quality research funding proposals, which should result in more effective treatments.
The NIHR continues to welcome high quality, high impact funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including brain tumours.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of rates of early (a) detection and (b) treatment of brain tumours.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Survival rates for brain cancer, as with several other cancers, remain too low. Early diagnosis is crucial for improving outcomes, as the chances of survival are significantly higher when cancer is detected at an early stage. That is why early diagnosis remains a key priority for the Government.
We are committed to the full rollout of non-specific symptom (NSS) pathways across England, which are designed to speed up the diagnosis of cancer. As of now, there are 115 live NSS services in operation.
NSS pathways provide a diagnostic route for patients presenting with symptoms that could indicate cancer but which do not clearly point to a specific cancer type. These pathways complement existing cancer diagnostic pathways and include elements that can also enhance current models of care.
In addition, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has announced that a new National Cancer Plan for England will be published later this year. 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 aftercare. It will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care, to improve the experience and outcomes for people with cancer. Our goal is to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer over the next ten years, including for brain cancer.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of regional differences in access to treatment for cholangiocarcinoma patients.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to reducing waiting times for cancer treatment and improving access to treatment across England, including for cholangiocarcinoma patients. We have now exceeded our pledge to deliver an extra two million operations, scans, and appointments, having now delivered over three million more appointments as the first step to ensuring earlier and faster access to treatment.
We are also investing an additional £889 million in general practice (GP) to reinforce the front door of the National Health Service, bringing the total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade.
The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, as well as speeding up diagnosis and access to treatment. Furthermore, it will ensure all patients, including cholangiocarcinoma patients, have access to the latest treatments and technology. These actions will help bring this country’s cancer survival rates back up to the standards of the best in the world.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
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 more cancer patients have the opportunity to take part in CAR T-cell therapy clinical trials.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to maximising the United Kingdom’s potential to lead the world in clinical research, with the aim of ensuring that all patients, including those with cancer, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments.
The Department-funded National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funds research and research infrastructure, which supports patients and the public to participate in high-quality research, including clinical trials examining CAR T-cell therapy.
The NIHR Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs) are collaborations between world-leading universities and National Health Service organisations, which take cutting-edge cancer research from the laboratory and rapidly translate it into clinical trials in a hospital setting. The University College London Hospitals BRC is revolutionising cancer care with the next-generation of CAR-T cell therapies for patients that deliver powerful remissions with fewer side effects, particularly in the treatment of leukaemia and other solid tumours.
The NIHR also provides an online service called Be Part of Research, which promotes participation in health and social care research by allowing users to search for relevant studies and register their interest. This makes it easier for people to find and take part in health and care research that is relevant to them.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of prisoners are diagnosed with mental health conditions by region.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the mental health population by region and as a percentage of the prison population:
Regions | Percentage |
East Midlands | 8% |
East of England | 8% |
London | 7% |
North East and Yorkshire | 7% |
North West | 8% |
South East | 8% |
South West | 7% |
West Midlands | 8% |
Grand Total | 8% |
Source: NHS England.
These figures are for severe and enduring mental health conditions such as bipolar and schizophrenia, and do not include conditions such as anxiety and depression.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
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 help ensure that healthcare treatment provided to prisoners with mental health conditions is adequate.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Prison Mental Healthcare service specification reinforces that prison healthcare, including care for people with mental health problems, should provide excellent, safe, and effective services and interventions to all prisoners, equivalent to the services and interventions available in the community.
It specifies that there should be access to suitable, evidence-based psychological and clinical interventions. The provision of specific clinical interventions should be determined according to appropriate clinical guidance. Accordingly, the service specification is not prescriptive as to the specific mix of psychological therapies which should be provided, with the aim of ensuring a personalised approached is utilised when meeting individual needs.
NHS England is in the process of reviewing and refreshing the Prison Mental Healthcare service specification. The aim of this review is to ensure that high-quality mental health care is provided to patients in prison, and that the specification is current and fit for purpose, taking account of changing patient needs and developments in health and justice and the wider National Health Service.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
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 return NHS Trusts to pre-pandemic procurement practices.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Guidance on how contracting authorities, including National Health Service trusts, should respond to the COVID-19 pandemic was published in March 2020 and February 2021, reminding them of the options available when undertaking procurements in an emergency. These two guidance documents are available, respectively, at the following links:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0120-responding-to-covid-19
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0121-procurement-in-an-emergency
Authorities are allowed to procure goods, services, and works with extreme urgency in exceptional circumstances, using regulation 32(2)(c) under the Public Contract Regulations 2015. These include a direct award under which authorities may enter into contracts without competing or advertising the requirement.
Contracting authorities assess the market conditions for procuring supplies related to any procurement, in accordance with procurement guidance and regulations. Where any procurement meets the tests for the use of Regulation 32(2)(c) for the direct awarding of a contract, then that approach can be used. However, where it doesn’t, other approaches will be considered.