Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to fill vacant consultant posts in Paediatric and Perinatal Pathology working in the South West and the Midlands.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions about recruitment are a matter for individual National Health Service employers, who manage this at a local level to ensure they have the staff they need to deliver effective care.
The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills when needed.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
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 reduce the diagnosis waiting time for Endometriosis.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health, including endometriosis care. The Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, has commissioned studies focused on endometriosis diagnosis, treatment, and patient experience.
Diagnosis may involve magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or ultrasound, but laparoscopy remains the definitive diagnostic and treatment method. We are taking action to transform diagnostic services and increase capacity, including MRI and ultrasound. This includes expanding existing community diagnostic centres (CDCs) and building up to five new ones in 2025/26. Our Elective Reform Plan also committed to CDCs opening 12 hours per day, seven days a week, delivering more same-day tests and consultations.
Surgical hubs are helping endometriosis patients get quicker treatment. National Health Service surgical hubs deliver high-volume, low-complexity elective surgeries, including gynaecological procedures. Currently, over half of the 123 operational elective surgical hubs in England provide gynaecology services, and laparoscopies are a key part of this offering. The Elective Reform Plan commits to expand the number of hubs over the next three years to increase surgical capacity and reduce waiting times.
From 2027, a new “online hospital” will also offer patients the choice to access specialist care, including for menstrual problems potentially indicating endometriosis or fibroids from home, providing additional appointments to cut waiting times.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will meet with the hon. Member for Warrington South, colleagues and representatives of Royal College of Pathologists about the recruitment of Paediatric and Perinatal Pathology consultants in the South West and the Midlands.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions about recruitment are a matter for individual National Health Service employers, who manage this at a local level to ensure they have the staff they need to deliver effective care.
The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.
The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills when needed.
We are engaging with partners throughout this process. As we continue the open and wide-ranging conversations we’ve been having with staff, patients, and organisations, including royal colleges across the country, we will ensure that the engagement is robust and representative of different stakeholder groups.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
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 reduce waiting times for gynaecology services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Women’s health is a priority for the Government, including tackling gynaecology waiting lists. We are committed to returning to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients are treated within 18 weeks of referral to consultant-led care by March 2029.
Our Elective Reform Plan, published January 2025, sets out a number of ways which we will improve gynaecology waiting times. This includes innovative models of care that offer care closer to home and in the community, piloting gynaecology pathways in community diagnostic centres for patients with post-menopausal bleeding, and increasing the relative funding available to incentivise providers to take on more gynaecology procedures. These reforms will mean shorter waits and more convenient gynaecological care for patients.
We are also introducing an “online hospital” through NHS Online. This will give people on certain pathways the choice of getting the specialist care they need from their home, providing additional appointments to cut waiting times. Women’s health issues, including severe menopause symptoms and menstrual problems that may be a sign of endometriosis or fibroids, will be among the conditions available for online referrals from 2027.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
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 the potential benefits of allowing men who require Hormone Replacement Therapy in the form of testosterone to be added to the HRT Prescription Prepayment Certificate.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The hormone replacement therapy prescription prepayment certificate (HRT PPC) was introduced to support women in accessing hormone replacement therapy medicines on the National Health Service as part of their care during menopause. The equalities impact assessment is available at the following link:
Testosterone products are not in scope for the HRT PPC because, even though they can be used "off-label" to treat menopause symptoms, they are not licensed for this purpose. No United Kingdom licensed testosterone products for the treatment of menopause symptoms have been launched in the UK.
Anyone can purchase the HRT PPC if they feel that it is the most appropriate product for them. The three-month or 12-month PPC, which cover all medicines prescribed on the NHS, may be more appropriate for patients who are prescribed medicines not covered by the HRT PPC.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS 10 year plan commitment to carry out DNA mapping on all new born babies, what steps he is taking to protect personal health data.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan set out an ambition to “implement universal genomic testing” within the next decade. Delivering against this ambition will be subject to evidence gathered through the Generation Study, delivered by Genomics England and the National Health Service. This research programme is evaluating the effectiveness of using whole genome sequencing to test 100,000 newborns for genetic mutations associated with more than 200 rare genetic conditions. The study is asking parents for consent to securely store their baby’s genomic and health data, with strict safeguards to protect identities. With consent, data is stored securely in the National Genomic Research Library, run by Genomics England, to support research on the causes of genetic conditions. Access is tightly controlled, overseen by an independent committee, and only permitted within a secure environment.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timetable is for implementing the National Screening Committee’s In-Service Evaluation of newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy; what the duration of the evaluation will be; and when the NSC expects to reach a recommendation on whether SMA should be added to the newborn blood spot screening programme.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
On all aspects of population and targeted screening, Ministers are advised by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC).
The UK NSC recommended an in-service evaluation (ISE) of newborn blood spot screening for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in National Health Services in 2023. Since then, the SMA Newborn Screening ISE Partnership Board was set up to plan and develop work to shape the ISE, and progress is being made. This includes planning the duration of the ISE and planning for newborn laboratories to screen blood spot samples for SMA. The laboratories in England that will form part of the ISE are under consideration by the SMA partnership board led by NHS England. The researchers and the National Institute for Health and Research (NIHR) will be responsible for determining the number of babies and services that will be required to answer the research questions.
Earlier in the year, the NIHR published their Health Technology Assessment research brief to appoint researchers for this work. Applications closed at the end of September 2025, and final funding decisions are expected in spring 2026. A decision on the shape and roll out of the ISE will be made after the research call process has concluded.
A recommendation by the UK NSC on newborn screening for SMA is expected following the conclusion of an ISE, which is needed to answer several outstanding questions related to the implementation of a screening programme for SMA.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to expand prescribing of GLP-1 medications beyond specialist weight-management services.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance on the first two GLP-1 medicines licensed for the treatment of obesity, namely liraglutide under various brand names and semaglutide with brand name Wegovy, restricted their use to specialist weight management services. These services are primarily delivered in secondary care.
NICE recommended that tirzepatide, with brand name Mounjaro, could be used for the treatment of obesity in eligible patients without a restriction on its setting. This means tirzepatide can be used in specialist weight management services but can also be prescribed in primary care by general practitioners (GPs) and other competent prescribers. From 23 June 2025, tirzepatide started to become available in primary care so the expansion beyond specialist services is underway.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are the National Health Service organisations responsible for arranging the provision of health services within their area in line with local population need and taking account of relevant guidance. ICBs have had to develop new care pathways to ensure that patients can access these medicines via their GP with appropriate wraparound support. NHS England has been working closely with ICBs to support the safe and effective roll out of tirzepatide in primary care. It has identified the groups of people to be prioritised in each phase of the initial rollout; helped develop local treatment models; provided funding support and regular communication channels to ICBs; and set up an interim, centrally funded ‘wraparound care service’, known as the ‘Healthier You: Behavioural Support for Obesity Prescribing’, for patients to be referred into, with a procurement underway for a longer-term offer.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has had recent discussions with Eli Lilly on the cost of Mounjaro.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has held various discussions with Eli Lilly regarding the recent list price increase of Mounjaro. NHS England has worked with Eli Lilly to ensure the list price increase will not affect National Health Service commissioning of tirzepatide in England as a treatment for eligible diabetes and obesity patients in the NHS.
We remain committed to the rollout of this medicine as a weight loss treatment based on clinical priority. This will enable 220,000 eligible people to access the medication over the first three years. The initial eligibility criteria will be for people with a body mass index of 40 or more in addition to four or more qualifying comorbidities.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have also entered equivalent agreements to maintain their current commissioning approaches.
Pricing in the private market is a matter for Eli Lilly and for private providers. Private patients who are impacted by price increases should discuss any concerns with their private provider. This includes their options regarding payment plans, alternative treatments, and/or stopping or tapering off their current medication. Eli Lilly is working with private providers to support continued patient access.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
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 the 10-Year Plan for Health promotes equitable access to (a) palliative and (b) end of life care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
One of the three ‘shifts’ that the 10 Year Health Plan will deliver is around the Government’s determination to shift healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting. Palliative care and end of life care services will have a big role to play in that shift and were highlighted in the plan as being an integral part of neighbourhood teams.
I have tasked officials to look at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all- age palliative and end of life care in line with the 10 Year Health Plan.
Officials will present further proposals to ministers over the coming months, outlining the drivers and incentives that are required in palliative care and end of life care to enable the shift from hospital to community, including as part of neighbourhood health teams.
To support integrated care boards (ICBs) in the commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications. The guidance makes specific reference to commissioners defining how their services will meet population needs 24/7 and includes a priority action for ensuring that staff, patients, and carers can access the care and advice they need, whatever time of day.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance on the service delivery of end of life care for adults also includes recommendations about 24/7 access to care. Although NICE guidance is not mandatory, there is an expectation that commissioners and service providers take the guidelines into account when making decisions about how to best meet the needs of their local communities.
The Government and the National Health Service will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services to help ensure that services remove variation in access and quality, although some variation may be appropriate to reflect both innovation and the needs of local populations.