Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what was the average time taken to process a naturalisation application in each of the last five years.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
The Secretary of State’s Home Department publishes data on the processing of applications for British citizenship on the Gov.uk website. We do not publish data on average processing times for naturalisation applications.
The link to the latest Migration Transparency Data can be found here:
Visas and citizenship data: Q3 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she plans to take to help increase the (a) stock of colonoscopy equipment, (b) number of colonoscopy facilities and (c) number of trained staff; and what other steps she plans to take to increase the use of colonoscopies in detecting bowel cancer.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Government is not currently planning to take steps to increase the stock of colonoscopy equipment. £2.3 billion was awarded at the Spending Review 2021 to transform diagnostic services over the next three years. Within this funding, NHS England is delivering an expected net increase uplift of 67 endoscopy rooms in acute trusts or in non-community diagnostic centre (CDC) developments. In CDCs, current plans are for 46 sites to be delivering endoscopies from March 2025, of which, 39 will deliver colonoscopies. This will help to support integrated care boards not currently meeting the optimal capacity of 3.5 rooms per 100,000 people over 50 years old, to do so.
NHS England will continue to deliver initiatives to train around 100 clinical endoscopists per annum to be capable of delivering colonoscopies and other gastrointestinal procedures. In addition to this NHS England is also training doctors, such as gastroenterologists, in the same procedures and continuing to develop, implement and improve immersive and rapid colonoscopy training through endoscopy academies.
As of October 2023, there are over 3,200 full-time equivalent doctors working in the specialty of gastroenterology within National Health Service trusts and other core organisations in England. This is over 100, or 4.3%, more than in 2022, over 500, or 20.1%, more than in 2019, and almost 1,400, or 75.2%, more than in 2010.
To improve bowel cancer diagnosis, the NHS has implemented timed cancer pathways for gastro-intestinal (GI) disease. This includes the implementation of Faecal Immunochemical Testing for those with symptoms in the lower GI, to prevent these patients from having unnecessary colonoscopies, freeing up capacity for these procedures and ensuring the most urgent symptomatic patients are seen more quickly.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she plans to take to (a) help ensure equality of access to radiotherapy, (b) recruit more staff, (c) acquire more equipment and (d) otherwise increase radiotherapy capacity.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Government and NHS England are already taking steps to ensure that cancer patients can receive high quality radiotherapy treatment across England. This includes supporting advances in radiotherapy using cutting-edge imaging and technology to help target radiation doses at cancer cells more precisely.
Despite the impact of the pandemic and recent industrial action, 340,530 people received their first cancer treatment in the 12 months to November 2023, a record high. Between 2016 and 2021, the Government invested £162 million to replace or upgrade around 100 radiotherapy treatment machines. This is in addition to funds invested by National Health Service trusts from their capital budgets or donations. However, responsibility for investing in radiotherapy machines has sat with integrated care boards since April 2022, with guidance advising systems to replace the majority of radiotherapy equipment at 10 years of age.
NHS England is supporting the growth of the cancer workforce, including radiotherapy, through the NHS Long-Term Workforce Plan to ensure that we have staff to meet the projected growth in demand for cancer treatment. In October 2023 there were over 34,900 full-time equivalent staff in the cancer workforce, an increase of over 12,400, or 55.3%, since October 2010.
NHS England is expanding diagnostic capacity for cancer, including through the roll-out of our new community diagnostic centres (CDCs). These have delivered over six million tests since July 2021, including vital cancer checks. CDCs will deliver up to 17 million tests by March 2025, with capacity for nine million more a year once all are fully operational.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she plans to take to help ensure adequacy of funding for cancer research over the next ten years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department invests over £1 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was £121.8 million in 2022/23 and the NIHR spends more on cancer than any other disease group.
In terms of future funding, the NIHR funds research both in response to proposals received from scientists and by identifying areas, like brain cancer, where we want to see more research. It is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. All research applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition.
Future investment in research and innovation is a priority for the Government. We know developments in areas including genomics and artificial intelligence have the potential to transform the experience of cancer, informed by research. The United Kingdom, with its extensive experience of delivering innovative cancer trials, is well placed to integrate research and treatment for the benefit of cancer patients. Innovative trials such as the Galleri blood test and cancer vaccines are already ongoing, and we are investing in crucial research into new treatments, diagnostics, and medical technologies through the NIHR and research funding partners to transform the future of cancer.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
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 ensure that people with Lynch Syndrome are (a) informed of their condition and (b) made aware of their increased risk of bowel cancer.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
NHS England, through the NHS Genomic Medicine Service, has launched a national transformation project to ensure more patients with Lynch syndrome are identified and benefit from regular check-ups, earlier interventions, and more targeted treatment, such as combinations of immunotherapy, chemotherapy and surgeries.
People aged between 25 and 75 years old identified as having Lynch Syndrome will be included in the surveillance arm of the National Health Service bowel cancer screening programme, and will be offered a colonoscopy every two years.
The national programme ensures all people diagnosed with bowel and endometrial are offered genomic testing, with a diagnosis for Lynch syndrome not only helping to guide more personalised cancer treatment but enabling their families and relatives to be offered testing too.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
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 encourage vaccine uptake for measles in Coventry; what plans she has to tackle gaps in measles vaccination coverage (a) generally and (b) among vulnerable populations; and how she will assess the effectiveness of those plans.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) works closely with NHS England, the Department, and wider health system partners which include Coventry, at national, regional and local levels, to improve uptake of routine childhood immunisations and catch-up children who missed out.
A range of information leaflets and promotional materials about the different vaccination programmes are available online, co-branded with the National Health Service. These include translations in a range of languages and braille, British Sign Language, large print and audio versions.
Communications on the benefits and associated risks of vaccination are managed through a multi-stakeholder approach involving NHS England, NHS England regional public health commissioning teams, local authority public health teams involving education, and UKHSA. NHS England regional teams are also working to improve access to the vaccine outside of schools through community clinics at convenient times and locations.
NHS England is changing how providers of school-aged vaccinations capture vaccination data to better allow providers to identify areas of low uptake and undertake targeted outreach to address inequalities. Coverage of childhood vaccines, including the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, are measured when children reach their first, second and fifth birthdays. Official childhood vaccine coverage estimates are published annually by UKHSA and NHS England.
Effectiveness will be monitored through the analysis of MMR activity using surveillance and operational databases. The National MMR catch-up programme will include an evaluation element. The school MMR approach includes evaluation using a standardised template and evaluation report from providers at the end of the programme.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
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 ensure that schools are providing adequate information to (a) students and (b) parents on the (i) merits and (ii) associated risks of measles vaccinations.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The UK Health Security Agency provides a range of publications in various languages and formats to provide information about the national immunisation programme including the measles, mumps and rubella vaccination programme, for students and parents, which are available at the following link:
https://www.healthpublications.gov.uk/Home.html
These publications and those on the National Health Service website allow students and parents to understand the merits and associated risks of the measles vaccination to allow for informed consent. More information is available at the following links:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/measles/
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/mmr-vaccine/
NHS England regional teams are working closely with wider system partners within the local health economy to increase the uptake of all NHS routine and seasonal vaccinations, including those delivered in schools.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
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 the (a) accessibility of smear tests for working women and (b) coverage of cervical cancer screening in Coventry North West constituency; how many smear tests were provided by the NHS in Coventry North West constituency in each year since 2015; and what steps she is taking to help improve cancer survival rates.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Efforts are ongoing to make it easier for all women to attend their cervical screening appointments by expanding the number of settings for cervical screening and making more appointments available during evenings and on weekends.
The following table shows the number of eligible women who have attended their cervical screening appointment in Coventry in each year since 2015:
Screening year | Coverage: 25 to 49 years old (%) | Coverage: 50 to 64 years old (%) | Coverage: 25 to 64 years old (%) |
2014/15 | 68.8 | 79.2 | 71.7 |
2015/16 | 67.3 | 78.6 | 70.5 |
2016/17 | 67.0 | 77.8 | 70.1 |
2017/18 | 65.6 | 76.7 | 68.7 |
2018/19 | 65.7 | 76.1 | 68.7 |
2019/20 | 65.1 | 74.9 | 67.9 |
2020/21 | 63.2 | 73.9 | 66.3 |
2021/22 | 60.5 | 73.1 | 64.1 |
2022/23 | 57.1 | 72.5 | 61.4 |
Source: Cervical Screening Programme official statistics, NHS England
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to close the ethnicity pay gap beyond issuing guidance on ethnicity pay gap reporting.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Our comprehensive guidance for employers on ethnicity pay reporting, published in April 2023, sets out best practice on measuring, analysing and reporting ethnicity pay gaps. Since publication, we have engaged with employers and employer representative bodies to promote the guidance and provide support. We are seeking case studies in order to identify and highlight examples of good practice.
This work is part of our ambitious Inclusive Britain strategy, published in March 2022, which set out 74 bold actions to tackle entrenched ethnic disparities in employment, education, health and criminal justice. We also launched an Inclusion at Work Panel last year aimed at helping employers achieve fairness and inclusion in the workplace.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) CT scanners, (b) MRI scanning machines and (c) linear accelerators for radiotherapy were owned by her Department in the financial year 2021-22; how many and what proportion of the (i) CT scanners, (ii) MRI scanning machines and (iii) linear accelerators for radiotherapy used in the NHS were (A) leased and (B) operated through managed equipment services contracts in the financial year 2021-22; what the average age of the (1) CT scanners, (2) MRI scanning machines and (3) linear accelerators for radiotherapy used in the NHS was in the financial year 2021-22; and with reference to the Answer of 13 July 2022 to Question 31135 on Medical Equipment: Standards, what recent progress integrated care systems have made eliminating the backlog of diagnostic equipment over 10 years old by 2024-25.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
As part of the Government’s commitment to increase diagnostics services, £2.3 billion of funding was awarded to transform diagnostic services over three years. This funding is being used to increase the number of community diagnostic centres (CDCs) up to 160 by March 2025, expanding and protecting elective planned diagnostic services. As of January 2024, there are 150 CDCs currently operational that have delivered over six million additional tests since July 2021.