Tessa Munt

The funding for new radiotherapy machines will be used to replace outdated machines, and allocated to trusts using criteria that NHS England has developed. The new machines will support the recovery of cancer waiting times and help ensure that patients have access to the most up-to-date treatments. The £70 million central funding is not intended to replace every machine aged 10 years and older, and the spending on machines remains the responsibility of local systems.

There are no plans to extend the 22 January 2025 deadline, nor has the relevant NHS England team received any requests from providers to do so. NHS England is working with providers to ensure they can get applications completed in time.

There are no plans for an assessment of the potential merits of requiring NHS England to include the cost of artificial intelligence products with this funding.

NHS England does not hold any data on the effectiveness of radiotherapy machines relative to the number of doses that they deliver. NHS England has set out a technical specification for linear accelerators with three options that providers need to choose between, however, the technical specification does not make any requirement about the number of fractions to be delivered.

I have responded to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's March 2024 report entitled End of life care: improving Do Not Attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation conversations (DNACPR), in a letter dated 5 November 2024. In this response, the Department set out the ongoing work on each of the recommendations in the report.

The Department is committed to ensuring that DNACPR discussions do not happen in silo or only in emergency settings, which is often too late and carried out under extreme stress, but as a part of wider advance care planning (ACP) conversations. To facilitate this, the Department and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman will jointly convene a roundtable to further discuss ACP and the findings of this report.

We are committed to improving the care and support for people with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome. We recognise how devastating the symptoms can be, and the significant impact they can have on patients and their families.

We published a summary report of the responses to the 2023 consultation on the interim delivery plan on 19 December 2024. The responses to that consultation, along with continued close engagement with stakeholders, will inform the development of the final ME/CFS delivery plan, which we aim to publish by the end of March 2025. The plan will focus on boosting research, improving attitudes and education, and bettering the lives of people with this debilitating disease.

The report is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/improving-the-experiences-of-people-with-mecfs-interim-delivery-plan/outcome/improving-the-experiences-of-people-with-mecfs-consultation-outcome

No assessment has been made on the impact of myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), and long COVID on economic growth. However, the Government recognises that long-term sickness continues to be the most common reason for economic inactivity among the working age population. As part of the Get Britain Working plan, more disabled people and those with health conditions will be supported to enter and stay in work, by devolving more power to local areas so they can shape a joined-up work, health, and skills offer that suits the needs of the people they serve.

The Government has established a Growth Mission Board focused squarely on reviving economic growth, and has established a new Growth Delivery Unit in HM Treasury to track and support delivery of key growth priorities.

The final ME/CFS delivery plan is a priority for the Department, and it is our intention to publish a response summary later this autumn. We cannot comment on the exact content of the final delivery plan at this time, but it will be shaped by the consultation responses, along with continued close engagement with stakeholders, with three broad themes of attitudes and education, research, and living with ME/CFS. We aim to publish this in the winter of 2024/25.

The Department funds ME/CFS research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR and the Medical Research Council (MRC) are committed to funding high-quality research to understand the causes, consequences, and treatment of ME/CFS, and are actively exploring next steps for research in this area. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including ME/CFS.

Ring-fencing funding for ME/CFS has been considered and discussed with the community during the development of the Interim Delivery Plan for ME/CFS, as well as the recent roundtables on ME/CFS and Long COVID. Ring-fencing is not usual practice for research funders as applications in all areas compete for the funding available. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality. In all areas, the amount of NIHR funding depends on the volume and quality of scientific activity. Funding for high quality research is available through NIHR programmes, and there is support available for researchers to successfully apply for these awards.

Over the last five years, the NIHR has invested over £3.6 million in research programme funding for ME/CFS. This includes over £1.5 million to the DecodeME study, co-funded with the MRC, which aims to understand if there is a genetic component to the condition, and in doing so increase our understanding of ME/CFS to support the development of diagnostic tests and targeted treatments.

No assessment has been made on the impact of myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), and long COVID on economic growth. However, the Government recognises that long-term sickness continues to be the most common reason for economic inactivity among the working age population. As part of the Get Britain Working plan, more disabled people and those with health conditions will be supported to enter and stay in work, by devolving more power to local areas so they can shape a joined-up work, health, and skills offer that suits the needs of the people they serve.

The Government has established a Growth Mission Board focused squarely on reviving economic growth, and has established a new Growth Delivery Unit in HM Treasury to track and support delivery of key growth priorities.

The final ME/CFS delivery plan is a priority for the Department, and it is our intention to publish a response summary later this autumn. We cannot comment on the exact content of the final delivery plan at this time, but it will be shaped by the consultation responses, along with continued close engagement with stakeholders, with three broad themes of attitudes and education, research, and living with ME/CFS. We aim to publish this in the winter of 2024/25.

The Department funds ME/CFS research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR and the Medical Research Council (MRC) are committed to funding high-quality research to understand the causes, consequences, and treatment of ME/CFS, and are actively exploring next steps for research in this area. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including ME/CFS.

Ring-fencing funding for ME/CFS has been considered and discussed with the community during the development of the Interim Delivery Plan for ME/CFS, as well as the recent roundtables on ME/CFS and Long COVID. Ring-fencing is not usual practice for research funders as applications in all areas compete for the funding available. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality. In all areas, the amount of NIHR funding depends on the volume and quality of scientific activity. Funding for high quality research is available through NIHR programmes, and there is support available for researchers to successfully apply for these awards.

Over the last five years, the NIHR has invested over £3.6 million in research programme funding for ME/CFS. This includes over £1.5 million to the DecodeME study, co-funded with the MRC, which aims to understand if there is a genetic component to the condition, and in doing so increase our understanding of ME/CFS to support the development of diagnostic tests and targeted treatments.

No assessment has been made on the impact of myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), and long COVID on economic growth. However, the Government recognises that long-term sickness continues to be the most common reason for economic inactivity among the working age population. As part of the Get Britain Working plan, more disabled people and those with health conditions will be supported to enter and stay in work, by devolving more power to local areas so they can shape a joined-up work, health, and skills offer that suits the needs of the people they serve.

The Government has established a Growth Mission Board focused squarely on reviving economic growth, and has established a new Growth Delivery Unit in HM Treasury to track and support delivery of key growth priorities.

The final ME/CFS delivery plan is a priority for the Department, and it is our intention to publish a response summary later this autumn. We cannot comment on the exact content of the final delivery plan at this time, but it will be shaped by the consultation responses, along with continued close engagement with stakeholders, with three broad themes of attitudes and education, research, and living with ME/CFS. We aim to publish this in the winter of 2024/25.

The Department funds ME/CFS research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR and the Medical Research Council (MRC) are committed to funding high-quality research to understand the causes, consequences, and treatment of ME/CFS, and are actively exploring next steps for research in this area. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including ME/CFS.

Ring-fencing funding for ME/CFS has been considered and discussed with the community during the development of the Interim Delivery Plan for ME/CFS, as well as the recent roundtables on ME/CFS and Long COVID. Ring-fencing is not usual practice for research funders as applications in all areas compete for the funding available. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality. In all areas, the amount of NIHR funding depends on the volume and quality of scientific activity. Funding for high quality research is available through NIHR programmes, and there is support available for researchers to successfully apply for these awards.

Over the last five years, the NIHR has invested over £3.6 million in research programme funding for ME/CFS. This includes over £1.5 million to the DecodeME study, co-funded with the MRC, which aims to understand if there is a genetic component to the condition, and in doing so increase our understanding of ME/CFS to support the development of diagnostic tests and targeted treatments.