Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how his Department plans to improve the understanding, identification and management of Type 1 Diabetes and Disordered Eating.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
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 potential cost implications for the NHS of insulin-related harm arising from inadequate discharge planning and community support.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
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 improve coordination between community mental health teams and specialist diabetes services.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department provides to integrated care boards on supporting vulnerable people, including those with mental health conditions, cognitive impairment or learning disabilities, to safely self-administer insulin.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a national implementation plan on insulin safety for those with mental health conditions.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it policy to extend funding for Type 1 Diabetes and Disordered Eating pilot programmes to ensure (a) they do not collapse and (b) a national network of specialist treatment centres can be established.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
Funding for the Type 1 Diabetes and Disordered Eating (T1DE) pilots was time-limited with the expectation that once the national funding expires, responsibility for considering the future provision of T1DE services would sit with the relevant integrated care board (ICB) who are responsible for planning and commissioning diabetes treatment and care.
NHS England has previously extended the initial two-year funding term, which has enabled the sites to run for much longer than initially expected. NHS England is providing evaluation data to the ICBs to support local decision making. The pilot sites will receive confirmation in relation to any future national funding shortly.
Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the 10 Year NHS Workforce Plan will include measures to (a) increase the clinical academic workforce and (b) ensure that all regions have access to a strong clinical academic base.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social 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 National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it. We are working through how the plan will articulate the changes for different professional groups.
The Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), is the United Kingdom’s largest funder of clinical academic training. The NIHR delivers a comprehensive research career pathway, from internships and predoctoral fellowships through to research professorships, for the full range of clinicians working across England, providing the skilled research workforce in universities and NHS trusts to lead research and help train future generations of clinicians. The NIHR invests over £220 million each year in research training programmes.
Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
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 potential impact of targeted oncology training places announced in the National Cancer Plan for areas with higher vacancy rates on the expansion of the clinical academic workforce.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The recently published National Cancer Plan sets out that the National Health Service will use training places more directly as a lever to support improvements in operational performance. This includes prioritising training places in trusts, including in rural and coastal areas, where vacancy rates are higher and performance is lower.
The Department and NHS England will work with the royal colleges to encourage resident doctors and internal medicine trainees to specialise in clinical and medical oncology, where possible, to address vacancy and performance pressures.
In 2025, there were 157% more medical oncology training places than in 2015. Medical oncologists are a core component of the clinical academic workforce, contributing both to frontline patient care and to the development and delivery of cancer research.
Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether in person support will also be provided where necessary in addition to the digital first prehabilitation offer for people with cancer set out in the National Cancer Plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The National Cancer Plan sets out that we will deliver new quality standards for prehabilitation across the country in 2028 to help patients get healthier before treatment. The new standards will ensure access to prehabilitation services and that they fit around patients’ lives. This will include in person support where that is more appropriate for the patient and bringing services into the community and closer to patients’ homes.
Part of that will include the roll out a national digital first prehabilitation offer through the NHS App and other digital channels. This will help support patients closer to home, where that is their preference.
Asked by: Tom Gordon (Liberal Democrat - Harrogate and Knaresborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the 10-Year NHS Workforce Plan will be published.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We will publish the 10 Year Workforce Plan in spring 2026.