Asked by: Wayne David (Labour - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of expanding the FibroScan rollout to community diagnostic centres in areas with high prevalence of liver disease.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
There are currently plans for 12 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) to offer FibroScan testing, of which five are currently operational. A further seven CDCs plan to offer this service by the end of March 2024.
The CDC modality offer is based on the recommendations in the Sir Mike Richards Review, and decisions on what modalities are offered outside of the core requirements of CDCs will be based on local need and decisions. The Government is working with the National Health Service to deliver and consider the result from the pilot of the community liver health check programme, which in its first year delivered over 17,000 FibroScans to individuals at particular risk of cirrhosis or advanced fibrosis, using 40 FibroScanners, across 19 local areas.
Asked by: Wayne David (Labour - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department's workforce strategy will make an assessment of trends in the rates of (a) alcohol related liver disease and (b) non-alcohol related fatty liver disease.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
No assessments will be made in the Long Term Workforce Plan in regards to assessing the trends in rates of alcohol related liver disease and non-alcohol related fatty liver disease.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities publishes liver disease hospital admission and mortality rates for England and all local authorities, updated annually, in the Liver Disease Profiles. The profiles and further details can be accessed at the following link:
https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/liver-disease
Asked by: Wayne David (Labour - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the efficacy of (a) transient elastography and (b) liver function blood tests in supporting the earlier detection of liver disease.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
No recent assessment has been made of the efficacy of (a) transient elastography and (b) liver function blood tests in supporting the earlier detection of liver disease.
The Government recognises the importance of earlier detection of liver disease and from April 2022, NHS England introduced a Commissioning for Quality and Innovation scheme indicator to incentivise testing for cirrhosis or advanced liver fibrosis for alcohol-dependent in-patients in acute and mental health services.
Asked by: Wayne David (Labour - Caerphilly)
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 patient care pathways for the early detection of liver disease in England by (a) region and (b) integrated care system.
Answered by James Morris
No specific assessment has been made. However, in 2021, NHS England commissioned a stocktake of health inequalities in liver disease and the relevant care pathways, which recognised the association of regional variation with many risk factors, morbidity and mortality.
The Hepatobiliary Clinical Reference Group is reviewing the findings of this stocktake, which will inform priorities for action in 2022/23. NHS England is developing a policy on screening and treatment of patients commencing chemotherapy who may be unaware they are living with hepatitis B. The hepatitis C programme has reduced the prevalence of the disease through identifying patients in the community in a range of settings.
Asked by: Wayne David (Labour - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of requiring alcohol product labels to display the Chief Medical Officers’ low-risk drinking guidelines.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Government has worked with the alcohol industry to ensure that alcohol labels reflect the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ (CMOs) low risk drinking guidelines for drinks produced after 1 September 2019.
We have announced the intention to consult on whether to introduce mandatory calorie labelling on prepacked alcohol and alcohol sold in on-trade businesses such as pubs and restaurants. The consultation will also seek views on whether the provision of the UK CMOs’ low risk drinking guidelines should be mandatory or continue on a voluntary basis.
Asked by: Wayne David (Labour - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the regularity with which survivors of oesophageal cancer should receive follow-up tests to ensure there is no recurrence of the disease.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
No recent assessment has been made. However, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service. The NICE guideline on oesophago-gastric cancer, published in 2018, includes recommendations on follow-up for patients who have received treatment for oesophago-gastric cancer, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng83
Healthcare professionals are expected to take NICE’s guidance fully into account in the care and treatment of individual patients.
Asked by: Wayne David (Labour - Caerphilly)
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 (a) increase awareness of the links between alcohol abuse and cancer and (b) introduce a health warning on alcohol labels.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The consultation to seek views on whether to introduce mandatory calorie labelling on prepacked alcohol and alcohol sold in on-trade businesses such as pubs and restaurants will be launched in due course. The consultation will also seek views on whether the provision of the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ (CMOs) low risk drinking guidelines and a drink-driving warning should be mandatory or continue on a voluntary basis. Respondents to the consultation will be able to provide suggestions for additional labelling requirements, including additional warnings pertaining to health.
The UK CMOs’ low risk drinking guidelines highlight that the risk of developing a range of health problems, including cancer, increases with greater alcohol consumption on a regular basis. We continue to promote these guidelines through public health messaging, including the ‘Better Health’ campaign and the Drink Free Days app.
Asked by: Wayne David (Labour - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he will publish (a) the consultation on calorie labelling of alcoholic products and (b) the labelling elements under consideration by that consultation.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The consultation to seek views on whether to introduce mandatory calorie labelling on prepacked alcohol and alcohol sold in on-trade businesses such as pubs and restaurants will be launched in due course. The consultation will also seek views on whether the provision of the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ (CMOs) low risk drinking guidelines and a drink-driving warning should be mandatory or continue on a voluntary basis. Respondents to the consultation will be able to provide suggestions for additional labelling requirements, including additional warnings pertaining to health.
The UK CMOs’ low risk drinking guidelines highlight that the risk of developing a range of health problems, including cancer, increases with greater alcohol consumption on a regular basis. We continue to promote these guidelines through public health messaging, including the ‘Better Health’ campaign and the Drink Free Days app.
Asked by: Wayne David (Labour - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 9 November 2021 to Question 69076, what assessment he has made of the level of uptake of the RightCare Headache and Migraines Toolkit by local clinical commissioning groups; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
No specific assessment has been made. The RightCare Headache and Migraines Toolkit is a downloadable resource which provides optional guidance for clinical commissioning groups.
Asked by: Wayne David (Labour - Caerphilly)
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 help ensure eligible people with migraines can access NICE-approved calcitonin gene-related peptide antibody medicines.
Answered by Edward Argar - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published guidance recommending erenumab, galcanezumab and fremanezumab, all of which are calcitonin gene-related peptide antibody medicines, for preventing migraine in adults for routine funding in the National Health Service in England, subject to specified criteria. NHS England is legally required to fund medicines recommended in a NICE technology appraisal, usually within three months of final guidance. This funding requirement ensures that there is consistency of access for to NICE recommended medicines. The NHS Constitution states that patients have the right to drugs and treatments recommended by NICE for use in the NHS, if their doctor believes they are clinically appropriate.