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 support for (a) children and (b) adults with cystic fibrosis in (i) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (ii) Staffordshire.

No specific assessment has been made of the adequacy of support for children and adults with cystic fibrosis in Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire.

NHS England commissions 47 specialised cystic fibrosis centres for adults and children across England, in addition to supporting the optimal monitoring of patients with cystic fibrosis at home, and supporting best practice in remote consultations. Service specifications published by NHS England clearly define the standards of services, care, and outcomes that people can expect from these centres. Service specifications aim to deliver improvements to life expectancy and quality of life for adults and children with cystic fibrosis.

Services for children and adults with cystic fibrosis in Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire are provided by multi-disciplinary teams at the North West Midlands Cystic Fibrosis Centre. Further information is available at the following link:

https://nwmcfc.nhs.uk/

NHS England recently produced the RightCare Cystic Fibrosis Toolkit which is supporting service improvement and better care for patients with cystic fibrosis. The toolkit is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/rightcare-cystic-fibrosis-toolkit/

The Midlands region will be undertaking a review of local services over the coming months, based on the recommendations in the toolkit.