Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
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 22 January 2026 to Question 106495, what assessment has been made of the reasons for the 25% reduction in the numbers of those aged 75 and over self referring for bowel cancer screening between 2023 and 2024.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - 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: Calvin Bailey (Labour - Leyton and Wanstead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether any additional evidence published since the UK National Screening Committee’s draft recommendation in November will be considered before a final decision is made on prostate cancer screening.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - 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: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what research or analysis is being carried out to understand the factors contributing to the increasing demand for mental health services, including factors other than overdiagnosis and diagnostic practices.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department funds research into mental health via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Through the NIHR, the Department is investigating a wide range of factors that contribute to the increase in mental health prevalence across England, including social, environmental, demographic, and biological factors. The Department also funds several population surveys that measure the national prevalence of mental health disorders.
The Department recently launched an independent review led by Professor Peter Fonagy into prevalence and support for mental health conditions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and autism. This review will examine the evidence on rising demand for mental health, autism, and ADHD services so people receive the right support at the right time and in the right place. The review will produce a short report setting out conclusions and recommendations for responding to the rising need, both within the Government and across the health system and wider public services.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to ensure people experiencing homelessness can access mental health and addiction support.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
My Department worked closely with the Department for Health and Social Care as part of the Inter-Ministerial Group on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping to develop our cross-government strategy, A National Plan to End Homelessness. Our Plan includes measures to support people experiencing homelessness to access mental health and drug and alcohol support.
The Inter-Ministerial Group on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping will continue to work across government to maintain collaboration and assure delivery of the commitments in this strategy. It will also publish progress reports every two years that monitor progress on the implementation of measures set out in this strategy, including our national cross-government targets.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with technology companies used by his Department on the automated processing of emails that contain personal health information.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not process personal health information. This type of information is handled by NHS England and other authorised health bodies.
We work closely with NHS England to ensure that any technology used across the health system meets the legal and ethical standards required for safeguarding personal health data. This includes data protection, information governance, and the safeguards required for handling health data. These checks ensure that any system we bring into use aligns with the rules that protect people’s privacy.
When personal data is processed as part of specific programmes, it is handled by approved delivery partners under strict governance arrangements. These partners act only on behalf of the Department and in line with data protection law and contractual controls.
Asked by: Damien Egan (Labour - Bristol North East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of Yellow Card reporting for capturing cases of Topical Steroid Withdrawal.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is an executive agency of the Department, with responsibility for ensuring medicines meet appropriate standards of safety, quality, and efficacy.
In 2021, the MHRA published a Public Assessment Report (PAR), reviewing the available evidence for topical steroid withdrawal (TSW) reactions, which can be found at the following link:
To inform this report, a comprehensive review of the available evidence was undertaken. This included an assessment of data from Yellow Card reports to identify suspected spontaneous cases of TSW reactions associated with topical corticosteroids on the Yellow Card database, as well as information from the published literature and other medicines regulators. The review considered whether regulatory action was required to minimise the risk of these events.
The PAR resulted in two Drug Safety Updates in 2021 and 2024 which aimed to raise awareness on the risk of TSW reactions and introduce new labelling. Both updates are available, respectively, at the following two links:
The MHRA uses the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA) to code suspected adverse drug reactions reported by patients and healthcare professionals via the Yellow Card scheme. MedDRA is an international, clinically validated medical terminology used by regulatory authorities and the biopharmaceutical industry throughout the entire regulatory process, from pre-marketing to post-marketing safety monitoring. MedDRA is updated twice annually, and new terms can be proposed by any MedDRA users. Following the publication of the PAR, the term “Topical steroid withdrawal reaction” was added to MedDRA as a lower level term in version 24.1 and made available to users of the Yellow Card website in February 2022 as part of routine updates. This helps to ensure that more reports pertaining to TSW reactions are appropriately captured. The MHRA continues to closely monitor Yellow Card reports submitted for suspected TSW reactions.
The MHRA continues to engage with the British Association of Dermatologist who have also released a statement, which is available at the following link:
https://cdn.bad.org.uk/uploads/2024/02/22095550/Topical-Steroid-Withdrawal-Joint-Statement.pdf
Asked by: Baroness Pidgeon (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the Road Safety Strategy, published on 7 January, what steps they will take to secure the linkage of police-recorded collision data and healthcare data between the Department for Transport, NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care; and what the timescale is for that work.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The DfT, together with NHS England, and DHSC are piloting the secure linkage of police collision and healthcare data to better understand the causes and impacts of road traffic incidents. Using the Pre-hospital Research and Audit Network (PRANA) framework, this initiative will enhance analysis of injury severity, collision outcomes, and NHS burden. This work started in 2025 and the department has published an initial feasibility study which can be found on the government website with further updates expected over the next year.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
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 merits of removing the exceptionality requirement for Individual Funding Requires for Chemosaturation therapy and comparable intervention for people whose lives are at risk.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and the National Health Service in England are committed to ensuring that cancer patients have timely access to treatment and tailored medical support. In 2016, NHS England concluded that there was insufficient evidence to make chemosaturation treatment available to patients on the NHS. NHS England is currently in the early stages of policy development for chemosaturation to treat metastatic uveal melanoma where surgery to remove or destroy affected cells and tissue in the liver is not feasible.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance recommends that chemosaturation can be used for patients with secondary liver metastases resulting from a primary ocular melanoma, provided special arrangements are in place. A special arrangements recommendation states that clinicians using the procedure should inform the clinical governance lead in their trust, tell the patient about the uncertainties regarding the safety and efficacy of the procedure, and collect further data by means of audit or research. NICE is in the process of updating its guidance, with final guidance expected on 15 October 2026. The first committee meeting, to discuss the evidence, is expected to take place on 16 April 2026. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ipg10448
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, where responsibility for national leadership and accountability for obesity and weight management services will sit following the abolition of NHS England; and what steps he is taking to prevent regional variation in access to those services.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - 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: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is planning to take to ensure that the final Equality Impact Assessment for the prostate cancer screening recommendation does not (a) continue and (b) worsen existing health inequalities for black men.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - 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.