Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
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 ensure that the views and lived experience of teenagers and young adults with cancer are being incorporated into his forthcoming national cancer plan; and how their involvement will be reflected in the plan’s publication and launch.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to improving outcomes for teenagers and young adults with cancer. The Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce was relaunched on 4 February 2025 to identify tangible ways to improve outcomes and experiences for young cancer patients. The taskforce will explore opportunities for improvement in England, including detection and diagnosis, genomic testing and treatment, research and innovation, and patient experience. The taskforce will ensure that the unique needs of children and young people, including teenagers and young adults with cancer, are carefully considered as part of the forthcoming National Cancer Plan.
The Government is committed to including the views and lived experience of teenagers and young adults in the National Cancer Plan. That is why the Department has worked with the Children and Young People Cancer taskforce members to assemble a Patient Experience Panel of people with lived experience of cancer. The panel is made up of a diverse group, including parents of children with cancer, young adults who were diagnosed with cancer as teenagers, and those who were diagnosed as children.
As part of the Department’s engagement to inform the development of the forthcoming National Cancer Plan, officials from the Department’s cancer team have worked closely with patient organisations, clinicians, and cancer partners, and has considered over 11,000 responses to the call for evidence. These included submissions from Teenage Cancer Trust, Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust, Young Lives vs Cancer, CCLG: The Children and Young People's Cancer Association, and so on.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent engagement his Department has had with Action Bladder Cancer UK.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of the Department’s engagement to inform the development of the forthcoming National Cancer Plan, officials from the Department’s cancer team have worked closely with patient organisations, clinicians, cancer partners and have considered over 11,000 responses to the call for evidence. These included submissions from organisations, such as Fight Bladder Cancer and Cancer52, of which Action Bladder Cancer UK is a member of, as well as from individuals.
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)
On 28 November, the UK National Screening Committee opened a 12-week public consultation on a draft recommendation on screening for prostate cancer. We anticipate a final recommendation in early 2026. After which, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, will make a decision on whether to accept the recommendation, and what next steps are needed. Any policy developed from the recommendation will be supported by an equality impact assessment to ensure that health inequality that could be caused by the policy will be mitigated against.
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 National Health Service and local government provide a range of weight management services. This includes behaviour change support such as the NHS Digital Weight Management Programme, intensive treatments like very low-calorie diets, pharmaceutical treatments, and bariatric surgery. NHS integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for arranging the provision of health services, such as specialist weight management services, within their area, in line with local population need, and taking account of relevant guidance.
NHS England will continue to carry out its existing responsibilities and statutory functions during the transition period following the Government’s decision to abolish the organisation. This includes commissioning the NHS Digital Weight Management Programme, oversight of NHS weight management services, and providing guidance, clinical leadership, and performance oversight of ICBs, while the Government brings forward legislation to amend the Department’s responsibilities.
Work is progressing at pace to develop the design and operating model for the new integrated organisation, and to plan for the smooth transfer of people, functions, and responsibilities. It is only right that with such significant reform, we commit to carefully assessing and understanding the potential impacts, as is due process. These ongoing assessments will inform our programme as appropriate.
Until the transfer of its functions, NHS England will continue to work with ICBs and providers to support the continuity of multidisciplinary provision and workforce capacity, and access to services across England.
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, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the abolition of NHS England on the commissioning, oversight and consistency of access to weight management services across England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service and local government provide a range of weight management services. This includes behaviour change support such as the NHS Digital Weight Management Programme, intensive treatments like very low-calorie diets, pharmaceutical treatments, and bariatric surgery. NHS integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for arranging the provision of health services, such as specialist weight management services, within their area, in line with local population need, and taking account of relevant guidance.
NHS England will continue to carry out its existing responsibilities and statutory functions during the transition period following the Government’s decision to abolish the organisation. This includes commissioning the NHS Digital Weight Management Programme, oversight of NHS weight management services, and providing guidance, clinical leadership, and performance oversight of ICBs, while the Government brings forward legislation to amend the Department’s responsibilities.
Work is progressing at pace to develop the design and operating model for the new integrated organisation, and to plan for the smooth transfer of people, functions, and responsibilities. It is only right that with such significant reform, we commit to carefully assessing and understanding the potential impacts, as is due process. These ongoing assessments will inform our programme as appropriate.
Until the transfer of its functions, NHS England will continue to work with ICBs and providers to support the continuity of multidisciplinary provision and workforce capacity, and access to services across England.
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, what plans his Department has to ensure continuity of specialist weight management services, including workforce capacity and multidisciplinary provision, during the transition following the abolition of NHS England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service and local government provide a range of weight management services. This includes behaviour change support such as the NHS Digital Weight Management Programme, intensive treatments like very low-calorie diets, pharmaceutical treatments, and bariatric surgery. NHS integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for arranging the provision of health services, such as specialist weight management services, within their area, in line with local population need, and taking account of relevant guidance.
NHS England will continue to carry out its existing responsibilities and statutory functions during the transition period following the Government’s decision to abolish the organisation. This includes commissioning the NHS Digital Weight Management Programme, oversight of NHS weight management services, and providing guidance, clinical leadership, and performance oversight of ICBs, while the Government brings forward legislation to amend the Department’s responsibilities.
Work is progressing at pace to develop the design and operating model for the new integrated organisation, and to plan for the smooth transfer of people, functions, and responsibilities. It is only right that with such significant reform, we commit to carefully assessing and understanding the potential impacts, as is due process. These ongoing assessments will inform our programme as appropriate.
Until the transfer of its functions, NHS England will continue to work with ICBs and providers to support the continuity of multidisciplinary provision and workforce capacity, and access to services across England.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help improve influenza vaccination uptake in (a) Leicester and (b) the East Midlands.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department works closely with the UK Health Security Agency and NHS England to improve vaccination uptake. In Leicester, NHS England has advised that flu vaccination uptake has increased compared with last winter, with notable improvement in school‑age flu vaccination.
Across the East Midlands, NHS England has advised that there has been an increase in uptake compared to this time last year for most cohorts, notably within two and three year olds and frontline healthcare worker cohorts, though lower uptake has been seen in over 65 year olds and care home cohorts.
This year, NHS England has introduced, for the first time, an expansion to the two to three-year-old flu offer with appointments available via community pharmacy sites to support easier access.
NHS England has been working closely with local integrated care boards (ICBs) and wider partners including acute and community hospitals, community pharmacies, and general practices, to take an integrated approach to improving influenza vaccination uptake across all eligible groups.
Local ICBs are working together with community leaders and local partners to ensure that information is shared within communities about how, when, and where people can get vaccinated.
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to bring forward proposals to require publicly funded bodies to ensure defibrillators are accessible to the public on a 24-hour basis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is for individual publicly funded bodies to determine appropriate arrangements for the defibrillators they maintain, taking account of relevant factors such as building operating hours and security. More broadly, local communities themselves are best placed to make decisions about location and access to defibrillators. The number has been increasing, with over 110,000 defibrillators now registered in the United Kingdom on The Circuit, the independent automated external defibrillators database. For these reasons, there are no plans to bring forward such proposals.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 with the Secretary of State for Education, to provide mental health and wellbeing support to young carers in Eastleigh constituency.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to boost mental health support across the country, including children and young people’s mental health services.
As prioritised in our Medium-Term Planning Framework, we are taking action to reduce the longest waits for specialist mental health support, tackling regional disparities, and expanding access, thereby making services more productive so children and young people spend less time waiting for the treatment they need.
We are also accelerating the rollout of Mental Health Support Teams in schools and colleges to reach full national coverage by 2029. As part of this, we are investing an additional £13 million to pilot enhanced training for staff so that they can offer more effective support to young people with complex needs, such as trauma, neurodivergence, and disordered eating. An additional 900,000 children and young people will have access by this spring, and this means that 60% of all pupils will have access to this early support at school, up from 44% in Spring 2024.
More widely, we are, rolling out Young Futures Hubs. The Government’s first 50 Young Futures Hubs will bring together services at a local level to support children and young people, helping to ensure that young people can access early advice and wellbeing intervention. We will work to ensure there is no wrong door for young people who need support with their mental health.
Through measures in the 10-Year Health Plan, we are equipping and supporting carers by making them more visible, empowering their voices in care planning, joining up services, and streamlining their caring tasks by introducing a new ‘MyCarer’ section to the NHS App.
NHS England is supporting the identification of young carers and has recently published guidance for general practitioners. NHS England is also utilising data to help support greater join-up between health, education, and social care.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure greater collaboration between adult social care and the NHS.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Greater collaboration between adult social care and the National Health Service is a priority for the Government. Adult social care is a central part of our commitment to developing a Neighbourhood Health Service that shifts care from hospitals to communities, with more personalised, proactive, and joined-up health and care services that help people stay independent for as long as possible. In 2025/26, approximately £9 billion is being invested through the Better Care Fund to enable NHS bodies and local authorities to pool budgets and deliver joined-up care.
Starting in the financial year 2026/27, we will reform the Better Care Fund. This reform will provide a sharper focus on ensuring consistent joint NHS and local authority funding for those services that are essential for integrated health and social care, such as hospital discharge, intermediate care, rehabilitation and reablement. We will set out further details in due course.
We also provide improvement support to local systems to help them strengthen the delivery of integrated health and social care. This includes the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme and also work with the Local Government Association to deliver targeted and universal support to local systems through the Better Care Fund Support Fund. Information on these can be found respectively on the Neighbourhood Health and the Local Government Association websites.