Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of heart valve disease cases were diagnosed at an advanced stage in (a) England and (b) West Sussex; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the role of primary care in achieving early detection.
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: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what was the average time between first presentation with symptoms and confirmed diagnosis of heart valve disease in (a) England and (b) West Sussex in the last five years.
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: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NHS leaders regarding the mandatory training required for staff involved in the handling of miscarriage tissue.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (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: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he intends to establish a single national protocol governing the communication of information regarding miscarriage tissue to parents.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (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: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the policy paper entitled Replacing animals in science: A strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, published on 11 November 2025, what progress he has made on phasing out preclinical animal testing of biologicals where no pharmacologically relevant animal models exist.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Where there is no pharmacologically relevant animal species for testing a biological product, the position of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is that there should be no studies done on animals, and in March 2026, the MHRA published a statement on its website that included this text: “For certain drug substances that are not pharmacologically active in animals, the MHRA does not support testing in animals (including with surrogate molecules). For this group of drugs, non-animal-based methods suffice to support expectations for efficacy and safety in clinical development”. This position is represented to companies that seek scientific advice from the MHRA on drug development in this context. Further information is available at the following two links:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mhra-approach-to-medicines-using-non-animal-methods
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 30 March to Question 119469 on Cancer: Vaccination, how many pharmaceutical companies have been contacted by his Department with details of the expansion of eligibility of the NHS Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad since May 2025.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad (CVLP) is a platform that is increasing access and speeding up recruitment to clinical trials for personalised cancer vaccines and other immunotherapies for patients who have been diagnosed with cancer. In 2025, the scope of the CVLP was expanded beyond personalised cancer vaccines to also include other immunotherapies. NHS England is responsible for the overall delivery of the CVLP and has contracted the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit to manage the day-to-day delivery of the platform.
The platform is designed to be company and clinical trial agnostic so any company can contact the CVLP to explore how the platform can support their research. NHS England hosted a webinar with interested pharmaceutical companies in 2025 after the expansion of the scope had been agreed, and continues to engage with companies through multiple avenues, including working with the National Institute for Health and Care Research and the Vaccine Innovation Pathway.
Asked by: Alison Griffiths (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the variation in diagnosis times and access to treatment for heart valve disease by (a) region and (b) demographic group in England and West Sussex.
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: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with health leaders on the arrangements in place across NHS Trusts for overseeing incidents involving the handling of miscarriage tissue.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (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: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what consideration he has given to the potential merits of creating a requirement for NHS trusts to maintain chain-of-custody records for the handling of miscarriage tissue.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (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: David Davis (Conservative - Goole and Pocklington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he intends to establish a single national protocol governing the handling and testing of miscarriage tissue.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (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.