Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many removals from elective waiting lists there have been as a result of data validation exercises in 2025-26; and what the cost to his Department has been of those exercises.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Validation is a well-established component for the effective management of waiting lists, ensuring that the patients who are on the list should still be there. While we have significantly reduced the size of the total elective waiting list by over 206,000 since the Government took office, a large list requires consistent validation in order to ensure that all patients on the list still require care, and all appointments are of optimum value for patients and clinicians.
The Department does not hold data centrally on the number of patient pathways removed from the elective waiting list as a result of data validation.
NHS England has paid the system £18,818,566 for validation exercises from April to September 2025. Payments for the most recent validation exercises have not yet been issued to providers. We know validation provides significant benefits for patients by reducing missed appointments, making effective use of clinical time, and ensuring patients are on the best care pathway for their needs.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will include information in the Green Book on the HPV vaccine that includes reference to its role in reducing the risk of oral cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Green Book is written for healthcare professionals. The chapter on human papillomavirus (HPV) does highlight the causal link between infection with this virus, cervical cancer, and some non-cervical cancer including those of the head and neck. The HPV chapter 18a from the Green Book is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/human-papillomavirus-hpv-the-green-book-chapter-18a
Broader UK Health Security Agency guidance on HPV also highlights the protection the vaccine provides against HPV infection and related conditions. This public‑facing information also explains that the vaccine helps protect against cancers of the mouth and is available at the following link:
It also highlights that the greatest risk comes from infection with high-risk types of HPV. There is very good evidence that the vaccine in use in the United Kingdom offers excellent protection against these high-risk types.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
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 support paediatric settings to adopt the recommended Play Well standards in NHS England's Play Well toolkit published in June 2025.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises the importance of supporting and maintaining children’s right to play in healthcare settings.
The NHS England and Starlight Play Well Toolkit, published in June 2025, includes the first national guidelines and standards for commissioning and delivering health play services in England. It aims to improve access to child-friendly care and specialised health play services across paediatric healthcare.
To support adoption of Play Well standards, NHS England is promoting the toolkit to managers of health play services across a wide range of settings, including community clinics, emergency departments, children’s hospices, and acute paediatric wards. The toolkit provides clear guidance on supporting practical training and mentorship in healthcare settings.
A range of communication channels have been used to raise awareness, including engagement with services via professional bodies, messaging via the Chief Nursing Officer, a blog posts and ongoing promotion of the toolkit across the National Health Service through operational delivery networks, directly to trusts and directly with professional groups.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
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 NHS support pathways pathways for people with Tourette’s Syndrome in (a) Yeovil constituency and (b) England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS England Neurology Transformation Programme and the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) initiative are playing an important role in improving care for people with Tourette’s syndrome, including in Yeovil. These programmes aim to ensure that patients receive timely, high-quality, and evidence-based care. For Tourette’s, this means supporting local integrated care boards (ICBs) to develop clearer referral pathways, improve access to multidisciplinary teams, and embed best practice in local services. GIRFT also uses data to identify gaps in provision and highlight where improvements can be made, helping to ensure that people with Tourette’s are not left behind in the transformation of neurological care.
Our 10-Year Health Plan is designed to transform the way we deliver care for people with long-term conditions, including Tourette’s syndrome. By shifting the focus from hospital-based treatment to more integrated, community-led care, the plan aims to ensure that individuals with Tourette’s can access timely support closer to home, including in Yeovil.
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 assessment he has made of whether disabled parking provision at NHS and primary care premises is adequate to meet patient demand.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No national assessment he has made of whether disabled parking provision at National Health Service and primary care premises is adequate to meet patient demand.
Disabled parking provision on the public sector estate is mandated through national planning rules, and all NHS facilities must meet the requirements.
NHS organisations decide how they provide parking locally, based on the needs of patients, visitors, and staff, as well as environmental factors. The NHS car parking guidance requires free parking to be provided for four groups: disabled people; frequent outpatient attenders; parents of sick children staying overnight; and staff working night shifts. Further information is avaiable at the following link:
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the National Cancer Plan will address (a) access to and (b) capacity for radiotherapy services for cancer patients.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, as well as how we will reduce waiting times for diagnosis and treatment.
Improving access to all treatment services, including radiotherapy, remains a key priority for the Government. Our commitment to radiotherapy services is demonstrated by our £70 million investment in new LINAC radiotherapy machines to replace older, less efficient equipment. This crucial investment will boost treatment efficiency and productivity, freeing up capacity and reduce waiting times for patients. These new machines are currently being rolled out and have already started treating cancer patients across the country.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
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 current age limits for routine breast cancer screening; and whether he plans to review these limits to improve early detection for patients outside of the standard screening range.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is guided by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent scientific advisory committee which makes its recommendations based on internationally recognised criteria and a rigorous evidence review and consultation process. It is only where the committee is confident that screening would provide more good than harm that a screening programme is recommended, as all medical interventions carry an inherent risk.
The NHS Breast Screening Programme (NHS BSP) offers all women in England between the ages of 50 to 71 years old the opportunity to be screened every three years for breast cancer, to help detect abnormalities and intervene early to reduce the number of lives lost to invasive breast cancer.
The AgeX research trial has been looking at the effectiveness of offering some women one extra screen between the ages of 47 to 49 years old, and one between the ages of 71 to 73 years old. The biggest trial of its kind ever to be undertaken, AgeX will provide robust evidence about the effectiveness of screening in these age groups, including the benefit and harms. The UK NSC will review the publication of the age extension trial when it reports.
Women with a very high risk of breast cancer, for example due to family history, may be offered screening earlier and more frequently, sometimes using magnetic resonance imaging rather than a mammogram.
While the NHS BSP does not automatically invite women for breast screening after their 71st birthday, women aged 71 years old or over can still have breast screening every three years if they want to, by calling their local breast screening service to ask for an appointment.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
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 ensure that local cancer treatment facilities, such as mobile chemotherapy units and hospital breast cancer clinics, have sufficient resources to meet demand and reduce waiting times for patients.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the plan for reforming elective care, the Government is committed to improving performance on cancer waiting times.
To improve access to cancer treatment, the Government is investing an extra £26 billion in the National Health Service and providing it with the resources it needs, including community diagnostic centres, to ensure patients are diagnosed faster and earlier so that they receive timely access to treatment. £70 million will also be spent on replacing out-of-date radiotherapy equipment so that cancer patients benefit from faster and safer cancer treatment using the most up-to-date technology. Replacing these older machines will save as many as 13,000 appointments from being lost to equipment breakdown.
NHS England has partnered with the charity Hope For Tomorrow to establish mobile chemotherapy units across England, bringing chemotherapy and cancer treatments closer to patients' homes, reducing waiting time for hospital appointments, with units staffed by specialist nurses offering personalised care.
The NHS has made important progress on the treatment of cancer, including breast cancer, delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week to ensure faster treatment for those who need it most.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
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 build capacity in the health play professional sector, including training, qualifications and registration, as sought in NHS England's Play Well toolkit published in June 2025.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises the importance of supporting and maintaining children’s right to play in healthcare settings.
The NHS England and Starlight Play Well Toolkit, published in June 2025, includes the first national guidelines and standards for commissioning and delivering health play services in England. It aims to improve access to child-friendly care and specialised health play services across paediatric healthcare.
NHS England is promoting the toolkit to managers of health play services across a wide range of settings, including community clinics, emergency departments, children’s hospices, and acute paediatric wards. The toolkit provides clear guidance on supporting practical training and mentorship in healthcare settings.
The Play Well toolkit aims to ensure that health play services have the right staff with the right qualifications to deliver a high-quality service. This includes ensuring that services are able to support the training and development of the health play specialists they employ.
Health play specialists are trained through foundation degrees and prospective health play specialists can also be trained through the apprenticeship route.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has has discussions with his counterparts in Northern Ireland on pressures on accident and emergency services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As a Government department, we work collaboratively with the devolved administrations to drive forward our objective of supporting people to lead more independent, healthier lives for longer.
While health is primarily devolved and each health system operates in its own context, there are strong benefits from sharing experiences and learning between the devolved administrations. While ministers have not recently discussed pressures on accident and emergency services in recent months, Department and NHS England officials periodically speak informally with counterparts on urgent and emergency care issues.