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 steps he is taking to raise awareness amongst men in Yeovil constituency about the risks of breast cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service in England encourages everyone, including men in the Yeovil constituency, to check their breast and chest regularly for firm lumps, changes or thickened areas of tissue, and to consult their general practitioner straight away if they have any concerns.
To increase knowledge of cancer symptoms, and address barriers to acting on them, the NHS runs Help Us Help You campaigns. These campaigns focus on recognising a range of symptoms, as well as encouraging body awareness, to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers, including breast cancer, at an earlier stage.
NHS England and other NHS organisations, nationally and locally, publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including breast cancer. Further information on breast cancer symptoms in men can be found on the NHS.UK website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/breast-cancer-in-men/symptoms-of-breast-cancer-in-men/
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 potential merits of people walking on (a) cancer prevention and (b) cancer recovery.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Being physically active, including walking and brisk walking, can help with the prevention and management of long-term health conditions, such as some cancers. Movement is an important part of care for people going through cancer treatment, helping to support recovery and boosting mental health and wellbeing.
The recently published National Cancer Plan is putting quality of life at the heart of cancer care, including physical activity to help patients through treatment successfully. Every patient will get a personalised plan that looks at their physical, mental, and practical needs, with support increasingly delivered through neighbourhood services and accessible digitally through the NHS App.
Under the plan we will deliver a universal digital-first prehabilitation offer for all cancer patients through the NHS App and other digital channels. This will include signposting to other existing digital services such as exercise classes and walking apps like NHS Active 10, ensuring cancer patients can best prepare for their treatment at, or close to, home.
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 potential merits of reducing the starting age for routine mammograms to 40.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Each year, over 15 million people are invited for screening by National Health Service screening programmes, with over 10 million taking up the invitation. Through our NHS screening programmes, we can reduce mortality and morbidity from cancer and other conditions in the population who appear healthy and have no symptoms, by detecting conditions at an earlier, more treatable stage.
We are guided by the independent scientific advice of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) on all screening matters. It is only where there is robust evidence that an offer to screen provides more good than harm that a screening programme is recommended.
As screening programmes can also cause harms, each of the adult screening programmes has both an upper and lower age range, within which there is good scientific evidence that the benefits of screening outweigh the harms.
The NHS Breast Screening Programme does not currently offer screening to women younger than the age of 50 for breast cancer due to the lower risk of women under this age developing breast cancer, and the fact that women below 50 tend to have denser breasts tissue. The density of breast tissue reduces the ability of getting an accurate mammogram, the accepted screening test for breast cancer.
There is therefore a risk of unnecessary treatment and distress for women who do not have breast cancer, but who would be subjected to invasive and painful medical treatments and diagnostic tests.
We are in line with most European countries, most of whom screen women between the ages of 50 to 69 years old.
The UK NSC recognises that screening programmes are not static and that, over time, they may need to change to be more effective. Work is underway within the breast screening programme to investigate the possibility of routinely screening below the currently recommended age. The AgeX research trial has been looking at the effectiveness of offering some women one extra screen between the ages of 47 and 49 years old.
It is the biggest trial of its kind ever to be undertaken and 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.
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 steps he is taking to ensure that people over the age of 71 can request a breast cancer screening in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
People in Yeovil who are over the age of 71 years old can request breast cancer screening once every three years by contacting their local National Health Service breast screening programme directly.
They will be offered an appointment at either the nearest mobile screening van, which rotate around the county on a three-yearly cycle, or the static screening centre at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton.
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 of the accessibility of obtaining proof of a new hearing loss diagnosis from the NHS is for people in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service audiology services are locally commissioned, and the responsibility for meeting the needs of non-hearing people lies with local NHS commissioners.
NHS Somerset commissions a range of hearing loss support services, with services provided at Yeovil Hospital and Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, as well as in community hospitals for easier access, with further services provided in primary care.
In January 2026, the new community diagnostic centre at Yeovil Hospital opened and it includes audiology services.
Audiology services are provided by the Somerset Foundation Trust, which provides an ‘individual management plan’ for newly referred patients and will send letters as proof of a patient’s hearing loss or need for hearing aids.
At the Somerset Foundation Trust, there has been considerable effort in recent years to improve waiting times and access to audiology services to support patients with hearing loss. Compared to the beginning of 2023/24, the proportion of patients seen within six weeks of referral has risen by over 20%, from 68.7% to 89.1%. The number of people waiting more than six weeks has gone from over 350 to approximately 100. This means that people are receiving diagnosis and specialist input sooner.
NHS Somerset is currently in the process of bringing together a working group which comprises key people from NHS Somerset, the Somerset Foundation Trust, general practices, patients with hearing loss, and members of the public to work together to improve access to audiology services.
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 steps he is taking to increase the level of funding in hospice care in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission, including the Somerset ICB, which covers the Yeovil constituency. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications. The statutory guidance states that ICBs must work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of care services to meet the needs of their local populations, which can include hospice services available within the ICB catchment.
We are supporting the hospice sector with an initial £100 million investment and a recent additional £25 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. The full £125 million has now been allocated to 158 eligible hospices by Hospice UK, and I can confirm that St Margaret’s Hospice in the Yeovil constituency is receiving £986,184 from this capital funding.
The capital funding is helping hospices to provide the best end of life care to patients and their families in a supportive and dignified physical environment. Funding helps to support hospices and deliver much needed improvements including refurbishments, overhauling IT systems, and improving facilities for patients and visitors.
Additionally, children and young people’s hospices will receive £26 million in revenue funding this year. We have also confirmed the continuation of this funding stream, approximately totalling £80 million of revenue funding over the next three years, which will provide stability for the sector over that period.
More widely, the Government is developing a Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care Modern Service Framework. Contracting and commissioning arrangements will be considered as part of this work.
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 discussions he has had on the potential merits of producing a National Maternity Strategy.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is establishing a National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, chaired by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.
The taskforce will address the recommendations that are expected this Spring from the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation through the development of a new national action plan that will drive improvements across maternity and neonatal care. The taskforce will also hold the system to account for the delivery of this plan, as well as improving outcomes and experiences for women and babies.
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, whether he will appoint a Maternity Commissioner.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no current plans to appoint a Maternity Commissioner. The Government has commissioned an independent National Investigation into maternity and neonatal care, chaired by Baroness Amos, which is expected to make recommendations this spring. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, will chair the National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce to address the recommendations and develop a new national action plan to drive improvements across maternity and neonatal care.
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, whether he has considered removing prescription charges for patients with Cystic Fibrosis.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are currently no plans to add cystic fibrosis to the list of medical conditions that entitle someone to apply for a medical exemption certificate which exempts the holder from paying the National Health Service prescription charge.
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 potential impact of proposals in the Autumn Budget 2025 on community pharmacies in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 2026/27 national community pharmacy funding arrangements will be subject to consultation with Community Pharmacy England, which will commence shortly.
Funding for the core community pharmacy contractual framework increased to £3.073 billion for 2025/2026. This represented the largest uplift in funding of any part of the National Health Service, over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26. This shows a first step in delivering stability for the future and a commitment to rebuilding the sector.