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 assessment he has made of the adequacy of palliative care services for people in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and (b) Staffordshire since Rt hon. and hon. Members last considered the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Irrespective of whether the law changes on assisted dying, we must continue to work towards creating a society where every person who needs it receives high-quality, compassionate palliative care and end of life care.
Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB), including Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB, must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative care and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.
We are committed to shifting more healthcare into the community so that patients and their families receive high-quality, personalised care in the most appropriate setting, and palliative care and end of life care services will have a big role to play in that shift.
The Government and the National Health Service will closely monitor the shift towards strategic commissioning of palliative and end of life care services to ensure that services reduce variation in access and quality, although some variation may be appropriate to reflect both innovation and the needs of local populations.
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 steps he has taken to (a) improve patient care and (b) reduce waiting times in north Staffordshire.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Tackling waiting lists is a key priority for the Government. Between July 2024 and June 2025, we delivered 5.2 million additional appointments, compared to the previous year, which is more than double our pledge of two million. This marks a vital first step in delivering the constitutional standard that 92% of patients, including those in north Staffordshire, wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029.
North Staffordshire is part of the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board (ICB). As of August 2025, the latest published data, the total waiting list in this ICB stood at 139,133, 63.3% of which were waiting within 18 weeks. This is an improvement from 57.2% in August 2024 and is above the August 2025 national average of 61%.
The Government is committed not only to ensuring that people are seen on time but also to ensuring that they have the best possible experience when using NHS England’s services. Empowering patients with greater choice and control is central to this effort.
The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out wide ranging reforms to improve patients’ access to and experience of care, from reducing unnecessary appointments to faster and more local diagnostics.
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out a transformed vision for planned care by 2035, where the majority of interactions no longer take place in a hospital building, instead happening virtually, online, or via neighbourhood services. Planned care will be more efficient, timely, and effective, and will put control in the hands of patients.
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 steps his Department plans to take to ensure the new NHS workforce plan will provide the number of specialists required for Parkinson’s care.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to publishing a 10-Year Workforce Plan which will create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, including specialists across the full scope of National Health Service care.
We have set up a UK-wide Neuro Forum, facilitating formal, biannual meetings across the Department, NHS England, devolved governments, and health services and Neurological Alliances of all four nations. The new forum brings key stakeholders together to share learnings across the system and discuss challenges, best practice examples and potential solutions for improving the care of people with neurological conditions. The Forum has identified areas for initial focus, including workforce which featured as a key item on the agenda at the second meeting of the forum in September.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 4 September 2025 to Question 73278 on Dementia: Research, what proportion of NHS funding was spent on (a) dementia, (b) cancer, (c) stroke and (d) coronary heart disease research in each year between 2019 and 2024.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department funds and delivers health research via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Funding allocated to the NIHR is separate from National Health Service funding and is not calculated as a proportion of NHS spend.
NIHR invests directly in research projects and programmes and also provides investment for research delivery within the NHS and wider health and care system, including research facilities and workforce, known as NIHR infrastructure.
The following table shows a breakdown of total NIHR spend in millions of pounds for dementia, cancer, stroke, and cardiovascular research between 2019/20 and 2023/24, across research projects, programmes and infrastructure:
Financial year | Dementia | Cancer | Stroke | Cardiovascular, including coronary heart disease |
2019/20 | 29 | 138 | 22.2 | 53.1 |
2020/21 | 21.9 | 73.5 | 12.7 | 46.1 |
2021/22 | 30.3 | 98.3 | 20.3 | 56.3 |
2022/23 | 35.1 | 121.8 | 26.9 | 72.6 |
2023/24 | 42.8 | 132.8 | 23.9 | 93 |
Total | 159.1 | 564.4 | 106 | 321.1 |
Source: NIHR
Notes:
NIHR infrastructure investment funds staff and facilities which deliver research across disciplines and disease areas simultaneously and represents approximately 40% of total NIHR funding. This component is therefore calculated as a proportionate approximation of spend based on number of studies/projects in these conditions supported by infrastructure against total infrastructure spend and therefore is an estimate only.
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 assessment he has made of the potential impact of missed medication in hospitals on Parkinson’s patients in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme, (b) Staffordshire and (c) England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Hospital providers across England, including hospitals in the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board (ICB) area, are responsible for ensuring that patients within hospital settings, including those with Parkinson’s disease, receive their appropriate medication on time. There are tools to support both patients and staff to achieve this. Electronic prescribing systems, currently in use in 85% of hospitals in England, enable in-depth monitoring and reporting on missed or delayed dosing of medications.
As set out in the 10 Year Health Plan, we will support people with long-term conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease, across England, including in Newcastle-under-Lyme and the wider Staffordshire area, to better manage their condition, including managing their medication. As part of the NHS App, the My Medicines section will enable patients to manage their prescriptions and remind them when to take their medications, and the My Health section will enable patients to monitor their symptoms and will bring all their data into one place. Patients will be able to decide whether their data is shared in real-time with care teams, so they can proactively monitor health and intervene when necessary.
Guidance produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on Parkinson’s disease in adults highlights the importance of patients getting Parkinson’s medicines on time to prevent harmful effects. The NICE guidance states that people with Parkinson’s disease who are admitted to hospital or care homes should be given their medicines at the appropriate times, which, in some cases, may mean allowing self-medication.
Parkinson’s UK has produced resources as part of its Get It on Time campaign, which supports people with Parkinson's with medicine management in preparation for a hospital stay. These resources can also support hospital and care home staff to make sure that patients and residents get their medication on time, every time.
NHS England has also published guidance, developed in partnership with charities, including Parkinson’s UK, to help local National Health Service staff take practical steps to improve the care for patients with progressive neurological conditions in hospitals, including hospitals in the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB area. The Right Care Toolkit for progressive neurological conditions provides advice on medicine optimisation, highlighting the importance of timely administration of specific drugs for Parkinson’s, such as Levodopa, in both acute and community health settings.
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 estimate he has made of the number of people with dementia in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme, (b) Staffordshire and (c) England in the next five years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific estimate has been made for the number of people with dementia in the next five years.
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 steps he has taken to improve access to NHS dentistry in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency, this is Staffordshire and Stoke-on Trent ICB.
We will deliver 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments per year, and ICBs have been making extra appointments available from 1 April 2025. Staffordshire and Stoke-on Trent ICB is expected to deliver 16,190 additional urgent dental appointments as part of the scheme.
We are committed to reforming the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
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, whether the engagement on the development of the NHS 10 Year Workforce Plan will include (a) a formal consultation and (b) stakeholder engagement with (i) health charities and (ii) other relevant stakeholders.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the coming weeks, we will launch the formal engagement phase of the upcoming workforce plan, which will provide stakeholders with the opportunity to contribute directly to the plan’s development. The Government wants to hear from anyone with relevant evidence, including trade unions, royal colleges, employers, charities, and those with expertise by experience.
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, with which health charities has his Department engaged on the development of the NHS 10 Year Workforce Plan.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the coming weeks, we will launch the formal engagement phase of the upcoming workforce plan, which will provide stakeholders with the opportunity to contribute directly to the plan’s development. The Government wants to hear from anyone with relevant evidence, including trade unions, royal colleges, employers, charities, and those with expertise by experience.
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, whether the engagement on the development of a 10 Year Health Plan delivery strategy will include (a) a formal consultation and (b) stakeholder engagement with (i) health charities and (ii) other relevant stakeholders.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10 Year Health Plan will seize the opportunities provided by new technology, medicines, and innovation to deliver better care for all patients, no matter where they live or how much they earn, and better value for taxpayers.
To develop the 10 Year Health Plan, we had the biggest ever conversation on the future of the National Health Service with over a quarter of a million contributions from the public, staff and partners including charities and patient groups.
The Government and the NHS continue to work with the public, staff and partners to deliver the 10 Year Health Plan.