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 quality of the treatment available to people with Leukaemia in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We will get the NHS diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster so more patients survive, and we will improve patients’ experience across the system. This will benefit patients across the system, including in Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire.
We have not made a specific assessment of leukaemia treatment in Staffordshire and Newcastle-under-Lyme. However, in September 2024, NHS England announced a new targeted treatment, Quizartinib, to be prescribed to newly diagnosed patients with a specific type of leukaemia, boosting their chance of remission and long-term survival. This was made available through NHS England’s Cancer Drugs Fund, which fast-tracks new innovative cancer treatments into standard care. This followed a previous announcement in August 2024, announcing the new treatment, Zanubrutini, for those with marginal zone lymphoma, which could halt the progression of their cancer and provide an alternative to further rounds of chemotherapy.
The National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care- as well as prevention and research and innovation. It will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care to better the experience and outcomes for people with cancer, including in Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire.
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 progress he has made on implementing the Child Health Action Plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever, ensuring that every child has a healthy, happy start to life, and giving mental health the same focus as physical health. This commitment was recently reaffirmed in the 10 Year Health Plan, which outlined the first steps we are taking to progress this goal.
The Government has taken action already, including through:
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 he is taking to advance sexual and reproductive health in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authorities across England are responsible for commissioning comprehensive, open access sexual and reproductive health services to meet local demand, and it is for them to decide on commissioning arrangements based on an assessment of local need.
These services are commissioned through the ring-fenced Public Health Grant (PHG). In 2025/26, we have increased the PHG funding to £3.884 billion. This represents a significant turning point for local health services and marks the biggest real-terms increase after nearly a decade of reduced spending between 2016 and 2024.
The Government remains committed to ensuring the public receive high quality sexual and reproductive health services across the country, including in Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire. For example, as part of our commitment to end new HIV transmissions within England by 2030, we are developing a new HIV Action Plan which we aim to publish by the end of the year. We will also continue to work with NHS England on how to take forward the Women's Health Strategy, by aligning it to the Government's Missions and the 10-Year Health Plan.
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 proportion of NHS funding was spent on dementia research in each year between 2019 and 2024.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department delivers research into dementia 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. However, research delivered within the NHS is often supported by the NIHR, including research facilities and workforce, known as NIHR infrastructure.
The table below sets out a breakdown of NIHR spend for dementia research between financial years 2019/20 and 2023/24. Spend for dementia research is calculated retrospectively, with a time lag due to annual reporting cycles. Therefore, 2023/24 is the most recent year for which we have data.
£m | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | Total |
NIHR | 29 | 21.9 | 30.3 | 35.1 | 42.8 | 159.1 |
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 his Department has made of the potential impact of PM2.5 exposure on children’s health outcomes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Air pollution exposure can be harmful to everyone. Children are more vulnerable to the effects than adults due to their incomplete lung development, high physical activity and breathing rates, and lower height, which increases exposure to traffic pollution.
The UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) assessment of children’s exposure to air pollution in outdoor school environments identified that, in 2017, one third of schools in England were in areas with PM2.5, exceeding the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) previous annual guideline of 10 micrograms per cubic meter of air (µg/m3).
In 2021, WHO updated its guidelines for PM2.5 from 10 µg/m3 to an annual mean of five µg/m3.
The Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants published advice on the susceptibility to air pollution in March 2025. They concluded that, based on the latest evidence, advice for children with asthma should continue to be included in the Daily Air Quality Index.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) provides The Daily Air Quality Index (DAQI) which is available at the following link:
https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/air-pollution/daqi?view=more-info
This informs on the levels of air pollution and provides recommended actions and health advice. The index is numbered 1-10 and divided into four bands, low (1) to very high (10), to provide detail about air pollution levels in a simple way, similar to the sun index or pollen index.
UKHSA contributed to the Royal College of Physician’s report on air pollution which explores the impacts of air pollution over the life course, including through childhood and adolescence. UKHSA has a Cleaner Air Programme which aims to reduce people’s exposure to air pollution, particularly the most vulnerable groups, including children.
The Programme is described in UKHSA’s ‘Chemical Hazards and Poisons Report’ of June 2022, available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/chemical-hazards-and-poisons-report-issue-28
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 he plans to take steps to publish a women's health strategy.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health. We are turning the commitments in the existing Women's Health Strategy into tangible action, such as: providing emergency hormonal contraception free of charge at pharmacies on the National Health Service from October 2025; setting out how we will eliminate cervical cancer by 2040 through the new cervical cancer plan; and taking urgent action to tackle gynaecology waiting lists through the Elective Reform Plan.
Through our 10-Year Health Plan, we are delivering our commitment that never again will women’s health be neglected. The three shifts will improve the care women receive. Hospital to community will mean women can access convenient, coordinated care closer to home through Neighbourhood Health Centres, building on best practice examples such as Tower Hamlets women’s health hub. Analogue to digital will put more power and data in women’s hands, which will make it easier to get more personalised support, book appointments, and stay healthy. Treatment to prevention will mean faster and fairer access to life-saving prevention through human papillomavirus (HPV) self-sampling kits, and access to the HPV vaccine through community pharmacies.
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 his Department plans to introduce a cardiovascular disease strategy.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to ensuring that fewer lives are lost to the biggest killers, including cardiovascular disease (CVD).
The 10-Year Health Plan, published on 3 July, outlines our commitment to publish a Modern Service Framework in 2026 that will identify the interventions with the best evidence, and set standards for and drive innovation in CVD.
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 (a) steps he is taking to support and (b) funding he has allocated to the rollout of AI-assisted stethoscope checks for heart murmurs in community pharmacies.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Artificial intelligence (AI) assisted stethoscope tools are currently being trialed in 200 general practices (GPs) across London and Wales, with trials set to end in December 2025. The AI in Health and Care Award and the National Institute for Health and Care Research provided £1.2 million in funding for these trials, known as the TRICORDER programme, which aims to assess whether providing the tool to GPs can increase the early detection of heart failure and reduce diagnosis through emergency hospital admission. Early results have shown these devices can test for heart failure with high levels of sensitivity, 91%, and specificity, 80%, compared to routine diagnostic tests that are invasive and expensive.
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 he has discussed the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill with his counterpart in the Welsh Government.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government remains neutral on the matter of assisted dying and the passage of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. The Bill remains a matter for the hon. Member for Spen Valley who, as its sponsor, leads on policy and engagement in relation to the Bill.
Ministers in the Department have had no discussions about the Bill with counterparts in the Welsh Government.
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 estimate he has made of the potential cost to the public purse of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the hon. Member to the impact assessment.