Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
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 future changes to the (a) soft drinks industry levy and (b) other measures relating to sugar are responsive to the needs of people with Type 1 Diabetes who require continued access to affordable high sugar foods.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The prevention of ill health is a priority for the Government. We are committed to tackling obesity as a core part of our health mission, to support people to live longer, healthier lives and raise the healthiest generation of children.
Most of the population are consuming double the free sugar recommendations of 5% total daily calorie intake. Diets high in sugar increase the risk of tooth decay and weight gain. Being overweight or living with obesity is associated with a range of negative health impacts such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and some kinds of cancers.
People with type 1 diabetes should only consume high sugar drinks in the event of hypoglycaemia, because of not eating enough carbohydrates or taking too much insulin. With proper management, hypoglycaemia should be a rare event, and the consumption of high sugar drinks kept to a minimum. In addition, high sugar drinks are available at a variety of price points.
Diabetes UK has provided an online summary of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) and put this in the context of diabetes and its management. It includes advice on the use of drinks to treat hypoglycaemia and highlights that other products can also be used for this purpose e.g. glucose tablets, sweets such as jelly babies, pure fruit juice or glucose gels. It also highlights that some treatments may be prescribed for free for people with diabetes. Further information can be found at the following link:
https://www.diabetes.org.uk/living-with-diabetes/eating/sugar-reduction-hypo-treatment-sugar-tax
NHS England is supporting integrated care boards (ICBs) to improve treatment and care for their populations and reduce variation of diabetes care, with NHS England supporting systems to be aware of the national data and insights through benchmarking and promoting good practice. NHS England has provided £3 million of funding to systems to provide clinical leadership to ensure that clinical diabetes metrics, such as care processes and treatment targets, are reviewed at ICB level and unwarranted variation identified. A resource hub of materials has been set up on Future NHS, including examples of innovation and best practice for improvement of care process delivery, and achievement of treatment targets.
The SDIL came into force in 2018 and applies to producers and importers of added sugar soft drinks that contain 5 grams total sugar or more per 100 millilitres. If the currently proposed change to the lower sugar threshold comes into force, it will only impact around 17% of additional sales volumes for products containing between 4 and 4.9 grams of sugar per 100 millilitres. The only change impacting high sugar drinks is the uprating of the tax rate, and with both these changes it is up to businesses to decide whether to pass through to consumers any additional costs associated with paying the tax.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
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 the availability of givinostat to patients eligible through early access programmes.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department understands the impact that Duchenne muscular dystrophy has on those living with it, and their families, and the urgent need for new treatment options. If new therapies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy are approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), then appropriate commissioning plans will be put in place to enable equitable access to treatment through Specialised Neurology Services.
The delivery of timely and equitable access to new treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy under company-sponsored early access schemes (EAPs) is not the responsibility of NHS England. Participation in company-led schemes is decided at an individual National Health Service trust level and under these programmes, the cost of the drug is free to both the patients taking part in it, and to the NHS, although NHS trusts must still cover the administration costs and provide the clinical resources to deliver the EAP.
NHS England has published guidance for integrated care systems (ICS) on free of charge medicines schemes, providing advice on potential financial, resourcing, and clinical risks.
ICSs should use the guidance to help determine whether to implement any free of charge scheme, including assessing suitability and any risks in the short, medium, and long term. The guidance is available at the following link:
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether UK Health Security Agency microbiology laboratories have the capability to carry out group B Streptococcus-specific enriched culture medium testing in accordance with the Public Health England guidance on Standards for Microbial Investigations B 58.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The provision of group B streptococcal microbiological laboratory testing is under review with clinical stakeholders. At present, this service, with respect to enriched culture medium testing, in accordance with Public Health England’s guidance on Standards for Microbial Investigations B 58, is not offered within regional UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) microbiology laboratories. The Bacteria Reference Department in UKHSA Colindale had specific accreditation under the United Kingdom Accreditation Service for group B Streptococci testing, which provides confirmation of group B Streptococci status and typing, based on the identification of 10 polysaccharide antigens.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure that patients receiving (a) stem cell transplants and (b) other cell therapies have access to specialist psychological support (i) before, (ii) during and (iii) after treatment.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As stipulated by NHS England in the blood and marrow transplantation (BMT) service specification, BMT services, which include stem cell transplants, should ensure that a full range of support staff is available, including social workers, and psychological, physiotherapy, pharmacy, and radiology support, for stem cell transplant recipients. BMT service providers are also expected to be accredited by the Joint Accreditation Committee of the International Society for Cellular Therapy and the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (JACIE), and the requirement for psychology support staff is also reflected in the eighth edition of the JACIE standards. For wider cell therapies, psychological support has been a requirement as part of any CAR-T core multidisciplinary team since 2018. It is also an important component for any commissioned advanced therapy medicinal product.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on regional variations in access to group B Streptococcus testing; and what steps are being taken to reduce those variations.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National External Quality Assessment Service’s (NEQAS) microbiology service, hosted by The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), has introduced a group B Streptococcus Screening External Quality Assessment scheme as of April 2025.
The UKHSA does not currently collect regional variations in the provision of group B testing services.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
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 help tackle disparities in the incidence of group B Streptococcal infections among different (a) ethnic and (b) socioeconomic groups.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has co-ordinated periods of enhanced surveillance of invasive group B Streptococcal (GBS) in infants younger than 90 days, allowing for a greater understanding of the risk factors and outcomes of infection, which is vital in identifying opportunities for prevention. For example, a population-wide data analysis on race and ethnicity in neonatal GBS in England between 2016 and 2020 revealed marked differences in invasive GBS rates among black and minority ethnic infants. Further details of this study are available at the following link:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35979728/
The UKHSA is working to identify target groups for future GBS vaccination through epidemiological analysis of invasive and non-invasive disease phenotypes in adults and children, and to identify ethnic disparities in rates of infant and maternal GBS. The UKHSA has also been progressing the development of maternal carriage studies to investigate differential rates of carriage according to ethnicity and other characteristics, including socioeconomic factors.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS Workforce Plan will include measures to encourage the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of clinical psychologists with a specialism in stem cell transplant and cell therapies.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions about recruitment are matters for individual National Health Service trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment, including recruitment of clinical psychologists, at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place and with the right skills mix, to deliver safe and effective care.
The Government is committed to publishing a refreshed NHS Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and treat patients on time again.
NHS England is leading work nationally through its retention programme to drive a consistent, system-wide approach to staff retention across NHS trusts. This ensures trusts have access to proven retention strategies, data-driven monitoring, and can foster a more stable, engaged, productive, and supported workforce.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many qualified ophthalmic (a) consultants and (b) doctors there are who are able to treat glaucoma; how many people have glaucoma; and what estimate he has made of trends in these numbers over the next 10 years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee does not recommend screening for glaucoma because it is not clear if the tests which are available are accurate enough to be used in a screening programme. Regular sight tests are important in detecting glaucoma, which is why we recommend everyone having a sight test at least every two years. Free National Health Service sight tests are available for many, including children, those aged 60 years old and over, individuals on income-related benefits, and those diagnosed with, or considered at risk of, glaucoma.
The Department does not hold information on the absolute numbers of people living with glaucoma at any one time in England, and therefore no estimate has been made on the numbers of people who will have glaucoma in the next 10 years. Data is also not held centrally on the number of qualified ophthalmic consultants and doctors who are able to treat glaucoma in the NHS.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who will have glaucoma in England in each of the next 10 years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee does not recommend screening for glaucoma because it is not clear if the tests which are available are accurate enough to be used in a screening programme. Regular sight tests are important in detecting glaucoma, which is why we recommend everyone having a sight test at least every two years. Free National Health Service sight tests are available for many, including children, those aged 60 years old and over, individuals on income-related benefits, and those diagnosed with, or considered at risk of, glaucoma.
The Department does not hold information on the absolute numbers of people living with glaucoma at any one time in England, and therefore no estimate has been made on the numbers of people who will have glaucoma in the next 10 years. Data is also not held centrally on the number of qualified ophthalmic consultants and doctors who are able to treat glaucoma in the NHS.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has considered introducing a national screening programme for glaucoma.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee does not recommend screening for glaucoma because it is not clear if the tests which are available are accurate enough to be used in a screening programme. Regular sight tests are important in detecting glaucoma, which is why we recommend everyone having a sight test at least every two years. Free National Health Service sight tests are available for many, including children, those aged 60 years old and over, individuals on income-related benefits, and those diagnosed with, or considered at risk of, glaucoma.
The Department does not hold information on the absolute numbers of people living with glaucoma at any one time in England, and therefore no estimate has been made on the numbers of people who will have glaucoma in the next 10 years. Data is also not held centrally on the number of qualified ophthalmic consultants and doctors who are able to treat glaucoma in the NHS.