Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
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 the Big Brush Club on rates of dental decay among children who participated in that scheme.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made of this locally commissioned scheme. However, supervised toothbrushing is evidence based and cost effective, with a five-year return on investment of £3.06 for every £1 spent. Further information is available at the following link:
The national supervised toothbrushing programme currently underway is targeting up to 600,000 three- to five-year-olds in the most deprived areas of England. This is backed with investment of £11 million in 202525/26 and a five-year collaboration with Colgate-Palmolive. The National Institute of Health and Care Research will evaluate effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the national targeted supervised toothbrushing programme, where we expect an impact on population outcomes from two years of implementation. Further information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
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 (a) speed of diagnosis and (b) time from diagnosis to treatment in (i) children and (ii) teenagers with cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to getting the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster so that more patients survive, including children and teenagers. The Department, NHS England and other NHS partner organisations are taking a range of steps to improve waiting times for cancer diagnosis and treatment across all cancer patient groups.
The Department set out expectations for renewed focus on cancer targets in the Elective Reform Plan, published on 6 January 2025. The department has asked systems and providers to identify local opportunities in both community diagnostic centres and hospital based diagnostic services to improve performance against the faster diagnosis standard, to reduce the number of patients, including children and teenagers, waiting too long for a confirmed diagnosis of cancer.
As a first step to reducing waiting times for cancer diagnosis and treatment, the NHS has now exceeded its pledge to deliver an extra two million operations, scans, and appointments in our first year of Government, delivering 5.2 million more appointments. This means that patients are being seen and diagnosed more quickly for cancer. Between October 2024 and September 2025, around 193,000 more patients got a diagnosis or the all-clear on time than in the year from July 2023 to June 2024.
We have already made significant strides in enhancing cancer diagnosis and treatment. The performance against the 31-day decision-to-treat standard has shown a year-on-year improvement, rising from 90.6% in September 2024 to 91.2% in September 2025. Similarly, the performance for the 62-day referral-to-treatment standard has advanced from 67.4% in September 2024 to 67.9% in September 2025. As set out in the Medium Term Planning Framework, we are committed to improving performance against key cancer standards: Maintaining performance against the 28-day faster diagnosis standard at 80% and improving 31- and 62-day standards to 96% and 85% respectively by 2028/29.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has set out detailed guidance for general practitioners on the symptoms of cancer in children and young people, recommending referral within 48 hours for those presenting with a range of potential cancer symptoms.
NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including those that are most common in children and teenagers. Further information on cancer signs and symptoms is available on the NHS.UK website.
The Department has recently launched Jess’s Rule, a patient safety initiative that asks general practitioners (GPs) to think again if, after three appointments, they have been unable to diagnose a patient, or their symptoms have escalated. This means when a patient returns three times with worsening or undiagnosed symptoms, GPs must reflect, review and rethink. This could include seeking a second opinion, offering episodic continuity of care, ordering additional tests, and offering more face-to-face appointments.
The National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) collects patient data on cancer, congenital anomalies and rare diseases. The NDRS currently has imaging data undertaken in the NHS in England for all cancers, including for children and teenagers with cancer. This is linked to the main cancer registration data. The NDRS collaborates and advises through a number of partners, in the United Kingdom and internationally to improve data accuracy on cancer.
On 4 February 2025, the department relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce to identify tangible ways to improve outcomes and experiences for young cancer patients. The taskforce will explore opportunities for improvement, including detection and diagnosis, genomic testing and treatment, research and innovation, and patient experience. The taskforce will also ensure that the unique needs of children and teenagers with cancer are carefully considered as part of the National Cancer Plan for England.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to improve data collection on diagnostic pathways for (a) teenagers and (b) children with cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to getting the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster so that more patients survive, including children and teenagers. The Department, NHS England and other NHS partner organisations are taking a range of steps to improve waiting times for cancer diagnosis and treatment across all cancer patient groups.
The Department set out expectations for renewed focus on cancer targets in the Elective Reform Plan, published on 6 January 2025. The department has asked systems and providers to identify local opportunities in both community diagnostic centres and hospital based diagnostic services to improve performance against the faster diagnosis standard, to reduce the number of patients, including children and teenagers, waiting too long for a confirmed diagnosis of cancer.
As a first step to reducing waiting times for cancer diagnosis and treatment, the NHS has now exceeded its pledge to deliver an extra two million operations, scans, and appointments in our first year of Government, delivering 5.2 million more appointments. This means that patients are being seen and diagnosed more quickly for cancer. Between October 2024 and September 2025, around 193,000 more patients got a diagnosis or the all-clear on time than in the year from July 2023 to June 2024.
We have already made significant strides in enhancing cancer diagnosis and treatment. The performance against the 31-day decision-to-treat standard has shown a year-on-year improvement, rising from 90.6% in September 2024 to 91.2% in September 2025. Similarly, the performance for the 62-day referral-to-treatment standard has advanced from 67.4% in September 2024 to 67.9% in September 2025. As set out in the Medium Term Planning Framework, we are committed to improving performance against key cancer standards: Maintaining performance against the 28-day faster diagnosis standard at 80% and improving 31- and 62-day standards to 96% and 85% respectively by 2028/29.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has set out detailed guidance for general practitioners on the symptoms of cancer in children and young people, recommending referral within 48 hours for those presenting with a range of potential cancer symptoms.
NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including those that are most common in children and teenagers. Further information on cancer signs and symptoms is available on the NHS.UK website.
The Department has recently launched Jess’s Rule, a patient safety initiative that asks general practitioners (GPs) to think again if, after three appointments, they have been unable to diagnose a patient, or their symptoms have escalated. This means when a patient returns three times with worsening or undiagnosed symptoms, GPs must reflect, review and rethink. This could include seeking a second opinion, offering episodic continuity of care, ordering additional tests, and offering more face-to-face appointments.
The National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) collects patient data on cancer, congenital anomalies and rare diseases. The NDRS currently has imaging data undertaken in the NHS in England for all cancers, including for children and teenagers with cancer. This is linked to the main cancer registration data. The NDRS collaborates and advises through a number of partners, in the United Kingdom and internationally to improve data accuracy on cancer.
On 4 February 2025, the department relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce to identify tangible ways to improve outcomes and experiences for young cancer patients. The taskforce will explore opportunities for improvement, including detection and diagnosis, genomic testing and treatment, research and innovation, and patient experience. The taskforce will also ensure that the unique needs of children and teenagers with cancer are carefully considered as part of the National Cancer Plan for England.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
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 help improve early recognition of cancer symptoms of teenagers in primary care.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to getting the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster so that more patients survive, including children and teenagers. The Department, NHS England and other NHS partner organisations are taking a range of steps to improve waiting times for cancer diagnosis and treatment across all cancer patient groups.
The Department set out expectations for renewed focus on cancer targets in the Elective Reform Plan, published on 6 January 2025. The department has asked systems and providers to identify local opportunities in both community diagnostic centres and hospital based diagnostic services to improve performance against the faster diagnosis standard, to reduce the number of patients, including children and teenagers, waiting too long for a confirmed diagnosis of cancer.
As a first step to reducing waiting times for cancer diagnosis and treatment, the NHS has now exceeded its pledge to deliver an extra two million operations, scans, and appointments in our first year of Government, delivering 5.2 million more appointments. This means that patients are being seen and diagnosed more quickly for cancer. Between October 2024 and September 2025, around 193,000 more patients got a diagnosis or the all-clear on time than in the year from July 2023 to June 2024.
We have already made significant strides in enhancing cancer diagnosis and treatment. The performance against the 31-day decision-to-treat standard has shown a year-on-year improvement, rising from 90.6% in September 2024 to 91.2% in September 2025. Similarly, the performance for the 62-day referral-to-treatment standard has advanced from 67.4% in September 2024 to 67.9% in September 2025. As set out in the Medium Term Planning Framework, we are committed to improving performance against key cancer standards: Maintaining performance against the 28-day faster diagnosis standard at 80% and improving 31- and 62-day standards to 96% and 85% respectively by 2028/29.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has set out detailed guidance for general practitioners on the symptoms of cancer in children and young people, recommending referral within 48 hours for those presenting with a range of potential cancer symptoms.
NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including those that are most common in children and teenagers. Further information on cancer signs and symptoms is available on the NHS.UK website.
The Department has recently launched Jess’s Rule, a patient safety initiative that asks general practitioners (GPs) to think again if, after three appointments, they have been unable to diagnose a patient, or their symptoms have escalated. This means when a patient returns three times with worsening or undiagnosed symptoms, GPs must reflect, review and rethink. This could include seeking a second opinion, offering episodic continuity of care, ordering additional tests, and offering more face-to-face appointments.
The National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) collects patient data on cancer, congenital anomalies and rare diseases. The NDRS currently has imaging data undertaken in the NHS in England for all cancers, including for children and teenagers with cancer. This is linked to the main cancer registration data. The NDRS collaborates and advises through a number of partners, in the United Kingdom and internationally to improve data accuracy on cancer.
On 4 February 2025, the department relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce to identify tangible ways to improve outcomes and experiences for young cancer patients. The taskforce will explore opportunities for improvement, including detection and diagnosis, genomic testing and treatment, research and innovation, and patient experience. The taskforce will also ensure that the unique needs of children and teenagers with cancer are carefully considered as part of the National Cancer Plan for England.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
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 help improve public awareness of the symptoms of cancer in teenagers.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to getting the National Health Service diagnosing cancer earlier and treating it faster so that more patients survive, including children and teenagers. The Department, NHS England and other NHS partner organisations are taking a range of steps to improve waiting times for cancer diagnosis and treatment across all cancer patient groups.
The Department set out expectations for renewed focus on cancer targets in the Elective Reform Plan, published on 6 January 2025. The department has asked systems and providers to identify local opportunities in both community diagnostic centres and hospital based diagnostic services to improve performance against the faster diagnosis standard, to reduce the number of patients, including children and teenagers, waiting too long for a confirmed diagnosis of cancer.
As a first step to reducing waiting times for cancer diagnosis and treatment, the NHS has now exceeded its pledge to deliver an extra two million operations, scans, and appointments in our first year of Government, delivering 5.2 million more appointments. This means that patients are being seen and diagnosed more quickly for cancer. Between October 2024 and September 2025, around 193,000 more patients got a diagnosis or the all-clear on time than in the year from July 2023 to June 2024.
We have already made significant strides in enhancing cancer diagnosis and treatment. The performance against the 31-day decision-to-treat standard has shown a year-on-year improvement, rising from 90.6% in September 2024 to 91.2% in September 2025. Similarly, the performance for the 62-day referral-to-treatment standard has advanced from 67.4% in September 2024 to 67.9% in September 2025. As set out in the Medium Term Planning Framework, we are committed to improving performance against key cancer standards: Maintaining performance against the 28-day faster diagnosis standard at 80% and improving 31- and 62-day standards to 96% and 85% respectively by 2028/29.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has set out detailed guidance for general practitioners on the symptoms of cancer in children and young people, recommending referral within 48 hours for those presenting with a range of potential cancer symptoms.
NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including those that are most common in children and teenagers. Further information on cancer signs and symptoms is available on the NHS.UK website.
The Department has recently launched Jess’s Rule, a patient safety initiative that asks general practitioners (GPs) to think again if, after three appointments, they have been unable to diagnose a patient, or their symptoms have escalated. This means when a patient returns three times with worsening or undiagnosed symptoms, GPs must reflect, review and rethink. This could include seeking a second opinion, offering episodic continuity of care, ordering additional tests, and offering more face-to-face appointments.
The National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) collects patient data on cancer, congenital anomalies and rare diseases. The NDRS currently has imaging data undertaken in the NHS in England for all cancers, including for children and teenagers with cancer. This is linked to the main cancer registration data. The NDRS collaborates and advises through a number of partners, in the United Kingdom and internationally to improve data accuracy on cancer.
On 4 February 2025, the department relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce to identify tangible ways to improve outcomes and experiences for young cancer patients. The taskforce will explore opportunities for improvement, including detection and diagnosis, genomic testing and treatment, research and innovation, and patient experience. The taskforce will also ensure that the unique needs of children and teenagers with cancer are carefully considered as part of the National Cancer Plan for England.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
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 high caffeine drinks on (a) 14-16 year olds, (b) 16-18 year olds and (c) 18-24 year olds.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 3 September 2025, the Department published a consultation on banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under 16 years old in England, an important step towards fulfilling a Plan for Change commitment.
In the consultation and accompanying impact assessment we set out our assessment of the impact of high-caffeine energy drinks on children. These documents are available at the following link:
We have not specifically estimated the impact of high-caffeine energy drinks by the age bands of 14 to 16 years old, 16 to 18 years old, or 18 to 24 years old. However, growing evidence sets out an association between consuming high-caffeine energy drinks and a range of possible negative outcomes on children’s physical and mental health, as well as their education.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to help reduce suicides in men.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 19 November, we published the Men’s Health Strategy. The strategy includes tangible actions to improve access to healthcare, provide the right support to enable men to make healthier choices, develop healthy living and working conditions, foster strong social, community and family networks and address societal norms. It also considers how to prevent and tackle the biggest health problems affecting men of all ages, which include mental health and suicide prevention, respiratory illness, prostate cancer, and heart disease.
Through the Men’s Health Strategy, we are launching a groundbreaking partnership with the Premier League to tackle male suicide and improve mental health literacy, by embedding health messaging into the matchday experience.
We also announced the Suicide Prevention Support Pathfinders programme for middle-aged men. This program will invest up to £3.6 million over three years in areas of England where middle-aged men are at most risk taking their own lives and will tackle the barriers that they face in seeking support.
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out ambitious plans to boost mental health support across the country. This includes transforming mental health services into 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres, improving assertive outreach, expanding talking therapies, and giving patients better access to 24/7 support directly through the NHS App.
We are expanding NHS Talking Therapies so that 915,000 people, including men, complete a course of treatment by March 2029, with improved effectiveness and quality of services. We will also expand Individual Placement and Support for severe mental illness so that 73,500 people receive access by March 2028.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
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 Doctors who have had their license to practice removed overseas are unable to practice in the UK.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The General Medical Council (GMC) is the independent regulator of all medical doctors, physician assistants, and physician assistants in anaesthesia, still legally known as anaesthesia associates and physician associates, practising in the United Kingdom. The GMC is very clear that all doctors applying for registration, as well as current registrants, must promptly inform the GMC if any professional or medical regulatory body in the world makes a finding against their registration. The GMC is committed to taking swift action where a doctor has failed to declare this information.
When doctors who have been working overseas apply for registration with the GMC, the GMC seeks a Certificate of Good Standing from the regulator of every country where the doctor has practised in the previous five years. This shows whether the doctor is registered with the relevant regulator and if there are any restrictions or sanctions on their practice. The GMC is also implementing additional assurance measures, which include checks via the Federation of State Medical Boards’ Physician Data Centre in the United States.
For doctors already registered, the GMC routinely receives information from overseas regulators, including through the Physician Information Exchange. The GMC has written again to European regulators asking that they proactively share information about registrants.
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of Hospital Trust permit men to be cared for on women-only wards.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is longstanding National Health Service policy that men should not be cared for on women-only wards.
NHS organisations submit data on the number of occurrences of unjustified mixing in relation to sleeping accommodation. This data is published monthly and is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/mixed-sex-accommodation/
Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
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 the rare disease framework.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Rare Diseases Framework was published following the National Conversation on Rare Diseases, which received nearly 6,300 responses. This helped identify the four priorities of the framework in tackling rare diseases: helping patients get a final diagnosis faster; increasing awareness of rare diseases among healthcare professionals; better coordination of care; and improving access to specialist care, treatment, and drugs. We have commissioned a portfolio level evaluation of England’s rare diseases action plans with input from the rare disease community on the design of metrics, which is due to complete in 2026.
The Government remains committed to improving the lives of those living with rare conditions and will be publishing the next England Rare Diseases Action Plan for rare disease day in 2026, as in previous years. We recognise that despite the progress that has been made there remains considerable unmet need for people living with rare conditions. We are carefully considering the future of the UK Rare Disease Framework and will be announcing our intentions at a later date.