Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help ensure the adequacy of access to (a) Creon and (b) other drugs that contain pancreatic enzymes for patients after pancreatic surgery.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
We are aware of supply issues with three pancreatic enzyme replacement therapies: Creon 10,000 gastro-resistant capsules; Creon 25,000 gastro-resistant capsules; and Nutrizym 22 gastro-resistant capsules. We understand that these are due to limited availability of active pharmaceutical ingredients, and manufacturing constraints in producing the volumes required to meet demand. The Department has issued guidance to healthcare professionals regarding treatment of patients while there is a disruption to the supply of these pancreatic enzyme replacement therapies. We are having regular conversations with the suppliers of these products to ask that they expedite deliveries and increase production forecasts, and to confirm that they are taking action to address the root causes of the issues, to ensure continuity of supply. We are also working with specialist importers to source unlicensed imports from abroad.
Whilst we can’t always prevent supply issues, we have a range of well-established tools and processes to mitigate risks to patients. These include close and regular engagement with suppliers, use of alternative strengths or forms of a medicine to allow patients to remain on the same product, expediting regulatory procedures, sourcing unlicensed imports from abroad, adding products to the restricted exports and hoarding list, use of Serious Shortage Protocols, and issuing National Health Service communications to provide management advice and information on the issue to healthcare professionals, so they can advise and support their patients.
Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will hold discussions with Royal Mail on the potential merits of treating NHS letters as first class post, in the context of possible reforms to the second class delivery service.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has written to Royal Mail regarding proposed reforms to the universal postal service, to ask what consideration has been given to patients and National Health Service impacts. A meeting with the Group Chief Executive of Royal Mail is currently being considered.
Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of NHS funding for brain tumour research compared to research into other cancers; and if she will provide the quantum of NHS research funding into brain tumours for each of the last five financial years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Department invests over £1 billion per year into health research, through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), whose research spending for all cancers was £121.8 million in 2022/23. Funding for the delivery of brain cancer studies in the National Health Service cannot be disaggregated from other studies, but to indicate scale, in 2022/23 the NIHR Clinical Research Network supported 61 brain cancer studies and recruited 4,317 participants to these studies.
Over the past five financial years, the NIHR has spent over £11.3 million in funding for brain cancer research. The following table shows the amount of funding awarded for brain cancer research, from 2018/19 to 2022/23:
Financial Year | Funding amount |
2018/19 | £2.9 million |
2019/20 | £150,000 |
2020/21 | £2.2 million |
2021/22 | £5.3 million |
2022/23 | £750,000 |
Total | £11.3 million |
Note: the amount of funding awarded will differ to actual spend in a given year, as total spending will include that of multi-year awards made in previous years.
The NIHR funds research in response to proposals received from scientists, rather than allocating funding to specific disease areas. It is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.
To increase the quality, diversity, and number of brain cancer research proposals, the NIHR is working with the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission and the research community, to develop research capacity in the brain cancer community.
Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy in negotiations on a pandemic preparedness treaty that responsibility for the (a) planning and (b) implementation of future pandemic responses will rest with the UK Government and not the World Health Organisation.
Answered by Will Quince
The United Kingdom has been clear that we will not sign up to a pandemic instrument that would compromise the UK’s ability to make domestic decisions on national measures concerning public health policy. Protecting states’ sovereign rights to determine and manage their approaches to public health is a guiding principle for negotiators of the pandemic instrument.
The UK continues to negotiate the text of the pandemic instrument to ensure it delivers on our priorities. Once the instrument is agreed and adopted by World Health Organization Member States, the instrument would only become binding in the UK as a matter of international law, after satisfying the UK’s usual constitutional requirements. Parliament’s role in the UK remains undiminished in this process.
Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 13 April 2022 to Question 140404 on Diabetes and Eating Disorders, where the five additional pilot sites areas will be; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Five additional new treatment sites are to open in 2022/23 in the following areas:
- Coventry and Warwickshire;
- Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutlands;
- Norfolk and Waveney;
- Cheshire and Merseyside;
- Humber and North Yorkshire.
Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
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 the (a) early detection and (b) treatment of prostate cancer; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
In February and March 2022, NHS England and NHS Improvement and Prostate Cancer UK delivered an awareness campaign on prostate cancer risks. This encouraged men to use Prostate Cancer UK’s clinically approved risk checker to understand their level of risk and make an informed choice on whether to have further tests.
NHS England and NHS Improvement are implementing a best practice timed pathway for prostate cancer, including the use of multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging prior to biopsy for a faster diagnosis. NHS England and NHS Improvement have introduced a new financial incentive for 2022/23 through the Commissioning for Quality and Innovation scheme to support the delivery of the pathway.
In 2018, we allocated £75 million for clinical trials for prostate cancer focusing on improving early diagnosis and survival rates and exploring options for different treatments. Through the Early Access to Medicines Scheme, patients can now access lutetium vipivotide tetraxetan in the treatment of prostate-specific membrane antigen positive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if, in cases where carers are rehired by their original employers, having lost their job due to being unvaccinated for covid-19, he will make it his policy to introduce measures whereby they do not lose their accrued employment rights built up prior to their dismissal; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
The vaccination requirement for care homes was in force between 11 November 2021 and 14 March 2022. During that period, care homes were legally required to only deploy vaccinated or exempt staff. The re-employment of these staff is matter for each employer, including any accrued entitlements which may have been affected by breaks in service.
Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
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 therapeutic benefits of bicalutamide in halting the growth of prostate cancer; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
We have made no specific assessment. However, bicalutamide (casodex) has been licensed in the United Kingdom for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer since 2000. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has made recommendations on use of bicalutamide in its guideline on the diagnosis and management of prostate cancer, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng131/chapter/Recommendations