Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 19 May 2025 to Question 51941 on Paraneoplastic Encephalomyelitis: Diagnosis, how many laboratories in England provide testing for KLHL11 antibodies.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not collect data on KLHL11 antibody testing in England.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the letter of 9 June 2026 from the Minister of State for Health to the Hon Member of St Albans (ref PO-1608258), when the remediable service statement will be issued.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The production of remediable services statements is a challenging and complex work programme that the NHS Business Service Authority is working hard to deliver.
I will respond directly to the Hon. Member in a letter to update on the personal delivery status for her constituent.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 9 June 2025 to Question 56880 on Health Professions: Regulation, whether the consultation expected by the end of this year will be open to submissions from Members of Parliament and the public.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are aiming to commence consultation on a draft legislative framework for the General Medical Council by the end of this year. This will be a statutory three-month public consultation which anyone will be able to respond to, including Members of Parliament and the public.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 Continuing Health Care services remain uninterrupted for patients when the services are being transitioned from Integrated Care Boards.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is responsible for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) policy and legislation. We have provided statutory guidance, setting out clear processes for CHC, which all integrated care boards (ICBs) must follow. CHC is funded by ICBs, and it is for individual ICBs to make assessments and decisions in a consistent manner, in line with their statutory duties and guidance. This guidance has not changed and ICBs are expected to maintain CHC delivery in line with their statutory duties.
While the Model ICB Blueprint highlighted CHC as one of the functions that are subject to “review for transfer” to “test and explore options to streamline and transfer some activities out of ICBs”, a decision has not been made on this function being transferred out of ICBs. If the function were transferred out, it would require legislative change. The sender and receiver organisations would be responsible for safe transfer, enabling continuity of services and managing risk during any transition.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 18 February 2025 to Question 29926 on Health Professions: Regulation, what recent progress he has made on setting a timetable for announcing his priorities in relation to the applicability of the five year rule by professional regulators on fitness to practise in cases which involve allegations of historic sexual abuse.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has set out its intention to reform the legislative frameworks of all healthcare professional regulators, starting with the General Medical Council (GMC).
As part of this work, any legislative restrictions on regulators from being able to consider fitness to practise concerns that are more than five years old will be removed from legislation. Regulators such as the GMC will have the discretion to determine whether a concern should be investigated based on the specific details of a fitness to practise case, which may include reflections on the length of time that has elapsed since the concern was raised or occurred.
The Government is aiming to consult on a draft legislative framework for the GMC by the end of this year, and lay the legislation during this Parliament.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of response times to enquiries from hon. Members from Integrated Care Boards.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made. We encourage Members of Parliament to raise correspondence timelines directly with their respective integrated care boards.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 19 May to Question 51941 on Paraneoplastic Encephalomyelitis: Diagnosis, whether the NHS routinely sends blood samples to the US for analysis when testing for Paraneoplastic Encephalomyelitis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are a number of laboratories in England which provide blood testing for paraneoplastic encephalomyelitis, although the Department has not made a specific formal estimate of how many there are. Several National Health Service laboratories across the United Kingdom also offer diagnostic testing for paraneoplastic antibodies. In England, these laboratories include the University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology, and the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
The NHS in England does not routinely send blood samples to the United States for analysis when testing for paraneoplastic encephalomyelitis. There are specialised laboratories within the UK which the NHS in England uses to conduct these tests.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 19 May 2025 to Question 51941 on Paraneoplastic Encephalomyelitis: Diagnosis, how many laboratories provide blood testing for Paraneoplastic Encephalomyelitis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are a number of laboratories in England which provide blood testing for paraneoplastic encephalomyelitis, although the Department has not made a specific formal estimate of how many there are. Several National Health Service laboratories across the United Kingdom also offer diagnostic testing for paraneoplastic antibodies. In England, these laboratories include the University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology, and the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
The NHS in England does not routinely send blood samples to the United States for analysis when testing for paraneoplastic encephalomyelitis. There are specialised laboratories within the UK which the NHS in England uses to conduct these tests.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 12 May to Question 50557 on Prescriptions: ICT, whether he plans to ensure all Electronic Prescription Service Pharmacies use the Real Time Exemption Checking Service.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no current plans to mandate use of the Real Time Exemption Checking service in all pharmacies using the Electronic Prescription Service.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which NHS facilities exist to carry out diagnostic testing of patients for Paraneoplastic Encephalitis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Paraneoplastic encephalitis (PNE), also known as paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis, is diagnosed through a combination of clinical evaluation, blood and spinal fluid tests, and imaging studies. Currently, the main types of diagnostic testing for PNE are computed tomography scans, magnetic resonance imaging scans, lumbar punctures, electroencephalograms, and blood and urine tests. These tests are available through both acute and non-acute settings such as hospitals and community diagnostic centres.
We know that whilst hard working National Health Service staff are delivering a large number of diagnostic tests for patients, the percentage of patients receiving a diagnostic test within the constitutional standard of six weeks, with no more than 1% of patients waiting, is still not being achieved. Our Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, builds on the investments already made with an ambitious vision for the future of diagnostic testing. This will include more straight-to-test pathways, increasing and expanding community diagnostic centres, and better use of technology.