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 27 October 2025 to Question 77609 on Medical Treatments: Cost Effectiveness, what percentage of completed NICE appraisals for brain tumour medications have led to approval for use of a medication by the NHS in the last 12 months.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has not published final guidance on any brain tumour appraisals in the last 12 months.
NICE is currently developing guidance on the use of vorasidenib for treating astrocytoma or oligodendroglioma with IDH1 or IDH2 mutations after surgery in people 12 years and over and recently consulted on its draft recommendations. NICE currently expects to publish final guidance in January 2026.
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 discussions his Department has had discussions with (a) NICE and (b) Servier on the barriers to approving Vorasidenib for use by the NHS for the treatment of low glade glioma.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Department officials regularly speak with colleagues in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to discuss a range of issues, including the status of individual appraisals. As NICE is an independent body, it would not be appropriate for the Department to interfere in the development of NICE’s recommendations on specific medicines. The Department has had no discussions about the appraisal of vorasidenib with Servier.
NICE recently published draft guidance for consultation on the use of vorasidenib for treating astrocytoma or oligodendroglioma with IDH1 or IDH2 mutations after surgery in people aged 12 years and over. The consultation closed on 4 November 2025 and NICE’s independent appraisal committee is scheduled to meet on 20 November 2025 to consider its recommendations in light of the consultation responses.
It is important that we have a system in place for making evidence-based decisions on whether new medicines should be routinely funded by the National Health Service, based on an objective assessment of their costs and benefits.
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 had discussions with NICE on assessing (a) Optune and (b) other tumour treating field therapies for use in the UK.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No discussions have been held between the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on assessing (a) Optune and (b) other tumour treating field therapies for use in the UK.
NICE considered the use of tumour treating fields (TTF) in its guideline on brain tumours (NG99) published in 2018 and recommended that the treatment should not be offered for the management of newly diagnosed glioblastoma or recurrent high-grade glioma, based on an assessment of the evidence available at the time.
Decisions on whether guidelines should be updated in light of new evidence are taken by the NICE prioritisation board, chaired by NICE’s Chief Medical Officer, in line with its published prioritisation framework. NICE’s prioritisation board considered TTF for glioblastoma in July 2024 where they agreed the topic should not be prioritised but reconsidered when relevant key trials have completed.
At the meeting on 15 September 2025, the topic was reconsidered. The prioritisation board noted that some trials are ongoing, including a key trial that is likely to publish in 2026, and consequently agreed that the topic should still not be prioritised at this time, but revisited once those trials have published.
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 his Department is taking to improve access to (a) services and (b) support for people affected by Functional Neurological Disorder.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The majority of services for people with neurological conditions, including functional neurological disorder (FND), are commissioned locally. Integrated care board (ICB) commissioners are best placed to configure services for their populations, supported by clinical guidance.
NHS England’s Neuroscience Transformation Programme is supporting ICBs to deliver the right services, at the right time for all neurology patients, which includes providing care closer to home.
NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology and RightCare Toolkits, including the Progressive Neurological Conditions Toolkit, the Headache and Migraine Toolkit, and the Epilepsy Toolkit, aim to improve care for patients with neurological conditions by reducing variation.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is currently developing the guidance Rehabilitation for chronic neurological disorders including acquired brain injury, which is expected to be published in October 2025. The guideline covers rehabilitation in all settings for children, young people, and adults with a chronic neurological disorder, neurological impairment, or disabling neurological symptoms resulting from acquired brain injury, spinal cord injury or peripheral nerve disorder, progressive neurological disease, or FND. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ng10181
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 13 May to Question 50928 on Brain: Tumours, what discussions he has had with (a) the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit and (b) other stakeholders in the NHS Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad on prioritising vaccine trials for brain cancers.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad (CVLP) is a platform that will speed up access to clinical trials for cancer vaccines and immunotherapies for patients who have been diagnosed with cancer. NHS England is responsible for the overall delivery of the CVLP and has contracted the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit to manage the day-to-day delivery of the platform. The platform is designed to be company and clinical trial agnostic so any company, including those developing vaccines for brain tumours, can contact the CVLP to explore how the platform can support their research.
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and officials have not had discussions to prioritise cancer vaccine trials for brain or other cancer types. However, the Government is taking measures to boost brain cancer research. We are working closely with the patient and researcher communities to stimulate high-quality research applications through: establishing a national Brain Tumour Research Consortium to bring together researchers from different disciplines to drive scientific advancements in how to prevent, detect, manage and treat brain tumours; a dedicated funding call for research into wraparound care and rehabilitation for people living with brain tumours; and a partnership with the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission to fund the next generation of researchers through the Allied Health Professionals Brain Tumour Research Fellowship programme.
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including brain tumours. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality. Welcoming applications on brain tumours to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.
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 assessed the potential merits of reintroducing the Children of Alcohol Dependent Parents Programme.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authorities are responsible for commissioning drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services as part of their public health responsibilities. In addition to the Public Health Grant, in 2025/26 the Department is providing a total of £310 million in further targeted grants to improve services and wider recovery support, which includes housing and employment. Further details are available at the following link:
All local authorities can invest some of their funding allocation on interventions that strengthen the support available to children and families affected by alcohol and/or drugs, according to local need.
The Government also has an alcohol and drug information and advice service called Talk to FRANK, which aims to reduce alcohol and drug use and its harms by providing awareness to young people, parents, and concerned others. Further information on Talk to FRANK is available at the following link:
For these reasons, there are no national plans to reintroduce the Children of Alcohol Dependent Parents Programme.
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, when he plans to publish a consultation on a draft legislative framework for the General Medical Council which would enable them to consider fitness to practise concerns arising from allegations of sexual misconduct that are more than five years old.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to modernising the regulatory frameworks for all healthcare professionals in the United Kingdom.
As a first step, we aim to consult on secondary legislation to modernise the General Medical Council’s regulatory framework in late 2025 and to lay this legislation before Parliament in 2026. This will be followed by further legislation which will modernise the governing legislation of the Nursing and Midwifery Council, and of the Health and Care Professions Council, within the current parliamentary period.
The Department will continue to work with regulators, the devolved administrations, and other key partners as we develop more consistent, efficient, and effective regulatory frameworks.
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 his Department is taking with NHS England to support Integrated Care Boards to deliver the service specification entitled Specialised neurology services (adults), published on 13 August 2025.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has revised the national service specification for specialised neurology following extensive consultation with clinical and charity partners. The service specification includes guidance on both specialised and core neurology services, and includes an annex which provides greater clarity for neurology sub-specialties.
The national specialised commissioning neurology transformation programme has also developed guidance as part of an integrated care system toolkit, specifically to support the implementation of the service specification.
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 assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of funding available for the UK Neuro Forum.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Whilst no specific programme of funding is currently available for the UK Neuro Forum, we will continue to look for funding opportunities and use existing levers in other health and care initiatives that align with the forum’s priorities. The Department has also dedicated staff resources to supporting the forum.
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 his Department is taking to increase the availability of jobs for newly qualified nurses.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 11 August 2025, the Government announced the Graduate Guarantee for nurses and midwives. The guarantee will ensure there are enough positions for every newly qualified nurse in England. The package of measures will unlock thousands of jobs and will ensure thousands of new posts are easier to access by removing barriers for National Health Service trusts, creating opportunities for graduates and ensuring a seamless transition from training to employment.