Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timetable is for publication of the cardiovascular disease Modern Service Framework.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The Cardiovascular Disease Modern Service Framework (CVD MSF) is being finalised to ensure it reflects the strongest available evidence and is due to be published soon.
The CVD MSF will support consistent, high quality, and equitable care whilst fostering innovation across the cardiovascular disease pathway.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has identified links between menopause and a heightened risk of suicide; and what support his Department provides to safeguard the mental health of women reaching menopause.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
Menopause can have a significant impact on a woman’s mental health, and low mood and anxiety are recognised symptoms that some women may experience during the perimenopause and menopause.
The Department recognises the importance of ensuring that women experiencing menopause can access appropriate healthcare and mental health support. Any woman concerned about her mental health should seek advice from her general practitioner or another healthcare professional. Women can also self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies services, which provide support for common mental health problems such as stress, anxiety, and depression.
The Renewed Women’s Health Strategy identifies menopause as a core women’s health priority and recognises its impact on women’s health, wellbeing, and quality of life. The strategy will improve access to menopause care through neighbourhood women’s health services, women’s health hubs, and specialist regional centres, while improving information and awareness so women can access evidence-based support and treatment.
As announced in October, local authorities will be asked to include menopause in the NHS Health Check from 2026, supporting eligible women to access high-quality information about menopause symptoms, their management, and where to seek support.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
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 support the mental health of women going through (a) menopause, (b) perimenopause and (c) hormonal treatment related to menopause.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The Government recognises the impact menopause can have on women’s lives.
The Renewed Women’s Health Strategy identifies menopause as a core women’s health priority, recognising its impact on women’s health, wellbeing, work, and quality of life. The strategy shifts menopause care into primary and community settings, including neighbourhood women’s health services and women’s health hubs, making care easier to access and closer to home.
Each region will have a specialist centre to support group-based clinics in women’s health, including menopause services, improving access, peer support, and consistency, with early rollout focused on areas of highest need. The strategy also commits to improving information and awareness so that women know their symptoms can be effectively managed, including through evidence-based treatments.
Menopause can have a significant impact on a woman’s mental health, with low mood and anxiety among the possible symptoms. It is important that all women experiencing perimenopause, menopause, or symptoms associated with menopause treatment can access high-quality healthcare support.
Any woman concerned about her mental health should seek advice from her general practitioner or another healthcare professional. Women can also self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies services, which help people experiencing common mental health problems such as stress, anxiety, and depression.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of single points of access for non-urgent gynaecology referrals, specialist ultrasound and community diagnostic routes on reducing diagnostic times for suspected endometriosis; and whether he plans to support wider adoption of such models across Integrated Care Boards.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
From October 2026, all providers, supported by integrated care boards, are expected to ensure that all appropriate requests and referrals flow through a Single Point of Access (SPoA) model, to support patients to receive rapid specialist assessment and a clear next step. By embedding timely specialist clinical review at the start of the pathway, including for non-urgent gynaecology referrals, the model improves access to the right clinic, diagnostic service, or care setting, the first time.
Patients with suspected or diagnosed endometriosis will benefit from SPoA for gynaecology referrals, alongside wider work through the Renewed Women’s Health Strategy which commits to speeding up diagnosis and access to treatment for conditions including endometriosis.
Clinical pathways for heavy periods and pelvic pain, including endometriosis, will be redesigned to reduce repeat appointments, unnecessary referrals, and long waits. This will support systems to meet local need and enable more appropriate care to be delivered in community settings.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
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 ensure that menopause training is included in routine primary care continuing professional development and the women’s health workforce model to ensure consistent implementation of NICE guideline NG23 and quality standard QS143 across general practice.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The Government recognises the ongoing need to ensure healthcare practitioners have sufficient knowledge of women’s health, including menopause, to provide the best possible care.
General practitioners (GPs) are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance, such as that produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, to ensure that they can continue to provide high quality care to all patients.
Menopause is included in the Royal College of General Practitioners’ curriculum for trainee GPs, including gynaecology, sexual health, and breast health. The curriculum also covers women’s healthcare needs across all diseases seen in primary care, ensuring future GPs treat women holistically.
The General Medical Council (GMC) introduced a new Medical Licensing Assessment for all medical graduates from the academic year 2024/25 with an updated version being introduced for September 2026. This includes topics relating to women’s health, such as menopause and perimenopause.
All United Kingdom registered doctors are subject to revalidation requirements, overseen by the GMC, with the process led by the Royal College of General Practitioners. Continuing professional development is essential for demonstrating fitness to practise safely.
NHS England is developing a Multi-professional Capabilities Framework with Skills for Health, to develop tiered trainings and competencies for health care professionals to ensure continued professional development across the workforce.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
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 support Integrated Care Boards to implement NICE guideline NG73 on endometriosis in primary care, including training for GPs and practice nurses on recognising cyclical pain, initiating first-line management and making timely referrals.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The Government acknowledges the importance of ensuring healthcare professionals are adequately trained and educated on women’s health conditions, including endometriosis, and we have taken action to address this.
NHS England encourages adherence to guidance publications by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). However, professionals and practitioners are expected to exercise their judgement when taking NICE guidelines into account, alongside the individual needs, preferences, and values of their patients or the people using their service. It is not mandatory to apply the recommendations, and the guideline does not override the responsibility to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual, in consultation with them and their families and carers or guardian.
NHS England is currently developing a pelvic pain pathway for systems which will provide a framework for managing pelvic pain and endometriosis across the healthcare system. This will be aligned with NICE guidance and will enable women to get care either in primary care, neighbourhood services, or specialist secondary care services in line with their needs.
The Skills for Health Multi-professional Capabilities framework has a focus on developing basic, intermediate, and advanced skills so that all healthcare professionals are able to manage pain and, where the ceiling of skills are reached, have an easy referral pathway to achieving good outcomes.
NHS England is working with regions to encourage and support implementation of these pathways and a neighbourhood approach to care, which will help to support early recognition and diagnosis, reducing waiting times for women for conditions including endometriosis.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to ensure that Integrated Care Boards have clear pathways for access to specialist menopause advice and escalation for complex cases, including premature ovarian insufficiency and persistent symptoms; and what steps he is taking to reduce variation in menopause referrals and prescribing.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The Renewed Women’s Health Strategy, published in April 2026, committed to redesigning clinical pathways, including for menopause.
These redesigned pathways will create roadmaps for health systems to use and adapt for local needs that will enable women to move more quickly through the system and reach the level of care they need with fewer appointments.
Integrated care boards will monitor and report on progress through improvement plans submitted to the NHS England Women’s Health National Programme Board.
The renewed Women’s Health Strategy also shifts women’s health care, including menopause, away from hospital-only care towards primary and community settings, such as neighbourhood women’s health services and women’s health hubs, making care easier to access and closer to home. Neighbourhood women’s health services will liaise with secondary care services to ensure that people who require specialist care have access to it, including those who are experiencing treatment-induced menopause.
Additionally, each region will have a specialist centre to support group-based clinics in women's health such as menopause services, improving access, peer support, and consistency, with early rollout focused on areas of highest need.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to include metrics on endometriosis diagnostic times, access to imaging, menopause prescribing, treatment review and referral variation in the women’s health data dashboard and Integrated Care Board improvement plans.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The women's health data dashboard is available on the NHS Futures website and is available to anyone working within the health and care sector who requires insight into women's health. The dashboard records need, access, outcomes, and experiences across a range of women’s health conditions, including diagnostics and prescribing.
The dashboard is intended to provide national and local insight into National Health Service performance in women's health and highlight potential unmet need, unwarranted variation, and health inequalities.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services that meet the healthcare needs of their local population and have the freedom to do so, and this includes women's health services. Outcomes in women’s health are shared with ICBs through the data dashboard so they can see how well they are meeting the needs of women in their population. Local systems will then be able to shape their services according to need and can monitor the impact over time.
More data and indicators will be added to the dashboard over the next 12 months.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
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 treatment delays on outcomes for patients with heart valve disease.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
We recognise the importance of reducing waiting times. We are making progress - hitting our target of 65% against the 18 week standard this March and delivering largest single month elective performance improvement in 17 years - excluding the pandemic. Our new modern service framework for Cardiovascular Disease will accelerate the Government’s commitment to reduce premature mortality from heart disease by 25% in the next ten years.Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, a) what steps are being taken to inform those living with Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) that they are entitled to earlier screening for breast cancer, and b) what steps are being taken to improve access to earlier screening for those with NF1.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
This Government is committed to improving cancer screening services in line with the National Cancer Plan and as part of the 10-Year Health Plan’s shift from treatment to prevention.
Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) affects individuals differently. An individual’s risk of breast cancer is based on a number of factors. These factors may vary throughout a lifetime which is why individuals are advised to seek advice from their health professionals.
Most, but not all, individuals with NF1 would be considered at moderate risk of breast cancer, which would mean they could be referred to local cancer surveillance programme commissioned via integrated care boards.
National Institute of Health and Care Excellence guidance does not address NF1 specifically but does state that people with certain genetic conditions should be referred through to a geneticist to consider their risk and may qualify for annual breast screening between 40 and 50 years of age.
The NHS website provides information for people living with NF1, available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/neurofibromatosis-type-1/