Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS trusts in England provide specialist clinics for Ehlers–Danlos syndrome.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) have a statutory responsibility to commission services which meet the needs of their local population, including for those with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS). It is the responsibility of ICBs, working with clinicians, service users, and patient groups, to develop services and care pathways that meet patients’ needs.
More widely, through the 10-Year Health Plan, we are introducing Neighbourhood Health Centres, and deploying multidisciplinary teams to provide holistic support to people with EDS. Patients will benefit from enhanced NHS App functionality, including the My Medicines and My Health sections, and will be able to self-refer to specialist services where appropriate.
Additionally, the 10-Year Health Plan’s commitments on artificial intelligence will give clinicians advanced tools for faster diagnosis, predictive analytics, and personalised care planning. For people with long-term conditions like EDS, this means earlier interventions, better monitoring of complex needs, and more time for clinicians to focus on patient-centred care rather than administrative tasks. The plan also commits to 95% of people with complex needs having a personalised care plan by 2027.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans her Department has to improve training and clinical awareness of Ehlers–Danlos syndrome among GPs and primary care clinicians to support earlier recognition and referral.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises that Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS) are complex, multi-systemic conditions that can be challenging to diagnose. While no formal assessment of average diagnosis times has been made, the Department is aware that many patients experience significant delays for a confirmed diagnosis. These delays are primarily due to low awareness among clinicians, the absence of a single diagnostic test for hypermobile EDS, and the need for multidisciplinary input.
For rarer genetically confirmed types of EDS, NHS England commissions a national diagnostic service. In addition to investigating and diagnosing complex and rare EDS types, the national diagnostic service supports general practitioners (GPs) and specialists in secondary and tertiary care by issuing detailed reports with management recommendations, developing guidelines and pathways of care, and offering clinician-to-clinician advice. It helps GPs by clarifying referral pathways and guiding ongoing care, while supporting hospital specialists through access to genetic testing, multidisciplinary input, and best practice guidance. This collaboration ensures accurate diagnosis, reduces unnecessary investigations, and promotes coordinated care across all levels of the health system, helping to avoid inappropriate referrals and ensuring that patients are able to access the correct specialist care efficiently.
We also recognise that GPs can find it challenging to diagnose EDS because these conditions share symptoms with many other disorders. The EDS GP Toolkit, developed by the Royal College of General Practitioners in partnership with Ehlers-Danlos Support UK, helps GPs in managing EDS by improving recognition, diagnosis, and management of these multi-system disorders. The toolkit aims to reduce delays in diagnosis and helps to prevent long-term disability through appropriate early management.
The Department is engaging with patient organisations to identify further opportunities to streamline referral processes and ensure equitable access to assessment and care.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the time taken for (a) referrals and (b) assessments for Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises that Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS) are complex, multi-systemic conditions that can be challenging to diagnose. While no formal assessment of average diagnosis times has been made, the Department is aware that many patients experience significant delays for a confirmed diagnosis. These delays are primarily due to low awareness among clinicians, the absence of a single diagnostic test for hypermobile EDS, and the need for multidisciplinary input.
For rarer genetically confirmed types of EDS, NHS England commissions a national diagnostic service. In addition to investigating and diagnosing complex and rare EDS types, the national diagnostic service supports general practitioners (GPs) and specialists in secondary and tertiary care by issuing detailed reports with management recommendations, developing guidelines and pathways of care, and offering clinician-to-clinician advice. It helps GPs by clarifying referral pathways and guiding ongoing care, while supporting hospital specialists through access to genetic testing, multidisciplinary input, and best practice guidance. This collaboration ensures accurate diagnosis, reduces unnecessary investigations, and promotes coordinated care across all levels of the health system, helping to avoid inappropriate referrals and ensuring that patients are able to access the correct specialist care efficiently.
We also recognise that GPs can find it challenging to diagnose EDS because these conditions share symptoms with many other disorders. The EDS GP Toolkit, developed by the Royal College of General Practitioners in partnership with Ehlers-Danlos Support UK, helps GPs in managing EDS by improving recognition, diagnosis, and management of these multi-system disorders. The toolkit aims to reduce delays in diagnosis and helps to prevent long-term disability through appropriate early management.
The Department is engaging with patient organisations to identify further opportunities to streamline referral processes and ensure equitable access to assessment and care.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of NHS waiting times for the diagnosis of Ehlers–Danlos syndrome.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises that Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS) are complex, multi-systemic conditions that can be challenging to diagnose. While no formal assessment of average diagnosis times has been made, the Department is aware that many patients experience significant delays for a confirmed diagnosis. These delays are primarily due to low awareness among clinicians, the absence of a single diagnostic test for hypermobile EDS, and the need for multidisciplinary input.
For rarer genetically confirmed types of EDS, NHS England commissions a national diagnostic service. In addition to investigating and diagnosing complex and rare EDS types, the national diagnostic service supports general practitioners (GPs) and specialists in secondary and tertiary care by issuing detailed reports with management recommendations, developing guidelines and pathways of care, and offering clinician-to-clinician advice. It helps GPs by clarifying referral pathways and guiding ongoing care, while supporting hospital specialists through access to genetic testing, multidisciplinary input, and best practice guidance. This collaboration ensures accurate diagnosis, reduces unnecessary investigations, and promotes coordinated care across all levels of the health system, helping to avoid inappropriate referrals and ensuring that patients are able to access the correct specialist care efficiently.
We also recognise that GPs can find it challenging to diagnose EDS because these conditions share symptoms with many other disorders. The EDS GP Toolkit, developed by the Royal College of General Practitioners in partnership with Ehlers-Danlos Support UK, helps GPs in managing EDS by improving recognition, diagnosis, and management of these multi-system disorders. The toolkit aims to reduce delays in diagnosis and helps to prevent long-term disability through appropriate early management.
The Department is engaging with patient organisations to identify further opportunities to streamline referral processes and ensure equitable access to assessment and care.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 continuity and improvement of national cancer awareness campaigns following the abolition of NHS England, including plans to raise awareness of the symptoms of gynaecological cancers and support earlier diagnosis of ovarian cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Early diagnosis of cancer remains a key priority for the Government. The Government will continue to work to ensure that the public is aware of cancer symptoms, especially for cancers such as ovarian cancer, which are harder to detect in the early stages.
We will work to ensure a smooth transition during the merger of NHS England and the Department, so that the public continues to have access to high-quality cancer care.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 include a) gyms, b) swimming pools, and c) leisure centres in the Men’s Health Strategy and 10 Year Plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Both the Men’s Health Strategy and the 10-Year Health Plan commit to cross sector action to reduce physical inactivity. Addressing physical inactivity and getting people moving more is important for improving health outcomes, reducing demand on the National Health Service, and supporting economic growth. The Government recognises the important role that gyms, swimming pools, and leisure centres play in providing affordable and accessible opportunities for people to increase their physical activity levels.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, given the existing co-location of many health services with leisure centres, what assessment his Department has made of the benefits of including these facilities in neighbourhood health schemes.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Neighbourhood health sits at the heart of the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan. Our ambition is to build a service that: delivers more personalised care closer to where people live; empowers individuals to lead healthier, more independent lives; and offers genuine choice in how to access support. Further information on the 10-Year Health Plan is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/10-year-health-plan-for-england-fit-for-the-future
We are engaging with local government sector representatives, as well as the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector, to understand how neighbourhood health plans and centres can make best use of the full range of existing local assets, as well as create opportunities to co-locate and join up a broad range of health-impacting services. This includes those that are local authority commissioned and owned as well as those that are National Health Service commissioned and owned.
We will be publishing further guidance to support local areas to develop Neighbourhood Health Plans in due course. This will set out how the NHS, local authorities, and partners should work together under the leadership of Health and Wellbeing Boards to develop and implement plans.
We expect neighbourhood teams and services to be designed in a way that reflects the specific needs of local populations. While the focus on personalised, coordinated care will be consistent, that will mean the service will look different in rural communities, coastal towns, and/or deprived inner cities.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 include a) gyms, b) swimming pools, and c) leisure centres in the neighbourhood health schemes.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Neighbourhood health sits at the heart of the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan. Our ambition is to build a service that: delivers more personalised care closer to where people live; empowers individuals to lead healthier, more independent lives; and offers genuine choice in how to access support. Further information on the 10-Year Health Plan is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/10-year-health-plan-for-england-fit-for-the-future
We are engaging with local government sector representatives, as well as the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector, to understand how neighbourhood health plans and centres can make best use of the full range of existing local assets, as well as create opportunities to co-locate and join up a broad range of health-impacting services. This includes those that are local authority commissioned and owned as well as those that are National Health Service commissioned and owned.
We will be publishing further guidance to support local areas to develop Neighbourhood Health Plans in due course. This will set out how the NHS, local authorities, and partners should work together under the leadership of Health and Wellbeing Boards to develop and implement plans.
We expect neighbourhood teams and services to be designed in a way that reflects the specific needs of local populations. While the focus on personalised, coordinated care will be consistent, that will mean the service will look different in rural communities, coastal towns, and/or deprived inner cities.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Government plans to review the use of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology to ensure it can effectively detect vehicles with obscured or altered number plates.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
No assessment of potential financial losses as a result of vehicles using obscured or false number plates has been made.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and other government departments to improve the identification and enforcement of number plate crime.
The DVLA is part of the British Standard Institute (BSI) committee that has recently reviewed the current standard for number plates. The proposed amendments are intended to stop the production of number plates with raised characters and will prevent easy access to plates with ‘ghost’ characteristics. The proposals will also prevent suppliers from adding acrylic letters and numbers to the surface of the number, meaning any finished number plate must be flat. The proposed changes have been subject to a public consultation which closed on 13 December 2025. Officials are also considering options to ensure a more robust, auditable process which would enable tighter checks on number plate suppliers.
Standards on the use of automated number plate reader technology is a matter for the Home Office which issues guidance on its use as part of the National ANPR Standards for Policing and Law Enforcement (NASPLE).
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate the Government has made of the financial losses suffered by businesses as a result of vehicles using obscured or false number plates to commit fuel theft or evade charges.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
No assessment of potential financial losses as a result of vehicles using obscured or false number plates has been made.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and other government departments to improve the identification and enforcement of number plate crime.
The DVLA is part of the British Standard Institute (BSI) committee that has recently reviewed the current standard for number plates. The proposed amendments are intended to stop the production of number plates with raised characters and will prevent easy access to plates with ‘ghost’ characteristics. The proposals will also prevent suppliers from adding acrylic letters and numbers to the surface of the number, meaning any finished number plate must be flat. The proposed changes have been subject to a public consultation which closed on 13 December 2025. Officials are also considering options to ensure a more robust, auditable process which would enable tighter checks on number plate suppliers.
Standards on the use of automated number plate reader technology is a matter for the Home Office which issues guidance on its use as part of the National ANPR Standards for Policing and Law Enforcement (NASPLE).