Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
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 Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust in addressing the long waits for ambulances and emergency care at the acute hospital in Cornwall.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to improving urgent and emergency care and returning to the waiting time standards set out in the National Health Service constitution through actions set out in Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 and the Medium Term Planning Framework for 2026/27 to 2028/29.
On the 6 June 2025, we published our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26, backed by a total of nearly £450 million of funding. The plan focuses on improvements that will see the biggest impact on urgent and emergency care performance next winter and on making urgent and emergency care better every day, including reducing ambulance handovers to a maximum of 45 minutes and actions to support at least 78% of patients in accident and emergency being seen within four hours.
The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust has been focusing on its ‘clinical vision of flow’, alongside whole system work which is delivering improvement in urgent and emergency care performance.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
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 potential merits of deploying specialist endometriosis nurses in GP surgeries.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving the diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing care for gynaecological conditions including endometriosis.
As self-employed contractors to the National Health Service, it is for general practices to determine how they run their operations, including decisions regarding nursing staff.
The Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, has also commissioned a number of studies focused on endometriosis diagnosis, treatment, and patient experience.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
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 potential merits of a public awareness campaign on endometriosis.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the challenges faced by women with endometriosis and the impact it has on their lives, their relationships, and their participation in education and the workforce.
In November 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence updated their guideline on endometriosis, to make firmer recommendations to healthcare professionals on the referral and investigation for women with a suspected diagnosis, in order to help the estimated one in 10 women with endometriosis receive a diagnosis faster. Alongside the updated guidelines, new treatments have been approved, and we are investing £5.6 million into research and taking action to cut gynaecology waiting lists through our Elective Reform Plan.
On 15 July, the Department for Education published the revised relationships education, relationships and sex education, and health education statutory guidance. This revised guidance emphasises the importance of ensuring that pupils have a comprehensive understanding of women’s health topics, including endometriosis.
We know that women deserve better, which is why we are renewing the Women’s Health Strategy, to assess the progress that has been made so far and to continue progressing delivery while empowering women with information about heavy menstrual bleeding and reproductive health conditions.
The 2022 Women’s Health Strategy identified many important issues which remain valid, so we now need to align the strategy with the 10-Year Health Plan and identify areas where we need to go further.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) physical, (b) mental and (c) financial support is available to people diagnosed with endometriosis.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the challenges faced by women with endometriosis and the impact it has on their lives.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guideline on endometriosis diagnosis and management recognises that endometriosis can be a long-term condition, and can have a significant physical, sexual, psychological, and social impact. On 11 November 2024, NICE published its updated version of this guideline, making firmer recommendations on referral and investigations which will help women receive a diagnosis and effective treatment faster.
Research has led to new treatments being made available for endometriosis, including the NICE approval of two pills to treat endometriosis this year, namely Relugolix and Linzagolix.
Individuals, including those diagnosed with endometriosis, can self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies or their general practitioner can refer them. NHS Talking Therapies offer evidence-based psychological therapies to help with common mental health problems.
Many integrated care boards are taking an innovative approach to endometriosis care. For example, in the North East and West of England there is the endometriosis transformation programme. This programme is addressing long waits for patients with severe endometriosis and improving patient pathways, from presentation in general practice through to management in secondary care.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
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 ensure that (a) fathers, (b) families from minority (i) ethnic and (ii) faith backgrounds and (c) other bereaved parents receive (A) timely, (B) equitable and (C) culturally competent support following the loss of a baby.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Following the loss of a baby, all parents should receive timely, equitable, and culturally competent care. To support this, NHS England has provided funding to all integrated care boards (ICBs) to establish seven-day-a-week bereavement services across maternity settings in England, so that support is always available when families need it most. Currently, 38 out of 42 ICBs offer a seven day a week bereavement service.
Bereavement care and cultural competence are both included within the Core Competency Framework which sets out the essential training for staff to help to address variations in the quality of support provided. Over 15,400 maternity staff have completed the e-learning module on cultural competency to date.
In addition, the leaders of all 150 maternity and neonatal units in England have now participated in the Perinatal Culture and Leadership programme. Recognising that more is needed to ensure families from minority ethnic and faith backgrounds receive the appropriate care, NHS England is rolling out a perinatal equity anti-discrimination programme to equip staff with the skills to provide the best possible care.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much and what proportion of the £25 million funding for the pilot Women’s Health Hubs was allocated to the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly ICB.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department invested £25 million in the establishment of Women’s Health Hubs through the two-year pilot from April 2023 to March 2025. Each integrated care board (ICB) received £595,000 of the £25 million of funding for Women’s Health Hubs.
We are supporting ICBs to continue improving their delivery of Women’s Health Hubs, in line with their responsibility to commission services that meet the needs of their local populations.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of doctors leaving the UK due to a lack of specialty training posts.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made such a specific estimate. Data is published by NHS England on numbers of doctors leaving active service across National Health Service trusts and integrated care boards, but information collected on broad reasons for leaving is not detailed enough to report on drivers such as access to specialty training.
The General Medical Council (GMC) publishes data on staff leaving the register in its annual State of Medical Education and Practice in the United Kingdom publication. This shows that the proportion leaving the register in 2024 has remained stable at approximately 4% a year. When asked about reasons for leaving, the three main reasons cited to the GMC where ‘wanting to practice abroad’, ‘retirement’ and ‘wanting to live abroad’.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
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 increase the number of specialty training posts for UK-trained doctors in the South West.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan published in July, over the next three years we will create 1,000 new speciality training posts in England with a focus on specialities where there is the greatest need.
The 10-Year Health Plan also set out that we will work across the Government to prioritise United Kingdom medical graduates for foundation training, and to prioritise UK medical graduates and other doctors who have worked in the National Health Service for a significant period for specialty training.
We will set out next steps across the country in due course.
Asked by: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op) - Truro and Falmouth)
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 the transfer of the functions of Healthwatch England to the Patient Experience Directorate of his Department on Healthwatch Cornwall.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The abolition of Healthwatch England and the transfer of its functions and the changes to Local Healthwatch will require primary legislation. Timing of this is subject to the will of Parliament and take place when parliamentary time allows.
A full Impact Assessment would be produced and published on the Government website when legislation is introduced in Parliament. No assessment has been made at this time.