Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether targets to improve early diagnosis of myeloma will form part of the national cancer plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including blood cancers such as myeloma, as well as other unstageable cancers, as early and quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, in order to improve outcomes.
To tackle late diagnoses of blood cancers, the NHS is implementing non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. Blood cancers are one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.
We will get the NHS diagnosing blood cancer earlier and treating it faster, and we will support the NHS to increase capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment, including for magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners.
The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and ultimately drive up this country’s cancer survival rates.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
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 (a) help ensure that patients with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome have access to ongoing specialist care following diagnosis and (b) allocate funding for research into (i) Complex Regional Pain Syndrome and (ii) other persistent pain conditions.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases through the UK Rare Diseases Framework.
Much of the routine care that people with chronic pain, such as some people with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), receive will be provided by local primary, community and a secondary care service commissioned via local integrated care boards (ICBs). The commissioning of these services is a local matter. In some cases, patients may receive care at Specialist Pain Centres. Details on commissioning of those services are available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/adult-highly-specialist-pain-management-services/.
The fourth priority of the Framework is improved access to specialist care, treatment and drugs. In February 2025, the England Rare Diseases Action Plan 2025 was published, including progress made under this priority:
- Meeting to discuss the effectiveness of early access pathways for rare disease therapies;
- Launching a review of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence highly specialised technology programme for evaluating rare disease treatments; and
- Introducing two new actions on reforming clinical trial regulations; and developing an operational framework for individualised therapies in the National Health Service.
Pioneering research is an underpinning theme of the Framework. The Department for Health and Social Care funds and supports research into rare diseases such as CRPS through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including rare diseases. The usual practice of the NIHR and other research funders is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics.
The 2025 England Rare Disease Action Plan includes information on research for rare diseases through significant investments to support rare disease research. This includes the Rare Disease Research UK Platform (RDR UK), a £14 million investment over 5 years from the Medical Research Council (MRC) and NIHR, announced in 2023, which is now established and positioned well within the rare disease research landscape. In December 2024, the MRC launched the first 2 MRC Centres of Research Excellence (CoRE), both studying gene therapies, and each worth up to £50 million over 14 years.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
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 autism assessments in (a) England and (b) Chichester constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has recognised that, nationally, the demand for assessments for autism has grown significantly in recent years and that people are experiencing severe delays for accessing such assessments. The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan will make the National Health Service fit for the future, and it recognises the need for early intervention and support, without the need for diagnosis.
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including provision of autism services, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to help ICBs and the NHS to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people, and adults referred to an autism assessment service. The guidance also sets out what support should be available before an assessment and what support should follow a recent diagnosis of autism, based on the available evidence. Since publication, NHS England has been supporting systems and services to identify where there are challenges for implementation and how they might overcome these.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
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 improve the (a) protection, (b) promotion and (c) support of optimal infant feeding.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is important that all families are supported to make the right choices for them and to achieve their infant feeding goals. This includes families who cannot breastfeed or choose not to. We know that breastfeeding has significant benefits and are committed to encouraging and supporting breastfeeding.
Most families will receive infant feeding information and support from midwives and health visitors. We are taking action to strengthen these services. We are taking further steps, including investing £18.5 million through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme in 2025/26 to encourage breastfeeding and to provide infant feeding support across 75 local authorities in England. We have increased the capacity of the National Breastfeeding Helpline. The Start for Life communication programme also includes advice on breast and bottle-feeding and introducing solid foods.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
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 implications for his policies of the report entitled World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative UK Report 2024, published in March 2025.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to giving children the best start in life, and infant feeding plays a crucial role in achieving this. We recognise the concerns raised in the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative’s United Kingdom report and are considering the recommendations.
We are already taking action to improve infant feeding support. We are strengthening the midwifery and health visiting workforce and building on these services by investing £18.5 million this year for infant feeding services through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme in 75 local authorities in England. We are also investing in the National Breastfeeding Helpline which provides UK-wide support 24 hours a day, every day of the year, and are expanding Start for Life communications.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of widening the scope of the infant formula legislation to include the (a) digital and (b) other marketing of all (i) formula milks up to age 36 months and (ii) (A) bottles, (B) teats and (C) other equipment.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Infant feeding is critical to a baby’s healthy growth and development. The Government is committed to giving every child the best start in life, and that includes helping families to access support to feed their baby.
Whilst breastfeeding has significant health benefits, we recognise that for those families that cannot or choose not to breastfeed, it is vital that they have access to infant formula that is affordable and high quality. Infant formula regulations ensure that all infant formula and follow on formula are safe and meet the nutritional requirements of babies and infants.
The regulations cover the composition, marketing, and labelling of infant formula and follow-on formula but they do not cover bottle, teats, or other equipment, and there are no plans to extend the regulations to these areas nor to extend the regulations to other formula milks.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on implementing the Immediate and Essential Actions of the Ockenden review, published on 30 March 2022.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
All the recommendations made by Donna Ockenden in her review into maternity services at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust in 2022 were accepted, including the requests made to the Government, the health system more widely, and the trust. Following publication of the Ockenden review, NHS England wrote to all trusts and systems asking them to deliver the recommendations and report to their public boards.
To support this delivery, NHS England’s three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services brought together the immediate and essential actions from the Ockenden review with those from other reports and guidance. The National Health Service’s operational planning guidance sets out the expectation that trusts should implement the key actions from the plan. In accordance with the NHS operating framework, it is for integrated care boards to oversee local progress with this. The technical guidance which accompanies the plan sets out how we are monitoring progress at a national level.
The plan is in its final year of delivery, and progress has been made across the four themes to improve outcomes and experiences for women and their babies.
The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust has seen a significant improvement in overall midwifery staffing levels. The trust has enhanced its senior and specialist midwifery teams to provide additional leadership, expert advice, and support for women and families, as well as the clinical teams. The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust now has in place robust training programmes that equip the maternity workforce with up-to-date skills, training, and development, including in the management of emergency scenarios.
On 23 June 2025, my rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, announced the launch of an independent, national Investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal services to look at the systemic issues behind why so many women, babies and families experience unacceptable care. It will look at up to 10 maternity and neonatal units where there are specific issues, international evidence, adoption of best practice and a system-wide investigation of maternity and neonatal care. There have been several reviews, inquiries and national research into maternity and neonatal care in recent years, including Ockenden. The investigation will bring together lessons from past these reviews and will produce, by December 2025, one clear set of national recommendations to achieve high quality, safe care across maternity and neonatal services, and that women and families are listened to. The investigation will take previous recommendations, including the Immediate and Essentials actions from Ockenden, into consideration to ensure we are providing clarity to the system and effectively delivering the change needed.
Alongside this, my rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, also announced we would be establishing a National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, which he would chair. It will use the recommendations from the investigation to develop a national plan to drive improvements across maternity and neonatal care, holding the system to account for delivering the actions and working closely with families to ensure their voices are central to this work.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
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 NHS 111 response times.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to continuing to improve NHS 111 to ensure patients can access the right care the first time, only visiting accident and emergency when necessary.
The latest published data shows that May 2025 saw the lowest average NHS 111 call answer time since records began in April 2021, 4 seconds faster than in April 2025, and 58 seconds faster than in May 2024. The average NHS 111 call answer time in the year to date is 46 seconds, compared to 157 seconds in the same period in 2024.
Whilst NHS 111 response times have improved, we recognise there is more to do. On 6 June 2025, we published our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26, which includes the commitment to publish and implement the recommendations from the NHS 111 review to make the service quicker and simpler to navigate.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
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 availability of job opportunities for newly qualified nurses.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Decisions on the employment of newly qualified nurses are a matter for individual National Health Service trusts, which manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.
We are working closely with NHS England, employers, universities, and regional nursing leads to ensure support is in place to help graduating nurses find a role as soon as possible after qualification and transition into the workplace.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
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 reduce waste in the NHS.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are a range of initiatives in the National Health Service to tackle waste, ranging from locally managed walking aid refurbishment schemes to innovative projects on the reuse of surgical textiles. NHS England has also been working to reduce the wastage of medicines, as recommended in the National Overprescribing Review in 2020.
In addition, in October 2024, the Department published the Design for Life roadmap, a new strategy to transition away from all avoidable single-use medical technology products towards a functioning circular system by 2045. The Design for life Roadmap is available at the following link:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/679ca015a9ee53687470a2ed/design-for-life-roadmap.pdf
Single-use medical devices such as tourniquets and scissors, as well as high-tech electronic devices like harmonic shears, are often expensive and are thrown away after a single use. The programme is building on examples of where NHS organisations are already achieving cost, waste, and carbon savings.