Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 take steps with the primary eye care sector to help prevent avoidable sight loss.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for assessing the health needs of their local population and commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet them.
ICBs already commission National Health Service sight testing services through high street optical practices. Regular sight tests play a crucial role in the early detection of a range of eye conditions and can help prevent avoidable sight loss.
ICBs can also commission enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices, including minor and urgent eye care services and glaucoma referral refinement services. These services further support the identification and management of eye conditions to prevent avoidable sight loss.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how he plans to integrate the 10-Year Plan with the National Cancer Plan.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out how we will fight cancer on all fronts, from prevention to diagnosis to treatment, to improve survival and reduce the lives lost to one of the biggest killers. The National Cancer Plan for England will take forward this work and build on the shifts set out in the 10-Year Health Plan to improve the experiences and outcomes for people with cancer.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people aged between 18 and 25 have epilepsy.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information is not held in the format requested. However, the following table shows a count of finished admission episodes (FAEs) and distinct patients where there is a primary diagnosis, or any diagnosis, of epilepsy, where the patient was aged 18 to 25 years old on admission, in 2024/25, in English National Health Service hospitals:
| Primary diagnosis | Any diagnosis | ||
Year | Admissions | Patients | Admissions | Patients |
2024/25 | 3,717 | 2,708 | 18,409 | 9,839 |
Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS England
Notes:
Please be aware that this data does not represent the total number of people aged between 18 and 25 years old who have a diagnosis of epilepsy. This data only represents the number of patients aged between 18 and 25 years old with epilepsy who required hospital admission in 2024/25. The data presented here will, therefore, only represent a small proportion of the total number of people aged between 18 and 25 years old who have a diagnosis of epilepsy.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 raise awareness of sarcoma.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England runs Help Us Help You campaigns in England to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms and to address the barriers to acting on them, to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner. The campaigns focus on a range of symptoms, as well as encouraging body awareness, to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers, including sarcoma, at an earlier point.
The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how the Department will improve outcomes for cancer patients, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment. Having consulted with key stakeholders and patient groups, the plan will be published early in the new year. It will ensure that patients have access to the latest treatments and technology. The plan will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care, to improve the experiences and outcomes for people with cancer, including sarcoma.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that patient data is seamlessly shared between the NHS in (a) England and (b) the devolved Administrations.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Government is committed to ensuring that people across the United Kingdom live more independent, healthier lives for longer, and will continue to work closely with the Devolved Administrations as needed to achieve this. That is why we will be engaging in the future with the Devolved Administrations on the implications of the forthcoming Health Bill, and the single patient record, to support appropriate cross-border referrals, and appropriate information sharing to inform good decision-making, support healthcare, and minimise risk to patients.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 stress on Alzheimer's disease.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As highlighted in the Dementia Care Pathway: Full implementation guidance, poorly managed behavioural and psychological symptoms, which accompany dementia, may lead to increased distress, accelerated cognitive decline, inappropriate antipsychotic prescribing, unnecessary use of restraint, and earlier admission to residential care. This guidance is available at the following link:
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines recommend, as initial and ongoing management, offering psychosocial and environmental interventions to reduce distress in people living with dementia.
Our health system has struggled to support those with complex needs, including those with dementia. Under the 10-Year Health Plan, those living with dementia will benefit from improved care planning and better services. We will deliver the first ever Modern Service framework for Frailty and Dementia to deliver rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. This will be informed by phase one of the independent commission into adult social care, expected in 2026.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 availability of donor organs.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is the organisation responsible for organ donation in the United Kingdom. NHSBT is working to improve the availability of donor organs by encouraging more people to record their wishes on the Organ Donor Register. Current activity includes:
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 his Northern Ireland counterpart on introducing charge cards to support coeliacs in paying for gluten free alternatives.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No discussions between ministers and their counterparts in Northern Ireland on introducing charge cards to support coeliacs in paying for gluten free (GF) alternatives have been held.
In the United Kingdom, healthcare is a devolved matter. Nearly all health and social care policy in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, including arrangements for coeliac patients, is handled by their respective administrations.
Following a review in 2019, the position in England remains that GF bread and mixes can be provided to all eligible coeliac patients on a National Health Service prescription, and a wide range of these items continue to be listed in Part XV of the Drug Tariff.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 reduce ADHD diagnosis times.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has recognised that, nationally in England, demand for assessments for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has grown significantly in recent years and that people are experiencing severe delays accessing such assessments. The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan will make the National Health Service fit for the future, recognising the need for early intervention and support.
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) in England to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including providing access to ADHD assessment and treatment, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
NHS England established an ADHD taskforce which brought together those with lived experience with experts from the NHS, education, charity and justice sectors to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including in accessing services and support. An interim report was published on 20 June 2025, with the final report expected later this year, and we will carefully consider its recommendations.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to build neighbourhood health services in partnership with (a) Macmillan and (b) other charities.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises the value of neighbourhood health services being built in partnership with voluntary organisations, such as Macmillan. We expect neighbourhood teams and services to be designed in a way that reflects the specific needs of local populations.
The Planning Framework for the National Health Service in England, published on 8 September, reiterates the commitment in the 10-Year Health Plan that place partners develop a local neighbourhood plan, which integrated care boards will bring together into a population health improvement plan. These local plans should set out how the NHS, local authority, and other organisations, including social care providers and the voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) sector, will work together to design and deliver neighbourhood health services. The Department will publish separate guidance to support their development in the autumn.
The National Cancer Plan will build on the shift from hospital to community set out by the 10-Year Health Plan and will seek to foster improved collaboration with the VCSE sector to deliver this.
This includes exploring how the impact economy can help deliver the goals set in the National Cancer Plan, collaborating across the Government, the NHS, civil society, and the corporate sector.