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, when the NHS Long-Term Workforce Plan will be published; and what support he plans to provide to the community pharmacy workforce to deliver this plan.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We will publish our 10 Year Workforce Plan by the end of this year. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will replace the Long Term Workforce Plan with a more sustainable model. Instead of asking ‘how many staff do we need to maintain our current care model over the next 10 years?’, it will ask ‘given our reform plan, what workforce do we need, what should they do, where should they be deployed and what skills should they have?’.
To support community pharmacy employers in developing their staff and delivering quality National Health Services, NHS England provides a number of funded national training opportunities for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. This includes independent prescriber training, clinical examination skills, and training the next generation of education supervisors.
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 merits of using Functional Electrical Stimulation devices to support people with Parkinson's disease.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department delivers research into Parkinson’s disease via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). While no specific assessment has been made, the NIHR is funding the STEPS II trial, which aims to determine whether Functional Electrical Stimulation improves walking speed for people with Parkinson’s disease, and which is due to complete in September 2026. Further information is available at the following link:
https://fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR131791
The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including Parkinson’s disease. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.
Welcoming applications on Parkinson’s disease to all NIHR programmes enables the maximum flexibility both in terms of amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.
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 women aged between (a) 50-60 and (b) 60-70 years olds have been diagnosed with bowel cancer in the last 12 months.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Using the Rapid Cancer Registration Data between June 2024 and May 2025, the most recent 12-month period available:
Further information is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrs/data/data-sets/rcrd
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 confirmed cases of cholera there have been in the UK in the last 10 years.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) holds data on cholera cases diagnosed in the United Kingdom by the Gastrointestinal Bacteria Reference Unit.
The number of people with cholera in the UK is published as part of the UKHSA’s Travel-associated infection report. The latest report, published in August 2025, and previous reports, can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/travel-associated-infections
There have been 132 diagnosed cases of cholera in the UK between 2015 and June 2025. All cases have been linked with travel outside the UK. The following table shows the number of confirmed cases of cholera per year:
Year | Total number of confirmed cases |
2015 | 15 |
2016 | 16 |
2017 | 15 |
2018 | 16 |
2019 | 15 |
2020 | 2 |
2021 | 2 |
2022 | 20 |
2023 | 14 |
2024 | 9 |
2025 | 8 |
Note: data is available to 30 June 2025.
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 his Department has made of the reasons for trends in the number of reported cases of measles in children; and what advice his Department has provided to parents whose children contract measles.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Coverage for all routine childhood immunisations, including the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, has fallen in England over the last decade. National uptake of MMR1 in two-year-olds is currently 88.8%, and uptake of MMR1 and MMR2 in five-year-olds is 92.4% and 82.5% respectively. This is below the 95% needed to prevent measles outbreaks as recommended by the World Health Organisation.
Falling vaccination rates have led to an increase of measles cases in England, with 2,911 laboratory confirmed measles cases in 2024. In response, a national MMR catch-up campaign was launched, which contributed to a downward trend in case numbers from mid-July, although small, localised outbreaks continued in some regions.
The UK Health Security Agency, NHS England, and the Department will launch a new ‘always on’ vaccination campaign this summer to drive increased uptake of the routine maternal, childhood, and seasonal flu vaccinations. The MMR vaccine is a particular focus, with parents and carers of zero- to five-year-olds and pregnant women being two of the priority audiences for campaign activity.
NHS England has provided detailed information for parents whose children have contracted measles, which can be found at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/measles/
The Department for Education also provides advice to parents, which is available at the following link:
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 his Department plans to take to ensure that work undertaken by community pharmacists is not unnecessarily duplicated in neighbourhood health centres.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, community pharmacies will have a vital role in the Neighbourhood Health Service, working closely with other primary care providers at a neighbourhood level and delivering more clinical services.
What a Neighbourhood Health Service or Neighbourhood Health Centre looks like is best decided locally, depending on local needs. We expect that the skills of community pharmacists and their teams will be fully used by local commissioners and that community pharmacies will be provided with access to local phlebotomy pathways in those neighbourhoods where they are commissioned services that require blood tests.
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 provide community pharmacists full access to phlebotomy pathways to help enable them to deliver their expanded roles as outlined in the 10 Year Health Plan for England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, community pharmacies will have a vital role in the Neighbourhood Health Service, working closely with other primary care providers at a neighbourhood level and delivering more clinical services.
What a Neighbourhood Health Service or Neighbourhood Health Centre looks like is best decided locally, depending on local needs. We expect that the skills of community pharmacists and their teams will be fully used by local commissioners and that community pharmacies will be provided with access to local phlebotomy pathways in those neighbourhoods where they are commissioned services that require blood tests.
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 (a) increase clinical and public awareness of small bacterial overgrowth symptoms and (b) ensure that patients with digestive problems receive the proper diagnosis and treatment.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the diagnosis and treatment of digestive conditions like small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) we expect health professionals to take into account best practice guidance, including that published by the National Institute for Care Excellence (NICE) and professional organisations.
In NICE’s Clinical Knowledge Summary on the assessment, investigation, and referral of chronic, which is more than four weeks' duration, diarrhoea in adults, health professionals are advised to consider SIBO when looking for features suggestive of an underlying cause such as systemic illness affecting gastrointestinal motility. The guidance is available at the following link:
The British Society of Gastroenterology provides resources and guidelines on SIBO, particularly in the context of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). While not all individuals with IBS have SIBO, there's a significant overlap, with studies suggesting that up to 80% of IBS patients may also have SIBO. Additionally, the British Dietic Association provides resources and guidelines on dietary management for IBS, which can be relevant for SIBO due to the overlap in symptoms and potential dietary triggers.
The NHS.UK website offers extensive information for the public on gut health, covering topics from digestive health tips and healthy eating for a healthy gut to specific conditions that are associated with SIBO including IBS, coeliac disease, and diverticular disease. The site provides advice on diet and managing common digestive issues. The national charity Guts UK also offers information, support, and resources for people with digestive health conditions, including on SIBO.
The Getting it Right First Time gastroenterology programme aims to improve the diagnosis and management of digestive problems by streamlining referrals, promoting early specialist triage, and implementing proactive care. The programme focuses on ensuring that patients are seen by the right specialists promptly, leading to earlier diagnosis and more appropriate management of digestive issues.
Additionally, community diagnostic centres (CDCs) offer a variety of diagnostic tests and scans for digestive problems, providing faster, more convenient access to diagnostic services closer to patients’ homes. NHS England is continuing to roll out CDCs, with additional capacity being delivered in 2025/26.
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 step his Department plans to take to build neighbourhood health services in partnership with (a) Macmillan and (b) other charities that have experience in (i) designing and (ii) delivering community-based services for people with long-term conditions.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out our vision for neighbourhood health. The Neighbourhood Health Service will embody our new preventative principle that care should happen as locally as it can, digitally by default, in a patient’s home if possible, in a neighbourhood health centre when needed, and only in a hospital if necessary.
We expect neighbourhood teams and services to be designed in a way that reflects the specific needs of local populations, and they should be co-designed with communities and system partners. While we will be clear on the outcomes we expect, we will give significant licence to tailor the approach to local need.
Through our National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme, we will work with places across all systems to spread and scale up good practice and learning, create exemplars, and build the culture and capability required for delivery. This will be an inclusive, large-scale change programme for all system partners, including the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector.
The Department is developing the National Cancer Plan which will seek to foster improved collaboration with partners across the cancer ecosystem, including the voluntary and community sector. We will continue to work closely with Macmillan and other cancer partners as part of our engagement to inform the development of the plan.
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 his Department plans to take to ensure that the upcoming national cancer plan prioritises improving (a) patient experience and (b) quality of life.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care, as well as prevention, research, and innovation. It will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care to better the experiences and outcomes for people with cancer. The National Cancer Plan will build on the three shifts set out by the 10-Year Health Plan. These shifts will enable rapid progress on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer, as well as supporting those living with cancer to better manage their condition and improve their quality of life.
The National Cancer Plan will aim to improve how the physical and psychosocial needs of people with cancer can be met, with a focus on personalised care to improve quality of life. It will address how the experience of care can be improved for those diagnosed, treated, and living with and beyond cancer.