Asked by: Kevin Bonavia (Labour - Stevenage)
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 accelerate the delivery of compensation to people impacted by pelvic mesh and valproate; and if he will set out a timetable for that financial redress.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
The Government extends its deepest sympathies to all those affected by pelvic mesh, and recognises the profound, life‑changing impact these harms have had on individuals and their families. We know that for many, the consequences are ongoing and deeply felt.
The Government is carefully considering the work done by the Patient Safety Commissioner (PSC), Professor Henrietta Hughes, including her report, which set out recommendations for redress for those harmed by sodium valproate and pelvic mesh.
The Government has been clear that there must be meaningful progress on this matter during this Parliament, although a decision to provide compensation has not yet been made. We recognise how difficult this uncertainty is for those affected, and we will ensure that the public is kept informed on this important work.
As you may be aware, the Department has been in contact with the PSC with regard to the ongoing health initiatives that the Department is taking forward in conjunction with NHS England, regarding sodium valproate and pelvic mesh. Details of the Government’s work to date are set out in recent letters to Professor Hughes, which are published on the PSC website, at the following link:
www.patientsafetycommissioner.org.uk
Asked by: Kevin Bonavia (Labour - Stevenage)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is he taking to increase awareness of the reproductive and sexual health implications for young people presenting symptoms that may lead to unplanned or medically complex pregnancies.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
Dedicated local authority sexual health services (SHSs) play a key public health role in the diagnosis, early treatment, and management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and some contraception services. Individual local authorities are responsible for funding and commissioning decisions about the SHSs that best meet the needs of their local populations, including for young people. This is funded via the ringfenced Public Health Grant.
The National Health Service website provides comprehensive information on sexual and reproductive health, including contraceptive choices, STI symptoms, treatment, and complications. This includes information on pregnancy where applicable.
The Government’s introduction in 2020 of compulsory Relationships, Sex and Health Education means all pupils are now taught about several areas of health, including menstruation, contraception, fertility, pregnancy, and the menopause. In July 2025 the Department for Education published updated statutory guidance which includes a specific reference to how different sexually transmitted infections are transmitted and how risk can be reduced. The statutory guidance is clear that all young people should be taught factual knowledge around sex, sexual health, and sexuality, set firmly within the context of relationships. By the end of secondary school, they should know about the prevalence of STIs, the short- and long-term impact they can have on those who contract them, and key facts about treatment. They should also know how to counter misinformation, including signposting towards medically accurate information and further advice, and where to access confidential sexual and reproductive health advice and treatment.
The UK Health Security Agency produces several stakeholder communications toolkits which collate communications resources to raise awareness of STIs and sexual health. These are aimed at supporting stakeholders, including local authorities, NHS organisations, integrated care boards, and charities, to promote good sexual health with their audiences, including accessing SHSs. As well as a sexual health specific toolkit, there is sexual health messaging in travel health, festivals, and getting ready for university toolkits.
In addition, the National Chlamydia Screening Programme focuses on reducing the reproductive harms from untreated chlamydia infection in young women and other people with a womb or ovaries.
Asked by: Kevin Bonavia (Labour - Stevenage)
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 improve coordination across community healthcare services when diagnosing rare cancers in young people.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The Government is committed to supporting the National Health Service to diagnose cancer earlier and treat it faster, so that more children and young people survive. The NHS is improving the experience of young cancer patients across the system, including those with rare cancers.
The National Cancer Plan, published in February 2026, has pledged to speed up the detection and diagnosis of cancer in children and young people, ensuring their needs are embedded into the design of the neighbourhood health service as well as ensuring general practices identify rare cancers, including in children and young people.
NHS England has published service specifications that set out the service standards required of all providers of children and young people’s cancer services. The requirements include implementing networked care, simplifying pathways, and transitions between services.
To gain information on the experience of children and young people, NHS England and Picker carry out an Under 16 Cancer Patient Experience Survey to understand the experiences of cancer and tumour care among children under the age of 16 years old and their parents/carers, in England. The results of the survey are used to understand and improve cancer care nationally and locally.
Asked by: Kevin Bonavia (Labour - Stevenage)
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 improve the accessibility to and reliability of the NHS patient transport service.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Non-Emergency Patient Transport Services (NEPTS) often provide funded transport where a medical condition means that a patient would struggle to safely attend their treatment independently. NEPTS can be provided by ambulance trusts or other providers depending on local arrangements.
How the NEPTS guidance is implemented at a local level is determined by integrated care boards and their partners, including local ambulance trusts. In May 2022, NHS England set out eligibility criteria, which includes disability criteria, available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/B1244-nepts-eligibility-criteria.pdf
Asked by: Kevin Bonavia (Labour - Stevenage)
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 funding for prostate cancer screening.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), which advises ministers on all screening matters, does not recommend population screening for prostate cancer. As such, England does not currently have a national screening programme that requires funding from the Department.
As part of its commitment to review its recommendations, the UK NSC has commissioned an evidence review for prostate cancer screening. This will cover modelling the clinical effectiveness and cost of several approaches to prostate cancer screening. It will include different potential ways of screening the whole population and targeted screening aimed at groups of people identified as being at higher-than-average risk, such as black men or men with a family history of cancer.
Once the modelling and evidence review are complete it will be considered by the UK NSC. Subject to no further revisions being required, the UK NSC plans to hold a public consultation towards the end of 2025. After this the UK NSC will make a recommendation. Ministers will then be asked to consider whether to accept the recommendation.
Asked by: Kevin Bonavia (Labour - Stevenage)
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 enable earlier diagnosis for pancreatic cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The Government recognises that pancreatic cancer is one of the most difficult cancers to diagnose early. Its symptoms are often vague and non-specific, meaning many patients are diagnosed at a late stage when treatment options are limited and outcomes are poor. This underlines the critical importance of improving routes to earlier diagnosis.
To address this challenge, the National Health Service has implemented non-specific symptom (NSS) pathways across England. These services support faster and more accurate diagnosis for patients who present with symptoms that do not clearly indicate a specific type of cancer, including those often seen in pancreatic cancer. There are currently 115 NSS services operating, ensuring more patients benefit from quicker access to the right investigations.
The NHS has launched a £2 million initiative funding 300 general practices (GPs) to identify pancreatic cancer early by screening high-risk patients over 60 years old with new diabetes diagnoses and unexplained weight loss for urgent testing. More than 300 GPs across England will begin using the initiative, with dozens rolling it out now, and the rest to be up and running in the autumn.
Asked by: Kevin Bonavia (Labour - Stevenage)
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 levels of research into Parkinson's disease.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
Government responsibility for delivering Parkinson’s disease research is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation.
Between the financial years 2019/20 and 2023/24, the Government spent a total of £79.1 million on research into Parkinson’s disease. Research spend is calculated retrospectively, with a time lag due to annual reporting lapses, and so 2023/24 is the most recent financial year we have data for.
As well as funding research itself, the NIHR invests significantly in research expertise and capacity, specialist facilities, support services, and collaborations to support and deliver research in England. Collectively, this forms NIHR infrastructure. NIHR infrastructure enables the country’s leading experts to develop and deliver high-quality translational, clinical, and applied research into Parkinson’s disease. For example, in financial year 2022/23, the NIHR Clinical Research Network enabled 114 studies related to Parkinson’s disease to be conducted in the National Health Service.
The Government is continuing to invest in Parkinson’s disease research. For example, the UK Dementia Research Institute, primarily funded by the Government, is partnering with Parkinson’s UK to establish a new £10 million research centre dedicated to better understanding the causes of Parkinson’s and finding new treatments.
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 maximum flexibility both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.
Asked by: Kevin Bonavia (Labour - Stevenage)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that victims of cardiac arrest are immediately referred to the cardiac rehabilitation programme.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
In December 2024, to support local systems to commission high quality cardiac rehabilitation, NHS England published the document, Commissioning standards for cardiac rehabilitation. This document is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/commissioning-standards-for-cardiovascular-rehabilitation/
These standards of care complement the British Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation’s Standards and Core Components document, published in 2023, to support the delivery of high-quality care and adherence to evidenced-based practice. More information is available at the following link:
Patients who survive cardiac arrest and their families are supported through referral to local services within the National Health Service; this will include rehabilitation such as cardiac and neurological rehabilitation and mental health services for psychological support.
There are different pathways for cardiac arrest survivors, depending on the severity of the damage caused by the cardiac arrest. For people being discharged from secondary care and those with ischemic heart disease, namely myocardial infarction, cardiac rehabilitation services are available in every region. For this reason, the Government does not currently have plans to bring forward legislative proposals on this issue.
Asked by: Kevin Bonavia (Labour - Stevenage)
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 benefits of allowing paramedics to prescribe oxycodone.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department remains committed to exploring the extension of medicine responsibilities for non-medical professionals. This will support the aim that patients are cared for and treated by the most appropriate healthcare professional to meet their needs, where it is safe and appropriate to do so. Many regulated healthcare professionals have already received extended medicine responsibilities, and the Department is committed to assessing the impact that these changes have had on patient care.
Regarding the extension of paramedics’ medicine responsibilities, there is a process in place for making changes to ensure proposals are safe and beneficial for patients. Officials are carefully considering proposals relating to a range of healthcare professionals, including paramedics, as a part of wider work building on work delivered by the Chief Professions Officers’ medicines mechanisms programme.
Asked by: Kevin Bonavia (Labour - Stevenage)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to improve treatment for people with glioblastoma brain tumours.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
One of the Secretary of State’s first acts as Minister was to meet with clinicians to discuss what more we can do to diagnose and treat patients with brain tumours including glioblastoma.In September 2024, my Department announced new funding opportunities for brain tumour research to make sure promising treatments are made available to patients.