Asked by: Lola McEvoy (Labour - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of (a) making it easier for people with degenerative diseases to obtain NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) funding and (b) removing the requirement for people with degenerative diseases to be assessed before receiving NHS CHC funding.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department works with partners, including NHS England, external organisations and people with lived experience, to seek feedback on NHS Continuing Healthcare policy and implementation. This includes seeking feedback on how people with degenerative diseases can access NHS Continuing Healthcare funding as quickly as possible where they are assessed as eligible.
The Department has published national guidance which states that when undertaking a full Standard NHS Continuing Healthcare assessment, the multidisciplinary team should ideally include someone with specialist knowledge of the individual’s condition. The guidance also sets out that individuals with a rapidly deteriorating condition, who may be entering a terminal phase, may be eligible for Fast Track Continuing Healthcare. NHS England has also commissioned an Information and Advice Service for NHS Continuing Healthcare which provides independent, free advice for individuals and families navigating the process.
The NHS Continuing Healthcare assessment process is required to determine whether an individual’s needs mean they are eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare. Where eligible, the integrated care board is responsible for commissioning a package which meets all the individual’s assessed health and associated care and support needs.
Asked by: Lola McEvoy (Labour - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the MHRA intends to take to consider patient and bereaved family lived experience as part of its current scientific review of Clozapine; and whether he is taking steps to ensure that lived experience actively shapes the committee's clinical determinations before key regulatory decisions have been made.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) confirms that in June 2026, the Neurology, Pain and Psychiatry Expert Advisory Group (NPPEAG) considered an assessment of clozapine drug level monitoring. The NPPEAG provided advice about the requirements for this type of monitoring. At present, clozapine drug-level monitoring is required only in specific clinical situations, partly because of the high level of variability between patients. The MHRA is taking forward the NPPEAG’s recommendations and will communicate to healthcare professionals once the regulatory position is finalised.
The review of clozapine drug-level monitoring focused on clinical and scientific data to establish the value of this type of monitoring in clinical practice. It took into account a range of information, including overall reporting patterns and themes in reports received through the Yellow Card scheme, but did not include clinical review of individual Yellow Card reports. MHRA safety assessments may also consider the views of patients and other stakeholders.
The MHRA will be launching a survey in the summer to gather information on awareness of key risks associated with clozapine, and to assess whether additional measures would be helpful for patients, their families, and carers, as well as healthcare professionals involved in the care of patients receiving clozapine.
Asked by: Lola McEvoy (Labour - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Yellow Card adverse drug reaction reference GB-MHRA-MED-202605220730230940-NSQYR (linked to case file CEC 256289) is being actively reviewed by the clinical assessors of the Neurology, Pain and Psychiatry Expert Advisory Group as part of their current, ongoing safety review into clozapine drug-level monitoring for toxicity.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) confirms that in June 2026, the Neurology, Pain and Psychiatry Expert Advisory Group (NPPEAG) considered an assessment of clozapine drug level monitoring. The NPPEAG provided advice about the requirements for this type of monitoring. At present, clozapine drug-level monitoring is required only in specific clinical situations, partly because of the high level of variability between patients. The MHRA is taking forward the NPPEAG’s recommendations and will communicate to healthcare professionals once the regulatory position is finalised.
The review of clozapine drug-level monitoring focused on clinical and scientific data to establish the value of this type of monitoring in clinical practice. It took into account a range of information, including overall reporting patterns and themes in reports received through the Yellow Card scheme, but did not include clinical review of individual Yellow Card reports. MHRA safety assessments may also consider the views of patients and other stakeholders.
The MHRA will be launching a survey in the summer to gather information on awareness of key risks associated with clozapine, and to assess whether additional measures would be helpful for patients, their families, and carers, as well as healthcare professionals involved in the care of patients receiving clozapine.
Asked by: Lola McEvoy (Labour - Darlington)
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 the treatment of cancer patients.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
The National Cancer Plan sets out how we will tackle unwarranted variation head on and end the postcode lottery for cancer care.
It will shift healthcare from hospitals to the community and ensure that all cancer patients, regardless of where they live, have access to high-quality, specialist cancer services.
We will redesign cancer services around people’s lives, not just around hospitals, recognising that more people are living for longer with and beyond cancer and need ongoing, coordinated support. The plan provides the blueprint for England to become a world leader in cancer survival once again and improve the quality of life for those living with cancer in England.
Asked by: Lola McEvoy (Labour - Darlington)
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 help ensure that the (a) diagnoses of and (b) treatments for motor neurone disease are undertaken in a (i) efficient and (ii) timely manner.
Answered by Ashley Dalton
We are investing in additional capacity to deliver appointments to help bring waiting lists and times down. The Elective Reform Plan, published in January 2025, sets out the specific productivity and reform efforts needed to return to the constitutional standard, that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment by March 2029.
NHS England commissions the specialised elements of motor neurone disease (MND) care that patients may receive from 27 specialised neurology centres across England. Within specialised centres, neurological multidisciplinary teams ensure patients can access a range of health professionals and specialised treatment and support, according to their needs.
At the national level, there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with MND, including the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology and the RightCare Progressive Neurological Conditions Toolkit. NHS England has also established a Neurology Transformation Programme, a multi-year, clinically led programme, which has developed a new model of integrated care to support integrated care boards to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients, including those with MND.
Asked by: Lola McEvoy (Labour - Darlington)
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 support social care workers to use their career experience to support their qualifications as NHS workers.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Higher education institutions (HEIs) have institutional autonomy to set their own admissions criteria to healthcare profession qualifying courses. Some HEIs accredit prior experiential learning (APEL), including from working in social care, which helps reduce the time it takes to achieve a qualification in a healthcare profession working in the National Health Service. This will vary by HEI and course.
NHS England is leading a programme of work to standardise the approach to APEL across the country and maximise the opportunity from shortened programmes to deliver more professionals more quickly.