Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to make cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia more widely available in England.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In its Clinical Knowledge Summary on insomnia, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) suggests that clinicians can offer cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for insomnia if sleep hygiene measures fail, daytime impairment is severe, causing significant distress, and the insomnia is not likely to resolve soon. It is for local integrated care boards to decide what treatments and support for insomnia are offered to their local populations. Further information on NICE’s Clinical Knowledge Summary on insomnia is available at the following link:
https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/insomnia/
In addition, NHS Talking Therapies services for anxiety and depression offer low-intensity therapy, including CBT, which may include interventions around sleep hygiene. Individuals who are experiencing symptoms of anxiety and/or depression can be referred by their general practitioner, or can self-refer, to NHS Talking Therapies via the following link:
Individuals can also access helpful resources on sleep problems on the Every Mind Matters website, at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/mental-health-issues/sleep/
NICE has also agreed to prioritise digital technologies that deliver CBT interventions for insomnia and insomnia symptoms as a topic for the development of HealthTech guidance.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
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 cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In its Clinical Knowledge Summary on insomnia, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) suggests that clinicians can offer cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for insomnia if sleep hygiene measures fail, daytime impairment is severe, causing significant distress, and the insomnia is not likely to resolve soon. It is for local integrated care boards to decide what treatments and support for insomnia are offered to their local populations. Further information on NICE’s Clinical Knowledge Summary on insomnia is available at the following link:
https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/insomnia/
In addition, NHS Talking Therapies services for anxiety and depression offer low-intensity therapy, including CBT, which may include interventions around sleep hygiene. Individuals who are experiencing symptoms of anxiety and/or depression can be referred by their general practitioner, or can self-refer, to NHS Talking Therapies via the following link:
Individuals can also access helpful resources on sleep problems on the Every Mind Matters website, at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/mental-health-issues/sleep/
NICE has also agreed to prioritise digital technologies that deliver CBT interventions for insomnia and insomnia symptoms as a topic for the development of HealthTech guidance.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
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 ensure that people seeking a potential diagnosis of multiple sclerosis are seen by a neurologist within 12 weeks.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Cutting waiting lists is a key priority for the Government. We have committed to achieving the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment by March 2029, including in neurology services.
In January 2025, we published our Elective Reform Plan, which sets out our approach to hitting that target by the end of this Parliament.
We surpassed our manifesto pledge to deliver an extra two million elective appointments; we have delivered 5.2 million additional appointments in our first year of government. Many of those appointments included appointments for treating multiple sclerosis.
Waiting lists are coming down; they have fallen by over 206,000 since the Government came into office.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
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 funding (a) ICBs and (b) NHS trusts to purchase private hospitals.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to delivering an NHS that is fit for the future through our 10-Year Health Plan. We recognise that delivering high quality NHS healthcare services requires safe, sustainable, and effective infrastructure. That is why we prioritised investment in healthcare at the recent Spending Review, delivering the largest ever health capital budget.
The New Hospital Programme is transforming the design and delivery of new hospital infrastructure and there are no plans for other national programmes of new hospital development or acquisition at this time. At a local level, integrated care boards (ICBs) and NHS Trusts are responsible for infrastructure planning, managing the operational capital allocations for their respective local areas, and acquiring new facilities.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the equity of access to the shingles vaccine.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Previously, the shingles vaccine was available to people turning 65 and 70 years old, up until their 80th birthday, and to severely immunosuppressed individuals aged 50 years old and over.
As of 1 September 2025, approximately 300,000 more people have become eligible for shingles vaccination, with all severely immunosuppressed individuals aged 18 years old and over now being eligible for the shingles vaccine. Individuals who are severely immunosuppressed are most at risk of serious illness and complications from shingles, and so the decision has been made to follow the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), to lower the age of eligibility to protect the most vulnerable.
For immunocompetent individuals, the current offering to adults aged 65 and 70 years old was agreed by the Department, the UK Health Security Agency, and NHS England. This decision was made following the JCVI’s advice, an assessment of the effective use of National Health Service resources, and careful consideration of individual risk and population benefit.
Analysis shows that the difference in risk and vaccine effectiveness between an individual aged 66 to 69 years old and a 70-year-old is likely to be marginal. This was taken into consideration when planning the expansion of the vaccination programme for immunocompetent adults, which maintains the original offer for those turning 70 years old while also providing another cohort with the opportunity for vaccination.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will ensure that the National Cancer Plan for England includes targets to improve the diagnosis times of myeloma.
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: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to review the way children's palliative care is (a) planned and (b) funded.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I have tasked officials to look at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10 Year Health Plan.
The Government and the National Health Service will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services to ensure that the future state of services reduces variation in access and quality, although some variation may be appropriate to reflect both innovation and the needs of local populations.
There are currently no plans at a national level to run a modelling exercise to determine how much the NHS should spend on the health elements of children’s palliative care.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will conduct a modelling exercise to determine how much the NHS should spend on the health elements of children’s palliative care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I have tasked officials to look at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10 Year Health Plan.
The Government and the National Health Service will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative care and end of life care services to ensure that the future state of services reduces variation in access and quality, although some variation may be appropriate to reflect both innovation and the needs of local populations.
There are currently no plans at a national level to run a modelling exercise to determine how much the NHS should spend on the health elements of children’s palliative care.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the success rate was of each local partnership using the International Recruitment Fund in re-matching social care workers to new employers in the last 12 months.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2025/26, up to £12.5 million has been made available through the adult social care international recruitment fund for 15 regional and sub-regional partnerships to prevent and respond to exploitative practices of internationally recruited care staff. This builds on the £16 million made available in 2024/25. Between July 2024 and April 2025, approximately 16,700 people contacted the regional partnerships for support. To date, approximately 940 of these individuals have been supported into new employment, according to self-reported data provided by the regional partnerships. This data has not been independently verified by the Department or UK Visas and Immigration.
We have commissioned the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Policy Research Unit in Health and Social Care Workforce to undertake an independent evaluation of the 2024/25 international recruitment regional fund. We expect the final report of this evaluation to be published by King's College London in 2026.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
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 promote the benefits of breast feeding to new mothers.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever and to giving every child the best start in life. We want every parent to understand the benefits of breastfeeding so that they can make informed decisions about how to feed their baby.
Through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme, we are investing £18.5 million in 2025/26 to improve infant feeding support across 75 local authorities in England. This includes promoting the benefits of breastfeeding and supporting families to achieve their infant feeding goals. The Start for Life communications programme also promotes the benefits of breastfeeding via a website, email, and public awareness campaign.
Most families will receive advice on the benefits of breastfeeding and support from midwives and health visitors. We are committed to strengthening these services and are already making progress.