Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
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 tackle the import of illegal vapes.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The Government is taking concerted effort to tackle the import and sale of illicit vapes. This includes investing up to £3 million over 2023/24 and 2024/25 to support National Trading Standards to deliver a range of enforcement interventions, including the removal of illicit products from the market and intervention at ports. The Government will expand on this by investing a further £30 million in 2025/26 to support tobacco and vapes enforcement action, £10 million of which will go towards bolstering Trading Standards’ ability to tackle illicit tobacco and vapes.
Alongside additional investment we are also taking legislative steps to tackle the illicit market. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill provides powers to introduce a new retail licensing scheme in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland for tobacco, vapes and nicotine products and to establish a new registration system for tobacco, vaping and nicotine products entering the United Kingdom market. We are also introducing a ban on the sale and supply of single use vapes under environmental legislation.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
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 (a) the adequacy of funding for mental health services and (b) the potential impact of the level of that funding on waiting lists for such services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Adequate funding for mental health services is important. While funding for reforms and improvements to mental health services will be decided at the Spending Review, the Autumn Budget provided an extra £26 million to open new mental health crisis centres, and funding to provide NHS Talking Therapies services for an extra 380,000 patients.
We remain committed to recruiting an additional 8,500 mental health workers to reduce delays and provide faster treatment, which will also help ease pressure on busy mental health services.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on how many (a) abattoirs and (b) food processing plants in (i) England and (ii) the UK are family-owned businesses.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
This information is not held by the Food Standards Agency (FSA). There are 232 abattoirs approved by the FSA in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The FSA is aware of which are sole traders, partnerships, and which are incorporated companies, but it does not hold any central list indicating which are family-owned. This level of detail is not required to facilitate the delivery of Official Controls.
The majority of food processing plants are overseen by local authorities, and while their trading names are published by the FSA and Food Standards Scotland, this does not give an indication of the makeup of ownership.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
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 encourage GPs to proactively discuss (a) prostate cancer risk and (b) the option to have a prostate-specific antigen test with (i) Black men aged 45 and over and (ii) men aged 45 and over with a family history of prostate cancer.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme (PCRMP) provides general practitioners (GPs) with information and guidance to counsel men who have no symptoms, but who wish to have a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test. It highlights the potential benefits and harms of PSA testing so that men, including those at higher risk, can make an informed decision about whether to have the test.
Based on the current evidence, the PCRMP’s guidance is for GPs not to proactively offer a PSA to men without symptoms. This is because of the high level of inaccuracy of the PSA test, which could lead to unnecessary tests and treatments that carry risks of life-changing harm such as urinary and faecal incontinence, sexual dysfunction, as well as a smaller but serious risk of sepsis. Additionally, some prostate cancers may not produce elevated PSA levels, leading to false-negative results that provide deceptive reassurance.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
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 improve access to primary care in Epping Forest constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that patients are finding it harder than ever to see a general practitioner (GP) and access other primary care services, and we are committed to fixing the crisis in GPs.
Our plan to increase the number of GP appointments delivered will require both investment and reform. We have already invested £82 million to recruit over 1,000 newly qualified GPs through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme. This will increase the number of appointments delivered in GPs and take pressure off those currently working in the system. We will also train thousands more GPs, securing the future of the workforce, and will end the 8:00am scramble for GP appointments by introducing a modern booking system.
We will provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. Additionally, to rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to National Health Service dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
We are also committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, including by cutting red tape. That encompasses making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists, as we shift care from the hospital to the community.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
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 the number of GP surgeries in Epping Forest constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government wants everyone to be able to access a primary care professional when they need to. NHS England has overall responsibility for ensuring that there are sufficient primary medical services to meet the reasonable requirements of patients throughout the country. To do so, they will contract providers such as general practices (GPs) to provide these services.
It is for local commissioners to determine what services and care pathways to put in place to best serve the needs of their patient population. We expect commissioners to act if services are not meeting the reasonable needs of their patients. In the event of a closure, commissioners will assess the need for a replacement provider before transferring patients to alternative practices when a GP surgery closes.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of removing the cap on adult social care costs on the cost of adult social care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We inherited a commitment to implement charging reform in October 2025, which included the cap on care costs. The full policy would have cost government an additional £4bn by 2030 on adult social care spend per year.
Public finances are in their worst position since the Second World War. Funding was not guaranteed by the previous government and preparations for full rollout were not on track, therefore the cap on care costs would have been impossible to deliver by next October.
We are committed to building consensus on the long-term reform needed to create a National Care Service based on consistent national standards. We will set out next steps for a process that engages with adult social care stakeholders, including cross-party and people with lived experience of care.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
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 improve access to GP appointments in (a) Epping Forest constituency and (b) England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that patients across the country are finding it harder than ever to see a general practitioner (GP), and we are committed to fixing the crisis in GPs. Our plan to restore GPs will require both investment and reform. We will increase the proportion of funding for GPs and are already investing £82 million to recruit 1,000 newly qualified GPs. This will increase the number of GP appointments delivered, secure the future pipeline of GPs, and take pressure off those currently working in the system.
Additionally, we will introduce Neighbourhood Health Centres to bring together vital health and care services, ensuring healthcare is closer to home and that patients receive the care they deserve. The Government will also bring back the family doctor by incentivising GPs to see the same patient.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
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 facilitate access to to Omnipod 5 insulin pumps for people with type 1 diabetes.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
Omnipod 5 is one of several insulin pumps that are available through the Insulin Pumps, Continuous Glucose Monitoring, Closed Loop Insulin Delivery Systems and Associated Products Framework hosted by NHS Supply Chain. NICE Technology Appraisal TA943 recommends Hybrid Closed Loop (HCL) systems to eligible type 1 patients. More information on the appraisal is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta943
HCL links a continuous glucose monitor to an insulin pump, via a computer-based algorithm, to automatically adjust the insulin dosages given and help people with diabetes keep their blood sugar levels stable. Omnipod 5 is available as part of two HCL combinations that are currently included on the NHS Supply Chain framework. NHS England has agreed cost-effective prices with industry suppliers, is promoting the NHS Supply Chain framework for integrated care boards and National Health Service trusts to call off and is offering ICBs reimbursement funding in contributing towards the incremental costs of delivering HCL to their local population.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department will continue the (a) Hospital Rebuilding Programme and (b) implementation of Community Diagnostic Centres.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that strategic, value for money investments in capital projects are critical to providing good quality care. Specific commitments regarding the future of existing capital programmes are subject to the next Spending Review, with timescales for this not yet confirmed.
My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has asked for an urgent report on the degree to which the New Hospital Programme is funded, and a realistic timetable for delivery. He will consider this carefully then report back to patients, clinicians, and local communities to confirm any revision to the schedule.
The National Health Service is committed to rolling out additional diagnostic tests and scans from a network of 160 Community Diagnostic Centres across the country by March 2025, as part of the NHS’s Elective Recovery Plan published in 2022.
It is unacceptable that some patients have been waiting over six weeks for a diagnostic test. The Government will support the NHS in increasing diagnostic capacity, to meet the demand for diagnostic services, as a priority. Specific programmes of funding to support this are subject to the upcoming Spending Review.