Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government collects data on how many young people with cancer were diagnosed in A&E.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Disease Registration Service in NHS England, as the national cancer registry, collects diagnosis and treatment data on cancer patients in England. Data is available at the following link:
The most recent published data on registrations of cancer in young people is in the Accredited Official Statistics on Cancer Registrations covering 2022, which is available at the following link:
Young people, those aged zero to 24 years old, are diagnosed with types of cancer that are only stageable in half of all cases. Of those diagnoses which are stageable, the proportion of diagnoses with a valid recorded stage that are diagnosed at stage 1 is 35%. Of those diagnoses which are stageable, the proportion of diagnoses with a valid recorded stage that are diagnosed at stage 2 is 26%.
The most recent published data on how young people presented with cancer is in the Rapid Cancer Registration Data set. The most recent complete year for which data is available is 2023. Further information is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrs/data/data-sets/rcrd
Approximately 39% of young people first present in hospital as an emergency presentation.
Some of the most common cancers diagnosed in young people, like brain tumours, have very significant symptoms associated with them, and in these cases the recommended course of action is to attend accident and emergency rather than following a managed pathway.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department collects data on how many young people with cancer were diagnosed at stage (a) one and (b) two.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Disease Registration Service in NHS England, as the national cancer registry, collects diagnosis and treatment data on cancer patients in England. Data is available at the following link:
The most recent published data on registrations of cancer in young people is in the Accredited Official Statistics on Cancer Registrations covering 2022, which is available at the following link:
Young people, those aged zero to 24 years old, are diagnosed with types of cancer that are only stageable in half of all cases. Of those diagnoses which are stageable, the proportion of diagnoses with a valid recorded stage that are diagnosed at stage 1 is 35%. Of those diagnoses which are stageable, the proportion of diagnoses with a valid recorded stage that are diagnosed at stage 2 is 26%.
The most recent published data on how young people presented with cancer is in the Rapid Cancer Registration Data set. The most recent complete year for which data is available is 2023. Further information is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrs/data/data-sets/rcrd
Approximately 39% of young people first present in hospital as an emergency presentation.
Some of the most common cancers diagnosed in young people, like brain tumours, have very significant symptoms associated with them, and in these cases the recommended course of action is to attend accident and emergency rather than following a managed pathway.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of young people with cancer were entered into clinical trials in March 2025.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) does not currently hold data on the number of young people with cancer enrolled into clinical trials in March 2025 as this time period is still ongoing.
Department-funded NIHR research and infrastructure is enabling clinical trial participation for children and young people with cancer. Through the NIHR, the Department also jointly funds the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre Paediatric Cancer Network with Cancer Research UK and the Little Princess Trust, which brings together clinicians and translational scientists to run early phase clinical trials for children and young people with cancer.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
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 increase awareness of the symptoms of cancer amongst young people.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England and other local health organisations publish information on the signs and symptoms of cancers that are most common in children and young people.
However, the Department recognises there is more to be done to improve outcomes and experience for children and young people with cancer. We also know that children's experiences of cancer are not uniform, and that there are inequalities in care and outcomes between different groups.
That is why we have relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce which will identify improvements for children across four key areas: early detection and diagnosis, genomic testing and treatment, research and innovation, and patient experience.
The Department is committed to ensuring the experiences of young cancer patients are reflected in our work. We are working with Taskforce members to assemble a Patient Experience Panel, made up of young people with lived experience of cancer and their families, which will feed directly into the work of the Taskforce.
The Taskforce will play a key role in ensuring that children and young people with cancer are carefully considered as part of the national cancer plan, which will examine how to reduce inequalities faced by different patient groups. Alongside the relaunch of the Taskforce, we have launched a Call for Evidence, in which the views of people across the country will inform our plan to improve cancer care. Those who wish to share their views can do so by 29 April 2025 on the new online platform, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/shaping-the-national-cancer-plan
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the national cancer plan will help to tackle inequalities for young people with cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England and other local health organisations publish information on the signs and symptoms of cancers that are most common in children and young people.
However, the Department recognises there is more to be done to improve outcomes and experience for children and young people with cancer. We also know that children's experiences of cancer are not uniform, and that there are inequalities in care and outcomes between different groups.
That is why we have relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce which will identify improvements for children across four key areas: early detection and diagnosis, genomic testing and treatment, research and innovation, and patient experience.
The Department is committed to ensuring the experiences of young cancer patients are reflected in our work. We are working with Taskforce members to assemble a Patient Experience Panel, made up of young people with lived experience of cancer and their families, which will feed directly into the work of the Taskforce.
The Taskforce will play a key role in ensuring that children and young people with cancer are carefully considered as part of the national cancer plan, which will examine how to reduce inequalities faced by different patient groups. Alongside the relaunch of the Taskforce, we have launched a Call for Evidence, in which the views of people across the country will inform our plan to improve cancer care. Those who wish to share their views can do so by 29 April 2025 on the new online platform, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/shaping-the-national-cancer-plan
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will meet young people with cancer to discuss their experiences.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England and other local health organisations publish information on the signs and symptoms of cancers that are most common in children and young people.
However, the Department recognises there is more to be done to improve outcomes and experience for children and young people with cancer. We also know that children's experiences of cancer are not uniform, and that there are inequalities in care and outcomes between different groups.
That is why we have relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce which will identify improvements for children across four key areas: early detection and diagnosis, genomic testing and treatment, research and innovation, and patient experience.
The Department is committed to ensuring the experiences of young cancer patients are reflected in our work. We are working with Taskforce members to assemble a Patient Experience Panel, made up of young people with lived experience of cancer and their families, which will feed directly into the work of the Taskforce.
The Taskforce will play a key role in ensuring that children and young people with cancer are carefully considered as part of the national cancer plan, which will examine how to reduce inequalities faced by different patient groups. Alongside the relaunch of the Taskforce, we have launched a Call for Evidence, in which the views of people across the country will inform our plan to improve cancer care. Those who wish to share their views can do so by 29 April 2025 on the new online platform, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/shaping-the-national-cancer-plan
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to measure the effectiveness of the steps his Department is taking to reduce HIV stigma.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), NHS England, and a broad range of system partners are developing a new HIV Action Plan, which will include an objective on tackling stigma. The Terrence Higgins Trust, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, and the National AIDS Trust have been undertaking external stakeholder engagement within the community and voluntary sector to feed into the new HIV Action Plan, which we aim to publish this year.
The Department is investing over £5.5 million from 2021 to 2026 to deliver the national HIV prevention programme, HIV Prevention England (HPE). HPE aims to reduce the stigma around HIV testing, through National HIV Testing Week, during which we dispatch over 20,000 HIV testing kits in England. HPE also hosted a HIV Stigma Symposium in March 2024, which brought together approximately 100 community experts, activists, healthcare professionals, and affected individuals to discuss the impact of HIV stigma and explore effective stigma reduction strategies.
The UKHSA continues to monitor the levels of stigma and discrimination experienced by people living with HIV within the health and social care system, through the Positive Voices survey, most recently published in 2024.
Officials in the Department continue to meet with counterparts from Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland to share information to help end new HIV transmissions by 2030.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
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 with his counterparts in other countries to share best practice for reducing HIV stigma.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), NHS England, and a broad range of system partners are developing a new HIV Action Plan, which will include an objective on tackling stigma. The Terrence Higgins Trust, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, and the National AIDS Trust have been undertaking external stakeholder engagement within the community and voluntary sector to feed into the new HIV Action Plan, which we aim to publish this year.
The Department is investing over £5.5 million from 2021 to 2026 to deliver the national HIV prevention programme, HIV Prevention England (HPE). HPE aims to reduce the stigma around HIV testing, through National HIV Testing Week, during which we dispatch over 20,000 HIV testing kits in England. HPE also hosted a HIV Stigma Symposium in March 2024, which brought together approximately 100 community experts, activists, healthcare professionals, and affected individuals to discuss the impact of HIV stigma and explore effective stigma reduction strategies.
The UKHSA continues to monitor the levels of stigma and discrimination experienced by people living with HIV within the health and social care system, through the Positive Voices survey, most recently published in 2024.
Officials in the Department continue to meet with counterparts from Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland to share information to help end new HIV transmissions by 2030.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
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 help support community organizations to tackle HIV stigma.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), NHS England, and a broad range of system partners are developing a new HIV Action Plan, which will include an objective on tackling stigma. The Terrence Higgins Trust, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, and the National AIDS Trust have been undertaking external stakeholder engagement within the community and voluntary sector to feed into the new HIV Action Plan, which we aim to publish this year.
The Department is investing over £5.5 million from 2021 to 2026 to deliver the national HIV prevention programme, HIV Prevention England (HPE). HPE aims to reduce the stigma around HIV testing, through National HIV Testing Week, during which we dispatch over 20,000 HIV testing kits in England. HPE also hosted a HIV Stigma Symposium in March 2024, which brought together approximately 100 community experts, activists, healthcare professionals, and affected individuals to discuss the impact of HIV stigma and explore effective stigma reduction strategies.
The UKHSA continues to monitor the levels of stigma and discrimination experienced by people living with HIV within the health and social care system, through the Positive Voices survey, most recently published in 2024.
Officials in the Department continue to meet with counterparts from Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland to share information to help end new HIV transmissions by 2030.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
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 tackle increasing rates of sexually transmitted infections in England; and whether he plans to allocate public health funding to this.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Dedicated local sexual health services play a key public health role in the diagnosis, early treatment, and management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Individual local authorities, funded through a ring-fenced Public Health Grant (PHG), are responsible for commissioning decisions about the sexual health services that best meet the needs of their local populations, including providing open-access sexual health testing and treatment services.
In 2025/26, we are increasing funding through the PHG to £3.858 billion, providing local authorities with an average 5.4% cash increase and a 3% real terms increase. This represents a significant turning point for local health services, marking the biggest real-terms increase after nearly a decade of reduced spending.
We continue to support the delivery of local sexual health services, including addressing rates of STIs, by providing guidance and data to support local decision makers. In October 2024, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) published the STI Prioritisation Framework, which, combined with ongoing support from the UKHSA, will enable local systems to identify which combination of interventions to focus on for which populations, informed by the local situation.
The Department is also investing over £6 million to deliver a National HIV Prevention Programme between 2021 to 2026 to raise awareness of HIV, and STI testing and prevention strategies. Also, the Department, the UKHSA, NHS England, and a broad range of system partners are developing the new HIV Action Plan, which we aim to publish this year. A key objective of the plan will be to stabilise and support system enablers, including the wider sexual and reproductive health system.