Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Scottish Government on including aplastic anaemia on NHS Inform.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Working under the United Kingdom Rare Diseases Framework, the Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases, such as aplastic anaemia.
Collaboration at all levels across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales remains an underpinning priority. The Department works closely with colleagues across the devolved nations to ensure policy on rare disease is aligned across the UK, and that we share best practice and areas of learning.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 17 July 2025 to Question 67788 on Prescriptions: Terminal Illnesses,, how many enquiry letters were to individuals regarding incorrectly claiming medical exemption from NHS prescription charges in this period.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Between 1 June 2024 and 30 June 2025, a total of 67,777 enquiry letters were issued in relation to National Health Service prescriptions for which a medical exemption certificate had been claimed.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 17 July 2025 to Question 67788 on Prescriptions: Terminal Illnesses, how much revenue was raised from the 50,330 Penalty Charge Notices.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Between 1 June 2024 and 1 July 2025, a total of £980,266.02 was recovered from the 50,330 people who were issued Penalty Charge Notices for incorrectly claiming a medical exemption from prescription charges.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 17 July 2025 to Question 67788 on Prescriptions: Terminal Illnesses, whether the 50,330 Penalty Charge Notices were issued as separate individual cases; and how many were issued to the same individuals for repeat offences.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Overall, 55,347 Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) were issued to 50,330 individuals for incorrectly claiming a medical exemption from prescription charges between 1 June 2024 and 1 July 2025. Of these, 4,339 individuals received multiple PCNs, while 45,991 received a single PCN.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
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 the upcoming National Cancer Plan addresses challenges relating to delayed diagnosis for unstageable cancers.
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: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 17 July 2025 to Question 67788 on Prescriptions: Terminal Illnesses, what the procedure is if a person is issued with an enquiry letter and a Penalty Charge Notice but were eligible for a Medical Exemption Certificate in relation to their liability to pay the Penalty Charge Notice.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
If a patient receives an Enquiry Letter or Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) and is eligible for a Medical Exemption Certificate, they are advised to apply for the certificate and pay the prescription charge. Once the application has been received and processed, the penalty charge is removed. It should be noted that the prescription charge can only be paid once a PCN has been issued, as payments cannot be accepted at the Enquiry Letter stage.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the annual resources required to treat diabetic ketoacidosis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
A central mission of the Government is to build a health and care system that is fit for the future. Tackling preventable ill health, such as type 2 diabetes, is crucial. Shifting the focus from treatment to prevention is one of three shifts for the Government’s mission for a National Health Service that is fit for the future, and is a cornerstone of supporting people to live healthier lives.
Preventing diabetes, like obesity, is a complex issue and requires multi-faceted action across both the public and private sector. Prevention involves collaboration across the public and private sectors to tackle underlying issues such obesity, poor diets, and lifestyle issues.
The Department is taking steps to prevent type 2 diabetes through programmes such as the NHS Health Check, England’s flagship cardiovascular disease prevention programme for those aged between 40 and 74 years old, which aims to identify people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, as well as heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, and some cases of dementia, and to signpost them to behavioural support such as weight management and clinical treatment if needed.
Once identified, those at risk of developing type 2 diabetes can also be referred by their general practitioner into the Healthier You NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme. The programme is highly effective, cutting the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 37% for people completing the programme, compared to those who do not attend.
The annual costs of treating patients over 18 years old and children with diabetic ketoacidosis is not available, as this data is not routinely collected and/or analysed nationally. There are currently no plans to collect this data.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 18 July 2025 to Question 67789 on Diabetes: Health Services, if he will make it his policy to collect data on the cost of diabetic ketoacidosis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
A central mission of the Government is to build a health and care system that is fit for the future. Tackling preventable ill health, such as type 2 diabetes, is crucial. Shifting the focus from treatment to prevention is one of three shifts for the Government’s mission for a National Health Service that is fit for the future and is a cornerstone of supporting people to live healthier lives.
Preventing diabetes, like obesity, is a complex issue and requires multi-faceted action across both the public and private sector. Prevention involves collaboration across the public and private sectors to tackle underlying issues such obesity, poor diets, and lifestyle issues.
The Department is taking steps to prevent type 2 diabetes through programmes such as the NHS Health Check, England’s flagship cardiovascular disease prevention programme for those aged between 40 and 74 years old, which aims to identify people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, as well as heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, and some cases of dementia, and to signpost them to behavioural support such as weight management and clinical treatment if needed.
Once identified, those at risk of developing type 2 diabetes can also be referred by their general practitioner into the Healthier You NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme. The programme is highly effective, cutting the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 37% for people completing the programme, compared to those who do not attend.
The annual costs of treating patients over 18 years old and children with diabetic ketoacidosis is not available, as this data is not routinely collected and/or analysed nationally. There are currently no plans to collect this data.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
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 implications for his policies of the ELSA Diabetes screening study; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of scaling it to a universal programme.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the United Kingdom, national screening programmes are introduced based on the recommendations of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent scientific advisory committee which advises ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries on all aspects of population and targeted screening and supports implementation.
The UK NSC is aware of the ELSA study that is looking at screening children for type 1 diabetes and looks forward to receiving the results of this study when the trial is complete.
Asked by: Sarah Bool (Conservative - South Northamptonshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the annual cost of treating (a) patients over 18 and (b) children with Diabetic Ketoacidosis is.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
A central mission of the Government is to build a health and care system that is fit for the future. Tackling preventable ill health, such as type 2 diabetes, is crucial. Shifting the focus from treatment to prevention is one of three shifts for the Government’s mission for a National Health Service that is fit for the future, and is a cornerstone of supporting people to live healthier lives.
Preventing diabetes, like obesity, is a complex issue and requires multi-faceted action across both the public and private sector. Prevention involves collaboration across the public and private sectors to tackle underlying issues such obesity, poor diets, and lifestyle issues.
The Department is taking steps to prevent type 2 diabetes through programmes such as the NHS Health Check, England’s flagship cardiovascular disease prevention programme for those aged between 40 and 74 years old, which aims to identify people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, as well as heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, and some cases of dementia, and to signpost them to behavioural support such as weight management and clinical treatment if needed.
Once identified, those at risk of developing type 2 diabetes can also be referred by their general practitioner into the Healthier You NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme. The programme is highly effective, cutting the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 37% for people completing the programme, compared to those who do not attend.
The annual costs of treating patients over 18 years old and children with diabetic ketoacidosis is not available, as this data is not routinely collected and/or analysed nationally.