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 merits of ring-fencing funding for ADHD services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made an assessment of the potential merits of ring-fencing funding for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services. It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including those with ADHD, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines. My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, recently announced a series of reforms to the National Health Service operating model to move power from the health centre to local leaders. In keeping with these reforms, we are giving systems greater control and flexibility over how funding is deployed to best meet the needs of their local population.
NHS England has established the ADHD taskforce which is working to bring together those with lived experience with experts from the NHS, education, charity, and justice sectors. The taskforce is working to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including timely and equitable access to services and support, with the final report expected in summer 2025.
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 comparative assessment his Department has made of blood cancer outcomes in (a) the UK and (b) international comparator countries for the four most common cancers.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not undertaken a formal assessment of blood cancer outcomes in the United Kingdom and international comparators for the four most common cancers. As noted by Lord Darzi’s independent investigation into the National Health Service, the rate of improvement for cancer survival slowed substantially during the 2010s. While survival rates have improved more quickly than many peer countries, they have done so from a low base. This means that the UK is still behind the Nordic countries for all major cancers.
Cancer death rates in the UK have fallen by more than a fifth between 1990 and 2011 and are predicted to drop by a further 17% between 2010 and 2030.
It is a priority for the Government to support the NHS in catching cancer, including blood cancers, as early as possible, to treat these diseases faster and more effectively, and thereby improve outcomes.
The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including those with blood cancer. We are now in discussions about what form that plan should take, and what its relationship to the 10-Year Health Plan and the Government’s wider Health Mission should be and will provide updates in due course.
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, if his Department will review the medicines and treatment appraisal system to assess its readiness for evaluating cell and gene-based blood cancer treatments.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources.
The NICE has evaluated and been able to recommend a number of CAR-T therapies, a type of cell therapy for the treatment of blood cancers, that are now available to NHS patients.
The NICE is responsible for the methods and processes it uses to develop its recommendations and concluded a comprehensive review of the methods and processes it uses for health technology evaluation in January 2022. The NICE carried out the review through extensive engagement with stakeholders, including Department officials. The NICE introduced a number of changes that make its methods fairer, faster, and more consistent, and appropriate to the evaluation of emerging new technologies, such as cell and gene therapies.
The NICE is monitoring the impact of the changes following the methods review and has committed to considering modular updates to its methods and processes in the future.
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 plans to take to ensure that the NHS has the (a) ability and (b) resource to roll out (i) CAR-T therapies and (ii) other Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products for blood cancer.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service in England is required to fund medicines and treatments recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as a clinically and cost-effective use of NHS resources. NHS England has undertaken considerable activity to support NICE-recommended CAR-T therapies which are currently commissioned and those that may be available in the future.
There are 3 CAR-T products currently available for four types of blood cancer which have treated over 1,500 people to date: these products were made available via the Cancer Drugs Fund which provides early access to promising new cancer medicines. Two additional CAR-T products are currently being evaluated by NICE.
NHS England uses horizon scanning to see what is coming and has a dedicated team to support the adoption of advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) that are recommended by NICE into the NHS. The team works with a variety of internal and external stakeholders to ensure timely patient access to ATMPs that are on the NICE technology appraisal and highly specialised technology workplan. NHS England regularly engages with clinicians who provide CAR-T therapy in order to ensure that there is sufficient capacity within the service to deliver this.
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, if she will take steps to require the NHS to give the same priority to UK citizens as undocumented migrants when accessing A&E services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is clear that patients should expect and receive the highest standard of service and care from the National Health Service, and that people should be treated with compassion, dignity, and respect. Patients attending emergency departments will always be prioritised based on clinical need.