Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the removal of the target to increase the percentage of cancers diagnosed at stages 1 and 2 from the NHS Priorities and Operational Planning Guidance on women with ovarian cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving the diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing care of gynaecological conditions, including ovarian cancer. NHS England has taken urgent action to address gynaecology waiting lists through the Elective Recovery Plan, including support for innovative care models that bring services closer to patients, and the piloting of gynaecology pathways within community diagnostic centres.
As a first step towards improving the diagnosis of ovarian cancer and reducing misdiagnosis, the National Health Service is now delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week. The NHS is also improving pathways to get people diagnosed once they are referred, including non-specific symptom pathways for patients who do not fit clearly into a single urgent cancer referral pathway. Combined, these interventions will help ensure early diagnosis and faster treatment, including for women with ovarian cancer, with further actions to be outlined in the forthcoming National Cancer Plan.
The most recent data available from the National Disease Registration Service shows that in England in 2022, 3,151 people were diagnosed with ovarian cancer at stages 3 & 4, which is classed as advanced.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
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 on the number of patients diagnosed with ovarian cancer at an advanced stage.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving the diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing care of gynaecological conditions, including ovarian cancer. NHS England has taken urgent action to address gynaecology waiting lists through the Elective Recovery Plan, including support for innovative care models that bring services closer to patients, and the piloting of gynaecology pathways within community diagnostic centres.
As a first step towards improving the diagnosis of ovarian cancer and reducing misdiagnosis, the National Health Service is now delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week. The NHS is also improving pathways to get people diagnosed once they are referred, including non-specific symptom pathways for patients who do not fit clearly into a single urgent cancer referral pathway. Combined, these interventions will help ensure early diagnosis and faster treatment, including for women with ovarian cancer, with further actions to be outlined in the forthcoming National Cancer Plan.
The most recent data available from the National Disease Registration Service shows that in England in 2022, 3,151 people were diagnosed with ovarian cancer at stages 3 & 4, which is classed as advanced.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the Family Nurse Partnership to include more than the existing 44 local authorities.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Family Nurse Partnership Programme (FNP) is the Department’s current service for the most vulnerable first-time parents, for example, teenagers, care leavers, those known to the care system, or those who would otherwise have extremely poor clinical outcomes, affecting both themselves and their children. The FNP has been shown to improve vulnerable children’s development, school readiness and early educational attainment.
Provision of the FNP is currently a choice for local authorities. The programme is currently available in 45 local authorities. Local authorities have a statutory duty for commissioning public health services for children and young people aged between zero and 19 years old. The Public Health Grant, from which various programmes for children and young people are funded, including FNP, has been uplifted for 2025/26 by 5.4%, a percentage equalling almost £200 million.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hernia mesh surgeries have taken place in each of the last 20 years; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that patients are informed of the risks of mesh complications.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the count of Finished Consultant Episodes (FCEs) where there was any procedure for 'hernia mesh surgeries', recorded for the years 2004/05 to 2023/24, in English National Health Service hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector:
Year | FCEs |
2004/05 | 77,849 |
2005/06 | 79,748 |
2006/07 | 83,789 |
2007/08 | 89,063 |
2008/09 | 87,401 |
2009/10 | 85,519 |
2010/11 | 85,697 |
2011/12 | 90,593 |
2012/13 | 89,676 |
2013/14 | 95,608 |
2014/15 | 95,854 |
2015/16 | 92,147 |
2016/17 | 93,887 |
2017/18 | 89,016 |
2018/19 | 89,951 |
2019/20 | 81,780 |
2020/21 | 39,034 |
2021/22 | 70,884 |
2022/23 | 78,917 |
2023/24 | 83,045 |
Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS England.
Clinicians are expected to inform patients about risks associated with recommended treatments, including reasonable alternatives, to enable informed consent and a balanced patient decision.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NCEPOD's report entitled Joint Care? A review of the quality of care provided to children and young adults with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, published on 13 February 2025, whether he will take steps to implement the recommendations of that report as they relate to recognition of juvenile idiopathic arthritis by healthcare professionals.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not yet considered the recommendations of the report published by the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death on 13 February 2025, Joint Care? A review of the quality of care provided to children and young adults with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
NHS England Specialised Commissioning has a Clinical Reference Group for specialised paediatric rheumatology, which has produced a service specification for these services. This service specification names juvenile idiopathic arthritis as one of the conditions that should be managed by a specialist paediatric rheumatology team. The service specification also sets out that specialised paediatric rheumatology teams will provide transitional care to facilitate transfer and ongoing care in adult rheumatology. Transitional care planning will involve paediatric rheumatology teams, adult rheumatology teams and local hospitals under a shared care arrangement. Specialised paediatric rheumatology services are expected to be commissioned in line with this service specification.
In the NHS Long Term Plan, NHS England committed to delivering a service model for people aged between zero and 25 years old to improve young people’s experience and health outcomes. To aid implementation of this model, the Children and Young People’s Transformation Programme collaborated with key partners to develop national guidance on how the National Health Service can better support young people transfer into adolescent and adult services. The guidance is due to be published shortly and will be hosted on the NHS England website.
The policy aligns with existing National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines and outlines the principles and steps of a service model for people aged between zero and 25 years old, along with best practice examples from across the country.
NICE’s published guidance on the transition from children’s to adult services for young people includes recommendations on transition planning, support before and after transfer and the development of transition infrastructure. This guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng43
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
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 support older children with arthritis as they transition to adult health and care services.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not yet considered the recommendations of the report published by the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death on 13 February 2025, Joint Care? A review of the quality of care provided to children and young adults with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
NHS England Specialised Commissioning has a Clinical Reference Group for specialised paediatric rheumatology, which has produced a service specification for these services. This service specification names juvenile idiopathic arthritis as one of the conditions that should be managed by a specialist paediatric rheumatology team. The service specification also sets out that specialised paediatric rheumatology teams will provide transitional care to facilitate transfer and ongoing care in adult rheumatology. Transitional care planning will involve paediatric rheumatology teams, adult rheumatology teams and local hospitals under a shared care arrangement. Specialised paediatric rheumatology services are expected to be commissioned in line with this service specification.
In the NHS Long Term Plan, NHS England committed to delivering a service model for people aged between zero and 25 years old to improve young people’s experience and health outcomes. To aid implementation of this model, the Children and Young People’s Transformation Programme collaborated with key partners to develop national guidance on how the National Health Service can better support young people transfer into adolescent and adult services. The guidance is due to be published shortly and will be hosted on the NHS England website.
The policy aligns with existing National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines and outlines the principles and steps of a service model for people aged between zero and 25 years old, along with best practice examples from across the country.
NICE’s published guidance on the transition from children’s to adult services for young people includes recommendations on transition planning, support before and after transfer and the development of transition infrastructure. This guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng43
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
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 through the 10-year health plan to support children and young people with arthritis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts our National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention. All of these are relevant to improving arthritis care for children and young people in all parts of the country.
More tests and scans delivered in the community, better joint working between services, and greater use of apps and wearable technology will all support children, young people, and their families to manage their long-term conditions, including arthritis, closer to home.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Children and Young People with Cancer Taskforce will recognise that cancer is different in (a) young people and (b) children.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to improving outcomes and patient experience for children, teenagers, and young adults with cancer, from birth to 24 years of age. That is why we have relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce, which will identify tangible ways to drive improvements for cancer patients across this age range. The taskforce’s membership, which is currently being finalised, will reflect the diversity of needs across these patient groups.
We recognise that cancer in teenagers and young people is different to cancer in adults and children, and so age-appropriate care is necessary, particularly regarding treatment, diagnosis, and wider support, as per the NHS England service specifications. Department officials are working with chairs of the taskforce to develop the Terms of Reference ahead of the first meeting, currently planned for March. The taskforce will consider the most appropriate dissemination routes or publication channels for taskforce materials in due course.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the age range of the Children and Young People with Cancer Taskforce is.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to improving outcomes and patient experience for children, teenagers, and young adults with cancer, from birth to 24 years of age. That is why we have relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce, which will identify tangible ways to drive improvements for cancer patients across this age range. The taskforce’s membership, which is currently being finalised, will reflect the diversity of needs across these patient groups.
We recognise that cancer in teenagers and young people is different to cancer in adults and children, and so age-appropriate care is necessary, particularly regarding treatment, diagnosis, and wider support, as per the NHS England service specifications. Department officials are working with chairs of the taskforce to develop the Terms of Reference ahead of the first meeting, currently planned for March. The taskforce will consider the most appropriate dissemination routes or publication channels for taskforce materials in due course.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Children and Young People with Cancer Taskforce will recognise that teenagers and young adults with cancer have different needs to children.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to improving outcomes and patient experience for children, teenagers, and young adults with cancer, from birth to 24 years of age. That is why we have relaunched the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce, which will identify tangible ways to drive improvements for cancer patients across this age range. The taskforce’s membership, which is currently being finalised, will reflect the diversity of needs across these patient groups.
We recognise that cancer in teenagers and young people is different to cancer in adults and children, and so age-appropriate care is necessary, particularly regarding treatment, diagnosis, and wider support, as per the NHS England service specifications. Department officials are working with chairs of the taskforce to develop the Terms of Reference ahead of the first meeting, currently planned for March. The taskforce will consider the most appropriate dissemination routes or publication channels for taskforce materials in due course.