Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many scans have been performed at each Targeted Lung Health Check sites since roll-out.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information is not held centrally.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
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 23 February 2023 to Question 147189 on Lung Diseases: Screening, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of targeted lung health checks in England in 2023-24; and how much funding his Department is providing to local services for this purpose.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Targeted Lung Health Checks are now live in 42 locations. Coverage of the programme will continue to expand in 2023/24. The exact amount of funding put into this project is not held by the Department.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department will take to improve the provision of tests to screen for pancreatic cancer (a) in general and (b) for patients with a recorded family history of the disease.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no plans to introduce a screening programme for pancreatic cancer. Approximately ten percent of pancreatic cancers are caused by hereditary factors. NHS England has been working with Pancreatic Cancer UK and others on opportunities to improve access to surveillance, in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance, for those with inherited high risk of pancreatic cancer. Cancer Alliances are preparing to support this work in 2023/24.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
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 a potential link between the rebate in the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access and (a) the level of foreign direct investment into UK life sciences Research and Development, (b) the placement of clinical trials in the UK and (c) employment levels in the life sciences industry in the UK.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government has considered the link between changes to the volume-based rebate payments in our medicine pricing schemes and various kinds of investment, along with any associated impacts on employment in the life sciences industry in the United Kingdom, in our impact assessment of recent updates to the statutory scheme for branded medicines pricing, which operates alongside the voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access (VPAS).
The Government’s 2023 impact assessment of updates to the statutory scheme is available at the following link:
With regard to the impact of medicine price regulation schemes on the level of foreign direct investment into the UK’s life sciences research and development, the evidence on this issue is uncertain. The impact assessment considered this issue, and sets out the Government’s assessment that, while price regulation schemes such as VPAS may be a consideration in the decision to locate such investments, these are complex decisions based on multiple factors. Supply side factors such as the availability of skilled labour are considered likely to be of greater significance.
With regard to the impact of price regulation on the placement of clinical trials in the UK, the Government’s assessment is that price control schemes in general are more likely to impact decisions about the location of late-stage than early-stage trials, as the location of late-stage trials may be more influenced by commercial considerations about where to launch a new medicine. However, VPAS includes strong commercial incentives to launch new products in the form of freedom of list pricing and exemptions from payments for innovative medicines containing a new active substance.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of proposals published on 1 March 2023 by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry for an Investment Facility, including the potential impact of those proposals on (a) clinical research capacity, (b) genomics capacity, (c) real world data capability and (d) equitable medicines use.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department has seen the proposals published on 1 March; they will be considered as part of formal negotiations for a future voluntary scheme.
The Government is open to ideas about how a successor to the voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access should operate from 2024 onwards and will work with industry to agree a mutually beneficial successor that supports better patient outcomes, ensures the sustainability of National Health Service spend on branded medicines, and enables a strong life sciences industry.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many available CT scanners there are in NHS (a) hospitals, (b) Community Diagnostic Centres, (c) Targeted Lung Health Check sites and (d) all NHS settings per million of population.
Answered by Will Quince
Data collected via the National Imaging Data Collection shows that in 2021/2022 there were 581 computerised tomography (CT) scanners in National Health Service hospital settings. Within Community Diagnostic Centres, there are currently 78 CT scanners. 42 Targeted Lung Health Check sites have access to at least one CT scanner, 33 of which are mobile scanners and 10 are fixed. Not all Targeted Lung Health Check sites use 100% of capacity from a single scanner, and some mobile scanners may be shared between more than one site. We do not hold data on the number of CT scanners per million of population.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish (a) a list of all Targeted Lung Health Check sites operating in England and (b) the number of CT scans delivered at each site in each of the last 12 months for which data is available.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many invitations have been issued for Targeted Lung Health Checks in each of the last 12 months for which data is available; and what proportion of those invitations are taken up by patients.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
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 adequacy of access to (a) Targeted Lung Health Check sites and (b) CT scanners for eligible patients in England.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Targeted Lung Health Check (TLHC) is a National Health Service programme designed to identify signs of cancer at an early stage when it is much more treatable. There will be 43 TLHC sites live in England by March 2023, there are currently 34 live.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish a Primary Care Recovery Plan.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Primary Care Recovery Plan is currently being drafted and will be published in the coming weeks.