Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to include measures on reforming funding allocations for (a) palliative and (b) other end of life care services in the Comprehensive Spending Review.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Spending Review is underway. We are, however, already supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England, to ensure they have the best physical environment for care, and £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
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 trends in the level of people requiring palliative care over the next 10 years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Currently, approximately 600,000 people die per year in the United Kingdom. It is estimated that up to 90% of deaths could benefit from palliative and end of life care.
The Office for National Statistics has projected that, by 2040, approximately 800,000 people a year will die in the UK. Also, current trends point to a growing proportion of people dying from chronic disease, particularly cancer and dementia. Taking these considerations together, it has been estimated that the number of people needing palliative and end of life care could increase by 42% by 2040.
We have committed to develop a 10-Year Plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future, by driving three shifts in the way health care is delivered, from hospital to community, from treatment to prevention, and from analogue to digital. We will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our stakeholders as we develop the plan.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what measures will be included in the 10 Year Health Plan to improve palliative and end of life care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life. The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and families receive the care they need when and where they need it, including those who need palliative and end of life care.
As part of the work to develop a 10-Year Health Plan, we have been carefully considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners, including the hospice sector.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what he has made of the potential merits of using pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy for people with cystic fibrosis.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) develops authoritative, evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service on best practice, based on an assessment of clinical and cost effectiveness. The NICE’s guideline on the diagnosis and management of cystic fibrosis recommends pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy as a treatment option for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency in patients with cystic fibrosis. The guideline is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng78
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
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 ensure adequate (a) training and (b) support for GPs in helping to diagnose cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question 28805 on 14 February 2025.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
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 the outcomes from the 2025/26 NHS Payment Scheme consultation, which closed on 28 February 2025.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The outcome of the consultation will be published shortly, once all responses received have been fully considered and any decisions made about the final payment scheme.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
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 increase funding for services for children with eating disorders.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Too many people are not receiving the mental health care they need, and we know that waits for mental health services are far too long. As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future, we will recruit an extra 8,500 mental health workers across child and adult mental health services to cut waiting times and ensure that people can access treatment and support earlier.
We will provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school in England, so every young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate. We are also rolling out Young Futures Hubs in every community to provide open access mental health support for children and young people. These commitments will provide appropriate support for children and young people with a range of mental health needs, including eating disorders.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Health and Security Agency is taking to prevent population exposure to lead.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is raising awareness and has published advice and guidance for the public and professional partners on the risk of harm from lead exposure, and effective public health interventions to reduce lead exposure. The guidance is available at the following link:
The UKHSA supports partners in identifying the pathways and sources of lead and in introducing public health interventions to aid in reducing exposure.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
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 promote awareness of ovarian cancer month.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England runs Help Us Help You campaigns to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms, address barriers to acting on them, and encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner (GP). Previous phases of the campaign have focused on abdominal symptoms which, among other abdominal cancers, can be indicative of ovarian cancer.
NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, also publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including ovarian cancer. This information can be found on the NHS website.
The Government has not made a formal assessment of the potential merits of shortening the diagnostic pathway for ovarian cancer. It is, however, a priority for the Government to support the NHS to diagnose cancer, including ovarian cancer, as quickly as possible, to treat it faster, and to improve outcomes. This is supported by NHS England’s key ambition on cancer to meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard, which sets a target of 28 days from urgent referral by a GP or screening programme to patients being told that they have cancer, or that cancer is ruled out.
Reducing inequalities and variation in cancer care is a priority for the Government, as is increasing early cancer diagnosis, as both are key contributors to reducing cancer health inequalities. Early cancer diagnosis is also a specific priority within the NHS’s wider Core20Plus5 approach to reducing healthcare inequalities.
GPs are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development.
All United Kingdom registered doctors are also expected to meet the professional standards set by the General Medical Council (GMC). In 2012, the GMC introduced revalidation, which supports doctors in regularly reflecting on how they can develop or improve their practice.
The training curricula for postgraduate trainee doctors is set by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), and has to meet the standards set by the General Medical Council. The RCGP provides a number of resources on cancer prevention, diagnosis and care for GPs, relevant for the primary care setting.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
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 ensure (a) training and (b) support is in place to help GPs diagnose ovarian cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England runs Help Us Help You campaigns to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms, address barriers to acting on them, and encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner (GP). Previous phases of the campaign have focused on abdominal symptoms which, among other abdominal cancers, can be indicative of ovarian cancer.
NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, also publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including ovarian cancer. This information can be found on the NHS website.
The Government has not made a formal assessment of the potential merits of shortening the diagnostic pathway for ovarian cancer. It is, however, a priority for the Government to support the NHS to diagnose cancer, including ovarian cancer, as quickly as possible, to treat it faster, and to improve outcomes. This is supported by NHS England’s key ambition on cancer to meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard, which sets a target of 28 days from urgent referral by a GP or screening programme to patients being told that they have cancer, or that cancer is ruled out.
Reducing inequalities and variation in cancer care is a priority for the Government, as is increasing early cancer diagnosis, as both are key contributors to reducing cancer health inequalities. Early cancer diagnosis is also a specific priority within the NHS’s wider Core20Plus5 approach to reducing healthcare inequalities.
GPs are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development.
All United Kingdom registered doctors are also expected to meet the professional standards set by the General Medical Council (GMC). In 2012, the GMC introduced revalidation, which supports doctors in regularly reflecting on how they can develop or improve their practice.
The training curricula for postgraduate trainee doctors is set by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), and has to meet the standards set by the General Medical Council. The RCGP provides a number of resources on cancer prevention, diagnosis and care for GPs, relevant for the primary care setting.