Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
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 average length of time of a GP appointment.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support for training and resources his Department is providing to integrated care boards to help implement the NHS England Maternal Care Bundle, published on 6 January 2026.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
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 potential impact of the restriction on pursuing clinical negligence cases to direct financial dependents only in cases where an individual has died on the justice system.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the reasons people with brain cancer are seeking treatment outside the UK, particularly in Germany, including the trend in the level of such treatments.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ensuring patients have access to the latest and most effective treatment options is a top priority for the Government.
That is why we are committed to supporting an innovative clinical research ecosystem in the United Kingdom so that patients in this country can be among the first to benefit as we make the National Health Service fit for the future.
The Government is supportive of Scott Arthur’s Private Members Bill on rare cancers, which will make it easier for clinical trials into rare cancers, such as brain cancers, to take place in England by ensuring the patient population can be easily contacted by researchers. This will ensure that the NHS will remain at the forefront of medical innovation and is able to provide patients with the newest, most effective treatment options, and ultimately boost survival rates.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been diagnosed with (1) Chrohn's and (2) Colitis in (a) South Holland and the Deepings and (b) Lincolnshire in each of the last five years.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Neither the Department nor NHS England hold data on the total number of people diagnosed with Crohn’s disease or colitis in South Holland and the Deepings or Lincolnshire in each of the last five years. However, the following table shows a count hospital admissions (FAEs) where there was a primary diagnosis Crohn's disease or colitis and where the patient was resident in Lincolnshire or South Holland and the Deepings, each year from 2020/21 to 2024/25:
Year | South Holland and Deepings | Lincolnshire | ||
Crohn’s | Colitis | Crohn’s | Colitis | |
2020/21 | 125 | 305 | 2,350 | 3,355 |
2021/22 | 175 | 410 | 2,765 | 4,295 |
2022/23 | 180 | 480 | 3,130 | 4,890 |
2023/24 | 165 | 465 | 3,390 | 5,275 |
2024/25 | 75 | 190 | 3,675 | 6,455 |
Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, published by NHS England
Notes:
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
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 10 May 2023 to Question 183643 on Public Health, what methodologies were used to estimate the costs to the NHS for each of the five risk factors specified.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The applicable methodologies for the National Health Service cost attributed to each of the risk factors outlined are explained in the following reports.
The estimated air pollution related costs to the NHS can be found in the Public Health England report ‘Estimation of costs to the NHS and social care due to the health impacts of air pollution: summary report’ , from 2018, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/air-pollution-a-tool-to-estimate-healthcare-costs
An estimate of the NHS and healthcare costs of alcohol from 2021/22, produced by the Institute of Alcohol Studies, can be found at the following link:
https://www.ias.org.uk/factsheet/economy/
Estimated obesity related costs to the NHS can be found in the Frontier Economics report for NESTA, published in July 2025, ‘The Economic and Productivity Costs of Obesity and Overweight in the UK’, which is available at the following link:
Estimated Hypertension related costs to the NHS can be found in the Optimity Matrix Cost-effectiveness review of blood pressure interventions, ‘A Report to the Blood Pressure System Leadership Board’, published November 2014, available at the following link:
The most recent estimated smoking related costs to the NHS can be found in the press release, ‘New figures show cost of smoking to society in England dwarfs tobacco tax revenue’. This is available at the following link:
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
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 current age limits for routine breast cancer screening; and whether he plans to review these limits to improve early detection for patients outside of the standard screening range.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is guided by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent scientific advisory committee which makes its recommendations based on internationally recognised criteria and a rigorous evidence review and consultation process. It is only where the committee is confident that screening would provide more good than harm that a screening programme is recommended, as all medical interventions carry an inherent risk.
The NHS Breast Screening Programme (NHS BSP) offers all women in England between the ages of 50 to 71 years old the opportunity to be screened every three years for breast cancer, to help detect abnormalities and intervene early to reduce the number of lives lost to invasive breast cancer.
The AgeX research trial has been looking at the effectiveness of offering some women one extra screen between the ages of 47 to 49 years old, and one between the ages of 71 to 73 years old. The biggest trial of its kind ever to be undertaken, AgeX will provide robust evidence about the effectiveness of screening in these age groups, including the benefit and harms. The UK NSC will review the publication of the age extension trial when it reports.
Women with a very high risk of breast cancer, for example due to family history, may be offered screening earlier and more frequently, sometimes using magnetic resonance imaging rather than a mammogram.
While the NHS BSP does not automatically invite women for breast screening after their 71st birthday, women aged 71 years old or over can still have breast screening every three years if they want to, by calling their local breast screening service to ask for an appointment.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
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 that local cancer treatment facilities, such as mobile chemotherapy units and hospital breast cancer clinics, have sufficient resources to meet demand and reduce waiting times for patients.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the plan for reforming elective care, the Government is committed to improving performance on cancer waiting times.
To improve access to cancer treatment, the Government is investing an extra £26 billion in the National Health Service and providing it with the resources it needs, including community diagnostic centres, to ensure patients are diagnosed faster and earlier so that they receive timely access to treatment. £70 million will also be spent on replacing out-of-date radiotherapy equipment so that cancer patients benefit from faster and safer cancer treatment using the most up-to-date technology. Replacing these older machines will save as many as 13,000 appointments from being lost to equipment breakdown.
NHS England has partnered with the charity Hope For Tomorrow to establish mobile chemotherapy units across England, bringing chemotherapy and cancer treatments closer to patients' homes, reducing waiting time for hospital appointments, with units staffed by specialist nurses offering personalised care.
The NHS has made important progress on the treatment of cancer, including breast cancer, delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week to ensure faster treatment for those who need it most.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
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 build capacity in the health play professional sector, including training, qualifications and registration, as sought in NHS England's Play Well toolkit published in June 2025.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises the importance of supporting and maintaining children’s right to play in healthcare settings.
The NHS England and Starlight Play Well Toolkit, published in June 2025, includes the first national guidelines and standards for commissioning and delivering health play services in England. It aims to improve access to child-friendly care and specialised health play services across paediatric healthcare.
NHS England is promoting the toolkit to managers of health play services across a wide range of settings, including community clinics, emergency departments, children’s hospices, and acute paediatric wards. The toolkit provides clear guidance on supporting practical training and mentorship in healthcare settings.
The Play Well toolkit aims to ensure that health play services have the right staff with the right qualifications to deliver a high-quality service. This includes ensuring that services are able to support the training and development of the health play specialists they employ.
Health play specialists are trained through foundation degrees and prospective health play specialists can also be trained through the apprenticeship route.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of people eligible for winter flu vaccinations received them in 2025.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
For England, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) publishes provisional vaccine uptake data throughout the flu season. Weekly national level data for general practice (GP) patients is available from October to January, at the following link:
Monthly national and regional level data for GP patients, school-aged children, and frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) is available from October to January. The latest monthly data for the 2025 to 2026 season includes all vaccinations given between 1 September to 30 November 2025, and is avaiable at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptake#seasonal-flu-vaccine-uptake:-figures
Up to 4 January 2026, over 18 million people eligible for the national programme had been vaccinated so far this season.