Written questions by Jogee.

What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of a cross-governmental strategy for musculoskeletal health.

Awaiting answer.

What recent steps he has taken to help ensure (a) accessible and (b) sufficient fertility support for women experiencing breast cancer in (i) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (ii)Staffordshire and (iii) England.

Awaiting answer.

What steps his Department is taking to help ensure people are able to access a timely diagnosis for arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and b) Staffordshire.

Awaiting answer.

What steps he is taking to help improve the health of children and young people in a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and b) Staffordshire.

Awaiting answer.

What recent steps he has taken to ensure residents in a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and b) Staffordshire can access a GP in their local community.

Awaiting answer.

What steps he is taking to reduce ambulance response times in a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and b) Staffordshire.

Awaiting answer.

What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of mandatory suicide prevention training for emergency service workers.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of Marie Curie's Fix End of Life Care campaign.

We welcome Marie Curie’s Fix End of Life Care campaign. We are working closely with Marie Curie, alongside a number of other stakeholders, in the development of our Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End of Life Care.We will continue t...

What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to improve support for people requiring wheelchairs.

On 21 July 2025, the Minister for Social Security and Disability announced our plans to develop and publish a Government Plan for Disability. The Department is working with the Cabinet Office Disability Unit to support the development of the Plan for Disa...

What steps he is taking to support people with Multiple Sclerosis in a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and b) Staffordshire.

Integrated care boards (ICBs), including the NHS Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB, which covers Newcastle-under-Lyme, is responsible for commissioning services for their local population, including for those with multiple sclerosis (MS). The Governmen...

What steps his Department is taking to improve early diagnosis of polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome.

The Government recognises that women suffering with gynaecological conditions, including polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), previously referred to as polycystic ovary syndrome, have been failed for far too long, and we acknowledge the impact...

What steps he is taking to improve early diagnosis of prostate cancer in a) Newcastle-under-Lyme, b) Staffordshire and c) England.

The Government has committed to meeting the cancer waiting times standards in England by the end of this Parliament, by modernising the whole cancer pathway so that patients are diagnosed and treated more quickly.Through the National Cancer Plan for Engla...

How many a) letters, b) emails and c) written communications were received by his Department from Newcastle-under-Lyme District Borough Council between i) December 2019 and July 2024 and ii) July 2

The Department has received no correspondence via our primary correspondence routes detailed on the GOV.UK website from Newcastle-under-Lyme District Borough Council. We do not record centralised data on written communications received outside of these ad...

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of access to health visitors for families in a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and b) Staffordshire.

Families in England must receive at least five health visits, with additional support provided according to need. Health visiting service delivery data is available, and published annually, for upper tiers of local government, such as the Staffordshire County Council, but not lower tiers, such as the Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council.The relevant dataset and statistical commentary for Staffordshire is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/health-visitor-service-delivery-data-for-2024-to-2025In line with the Government’s commitment to strengthening health visiting, we have recently refreshed the guidance for the Healthy Child Programme, which specifies requirements for health visiting services, to promote national consistency in service delivery. We are working closely with regional colleagues to support the implementation of this guidance across the country.

What steps he is taking to increase the number of health visitors in England.

The child health workforce, including health visiting teams, is central to how we support families to give their children the best start in life. Health visitors’ contact with parents, carers, and children of all ages is a source of vital advice and support, helping to ensure that health, development, and safeguarding needs are identified early. As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan and Best Start in Life Strategy, the Government has committed to strengthening health visiting services to ensure that all families have access to high-quality, personalised support.In the 10-Year Health Plan, we committed to a Professional Strategy for Nursing and Midwifery. Due for publication following the 10 Year Workforce Plan, this strategy will set out a professional direction of travel, up to 2040, for all nurses, including health visitors, midwives, and nursing associates in England.

What assessment his Department has made of the effect of Pramipexole on people living with Parkinson's.

Pramipexole is one of a range of medicines that help manage the symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for ensuring that medicines and healthcare products meet appropriate standards of safety, quality, and effectiveness, and are supported by detailed product information, via the Patient Information Leaflet (PIL) and the Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC). Both the PIL and the SmPC are designed to support safe use of the medicine by providing essential information for patients, and more detailed prescribing guidance for healthcare professionals via the SmPC. Any changes to these documents must be reviewed and approved by the MHRA.The MHRA continuously reviews the safety information for all licensed medicines, including pramipexole, to ensure that warnings and side-effects listed in the product information accurately reflect the available data. No effective medicine is completely free of risk and regulatory decisions on risks and benefits of a medicine are based on data from a number of different sources including the Yellow Card Scheme, scientific literature, pharmaceutical companies, and worldwide regulatory authorities, with regulatory action taken promptly as and when necessary.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is responsible for producing useful and usable guidance for the National Health Service and wider health and care system. The NICE guideline NG71 covers diagnosing and managing Parkinson's disease in people aged 18 years old and over. It aims to improve care from the time of diagnosis, including monitoring and managing symptoms, providing information and support, and palliative care. This guidance is available at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng71/chapter/Recommendations

What steps is his department taking to ensure that people with Huntington’s disease in a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and b) Staffordshire have a named healthcare professional who coordinates their care.

The Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases, such as Huntington’s Disease, including in Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire. Better coordination of care is a priority under the UK Rare Diseases Framework.On 26 February, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published an evidence-based new quality standard for rare diseases, which includes a named healthcare professional to coordinate care. It sets out priority areas for quality improvement and NHS England and my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, are required to have regard to quality standards as they discharge their quality improvement duties. Local National Health Service commissioners are expected to take them fully into account in the design of services that meet the needs of their local populations.The revised NHS England Specialised Neurology Services (adults) specification 2025 also outlines expectations of a system-wide approach, incorporating end-to-end pathways within an integrated neurology system, supporting more equitable and efficient care for people with long-term neurological diseases, including Huntington’s disease.Dedicated care co-ordinators for Huntington’s disease are not centrally commissioned. Integrated care boards are responsible for working with their local communities to understand the needs of the local populations and to make decisions about how best to commission services, including for those with Huntington’s disease.

What steps his department is taking to ensure neighbourhood health centres meet the needs of people with Huntington's disease.

The Neighbourhood Health Service will ensure that people can better access care that is joined up, personalised, and designed to proactively meet their needs. It will improve access by making it easier to speak to a general practitioner (GP), providing more care closer to where people live, including in neighbourhood health centres, and will move us towards a fully digitally enabled health service.Integrated neighbourhood teams will support people with conditions like Huntington’s disease that require specialist care by considering their needs holistically, with reference to health, care, and wider needs.In the Autumn budget, the Government announced its commitment to deliver 250 neighbourhood health centres, with 120 delivered by 2030, through a mix of public private partnership and public capital. On 26 March 2026, we announced Wave 1 of the neighbourhood health centre schemes, with 27 sites across England selected to bring care closer to home 12 hours a day, six days a week, backed by £50 million.Neighbourhood health centres will be the place to go for most health needs in every community. These centres bring together GPs, with a mix of community, local authority, and voluntary sector services. Integrated care boards and local authorities will determine the particular mix of services shaped by local population needs. These will be designed to reflect the priorities and requirements of each community, including the needs of people with Huntington’s disease where appropriate. In March 2026, we published the Neighbourhood Health Framework to support this service planning, and we are shortly due to publish additional guidance on neighbourhood health centres.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of his department’s requirement for opportunity cost neutrality in NICE’s severity modifier on investment in treatments for more severe conditions.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for East Grinstead and Uckfield on 13 January 2026 to Question 103809.

If his Department will publish the analysis of responses to the 2018 consultation on the Nutrient Profiling Model before any decision to adopt that model; and if he will make a statement.

The Government published responses to the 2018 consultation on 27 January 2026 alongside the Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM) 2018 Review and Consultation Outcome and the associated NPM technical guidance.The Government launched the consultation on applying the new NPM to the advertising and promotions restrictions on 25 March 2026.