Every parliamentary written question tabled by Claire Hanna this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 1–19 of 19 · Department of Health and Social Care
Whether he has considered standardising chargers for defibrillators.
The Department has not made an assessment of standardising chargers for defibrillators. The Government’s position is that local communities are best placed to make decisions about procuring, locating, and maintaining automated external defibrillators.
When his Department will publish a formal response to the Hughes report.
The Government is carefully considering the valuable work done by the Patient Safety Commissioner and the resulting Hughes Report, which sets out options for redress for those harmed by sodium valproate and pelvic mesh. I recently met with the Patient Safety Commissioner to provide an update on the work led by the Department regarding sodium valproate and pelvic mesh. Though a decision to provide financial compensation has not yet been made, the Government is determined to make meaningful progress on this area.
What discussions he has had with his counterparts in the Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on extending medical evacuation support to people currently in Gaza requiring access to urgent or serious medical treatment who have families based in the UK.
On 25 July 2025, the Prime Minister announced that the United Kingdom was taking immediate steps to alleviate the humanitarian situation, including getting injured children out of Gaza and into British hospitals. 50 children and their immediate families have been evacuated from Gaza to the UK as part of the UK Government led process. Participation in the UKG Gaza Medevacs is solely through the World Health Organization supported process and UKG will not consider direct requests for assistance. Outside of the UKG Gaza Medevacs process those wishing to come to the UK from Gaza should do so under the existing immigration rules.
What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of appraisal processes for (a) Freidrich’s Ataxia, (b) Neiman Pick’s disease and (c) other rare diseases for exceptional conditions.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) methods have been proven to be suitable for the evaluation of rare disease medicines, where companies are willing to price their medicines fairly. NICE’s approval rate for medicines for rare diseases is in line with its overall approval rate for new medicines, with 91% of medicines licensed for rare diseases recommended for some or all of the eligible patient population since April 2024.NICE initiated an appraisal of Skyclarys (omaveloxolone) for the treatment of Friedrich’s Ataxia for people aged 16 years old and over but has had to terminate its appraisal as the company has withdrawn its evidence submission. NICE will review its decision if the company decides to make a new submission. Olipudase alfa for treating Niemann-Pick disease types B and AB was evaluated through NICE’s highly specialised technologies (HST) programme, which is reserved for a small number of medicines for very rare and very severe diseases. The HST programme uses a much higher cost-effectiveness threshold than a standard NICE appraisal that recognises the challenges of developing medicines for very small patient populations. NICE’s independent evaluation committee recognised that the evidence showed that the treatment improved lung function but found that there were uncertainties in the economic model. Even when taking into account the substantial clinical benefits of treatment and the higher threshold, it was unable to recommend it as a cost-effective use of National Health Service resources.
If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the (a) Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 and (b) Articles (i) 42 and (ii) 43 of that Act on same-sex, non-married or civil partnered couples who both wish to included on their child’s birth certificate.
Section 42 and 43 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 provide a framework of protection from disputes over legal parenthood. These provisions allow female couples who are married or in a civil partnership, or who have undertaken treatment in a United Kingdom licenced clinic, to both register as parents. Fertility treatment in an UK licenced clinic also offers important health screening protections and access for donor-conceived children to information about their genetic origins through the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s register.There are no current plans to review these provisions in the Act.
With reference to the 10 year plan for the NHS, what steps he plans to take to ensure that equality of access to the NHS is retained for all.
The 10-Year Health Plan, along with associated policies and initiatives, details several measures to ensure equality of access to the NHS is retained for all. This includes:- Redirecting funds to deprived areas: Funding flows are being realigned towards areas with the highest health needs, targeting communities with disproportionate economic and health challenges.- Building Neighbourhood Health Centres: New "one-stop shop" health centres will be established in every community, starting with areas that have the lowest healthy life expectancy. These centres will provide integrated, multi-professional care closer to people's homes and will often be open for extended hours to improve convenience.- Addressing waiting list inequalities: The NHS now publishes waiting list data broken down by deprivation, ethnicity, age, and sex to identify and address unfair variations in waiting times.
How many families subject to no recourse to public funds in Northern Ireland (a) are in receipt of Healthy Start and (b) have had their application for Healthy Start rejected.
The Department transferred the Healthy Start Extension Scheme to the NHS Business Services Authority at the beginning of April 2025.Since April 2025, and as of the 11 June 2025, there are no families in Northern Ireland subject to no recourse to public funds who are in receipt of the Healthy Start Extension Scheme, or who have had an application rejected.The Department does not hold data on the number of rejected applications prior to the NHS Business Services Authority taking over the running of the extension scheme in April 2025.
If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a national redress scheme for (a) mothers and (b) children living with fetal valproate syndrome.
The Government is carefully considering the valuable work done by the Patient Safety Commissioner and the resulting Hughes Report, which set out options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh. We will be providing an update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s report at the earliest opportunity. Although the Hughes Report and its recommendations only cover patients harmed in England, the Government recognises that any response will likely have implications for Northern Ireland and is engaging with the Minister for Health in the Northern Ireland Executive on the Hughes Report.
What steps his Department is taking to improve NHS diagnostic processes for glioblastoma brain tumours.
The Department is working with NHS England in taking steps to improve diagnostic processes in the National Health Service for all patients with cancer, including those with glioblastoma brain tumours.We will get the NHS diagnosing cancer, including brain tumours, on time, diagnosing it earlier and treating it faster so more patients survive, and we will improve patients’ experience across the system. We will address the challenges in diagnostic waiting times, providing the number of CT, magnetic resonance imaging and other tests that are needed to reduce cancer waits.To do this, we set out expectations for renewed focus on cancer targets in the Elective Reform plan, published on 6 January 2025. We have asked systems and providers to identify local opportunities in both community diagnostic centres (CDCs) and hospital based diagnostic services to improve performance against the Faster Diagnosis Standard, to reduce the number of patients waiting too long for a confirmed diagnosis of cancer. Any new CDCs will be expected to include specific capacity for cancer testing as part of activity plans, enabled either through direct provision or via freeing up acute hospital capacity for more complex cancer tests.In September 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) announced new research funding opportunities for brain cancer research, including glioblastoma, spanning both adult and paediatric populations. This includes a national NIHR Brain Tumour Research Consortium, to ensure the most promising research opportunities are made available to adult and child patients and a new funding call to generate high quality evidence in brain tumour care, support, and rehabilitation.
What discussions his Department has had with the devolved administrations on development of a new HIV Action Plan.
Health is a devolved matter and it is the responsibility of individual governments to commission comprehensive healthcare based on population need. All four nations, however, are committed to reducing HIV transmissions.The new HIV Action Plan, which is du...
If he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the current age range for bowel cancer screening.
Based on advice from the UK National Screening Committee, NHS England committed in the Long Term Plan to extend the age range of people eligible for bowel screening using the FIT home testing kit from age 60 down to age 50.The age extension for bowel scre...
With reference to the Hughes report published by the Patient Safety Commissioner on 7 February 2024, if he will take steps to introduce a compensation scheme which is open to (a) all UK and (b) Nor
The Government is carefully considering the valuable work done by the Patient Safety Commissioner and the resulting Hughes Report, which set out options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh. We will be providing an update to the Patie...
Whether his Department has had discussions with Leukaemia UK on publication of a cancer strategy.
The Department has not had discussions with Leukaemia UK regarding the publication of a cancer strategy. The NHS Long Term Plan, published in January 2019, sets out the National Health Service’s current key ambitions on cancer. The plan sets out the NHS ambition to increase the number of cancers diagnosed at stages 1 and 2 to 75%, to increase the number of people surviving cancer for five years by 55,000 as a result.Professor Lord Darzi is currently undertaking an independent investigation into the state of the NHS, the findings of which will feed into the Government’s 10-year plan to build a health service that is fit for the future. The Government will set out any further priorities on cancer and health in due course.
What steps he plans to take to ensure that people with breast cancer receive (a) an early diagnosis and (b) swift treatment.
The Department is responsible for healthcare in England. In Northern Ireland, health is a transferred matter.Improving early diagnosis of cancer, including breast cancer, is a priority for NHS England. NHS England has an ambition to diagnose 75% of cancers at stage 1 or 2 by 2028, which will help tens of thousands of people live longer. The National Health Service in England carries out approximately 2.1 million breast cancer screens each year in hospitals and mobile screening vans, usually in convenient community locations.The Department is committed to improving waiting times for cancer treatment across England. We will start by delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, as the first step to ensuring early diagnosis and faster treatment.
Whether he plans to review the standards of training for dentistry students.
The General Dental Council (GDC) is the independent regulator for dentists and dental care professionals in the United Kingdom. The GDC sets the standards of training and education required, including clinical placements, to gain entry to its register, and approves and inspects education and training providers.
If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of making dental (a) foundation and (b) vocational training mandatory for dentists entering private practice.
The General Dental Council (GDC) is the independent regulator of dentistry in the United Kingdom, and sets the standards that must be met by domestic and international applicants wishing to be added to the UK dental register. Only dentists and dental care professionals registered with the GDC can legally practise in both National Health Service and private dentistry in the UK. The GDC sets out these standards to ensure registrants are safe to practise, and patients receive a high standard of care.
Whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the clinical experience dentists receive before becoming eligible to practice.
The General Dental Council (GDC) is the independent regulator for dentists and dental care professionals in the United Kingdom. The GDC sets the standards of training and education required, including clinical placements, to gain entry to its register, and approves and inspects education and training providers.
Whether his Department plans to review the immigration health surcharge.
The Government has not announced any plans to review the policy.
What steps his Department plans to (a) help increase the survival rate of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests and (b) increase the availability of defibrillators in public settings.
As of July 2024, there are 93,113 automated external defibrillators registered in the United Kingdom on the National Defibrillator Network, also known as The Circuit, including 73,682 in England. Moving forward, the Department has asked Professor Lord Darzi to investigate the state of the National Health Service. The Department will then set out its 10-year plan for the NHS.