Written questions by Jones.

What his planned timetable is for replacing Professor Sir Mike Richards as chair of the UK National Screening Committee.

Professor Sir Mike Richards was appointed as Chair of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) on 11 March 2022. Appointments to the UK NSC are made in line with the principles of public appointment as set out by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. The first term of Professor Sir Mike Richards’ appointment is due to come to an end on the 10 March 2025 and a chair’s appraisal will be carried out by the English Chief Medical Officer to determine whether the appointment should be extended for a second term. The appointment can be extended up to three terms, not exceeding 10 years.

Whether he plans to strengthen (a) early intervention and (b) prevention strategies to reduce the number of people entering the cancer pathway.

To improve early intervention, NHS England is running the Help Us, Help You campaign, which was relaunched on 6 January 2025. The Help Us, Help You campaign seeks to address the barriers that are deterring patients from accessing the National Health Service.Furthermore, the Government recognises the importance of primary and secondary prevention within a holistic approach to improving cancer outcomes and reducing the number of people entering the cancer pathway. With this aim, the new National Cancer Plan will set out how we will fight cancer on all fronts, from prevention to diagnosis, treatment, and research.

Whether his Department is taking steps to ensure the National Cancer Plan includes prevention measures to help tackle the wider modifiable risk factors of cancer beyond smoking.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has announced that a National Cancer Plan for England will be published this year.The Government recognises the importance of primary and secondary prevention within a holistic approach to improving cancer outcomes. With this aim, the plan will set out how we will fight cancer on all fronts, from prevention to diagnosis, treatment, and research, and we will look at a wide range of modifiable risk factors.

If he will take steps to convene a roundtable of (a) pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) manufacturers, (b) patient advocacy groups, (c) Government stakeholders and (d) other relevant stakeholders on tackling shortages of PERT.

The Department currently has no plans to convene a roundtable regarding the shortages of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT). The Department regularly engages with all suppliers of PERT to discuss the latest stock position and the steps that are being taken to boost production to mitigate the supply issue. Through work with suppliers, we have managed to secure additional volumes of PERT for 2025. The Department has also reached out to specialist importers who have sourced unlicensed stock to assist in covering the gap in the market.The Department also has frequent conversations with representatives from the impacted patient groups so that they are informed on the supply situation and the mitigation actions being taken.In December 2024, the Department issued further management advice to healthcare professionals. This directs clinicians to consider these unlicensed imports when licensed stock is unavailable, and includes actions for integrated care boards to ensure local mitigation plans are put in place and implemented. The Department, in collaboration with NHS England, has created a webpage to include the latest update on PERT availability and easily accessible advice on the prescribing and ordering of alternative PERT products.

If he will create an action plan to tackle shortages of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy drugs.

The Department currently has no plans to convene a roundtable regarding the shortages of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT). The Department regularly engages with all suppliers of PERT to discuss the latest stock position and the steps that are being taken to boost production to mitigate the supply issue. Through work with suppliers, we have managed to secure additional volumes of PERT for 2025. The Department has also reached out to specialist importers who have sourced unlicensed stock to assist in covering the gap in the market.The Department also has frequent conversations with representatives from the impacted patient groups so that they are informed on the supply situation and the mitigation actions being taken.In December 2024, the Department issued further management advice to healthcare professionals. This directs clinicians to consider these unlicensed imports when licensed stock is unavailable, and includes actions for integrated care boards to ensure local mitigation plans are put in place and implemented. The Department, in collaboration with NHS England, has created a webpage to include the latest update on PERT availability and easily accessible advice on the prescribing and ordering of alternative PERT products.

When he plans to respond to Question 29833 tabled by the hon. Member for Wokingham on 6 February 2025.

I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave to Questions 29832 and 29833 on 11 March 2025.

When he plans to respond to Question 29832 tabled by the hon. Member for Wokingham on 6 February 2025.

I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave to Questions 29832 and 29833 on 11 March 2025.

When he plans to respond to Question 31610 tabled by the hon. Member for Wokingham on 13 February 2025.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question 31610 on 12 March 2025.

If he will make it his policy to provide GPs with training to diagnose brain tumours.

The standard of medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC), which is an independent statutory body. The GMC has the general function of promoting high standards of education and co-ordinating all stages of education to ensure that medical students and newly qualified doctors are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes essential for professional practice The curriculum for general practitioner (GP) specialty training is set by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), and has to meet the standards set by the GMC and be formally approved by them. Whilst the curriculum may not necessarily highlight a specific condition, it instead emphasises the skills and approaches a GP must develop to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients. This is assessed by the Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners Examination.The RCGP provides several resources on cancer prevention, diagnosis and care for GPs, relevant for the primary care setting.

What steps his Department is taking to promote awareness of oesophageal cancer month.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to the Hon. Member for Strangford on 23 January 2025 to Question 24851.

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 February 2025 to Question 30436 on GPs, what progress he has made of recruiting more than 1,000 GPs through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme.

When the Government became aware of the reports of general practitioner (GP) unemployment amongst newly qualified GPs, we acted immediately and identified £82 million of additional funding to allow for newly qualified GPs to be employed through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, as a first step in addressing the issues of GP unemployment and increasing capacity so that patients can access appointments.Information on the number of recently qualified GPs for which primary care networks are claiming reimbursement via the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme is currently being collated, but is not yet published. We are working to verify the data and establish its reliability, which is necessary before any dataset can be published.

Pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2025 to Question 29713 on radiotherapy machines, when he plans to publish the funding allocation for the £70 million investment for replacing older radiotherapy machines.

NHS England will be writing shortly to those trusts which have been allocated funding for a replacement machine. There are currently no plans to publish full details of the funding allocation.

What steps his Department is taking to promote prostate cancer awareness month.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to the Hon. Member for Strangford on 23 January 2025 to Question 24851.

What steps his Department is taking to promote awareness of brain tumour awareness month.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to the Hon. Member for Strangford on 23 January 2025 to Question 24851.

Pursuant to the Answer of 18 February 2025 to Question 30436 on GPs, what proportion of the 38,000 additional roles recruited through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme are GPs.

Over 38,000 direct patient care roles such as pharmacists and physios have been recruited into practices and primary care networks (PCNs) from March 2019 to December 2024. This data does not include general practitioners (GPs) employed through the scheme. PCNs have been able to recruit newly qualified GPs through the scheme since October 2024. Information on the number of recently qualified general practitioners for which primary care networks are claiming reimbursement via the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme is currently being collated but is not yet published. We are working to collate and verify the data and establish its reliability, which is necessary before any dataset can be published.

What steps his Department is taking to promote awareness of kidney cancer awareness month.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to the Hon. Member for Strangford on 23 January 2025 to Question 24851.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 January to Question 25057 on Workforce freezes, whether he plans to publish an Answer following engagement with NHS England.

We have increased specialty training places for key roles, such as radiologists, radiographers, and other diagnostic professionals, alongside initiatives to improve retention and reduce reliance on outsourcing. These efforts are part of our continued commitment to building a resilient, sustainable service capable of meeting rising demand and improving patient outcomes.We are aware of cases where trusts have put recruitment restrictions in place in diagnostic services. Systems and trusts need to manage their expenditure within the budgets they have been allocated for the year. Information regarding proportion of trusts is not currently available.

If he will hold discussions with (a) people that use catheters, (b) clinicians and (c) manufacturers on the potential impact of the proposals set out in the document entitled, Proposals for updating Part IX of the Drug Tariff: Medical Devices available for prescribing in Primary Care, published in October 2023, on (i) the ability of clinicians to prescribe the most appropriate product for patients, (ii) patient (A) experience and (B) outcomes and (iii) costs to the NHS.

Officials in the Department have been engaging with people that use catheters, clinicians, and manufacturers on the proposals to update Part IX of the Drug Tariff. We will continue to do so as the work progresses. Following the consultation on proposed updates to Part IX of the Drug Tariff, the Department commissioned a patient survey and focus groups with people that use products available for prescribing, including catheters. This has been hugely important in gathering input from patients about what features they value in medical devices used outside of hospital. A report is currently being compiled on the findings and will be shared with interested parties.Eight Expert Reference Groups covering the range of medical devices available on Part IX of the Drug Tariff, including urological care, were established to gather input from experts, including clinicians. In addition to the consultation, since August, manufacturers have been invited to comment on the draft iterations of the recategorization work and assessment framework. Now that the recategorization work is nearly finalised, with a view to resharing with stakeholders, the analysis is being updated to assess any impact on costs to the National Health Service. This work does not change the fact that Part IX of the Drug Tariff is a list of available products for prescribing and clinicians can still select the most appropriate product for patients. The aim is to increase comparability of the many thousands of products available for prescribing.

If he will publish all responses to the consultation entitled Proposals for updating Part IX of the Drug Tariff: Medical Devices available for prescribing in Primary Care, published in October 2023.

The response to the Part IX Drug Tariff Consultation was issued in August 2024 to the target audience. The response to the consultation summarises the responses and sets out the Government’s response and the next steps. Given the potentially commercially sensitive information in the responses to the consultation, the Department will not publish the individual responses.

For what reason the consultation on the review of Part IX of the Drug Tariff was restricted; and what steps he plans to take to ensure that the review does not lead to the removal of access to the most clinically-appropriate products for patients who intermittently self-catheterise.

The Part IX Drug Tariff Consultation was open between October 2023 and January 2024, and was targeted rather than public, owing to its complex subject matter. The consultation was sent to trade associations and companies with listings on Part IX of the Drug Tariff, National Health Service commissioners, clinical groups, and patient representative groups. There are 825 intermittent catheters listed on Part IX with approximately £176 million spent on them annually. The amendments that were consulted on intend to increase meaningful choice, not to decrease choice for clinicians and patients, intend to increase comparison between products, which can increase awareness of different brands amongst prescribers, and support the adoption of innovation that can improve patient outcomes and quality of life.