Written questions by Furniss.

What his planned timetable is for publication of the cardiovascular disease Modern Service Framework.

Awaiting answer.

What steps he is taking to support the mental health of women going through (a) menopause, (b) perimenopause and (c) hormonal treatment related to menopause.

The Government recognises the impact menopause can have on women’s lives.The Renewed Women’s Health Strategy identifies menopause as a core women’s health priority, recognising its impact on women’s health, wellbeing, work, and quality of life. The strate...

Whether his Department has identified links between menopause and a heightened risk of suicide; and what support his Department provides to safeguard the mental health of women reaching menopause.

Menopause can have a significant impact on a woman’s mental health, and low mood and anxiety are recognised symptoms that some women may experience during the perimenopause and menopause.The Department recognises the importance of ensuring that women expe...

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of treatment delays on outcomes for patients with heart valve disease.

We recognise the importance of reducing waiting times. We are making progress - hitting our target of 65% against the 18 week standard this March and delivering largest single month elective performance improvement in 17 years - excluding the pandemic. Ou...

Whether his Department plans to include metrics on endometriosis diagnostic times, access to imaging, menopause prescribing, treatment review and referral variation in the women’s health data dashb

The women's health data dashboard is available on the NHS Futures website and is available to anyone working within the health and care sector who requires insight into women's health. The dashboard records need, access, outcomes, and experiences across a...

What steps his Department is taking to support Integrated Care Boards to implement NICE guideline NG73 on endometriosis in primary care, including training for GPs and practice nurses on recognisin

The Government acknowledges the importance of ensuring healthcare professionals are adequately trained and educated on women’s health conditions, including endometriosis, and we have taken action to address this.NHS England encourages adherence to guidanc...

What plans his Department has to ensure that Integrated Care Boards have clear pathways for access to specialist menopause advice and escalation for complex cases, including premature ovarian insuf

The Renewed Women’s Health Strategy, published in April 2026, committed to redesigning clinical pathways, including for menopause.These redesigned pathways will create roadmaps for health systems to use and adapt for local needs that will enable women to ...

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that menopause training is included in routine primary care continuing professional development and the women’s health workforce model to ensure consis

The Government recognises the ongoing need to ensure healthcare practitioners have sufficient knowledge of women’s health, including menopause, to provide the best possible care.General practitioners (GPs) are responsible for ensuring their own clinical k...

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of single points of access for non-urgent gynaecology referrals, specialist ultrasound and community diagnostic routes on reducing di

From October 2026, all providers, supported by integrated care boards, are expected to ensure that all appropriate requests and referrals flow through a Single Point of Access (SPoA) model, to support patients to receive rapid specialist assessment and a ...

A) what steps are being taken to inform those living with Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) that they are entitled to earlier screening for breast cancer, and b) what steps are being taken to improve

This Government is committed to improving cancer screening services in line with the National Cancer Plan and as part of the 10-Year Health Plan’s shift from treatment to prevention.Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) affects individuals differently. An indivi...

Whether the review into the Carr-Hill formula accounts for GP translation service costs.

The review of the general practice (GP) funding formula, the Carr-Hill formula, is being conducted by the National Institute for Health and Care Research. The purpose of the review is to ensure that funding for GPs is distributed equitably and is targeted towards areas that need it most.The review has commenced and will draw on a range of evidence and advice from experts. Implementation of any new funding approach will be subject to ministerial decision, in the context of the available funding and our commitment to substantively reform the General Medical Services Contract within this Parliament.Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning services to meet the health needs of their local population, which includes responsibility for ensuring that there is adequate provision of translation services.

What assessment has been made of the potential merits of providing training to mental health teams on support to children with lifelong speech and language difficulties.

The Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with the Department for Education and NHS England to improve access to community health services, including speech and language therapy, for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. In addition to the undergraduate degree route, speech and language therapists can now also train via a degree apprenticeship. This route is going into its fourth year of delivery and offers an alternative pathway to the traditional degree route into a successful career as a speech and language therapist. In partnership with NHS England, the Department for Education has extended the Early Language and Support for Every Child programme, trialling new ways of working to better identify and support children with Speech, Language and Communication Needs in early years settings and primary schools. At the Spending Review, we confirmed that we will deliver on our commitment to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers by the end of this Parliament, roll out mental health support teams to cover all schools in England by 2029/30 and expand NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement and Support schemes. We have also already started piloting Neighbourhood Mental Health Centres. These pilots aim to provide open access care for anyone with a severe mental illness 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Our aim is to have one Neighbourhood Health Centre in each community that brings together National Health Service, local authority and voluntary sector services in one building to help create a holistic offer that meets the needs of local populations including children with lifelong speech and language difficulties.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of delayed access to specialist heart valve treatment has on (a) avoidable unscheduled hospitalisations, (b) deaths on waiting lists and (c) other patient outcomes.

No specific assessment has been made of the potential impact of delayed access to specialist heart valve disease (HVD) treatment on avoidable unscheduled hospitalisations, deaths on waiting lists, or other patient outcomes.Cutting waiting times, including for cardiology services, is a key priority for the Government. The cardiology waiting list decreased from 412,164 in September 2024 to 393,400 in September 2025, although this data includes estimates for missing data.Cardiology is a priority specialty for significant transformation, as outlined in the Elective Reform Plan. The ambition is, where possible and clinically appropriate, to increase specialist care closer to home, and outside of hospitals so that hospital capacity is freed up, enabling patients' timely access to care, as well as improving outcomes.NHS England has committed to optimising pathways of care for patients with HVD, including earlier detection and improved treatment pathways. To achieve this, the NHS England Cardiac Programme has established an expert advisory group and carried out work including, in 2024/25, providing targeted funding for pathway improvement projects. These included projects that focussed on improving referral processes and local diagnostic pathway provision, as well as fast-tracking patients on valve disease pathways.To accelerate progress towards the Government’s ambition to reduce premature deaths from heart disease and stroke by 25% within a decade, we will publish a new cardiovascular disease modern service framework in 2026.

Whether NHS England has made an estimate of the number and proportion of women diagnosed with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis who receive timely treatment compared to men.

The following table shows the count of elective hospital admissions where there was a primary diagnosis of 'aortic stenosis', by patient gender, as well as the median duration from the receipt of referral by the hospital to admission for 2022/23 to 2024/25:YearGenderTotal admissionsNumber of admissions with a valid waiting timeMedian time to admission (days)2022/23Male6,0725,193482022/23Female3,6003,073442023/24Male6,1265,364472023/24Female3,6953,259462024/25Male6,6155,822432024/25Female4,1053,62342Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS England.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure greater provision of British Sign Language across the NHS.

Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning services to meet the needs of their local population, which includes responsibility for ensuring that there is adequate provision of British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters to support patients in the community.All National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers are expected to meet the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), which details the approach to supporting the information and communication support needs of people with a disability, impairment or sensory loss, including people using BSL.On 30 June 2025, a revised AIS was published. NHS England is working to support implementation of the AIS with awareness raising, communication and engagement, and a review of the current e-learning modules on the AIS. The intention is to ensure that staff and organisations in the NHS are aware of the AIS and the importance of meeting the information and communication needs of disabled people using these services.I also recently attended and spoke at a parliamentary event highlighting the BSL Advisory Board health and social care report and we will be considering its findings.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure the switch from analogue to digital health services is inclusive of people whose first language is British Sign Language.

The Government has set out a commitment to make the NHS App British Sign Language accessible in the 10-Year Health Plan, which covers the period to 2035.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure councils implement the requirements of the Care Act 2014 on Individual Service Funds.

Under the Care Act 2014, everyone whose needs are met by the local authority (LA) must receive a personal budget as part of the care and support plan. The budget sets out how much of the cost of care will be met by the LA and how much will be met by the adult.Individual Service Funds (ISFs) are one of the ways in which the personal budget can be deployed. It allows for a third-party provider to hold and manage the budget on behalf of the individual.Guidance on ISFs is set out in the Care and Support Statutory (CASS) Guidance, issued under the Care Act 2014. The CASS guidance sets out that LAs should offer ISFs where possible and provide clear information on how they work. Where an ISF arrangement is not available locally, the LA should explore arrangements to develop this offer and should be receptive to requests to create arrangements with specified providers.In addition, and supported by the Department, Think Local Act Personal has produced guidance for LAs on ISFs, which can be found on their website, at the following link:https://thinklocalactpersonal.org.uk/resources/individual-service-funds-isfs-and-contracting-for-flexible-support/The Care Quality Commission is assessing how well LAs in England are delivering adult social care by looking at how they are performing against their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014. The assessments identify LAs strengths and areas for improvement, facilitating the sharing of good practice and helping us to target support where it is most needed.The Department has not had discussions with LAs specifically on the effectiveness of the implementation of ISFs under the Care Act 2014.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure earlier (a) detection and (b) treatment of heart valve disease is prioritised within NHS long-term planning.

In line with the goals of the 10-Year Health Plan, NHS England has already undertaken measures to improve the early detection of heart valve disease (HVD). These include:commissioning the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society to develop a new referral form to support the investigation of HVD; andestablishing an Expert Advisory Group on HVD with the aim of ensuring excellence in care whilst exploring ways to improve HVD management nationwide.In 2025, NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time programme published new and revised cardiology pathways to support evidence-based, efficient, and consistent care across primary and secondary settings, including for aortic stenosis for patients with severe symptomatic heart valve disease.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of delayed access to specialist heart valve treatment on (a) avoidable unscheduled hospitalisations, (b) deaths on the waiting lists, and (c) other patient outcomes.

The Department has not made any specific assessment of the impact of delayed heart valve treatment on avoidable unscheduled hospitalisations, deaths on the waiting lists, and other patient outcomes.It is unacceptable that so many patients have been let down for too long whilst they wait for the care they need. We have wasted no time in getting to work cutting National Health Service waiting lists and ensuring people have the best possible experience during their care. We promised change, and we’ve delivered early with a reduction in the list of over 206,000 since the Government came into office. Specifically, the waiting list for cardiology services has reduced by over 25,000 in that time.Between July 2024 and June 2025, we delivered 5.2 million additional appointments compared to the previous year, more than double our pledge of two million. This marks a vital first step to delivering on the commitment that 92% of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029.

What steps NHS England is taking to raise awareness of (a) heart valve disease and (b) its symptoms among the (i) population and (ii) healthcare professionals.

Continuous improvements have been made in the heart valve disease (HVD) pathway for service users, but there remains unwarranted variation and inequalities in terms of care for patients with HVD for example in access to surgery for aortic stenosis, a form of HVD; and late presentation which increases the risk of surgery and limits recovery after surgery.NHS England produced an e-learning for healthcare on heart failure and heart valve disease in early 2023. This package of education supports clinicians across primary care and community settings to better recognise the symptoms, diagnose, manage, and support patients with heart failure and heart valve disease, including palliative and end of life care. In doing so, clinicians are supported to identify and manage patients in primary care where appropriate, to reduce avoidable admissions to hospital.In 2024 NHS England commissioned the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society to develop a new referral form to support the investigation of heart valve disease. The referral form is to guide primary healthcare teams to confidently refer patients with suspected, or known, valve disease for specialist assessment and/or echocardiography, where appropriate. The resource includes:- a comprehensive checklist to support patient referral for further assessment;- important signs and symptoms; and- referral pathways for suspected heart valve disease.