Written questions by Shannon.

What steps his Department is taking to improve the use of innovative technologies to treat glaucoma through the 10-Year Plan.

The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts our National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention. All of these are relevant to preventing and managing conditions such as glaucoma in all parts of the country. More tests and scans delivered in the community and better joint working between services will support the management of conditions including glaucoma, closer to home. The 10-Year Health Plan aims to benefit everyone, and eye health will likely benefit from these reforms. The 10-Year Health Plan ensures that the system and framework are in place to support the delivery for people with glaucoma. The plan has been developed through the extensive engagement we have undertaken with the public, patients, and staff, including with the eye care sector. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence will continue to play a crucial role in evaluating new medicines, medical devices, and other technologies to determine their clinical and cost-effectiveness before recommending them for NHS use.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of family hubs on (a) neighbourhood health and (b) integrated community-based health services.

We are committed to moving towards a Neighbourhood Health Service, with more care delivered locally to create healthier communities, spot problems earlier, and support people to stay healthier and maintain their independence for longer.The Family Hubs and Start for Life programme supports the three reform shifts set out in the Government’s Health Mission, including the shift from hospital to community. It is already delivering a community-based model to transform health outcomes for babies, children, and their families.The effectiveness of the programme will take time to be realised, as long-term evaluation is required. The programme is subject to two national, independent evaluations to understand its implementation and impact.

Whether he plans for the (a) voluntary and (b) community sector to have a role in implementing the neighbourhood cancer care model set out in the national cancer plan.

The National Cancer Plan will seek to foster improved collaboration with partners across the cancer ecosystem, including the voluntary and community sector.The 10-Year Health Plan laid out our vision for a Neighbourhood Health Service, which will rebalance our health system so that it fits around people’s lives, not the other way round. At its core, the Neighbourhood Health Service will embody our new preventative principle that care should happen as locally as it can: digitally by default, in a patient’s home if possible, in a neighbourhood health centre when needed, in a hospital if necessary.The Neighbourhood Health Service will mean millions of patients are treated and care for closer to their home by new teams of professionals; and neighbourhood health centres will provide easier, more convenient access to a full range of healthcare services on people’s doorsteps.We will soon launch the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme (NNHIP). The NNHIP will support systems across the country to test new ways of working, share learning, and scale what works, making Neighbourhood Health the norm, not the exception.The National Cancer Plan will be published later in 2025 and will set out further details on measures to support collaboration with cancer partners.

What steps his Department plans to take to help ensure that the national cancer plan includes measures to support collaboration with partners across the cancer ecosystem.

The National Cancer Plan will seek to foster improved collaboration with partners across the cancer ecosystem, including the voluntary and community sector.The 10-Year Health Plan laid out our vision for a Neighbourhood Health Service, which will rebalance our health system so that it fits around people’s lives, not the other way round. At its core, the Neighbourhood Health Service will embody our new preventative principle that care should happen as locally as it can: digitally by default, in a patient’s home if possible, in a neighbourhood health centre when needed, in a hospital if necessary.The Neighbourhood Health Service will mean millions of patients are treated and care for closer to their home by new teams of professionals; and neighbourhood health centres will provide easier, more convenient access to a full range of healthcare services on people’s doorsteps.We will soon launch the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme (NNHIP). The NNHIP will support systems across the country to test new ways of working, share learning, and scale what works, making Neighbourhood Health the norm, not the exception.The National Cancer Plan will be published later in 2025 and will set out further details on measures to support collaboration with cancer partners.

What steps he plans to take through the national cancer plan to help (a) reduce inequalities in cancer care and (b) improve outcomes in underserved communities.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Mid Leicestershire on 16 June 2025 to Question 58897.

What steps his Department is taking to improve the (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment of multiple sclerosis.

At the national level, there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), including the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology and the RightCare Progressive Neurological Conditions Toolkit.NHS England has also established a Neurology Transformation Programme, a multi-year, clinically led programme, which has developed a new model of integrated care to support integrated care boards (ICBs) to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients, including those with MS. This focuses on providing access equitably across the country, care as close to home as possible, and early intervention to prevent illness and deterioration in patients with long-term neurological conditions. A toolkit is being developed to support ICBs to understand and implement this new model, which will include components on delivering acute neurology services, improving health equity in neurology, and improving community neurology services. The Neurology Transformation Programme has developed an Adult Neurology ICB dashboard, which includes specific data on MS disease-modifying therapies. Additionally, NHS England has also developed guidance for systems on improving access to disease-modifying treatments for MS closer to home, which includes successful delivery models and good practice case studies.We have set up a United Kingdom-wide Neuro Forum, facilitating formal, biannual meetings across the Department, NHS England, the devolved administrations and health services, and the Neurological Alliances of all four nations. The new forum brings key stakeholders together, to share learnings across the system and discuss challenges, best practice examples, and potential solutions for improving the care of people with neurological conditions, including MS.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced guidance on the management of MS in adults, which includes a number of recommendations on recognising the signs and symptoms of MS and the initial assessment and diagnosis of MS. NICE has recommended a number of new medicines for use in the treatment of relapsing-remitting MS that are now routinely available for use in the treatment of National Health Service patients. In December 2024, NICE recommended Ublituximab for treating relapsing-remitting MS, and more recently in April 2025, NICE recommended Cladribine for treating active relapsing-remitting forms of MS.

Whether his Department plans to establish a governance framework for (a) monitoring the implementation of and (b) ensuring accountability for the national cancer plan.

Governance mechanisms for monitoring implementation and ensuring accountability for delivery will be established as part of the development of the National Cancer Plan, which will be published later this year.

How much funding his Department has allocated to support mental health facilities in each of the last three years.

It is for local commissioners and providers to decide the level of funding required to support the operation of individual mental health facilities, and this information is not collected centrally.

How many people have been diagnosed with Actinic keratoses in each of the last five years.

The following table shows the count of finished admission episodes (FAEs) with a recorded primary diagnosis of 'actinic keratoses', for the years 2019/20 to 2023/24, in English National Health Service hospitals:YearFAEs2019/2013,6752020/219,2782021/2212,5702022/2313,4592023/2415,346Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS England.Notes:an FAE is the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider;FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes; andthe data presented here is a count of the number of admissions rather than the number of patients. It's possible that the same person may have been admitted to hospital on more than one occasion within any given period. The majority of cases of actinic keratoses are treated by a general practitioner or elsewhere in the community, with only a small minority of cases, typically the most serious, requiring hospital admission. The data presented here will, therefore, only represent a small proportion of the total number of cases that were treated.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure the National Cancer Plan prioritises improving patient (a) experience and (b) quality of life.

The National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care, as well as prevention, and research and innovation. It will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care to better the experience and outcomes for people with cancer.The plan will aim to improve how the physical and psychosocial needs of people with cancer can be met, with a focus on personalised care to improve quality of life. It will address how the experience of care can be improved for those diagnosed, treated, and living with and beyond cancer.

How many hospitals are able to provide aquablation therapy for prostate cancer.

Improving access to cancer treatment and care are key priorities for the Government for all cancer types, including prostate cancer. Aquablation therapy is not used for prostate cancer and so no hospitals will be offering it for prostate cancer.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends aquablation therapy for treating benign prostatic hyperplasia.The treatment options available for prostate cancer are dependent on the individual circumstances of the patient, for example whether the cancer is localised. Treatment decisions are made between patients and their clinicians.

What steps he is taking to improve patient safety in hospitals.

The Government’s commitment to advancing patient safety in the National Health Service is demonstrated by various measures.This includes delivery of the NHS Patient Safety Strategy, which is overseen by NHS England. The strategy is now achieving its aims of saving an extra 1,000 lives per year. By April 2025, the strategy’s patient safety improvement programmes had led to over 1,500 neonatal lives saved, over 500 fewer cerebral palsy cases in premature babies, and more than 1,900 deaths prevented overall through medicine safety improvements, including work to reduce long term opioid use. Further information on the NHS Patient Safety Strategy is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/patient-safety/the-nhs-patient-safety-strategy/nhs-patient-safety-strategy-progress-so-far/The strategy includes other key programmes, such as the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework, the Learn From Patient Safety Events service, the NHS Patient Safety Syllabus, and the Framework for Involving Patients in Patient Safety, that are focussed on improving the NHS’ systems, capability, and capacity to improve safety. Further information on the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework, the Learn From Patient Safety Events service, the NHS Patient Safety Syllabus, and the Framework for Involving Patients in Patient Safety is available, respectively, at the following four links:https://www.england.nhs.uk/patient-safety/patient-safety-insight/incident-response-framework/engaging-and-involving-patients-families-and-staff-following-a-patient-safety-incident/https://www.england.nhs.uk/patient-safety/patient-safety-insight/learning-from-patient-safety-events/learn-from-patient-safety-events-service/https://www.hee.nhs.uk/our-work/patient-safetyhttps://www.england.nhs.uk/patient-safety/patient-safety-involvement/framework-for-involving-patients-in-patient-safety/Other measures include implementing Martha’s Rule in 143 hospital sites, which has led to hundreds of life-saving interventions and changes to care that have avoided harm, and implementation of scrutiny by medical examiners of all deaths that are not investigated by a coroner, in order to facilitate learning and improvement at a local level.

What steps he is taking to support women with postpartum psychosis.

The Government continues to increase spending on specialist community perinatal mental health services every year. Integrated care boards spent £212 million in 2024/25, which is an increase of £18 million compared to the £194 million spent in 2023/24. In addition, £58 million was spent on mother and baby units in 2023/24.Mother and baby units are specialist, in-patient units for some women who experience severe mental health difficulties during pregnancy, or after the birth of their child. These units specialise in treating severe mental conditions, including postpartum psychosis. Care is provided by specialist professionals, including perinatal mental health nurses, nursery nurses, perinatal psychiatrists, psychologists, and occupational therapists.

How much funding was allocated to immunisation programmes in each financial year since 2022-23.

We have interpreted “allocated” here to mean overall expenditure on vaccination and immunisation programmes. The expenditure by NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on vaccination and immunisation programmes, including associated costs, is set out below. In total, the expenditure on vaccination and immunisation programmes across NHS England and the UKHSA was approximately:£1.8 billion in 2022/23;£2.5 billion in 2023/24; and£2.2 billion in 2024/25.These figures cover spend across England, except for COVID-19 vaccine procurement and associated costs, which are on a United Kingdom-wide basis.

What steps his Department is taking to improve glaucoma care through the forthcoming NHS 10-Year Plan.

The 10-Year Health Plan will deliver the three big shifts our National Health Service needs to be fit for the future, from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention. All of these are relevant to preventing and managing conditions such as glaucoma in all parts of the country.More tests and scans delivered in the community and better joint working between services, will support the management of conditions including glaucoma, closer to home.The plan will draw directly from the extensive engagement we have undertaken with the public, patients, and staff, including in the eye care sector. We are in the final stages of working on the plan and will publish it shortly.

What his Department's planned timetable is for the rollout of histotripsy treatment through the NHS.

Histotripsy is a non-invasive ultrasound treatment that destroys tumours without the need for surgery or radiation. It is delivered through the Edison System, developed by HistoSonics, which is one of eight transformative technologies supported through the Government’s Innovative Devices Access Pathway pilot, which aims to streamline patient access to medical devices that address an unmet clinical need in the National Health Service.At this stage, the detailed timetable for the potential NHS rollout of histotripsy treatment is still under development. The Department is working with system partners to determine the most appropriate, effective, and equitable approach and aims to communicate this later in the summer. Our aim is to ensure that any rollout is informed by ongoing evidence, supports early adoption in appropriate sites, and aligns with wider NHS priorities.

Whether he has made an assessment of the potential link between oral health and diabetes.

The Government recognises that patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes are at greater risk of developing severe gum disease.Patients with diabetes need to access effective dental care and local pathways should be developed to support this. Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for assessing the needs of their population and for ensuring that the relevant dental services are available. The NHS England commissioning standard on dental care for people with diabetes provides guidance to ICBs on how to ensure these patients can access the care they need. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/commissioning-standard-dental-care-for-people-with-diabetes/

What steps he is taking to reduce NHS dermatology waiting lists.

Cutting waiting lists is a key priority for the Government. The Department is committed to ensuring that the proportion of patients waiting no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment, including for dermatology services, returns to 92% by March 2029, and to 65% by March 2026.NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme is working to improve waiting times through its established Further Faster programme to transform patient pathways and improve access and waiting times for patients. Dermatology is one of 24 specialties in focus for GIRFT’s Further Faster work.A Further Faster handbook for dermatology has been produced to share best practice, and the GIRFT team is carrying out regular visits to, and meetings with, challenged departments in order to provide support in improving performance across dermatology.

If he will make an estimate of the number of sick days that were taken by people with osteoporosis in the last 12 months.

The Department has not collected data over the last 12 months on the number of sick days that were taken by people with osteoporosis specifically.The Office for National Statistics publishes data on the annual sickness absence rates of workers in the United Kingdom’s labour market, including the number of days lost by reason. This includes 26.5 million days lost through sickness absence in 2024 in the UK, with musculoskeletal (MSK) problems listed as the reason. MSK problems will include osteoporosis, however disaggregated data is not available as part of the publication. Further information on sickness absence in the UK labour market is available at the following link:https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/sicknessabsenceinthelabourmarket

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reducing the age at which breast screening begins to 30.

Women under the age of 50 years old are not routinely screened for breast cancer due to the lower risk of women under this age developing breast cancer, and the fact that women under 50 years old tend to have denser breasts. The denseness of breast tissue reduces the ability of getting an accurate mammogram, the accepted screening test for breast cancer.However, the UK National Screening Committee keeps the age brackets under review. The committee recognises that screening programmes are not static and that, over time, they may need to change to be more effective. There are currently two trials under way that will help inform future decisions relating to breast screening. The AgeX trial is looking at extending the upper and lower age brackets, and BRAID is looking at alternative methods of screening for women with dense breasts. The committee will consider the findings of these trials as they become available.