Written questions by Shannon.

What steps he is taking to increase access to healthcare services in rural areas.

The Government’s 10-Year Health Plan has set out a long-term vision to reform the National Health Service and make it fit for the future. Addressing healthcare inequity is a core focus of the 10-Year Health Plan, to ensure the NHS is there for anyone who needs it whenever they need it.This includes ending the postcode lottery for cancer patients through introducing new training places targeted at trusts with the biggest workforce gaps, prioritising rural and coastal areas.There are also a range of adjustments made to integrated care board funding allocations that account for the fact that the costs of providing health care may vary between rural and urban areas. These adjustments specifically support remote or sparsely populated areas.

What assessment he has made of trends in the level of attacks on healthcare workers in the last 12 months.

Everyone working in the National Health Service has a fundamental right to be safe at work. Trends in violence towards NHS staff have generally stayed at the same levels in recent years.Individual employers are responsible for the health and safety of their staff, and they put in place measures, including security, training, and emotional support, for staff affected by violence. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has been clear that there is zero tolerance of violence and harassment against NHS staff, and in April 2025 accepted all the Social Partnership Forum’s recommendations on tackling and reducing violence, part of the 2023 Agenda for Change pay deal. These measures will be strengthened by the introduction of a new set of staff standards, as detailed in the 10-Year Health Plan. These are likely to focus on areas such as improving staff health and wellbeing and dealing with violence, racism, and sexual harassment in the NHS workplace.

How many people under the age of 25 are currently seeking treatment for alcohol and drug addiction.

The Adult Substance Misuse Treatment Statistics 2024 to 2025 report and the Children’s Substance Misuse Treatment Statistics 2024 to 2025 report, both published in December 2025, show that in England between April 2024 and March 2025 there were 37,117 people under the age of 25 years old receiving drug and alcohol treatment in the community.

What steps his Department is taking to promote heart awareness month.

We welcome heart awareness month, which raises awareness about heart disease, promoting lifestyle changes for a healthy heart. The Department and NHS England regularly run health-related media campaigns targeting audiences to take preventative action.Throughout January and February, we will be running the Healthy Choices Quiz campaign which supports people to prioritise health improvements and take proactive action on a range of behaviours, many of which support heart health.The National Health Service website includes a Better Health section, offering advice and support to make small, achievable lifestyle changes, for example, increasing physical activity, losing weight, and help to quit smoking, all of which can significantly improve long-term health, including your heart health.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 (CVD MSF) this year. The CVD MSF will support consistent, high quality and equitable care whilst fostering innovation across the CVD pathway.

How much funding his Department plans to provide for sexual health clinics in each of the next three financial years.

The Department provides funding for sexual health services through the Public Health Grant, which is allocated to local authorities in England. Sexual health is one of a number of public health services funded through the Public Health Grant. The Department does not specify how much is spent on sexual health specifically; local authorities are responsible for commissioning sexual health services to meet the needs of their populations.We will continue to invest in local authorities' vital public health work, providing over £13.4 billion over the next three years through a consolidated ringfenced Public Health Grant. This will support a number of vital local health services, including sexual health services.

What steps he plans to take with the Northern Ireland Executive to help improve the supply of ADHD drugs to Northern Ireland.

The Department has overall responsibility for the continuity of medicine supply in the United Kingdom and crown dependences, including shortages management. However, responsibility for managing the impact of shortages is devolved for Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.We regularly share information about higher impact and critical medicine shortages with the devolved administrations to support management of medicine supply issues across the UK.The Department has made significant progress in improving the availability of medicines for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), working closely with industry and key stakeholders to overcome previous supply challenges. Through intensive collaboration with industry, NHS England, and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, supply issues have now been fully resolved. All ADHD medicines, across all formulations and strengths, are readily available for prescribing.We continue to work closely with ADHD medicine suppliers to address any challenges promptly and to strengthen the resilience of the supply chain. This includes securing additional stock, expediting deliveries, and broadening the UK supplier base to meet future demand. To ensure a robust and sustainable supply, we are partnering with NHS England’s ADHD taskforce to develop growth forecasts and share them with industry, enabling effective planning and continuity of supply.

What steps are being taken to decrease underage alcohol consumption rates.

In general, alcohol consumption among under 18 year olds has been declining over the last 20 years. The Chief Medical Officer for England’s guidance for healthcare professionals on alcohol consumption in children and young people is clear that an alcohol-free childhood is the healthiest option. The Department promotes this guidance through the alcohol and drug information and advice service ‘Talk to FRANK’ which can be accessed at the following link:www.talktofrank.com

If he will provide an update into his Department's research efforts into Motor Neurone Disease.

Government responsibility for delivering motor neurone disease (MND) research is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), primarily through the Medical Research Council for MND.The Government is investing in MND research across a range of areas, including an £8 million investment via the NIHR into the EXPERTS-ALS, a pre-clinical study which is designed to accelerate the identification and testing of the most promising treatment candidates for treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the most common form of MND.The MND Translational Accelerator, supported by £6 million of Government funding, is connecting the UK Dementia Research Institute, the UK MND Research Institute, and Dementias Platform UK. Twelve projects have been funded through the Accelerator, and all are aimed at speeding up the development of treatments for MND.In August 2025, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency approved Tofersen to treat SOD1-ALS, a rare form of MND. Research into Tofersen was supported by NIHR’s Sheffield Biomedical Research Centre, and all three trial phases were delivered by the NIHR’s Research Delivery Network, demonstrating tangible impact of NIHR funded research into MND.The NIHR and UKRI continue to welcome funding applications for research into MND. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.

What steps he is taking to improve allergy care.

The Expert Advisory Group on Allergy (EAGA), co-chaired by the Department and the National Allergy Strategy Group, meets regularly to bring together stakeholders across the Government, the National Health Service, voluntary organisations, professional bodies, and patient representative groups, to consider how allergy care and support could be improved. The purpose of the EAGA is to inform policymaking, and to identify priorities in relation to the holistic care of people with allergies. The EAGA last met on 3 December2025. In July 2025, the Medicines and Healthcare products regulatory Agency licensed a new adrenaline nasal spray, EURneffy, for use in the emergency treatment of anaphylaxis. The Government welcomes the approval of needle free delivery methods of adrenaline, recognising the potential to benefit to those who suffer from allergies.More widely, there are a number of policies outlined in the 10-Year Health Plan which should have a positive impact on care for patients with allergy. More tests and scans delivered in the community, better joint working between services, and greater use of technology will all support people to manage allergies closer to home.Neighbourhood Health Services will be organised around the needs of their patients. The plan will create joined-up working across hospitals and into community settings with multi-disciplinary teams who can provide wrap-around support services to people with allergies or other long-term conditions.

Whether the National Cancer Plan will include specific actions to deliver neighbourhood cancer care close to home, particularly for those in rural or underserved areas.

Bringing cancer care into the Neighbourhood Health Service is an important part of our forthcoming National Cancer Plan for England, enabling cancer patients to be treated and cared for closer to home.The National Cancer Plan, which will be published early this year, will seek to make cancer care easier, more local, and more responsive. Rather than requiring endless trips to hospitals, cancer care will happen as locally as it can. This means digitally by default, in a patient’s home if possible, in a neighbourhood health centre when needed, and in a hospital if necessary. As a larger proportion of England’s population survives cancer, this new model offers the potential for a higher quality of life, so that people in England to live longer, better lives after cancer diagnosis.

What steps his Department is taking to meet cancer waiting time targets and ensure people living with and affected by cancer receive the timely care they need.

Improving cancer waiting times for patients is a high priority for the Government.We will do this through the increased use of community diagnostic centres (CDCs) which will increase the available capacity and bring healthcare closer to the community. CDCs are now delivering additional tests and checks on 170 sites across the country with 103 of these being are open 12 hours a day, seven days a week, offering at least one test in expanded hours, meaning patients can access vital diagnostic tests around their busy working lives.The National Cancer Plan, which is due to be published early this year, will set out how we will increase performance, speed up diagnosis and treatment, and ultimately provide better outcomes for cancer patients. It will ensure patients have access to the latest treatments and technology and improve patient experience and outcomes.

What assessment has been made on the timescales for red flag referrals for breast cancer across the UK.

It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including breast cancer, as early and quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, to improve outcomes for all patients across England.The Department is responsible for healthcare in England and therefore has not made a formal assessment on the timescales for red flag referrals for breast cancer across the whole of the United Kingdom.As the first step to ensuring early diagnosis and treatment in England, NHS England has delivered an extra 100,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week since the start of this administration. This is supported by an increase in capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment in new magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners.The Department recognises that there is more to be done to ensure that patients have timely access to diagnosis, and remains committed to diagnosing all cancer types earlier, including breast cancer. To tackle late diagnoses, the NHS is implementing non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue, which do not clearly align to a tumour type.Reducing variation in cancer care in England, including the movement of patients through breast cancer care pathways, is a priority for the Government. To address this, NHS England funded audits into primary and metastatic breast cancer. Using routine data collected on patients diagnosed with breast cancer in an NHS setting, the audits bring together information to look at what is being done well, where it is being done well, and what needs to be done better. On 11 September 2025, the second State of the Nation report for primary and metastatic breast cancer was published by the National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre, and officials in the Department and NHS England are acting on the findings where appropriate.

What steps his Department is taking to help improve outcomes for cardiovascular disease.

The Government is committed to reducing premature mortality from heart disease and stroke by 25% in the next 10 years. To accelerate progress towards this ambition, we will publish a cardiovascular disease (CVD) Modern Service Framework later this year. The framework will support consistent, high quality and equitable care whist fostering innovation across the CVD pathway.Alongside this, work is underway to improve the impact of the NHS Health Check, which is a core component of England’s CVD prevention programme, and prevents approximately 500 heart attacks and strokes a year.To improve access and to give patients more flexibility and choice, we are developing an NHS Health Check Online service that people can use at home at a time and place convenient to them, to understand and act on their CVD risk. Community pharmacies continue to strengthen prevention efforts, and since 2021 they have delivered nearly 4.2 million blood pressure checks, supporting earlier detection and management of key CVD risk factors.

What steps he is taking to improve quality of life for people being diagnosed, treated for or living with cancer under the National Cancer Plan.

The National Cancer Plan for England 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 in England to better the experience and outcomes for people with cancer.The plan will aim to improve how, in England, 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 in England.

What steps are being taken to improve the time taken for red flag referrals for breast cancer to be seen.

It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including breast cancer, as early and quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, to improve outcomes for all patients across England.The Department is responsible for healthcare in England and therefore has not made a formal assessment on the timescales for red flag referrals for breast cancer across the whole of the United Kingdom.As the first step to ensuring early diagnosis and treatment in England, NHS England has delivered an extra 100,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week since the start of this administration. This is supported by an increase in capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment in new magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners.The Department recognises that there is more to be done to ensure that patients have timely access to diagnosis, and remains committed to diagnosing all cancer types earlier, including breast cancer. To tackle late diagnoses, the NHS is implementing non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with symptoms such as weight loss and fatigue, which do not clearly align to a tumour type.Reducing variation in cancer care in England, including the movement of patients through breast cancer care pathways, is a priority for the Government. To address this, NHS England funded audits into primary and metastatic breast cancer. Using routine data collected on patients diagnosed with breast cancer in an NHS setting, the audits bring together information to look at what is being done well, where it is being done well, and what needs to be done better. On 11 September 2025, the second State of the Nation report for primary and metastatic breast cancer was published by the National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre, and officials in the Department and NHS England are acting on the findings where appropriate.

What steps his Department is taking to support parents whose children have been diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy.

Planning for a large-scale trial across the National Health Service is underway, where hundreds of thousands of babies will be screened for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) from next year to help build the evidence base needed to support a national screening programme. My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has asked the Department to look at whether this evaluation can start sooner, and whether it can be expanded to involve all babies, rather than two thirds as currently planned and will be reporting back to the SMA community on this.

What assessment he has made of trends of hospital admissions of those with stroke symptoms in the last 5 years.

The following table shows the trend in stroke admissions for the last five years:YearStroke admissions incidenceStroke admissions rate per 100,000 population2020/2189,739166.32021/2293,710171.42022/2393,753168.42023/2497,843173.12024/2599,494172.7Source: Fingertips, available at the following link: https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/search/stroke%20admissions#page/4/gid/1/pat/159/par/K02000001/ati/15/are/E92000001/iid/90986/age/1/sex/4/cat/-1/ctp/-1/yrr/1/cid/4/tbm/1

How many admissions to hospital there were for flu in December 2025.

In December 2025, an average of 2,888 hospital beds were occupied by patients with flu across all acute settings, including both General and Acute and Critical Care beds.These figures are published in the NHS England Winter Situation Reports, which are available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/uec-sitrep/urgent-and-emergency-care-daily-situation-reports-2025-26/

Whether he has has discussions with his counterparts in Northern Ireland on pressures on accident and emergency services.

As a Government department, we work collaboratively with the devolved administrations to drive forward our objective of supporting people to lead more independent, healthier lives for longer.While health is primarily devolved and each health system operates in its own context, there are strong benefits from sharing experiences and learning between the devolved administrations. While ministers have not recently discussed pressures on accident and emergency services in recent months, Department and NHS England officials periodically speak informally with counterparts on urgent and emergency care issues.

What steps are being taken to ensure hospitals are routinely up to date with fire safety guidance.

NHS England has published guidance through Health Technical Memorandum 05:03 – Firecode, which provides guidance on operational provisions for fire safety for health sector buildings and premises. This guidance is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/fire-safety-in-the-nhs-health-technical-memorandum-05-03/This HTM is updated when necessary. For example, the ‘Training’ section of the guidance was last updated in 2024.