Written questions by Hurley.

In relation to the staff survey conducted by the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation team that closed on 9 March 2026, a) how many total responses were received, b) how many NHS trusts in England were represented in the results, and c) what the breakdown of responses was by profession or clinical speciality.

Baroness Amos launched a call for evidence for those who work in the maternity and neonatal pathway, which closed on 9 March. The National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation team has received more than 8,500 responses from across 124 trusts. A breakdown for responses by profession or clinical speciality is not available as evidence is still being analysed.Baroness Amos has advised that the independent National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation will publish its final report and recommendations in June.

Whether his Department plans to extend the 2024-25 NHS pay settlement for staff aligned to Agenda for Change to social enterprises delivering NHS-funded services; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of excluding such organisations on workforce retention, pay parity and service sustainability.

This specific assessment has not been made.Independent organisations commissioned by the National Health Service in England, such as general practices or social enterprises, are free to develop and adapt their own terms and conditions of employment, including the pay scales that they use. It is for them to determine what is affordable within the financial model they operate.Where such organisations choose to dynamically link to any of the national contracts, including Agenda for Change, those staff will be contractually entitled to receive the same uplifts in pay and associated terms and conditions as staff employed in NHS organisations.The 2024/25 pay award was consolidated and funding has been issued. There are no plans to revisit the funding or to issue additional guidance.

What plans he has to publish a national strategy for palliative and end of life care.

The Department and NHS England are currently looking at how to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10-Year Health Plan.We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care.We are also providing £26 million in revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. I am pleased to confirm the continuation of circa £26 million, adjusted for inflation, for the next three financial years, 2026/27 to 2028/29 inclusive, to be distributed again via integrated care boards. This amounts to approximately £80 million over the next three years.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of funding allocated by his Department for research and innovation for (a) less survivable and (b) other cancers.

The Department invests over £1.6 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), with cancer as one of its largest areas of spend reflecting its high priority.An example of this is the NIHR investing £2.4 million into the miONCO-Dx trial, which seeks to develop a blood test designed to detect 12 different cancers, that could transform how cancer is diagnosed in the National Health Service.The NIHR is also funding a new artificial intelligence (AI) powered radiology analysis service, designed to develop and evaluate the use of AI in medical imaging to improve the detection of cancers. The use of this technology will help to speed up response times and provide more accurate diagnoses and better-targeted treatments, ultimately improving outcomes for patients.Whist no assessment has been made specifically on the adequacy of the research into less survivable cancers, the NIHR continues to welcome further high-quality proposals from researchers to inform approaches to prevention, treatment, and care in relation to less survivable cancers.Furthermore, the Department is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with rare cancers, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments. The forthcoming National Cancer Plan will include further details on how the NHS will improve diagnosis and outcomes for all cancer patients in England, including for rare and less common cancers.

What recent assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rates in the North West.

We recognise that there is more to do to improve cardiac arrest survival rates, including in the North West. The National Health Service 10-Year Health Plan addresses cardiac arrest at a national level through a broad focus on cardiovascular disease detection and prevention. Key initiatives include improving the early detection and treatment of high-risk conditions like atrial fibrillation, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, known as the ABCs, to prevent heart attacks and strokes, which can lead to cardiac arrest.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to require all publicly accessible defibrillators to be registered on the Circuit network.

According to the British Heart Foundation, there are now over 110,000 registered defibrillators in the United Kingdom, which is an increase of 30,000 since September 2023.The Government does not currently have plans to bring forward such legislative proposals. Local communities obtaining automated external defibrillators do so on a voluntary basis and introducing legal requirements could disincentive this voluntary action.

What steps he is taking to ensure that Integrated Care Boards remove the requirement for self-funded intrauterine insemination for same-sex couples.

The Government recognises that fertility treatment across the National Health Service in England is subject to variation in access. Work continues between the Department and NHS England to better understand the offer around NHS-funded fertility services including the issue for female same sex couples.Funding decisions for health services in England are made by integrated care boards (ICBs) and are based on the clinical needs of their population. We expect ICBs to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines ensuring equal access to fertility treatment across England.NICE is currently reviewing the fertility guidelines and will consider whether the current recommendations for access to NHS-funded treatment are still appropriate. A consultation on revised guidelines was published on 10 September 2025, which is available at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ng10263/consultation/html-content-2In light of broader pressures on the National Health Service and ongoing changes within NHS England, we have been looking again at achievable ambitions to improve access to fertility services and fairness for all affected couples.

Whether he has set a national timeline for equal access to NHS-funded fertility treatment.

The Government recognises that fertility treatment across the National Health Service in England is subject to variation in access. Work continues between the Department and NHS England to better understand the offer around NHS-funded fertility services. This work will take time to develop, and the Department is keen to ensure there will be stakeholder engagement during this process, beginning in the new year.Funding decisions for health services in England are made by integrated care boards (ICBs) and are based on the clinical needs of their population. We expect ICBs to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines ensuring equal access to fertility treatment across England.NICE is currently reviewing the fertility guidelines and will consider whether the current recommendations for access to NHS-funded treatment are still appropriate. A consultation on revised guidelines was published on 10 September 2025, which is available at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ng10263/consultation/html-content-2

Whether he is taking steps to ensure that patients taking weight loss medication have equitable access to community-based (a) weight management and (b) lifestyle support services.

Both the license and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance for these medicines specify that they should be prescribed alongside a reduced calorie diet and physical activity. NICE guidance also states that healthcare professionals should arrange information, support, and counselling on additional diet, physical activity, and behavioural strategies when these medicines are prescribed.Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning health services within their area in line with local population need and taking account of relevant guidance. NHS England has, however, also made a central wraparound service available that ICBs can use, known as Healthier You: Behavioural Support for Obesity Prescribing, for patients to be referred into, with a procurement underway for a longer-term offer. This central service focuses on nutrition, physical activity, and psychological support.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of establishing a national multi-cancer case-finding initiative to identify people at higher risk of (a) pancreatic and (b) other less survivable cancers.

NHS England is working on case-finding approaches for less survivable cancers, where the evidence suggests this is appropriate. This includes a public-facing Family History Checker, which enables people and their families affected by pancreatic cancer to self-assess if they may inherit risk. Individuals identified as being at risk are referred directly to the European Registry of Hereditary Pancreatic Diseases research trial, which aims to understand inherited conditions of the pancreas. Referrals to the trial can be made by any healthcare professional across all health sectors or by individuals via self-referral, contributing to a centralised approach to case-finding.The National Disease Registration Service is developing a National Inherited Cancer Predisposition Register (NICPR), which launched on 30 June. The NICPR looks at a wide range of cancers for which there is an increased inherited risk, including for less survivable cancers. It aims to identify high-risk individuals who are eligible for targeted screening and surveillance and will act as an electronic referral route into national screening programmes where these exist.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the time taken to implement the Women’s Health Strategy on LGBTQ+ people ageing out of NHS fertility eligibility.

The Government recognises that fertility treatment across the National Health Service in England is subject to variation in access. In light of broader pressures on the NHS and ongoing changes within NHS England, we have been looking again at achievable ambitions to improve access to fertility services and fairness for all affected couples.Work continues between the Department and NHS England to better understand NHS-funded fertility services and the effectiveness of these services including the issue for LGBTQ+ people and specifically same-sex female couples. This work will take time to develop, however, the Department is keen to ensure there will be stakeholder engagement during this process beginning in the new year.Funding decisions for health services in England are made by integrated care boards (ICBs) and are based on the clinical needs of their population. We expect ICBs to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines ensuring equal access to fertility treatment across England.NICE is currently reviewing the fertility guidelines and will consider whether the current recommendations for access to NHS-funded treatment are still appropriate. A consultation on revised guidelines was published on 10 September, which is available at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ng10263/consultation/html-content-2

What steps his Department is taking to encourage research into detection (a) tools and (b) tests for the early detection of (i) pancreatic and (ii) other less survivable cancers.

Research is crucial in tackling cancer, which is why the Department invests £1.6 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Cancer is one of the largest areas of spend at over £133 million in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority.These investments are pivotal to informing our efforts to improve cancer prevention, treatment, and outcomes. An example of this investment is Imperial College London’s research on breath tests to detect less survivable cancers, including pancreatic cancer. Further information on the research is available at the following link:https://imperialbrc.nihr.ac.uk/2023/06/05/imperial-led-uk-cancer-breath-tests-reach-final-stages/Another example of Government investment was the launch of the NIHR’s national Brain Tumour Research Consortium in September 2024, which is bringing together researchers from a range of different disciplines and institutions with the aim of making scientific advances in how we prevent, detect, manage, and treat rare and less-survivable brain tumours in adults and children.The NIHR welcomes further high-quality proposals from researchers to inform approaches to prevention, treatment, and care in relation to less survivable cancers. Furthermore, the Government is committed to ensuring that all patients have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments. The Government supports the Rare Cancers Bill and its ambitions to incentivise clinical trials and access to innovative treatments for rare cancers.The forthcoming National Cancer Plan will include further details on how the National Health Service will improve diagnosis and outcomes for all cancer patients in England, including for less common cancers.

What steps his Department is taking to monitor people with inherited cancer risk for less survivable cancers.

The Department is supporting NHS England with initiatives to monitor people with an inherited risk of less survivable cancers. The 10-Year Health Plan commits to expanding genomic testing for inherited causes of major diseases to allow for earlier detection and intervention, including for cancer.In June 2024, NHS England launched the national NHS Jewish BRCA Testing Programme to identify cancer earlier for people with Jewish ancestry, including genetic testing for patients diagnosed historically with an eligible breast or ovarian cancer. BRCA genetic mutations carry a risk of developing other cancers such as pancreatic cancer.For pancreatic cancer, which the latest data showed has the lowest survivable rate with inherited risk, NHS England is working with The European Registry of Hereditary Pancreatitis and Familial Pancreatic Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer UK, and Cancer Alliances to improve surveillance pathways and access to surveillance for people with inherited high risk of pancreatic cancer.In June 2025, NHS England launched a new initiative for general practices to analyse patient records to identify people aged over 60 years old who have the key early warning signs and symptoms of pancreatic cancer including diabetes and sudden weight loss. Additionally, Pancreatic Cancer UK has launched the Family History Checker, supported by NHS England. The tool allows people, and their families, affected by pancreatic cancer to self-assess if they have inherited risk.Furthermore, improving the early detection of cancers, including less survival cancers, is also a priority for the National Cancer Plan, which will be published later this year.

Whether he plans to incorporate clinical trials as a performance metric within the NHS to encourage clinicians to prioritise research.

As outlined in the 10-Year Health Plan and Life Sciences Sector Plan, the Government is committed to providing full transparency on clinical trial performance by publishing a monthly scorecard for the National Health Service on trust-level clinical trial performance, in addition to wider measures to encourage clinicians to prioritise research through the UK Clinical Research Delivery (UKCRD) Programme.The four-nation UKCRD programme brings together delivery partners and key stakeholders to create a faster, more efficient, more accessible, and more innovative clinical research delivery system in the United Kingdom.In April 2025, the Department began publishing monthly key performance indicators on commercial clinical trial set up performance for all NHS trusts in England, as part of the four-nation UKCRD programme Study Set Up Plan.Trust level data on clinical trials study set up is being published monthly alongside the UKCRD’s Key Performance Indicator Report to provide an additional monthly snapshot of site-level commercial study set-up performance.In May 2025, NHS England wrote a letter to NHS providers requiring board-level reporting of research activity and income, with scrutiny of the UKCRD Programme’s site-level performance metrics for study set-up. NHS England will publish revised guidance on research financial management later in 2025.

Whether his Department plans to implement automatic enrolment into stop smoking support at (a) A&E departments, (b) cancer screening appointments, (c) mental health services and (d) other NHS services (i) in Liverpool City Region and (ii) nationally.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we remain committed to ensuring all hospitals integrate smoking cessation interventions into routine care.NHS England have already rolled out tobacco dependence treatment programmes in acute and mental health inpatient settings, and maternity services. As of March 2025, 93% of acute and mental health in-patient services and 97% of maternity services, nationally, had tobacco dependence treatment offers. In the Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (ICB), 12 out of 13 in-patient services and all seven maternity services had an offer.As part of their allocations for 2025/26, ICBs have access to funding to support the provision of tobacco dependency treatment to smokers. Funding for future years is subject to final decisions following the recent Spending Review.

Whether the National Cancer Plan will expand innovation in cancer screening to ensure people from deprived areas are encouraged to participate.

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, research, and innovation. It will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care to better the experiences and outcomes for people with cancer. Our goal is to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer over the next 10 years.Reducing inequalities is a key priority for the National Cancer Plan. The plan will look at targeted improvements needed across different cancer types to reduce disparities in cancer survival and develop interventions to tackle these. This includes looking at protected characteristics, as well as inequalities related to socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and geographic location. We know that people living in deprived areas are less likely to have their cancers diagnosed at an early stage, when treatment can be more effective, and we want to reduce the gap in early diagnosis between those living in the richest and poorest areas through the National Cancer Plan.The Lung Cancer Screening Programme has been successful at reducing the gap in early diagnosis. It has led to over 5,000 more lung cancers being diagnosed at stages 1 and 2. The National Cancer Plan will look to learn lessons from the success of this programme.We are working closely with cancer partners as part of our engagement to inform the development of the plan, and continue to prioritise the key areas raised, including cancer screening.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of expanding (a) prehabilitation and (b) rehabilitation services in cancer care on (i) NHS costs and (ii) patient outcomes.

The Department and NHS England are taking a number of steps to support systems to deliver cost-effective, lifesaving prehabilitation and rehabilitation services. Local planning for prehabilitation and rehabilitation services, and any expansion of them, is a matter for National Health Service trusts and Cancer Alliances to take forward in their local areas.NHS England has highlighted the positive impact of efficient prehabilitation and rehabilitation on cancer outcomes and the potential to lead to cost savings. The ‘PRosPer’ Cancer Prehabilitation and Rehabilitation learning programme, launched in partnership between NHS England and Macmillan Cancer support, aims to support allied health professionals and the wider healthcare workforce in developing their skills in providing personalised care, prehabilitation, and rehabilitation in the cancer pathway.The National Cancer Plan, to be published later this year, will look at how to improve patient outcomes across the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care, including prehabilitation and rehabilitation services where appropriate.

On what evidential basis the cervical screening interval was changed from three to five years; and whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of that interval on rates of early cancer detection.

The UK National Screening Committee’s recommendation to change the cervical screening intervals from three to five years for women aged 25 to 49 years old was made in 2019. The evidence and consultation responses supporting the recommendation can be found at the following link:https://view-health-screening-recommendations.service.gov.uk/cervical-cancer/The decision to make the changes was based on what is best for individuals. The more accurate human papillomavirus test requires less frequent screening, and changing the frequency eliminates the unnecessary over screening of the population.The IT system supporting the national cervical screening programme was updated in July 2024, and can now enable the changes that were recommended.A full impact assessment and equality impact assessment were considered before the changes were agreed by the Government. We will publish these shortly.

If he will publish the (a) equality impact assessment and (b) risk-benefit analysis for the decision to change cervical screening intervals.

The UK National Screening Committee’s recommendation to change the cervical screening intervals from three to five years for women aged 25 to 49 years old was made in 2019. The evidence and consultation responses supporting the recommendation can be found at the following link:https://view-health-screening-recommendations.service.gov.uk/cervical-cancer/The decision to make the changes was based on what is best for individuals. The more accurate human papillomavirus test requires less frequent screening, and changing the frequency eliminates the unnecessary over screening of the population.The IT system supporting the national cervical screening programme was updated in July 2024, and can now enable the changes that were recommended.A full impact assessment and equality impact assessment were considered before the changes were agreed by the Government. We will publish these shortly.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of changes to the frequency of cervical screening on women from (a) underserved and (b) marginalised communities.

The UK National Screening Committee’s recommendation to change the cervical screening intervals from three to five years for women aged 25 to 49 years old was made in 2019. The evidence and consultation responses supporting the recommendation can be found at the following link:https://view-health-screening-recommendations.service.gov.uk/cervical-cancer/The decision to make the changes was based on what is best for individuals. The more accurate human papillomavirus test requires less frequent screening, and changing the frequency eliminates the unnecessary over screening of the population.The IT system supporting the national cervical screening programme was updated in July 2024, and can now enable the changes that were recommended.A full impact assessment and equality impact assessment were considered before the changes were agreed by the Government. We will publish these shortly.