Written questions by Arthur.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of waiting times for(a) MRI and (b) CT scans across NHS England.

Awaiting answer.

What steps his Department is taking to reduce the waiting times for (a) MRI and (b) CT scan appointments.

Awaiting answer.

How the forthcoming cancer manuals will address existing variation in access to ovarian cancer treatment for patients across England.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment he has made of the impact that greater histopathology capacity would have on delivering the Government’s ambition to provide comprehensive molecular profiling to every eligible cancer patient.

Awaiting answer.

What steps he is taking to improve the timeliness of NHS appointment notifications; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of different communication methods, including letters, text messages and email.

The Government is committed to supporting access to care and reducing missed appointments. The NHS App provides a core national channel for patients to view, receive, and manage appointment information across a range of care settings whilst ‘NHS Notify’ enables National Health Service organisations to send letters, text messages, and emails from a single platform.Communication assessment work done by NHS England’s Behavioural Science Unit showed that such tailored messaging significantly increased patient response rates.

When he plans to appoint the independent co-chair of the National Cancer Plan implementation board.

The National Cancer Plan, published on the 4 February 2026, sets out several commitments and ambitions, to be delivered within the next 10 years. The role of the reformed National Cancer Board will be to support and monitor the delivery of the commitments and ambitions and provide regular updates to ministers. The board will be co-chaired by the Director General for Planned Care in the Department and an independent representative. It is important to choose the most suitable appointment process for selecting an independent representative to co-chair the board. To ensure that the co-chair of the board is independent of the Government, officials from NHS England and the Department are carefully following the required appointments procedures. An appointment will be made following all required ministerial approvals.

What criteria will be used to ensure that the independent co-chair of the National Cancer Plan implementation board is independent of government.

The National Cancer Plan, published on the 4 February 2026, sets out several commitments and ambitions, to be delivered within the next 10 years. The role of the reformed National Cancer Board will be to support and monitor the delivery of the commitments and ambitions and provide regular updates to ministers. The board will be co-chaired by the Director General for Planned Care in the Department and an independent representative. It is important to choose the most suitable appointment process for selecting an independent representative to co-chair the board. To ensure that the co-chair of the board is independent of the Government, officials from NHS England and the Department are carefully following the required appointments procedures. An appointment will be made following all required ministerial approvals.

What the total amount of Government investment in research into neuroendocrine cancers has been in each of the last ten years; and what specific funding allocations have been made for neuroendocrine cancer within the forthcoming National Cancer Plan.

Government responsibility for delivering cancer research is shared between the Department for Health and Social Care, with research delivered by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation.Between financial years 2015/16 and 2024/25, through the NIHR, the Department for Health and Social Care committed approximately £8 million for new research projects, alongside supporting infrastructure, into neuroendocrine cancer. The following table shows a breakdown of the £8 million for new research projects, alongside supporting infrastructure, into neuroendocrine cancer, from 2015/16 to 2024/25:2015/16£882,750.752016/17£1,170,974.892017/18£798,743.562018/19£833,349.432019/20£867,204.192020/21£878,387.612021/22£829,818.372022/23£610,754.012023/24£455,640.582024/25£707,561.31 As well as funding research itself, the Department invests significantly in research expertise and capacity, specialist facilities, support services, and collaborations to support and deliver research in England, known as NIHR infrastructure. NIHR infrastructure underpins research. The spend is not directly attributable to specific research studies for the most part, but an estimate is derived based on the number of studies in neuroendocrine cancer against the annual infrastructure spend.The findings presented are based on point-in-time analysis for 23 March 2026. The data does fluctuate due to changes such as contract variations and updated information regarding financial reconciliations and support activity.The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including neuroendocrine cancers. 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 the public and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.

What consideration he has given to the use of existing delivery frameworks, such as the Major Conditions Strategy, to drive improvements in early detection and treatment of heart valve disease.

We are committed to reducing premature deaths from heart disease and stroke and we recognise that improving the detection and treatment of heart valve disease is an important step to achieving this ambition. As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will publish a new cardiovascular disease Modern Service Framework (CVD MSF) later this year. The CVD MSF will prioritise ambitious, evidence-led, and clinically informed approaches to prevention, treatment, and care, and as part of its development we are engaging widely to identify and consider the role of emerging innovations across the cardiovascular pathway.High blood pressure is a key risk factor for heart valve disease, and the Government has invested heavily in the Hypertension Case-finding Service for those aged over 40 years old in community pharmacies, which has seen nearly 4.2 million blood pressure and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring checks delivered since October 2021.Alongside this, in 2025, NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time programme published new and revised cardiology pathways to support consistent care across primary and secondary settings, including advice regarding patients with severe symptomatic heart valve disease.

Whether his Department has plans to develop a national strategy for the early detection of heart valve disease.

We are committed to reducing premature deaths from heart disease and stroke and we recognise that improving the detection and treatment of heart valve disease is an important step to achieving this ambition. As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will publish a new cardiovascular disease Modern Service Framework (CVD MSF) later this year. The CVD MSF will prioritise ambitious, evidence-led, and clinically informed approaches to prevention, treatment, and care, and as part of its development we are engaging widely to identify and consider the role of emerging innovations across the cardiovascular pathway.High blood pressure is a key risk factor for heart valve disease, and the Government has invested heavily in the Hypertension Case-finding Service for those aged over 40 years old in community pharmacies, which has seen nearly 4.2 million blood pressure and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring checks delivered since October 2021.Alongside this, in 2025, NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time programme published new and revised cardiology pathways to support consistent care across primary and secondary settings, including advice regarding patients with severe symptomatic heart valve disease.

Whether he has considered introducing a national defibrillator strategy.

The Government’s position is that local communities are best placed to make decisions about procuring, locating, and maintaining automated external defibrillators (AEDs). Over 110,000 defibrillators are registered in the United Kingdom on The Circuit, the independent AED database. Over 30,000 of these have been added in the past two years, many as a result of local community-led action. For this reason, there are no plans to introduce a national defibrillator strategy.

Further to the Written Answer given on 2 March 2026 (UIN 114544), does he plan to review or update this guidance.

The Department has no current plans to review or update informed consent guidance in protecting National Health Service clinicians from subsequent legal challenge where animal-derived ingredients are used in medicines or treatments without explicit disclosure.

What assessment he has made of the adequacy of informed consent guidance in protecting NHS clinicians from subsequent legal challenge where animal-derived ingredients are used in medicines or treatments without explicit disclosure.

No assessment has been made of the adequacy of informed consent guidance in protecting National Health Service clinicians from subsequent legal challenge where animal-derived ingredients are used in medicines or treatments without explicit disclosure.

What estimate his Department has made of the diagnostic and workforce capacity required to increase the test sensitivity threshold in the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme to 80ug/g by 2028.

NHS England has undertaken detailed modelling to understand the diagnostic and workforce capacity required to support a reduction in the faecal immunochemical test (FIT) threshold within the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme in England. NHS England has worked with early adopter sites to test the operational impact of lowering the FIT threshold in real‑world settings. These sites have provided evidence on changes in referral volumes, colonoscopy demand, cancer and polyp detection rates, and the implications for endoscopy services. The findings are being formally evaluated and are informing assumptions within the national capacity modelling. The timing of wider roll‑out is directly linked to the outcomes of this modelling and evaluation work, as well as the availability of trained endoscopy staff.NHS England continues to develop the endoscopy workforce, including the expansion of the screening colonoscopist workforce through Advanced Training Skills Module. Alongside this, NHS England is progressing a wider programme of endoscopy transformation focused on releasing capacity and improving productivity. This includes the intelligent use of FIT testing, including coloFIT, to support more effective risk stratification, reduce unnecessary colonoscopies, and ensure that available endoscopy capacity is targeted towards those at highest risk. Embedding FIT‑led pathways supports earlier reassurance for lower‑risk individuals while prioritising timely investigation for those most likely to benefit.

With reference to impact assessment 13013 published by his Department on 25 May 2021, whether his Department still plans to publish a review of the advertising and promotional restrictions within the first 5 years of enforcement.

Our 10-Year Health Plan for England set out the decisive action we are taking on the obesity crisis, to ease the strain on our National Health Service and to create the healthiest generation of children ever. As part of this, we implemented United Kingdom-wide restrictions on the advertising of less healthy food and drinks on television and online from 5 January 2026. We also implemented restrictions on volume price promotions for less healthy food and drinks, such as three for two offers, in stores and their online equivalents across England from 1 October 2025. These are in addition to the restrictions that have already been in place since 2022 on the promotion by location of less healthy food and drink products in stores and their equivalent places online.We will monitor the effectiveness of these advertising and promotions restrictions with a Post Implementation Review within five years of them taking legal effect.

How his Department plans to support endoscopy services to ensure the increased test sensitivity in the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme to 80ug/g is rolled out by 2028 without impacting on colonoscopy waiting times.

NHS England has undertaken detailed modelling to understand the diagnostic and workforce capacity required to support a reduction in the faecal immunochemical test (FIT) threshold within the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme in England. NHS England has worked with early adopter sites to test the operational impact of lowering the FIT threshold in real‑world settings. These sites have provided evidence on changes in referral volumes, colonoscopy demand, cancer and polyp detection rates, and the implications for endoscopy services. The findings are being formally evaluated and are informing assumptions within the national capacity modelling. The timing of wider roll‑out is directly linked to the outcomes of this modelling and evaluation work, as well as the availability of trained endoscopy staff.NHS England continues to develop the endoscopy workforce, including the expansion of the screening colonoscopist workforce through Advanced Training Skills Module. Alongside this, NHS England is progressing a wider programme of endoscopy transformation focused on releasing capacity and improving productivity. This includes the intelligent use of FIT testing, including coloFIT, to support more effective risk stratification, reduce unnecessary colonoscopies, and ensure that available endoscopy capacity is targeted towards those at highest risk. Embedding FIT‑led pathways supports earlier reassurance for lower‑risk individuals while prioritising timely investigation for those most likely to benefit.

What assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of introducing the 2018 Nutrient Profiling Model on business investment in the food and drink sector.

As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future, we will take decisive action on the obesity crisis, easing the strain on our National Health Service and creating the healthiest generation of children ever. As part of this, the Government committed to updating the standards behind the restrictions on advertising ‘less healthy’ food or drink products on television before 9:00pm and online at any time, as well as the restrictions on the promotion of ‘less healthy’ food and drink products by location and volume price by applying the new Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM).The advertising and promotions restrictions currently rely on the outdated NPM 2004/05. The new NPM has been updated in line with the latest dietary advice from the United Kingdom’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition, particularly in relation to free sugar and fibre. Applying it to the restrictions will strengthen these policies by bringing more products of concern for children’s health into scope.The Government published the new NPM on 27 January. Application of the new NPM to the advertising and promotions restrictions would be subject to a full public consultation and an impact assessment of the costs to businesses and intended health outcomes.

What assessment his department has made of the findings of the Held in Our Hearts Impact Report on hospital-to-home bereavement support for families following the loss of a baby.

We recognise the importance of supporting the transition from the hospital to home for bereaved families, so that support is always available when families need it most.Held in Our Hearts is a Scottish Charity supporting Health Boards in Scotland, and healthcare in Scotland is the responsibility of the Scottish Government. The Department has not made an assessment of the findings of the Held in Our Hearts Impact Report.

What consideration he has made of the need for a national bladder cancer audit.

In regards to a National Bladder Cancer Audit consideration, I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to the Hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell on 10 December 2025 to Question 96365.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing an equivalent of the EU Safe Hearts Plan in the UK.

We note the recently published European Union’s Safe Hearts Plan and support the EU’s ambition to tackle cardiovascular diseases. Too many lives are lost prematurely to heart disease and stroke, and the Government is committed to reducing premature mortality from heart disease and stroke by 25% in the next 10 years. To accelerate progress on this ambition and tackle unwarranted variation across the country, we will publish a cardiovascular disease Modern Service Framework in 2026, which will identify the best evidenced interventions and drive innovation in prevention, treatment, and care.