Commons
Oral Questions
21 October 2025
2 contributions
Topical Questions
At national level, a number of initiatives support service improvement and better care for patients with migraine. The Getting It Right First Time neurology programme published a national specialty report that made several recommendations to improve recognition and diagnosis of migraine by GPs. Addi…
I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue, and I offer my sympathy and best wishes to Jules and her family. Of course, I commend her awareness-raising work, which is really important. Her experience is one of the reasons why we are rolling out targeted lung screening and starting to use artifici…
Commons
Oral Questions
21 October 2025
3 contributions
Acute Myeloid Leukaemia
This Government are committed to improving survival for blood cancers, including acute myeloid leukaemia. We are raising awareness, delivering more research, and improving early diagnosis. Blood cancer is the third biggest cancer killer, and the fifth most common cancer in the UK. That is why we are…
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his question and offer my best wishes to his constituent Ruth in her treatment. I thank him for bringing her story to my attention. I really do appreciate—perhaps more than most—the urgency of the matter. Although I am unable to comment on individual cases, I und…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
21 October 2025
3 contributions
Cancer Diagnoses
This Government are investing an extra £26 billion in the NHS, opening up community diagnostic centres at evenings and weekends and delivering 5 million more appointments to catch cancer earlier. We are making progress: 135,000 more patients have already had cancer diagnosed or ruled out within the …
I thank my hon. Friend for her question and her well wishes. We are taking cancer detection seriously in general practice, and there is work to do. It is why we have recently launched Jess’s rule, which is a patient safety initiative that means when patients return three times with worsening or undi…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
21 October 2025
2 contributions
Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme
I reiterate my deepest sympathies to all those who have experienced harm following vaccination and to their families. I recognise many of the concerns that campaigners have raised regarding the vaccine damage payment scheme. Their input will shape our ongoing consideration of reforms to the scheme a…
The vaccine damage payment scheme is not a compensation scheme but a one-off payment. It is important to state that. As I have said, we recognise that there are concerns, which campaigners have raised, and their input is shaping our ongoing consideration of reforms to the scheme. All vaccines in the…
Commons
Westminster Hall
14 October 2025
4 contributions
Postural Tachycardia Syndrome
It is a pleasure, as always, to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Lancaster and Wyre (Cat Smith) for bringing forward this important issue.
This place is vastly enriched by our experiences, and it is nothing short of inspiring how my hon. Frien…
I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. As we know, guidelines are only as strong as the evidence and research that they are based on. We need systematic, robust data to determine which treatments and interventions are most effective.
While we are backing our life sciences sector to come up wi…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 September 2025
Defibrillators
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer. I thank all hon. Members who have contributed to the debate. It has been really well attended, with over 20 Back-Bench contributions. I also thank the Front-Bench spokespeople for their contributions. I will try to respond to all the issue…
Commons
Oral Questions
22 July 2025
7 contributions
Topical Questions
The cancer plan will reflect the three shifts in the 10-year plan, including from hospital to community. Macmillan, Cancer Research UK and Cancer52 all sit on the steering board for the cancer plan, and I meet them regularly. Last week, we announced the Diagnostic Connect partnership with the third …
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 aftercare, as well as prevention and innovation. It will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care, including establishing targets fo…
+5 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
22 July 2025
3 contributions
Metachromatic Leukodystrophy Screening
I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue and congratulate his constituent David Kiddie on the 190-mile walk he completed earlier this year to raise awareness and funds for those with MLD and their families. The Government are committed to listening to those with MLD and their families and actin…
I thank my hon. Friend for raising this matter. Lily’s story really lays bare the heartbreak that rare diseases can bring and the vital role that early diagnosis can play. I am happy to meet my hon. Friend and Lily’s family. May I suggest that we meet when the UK National Screening Committee has com…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
22 July 2025
6 contributions
10-Year Health Plan: Prevention of Ill Health
The 10-year health plan sets out how we are transforming our approach to preventing ill health through a set of ambitious measures that make the healthy choice the easy choice. Among those measures is our mandatory partnership with food businesses, through which we will make shopping baskets across …
The Government are committed to addressing health inequalities experienced by people living with rare conditions such as sickle cell disorder. Pioneering research is a cross-cutting theme of the UK rare diseases framework, but we know that there are a small number of rare conditions with a large amo…
+4 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
10 July 2025
Children’s Health
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Dr Opher) on securing this debate. He is a tireless advocate for children across the country. I also pay tribute to his campaigning on social prescribing before he came to this place, because it is now a key part of our 10-year plan for health.
T…
Commons
Westminster Hall
8 July 2025
2 contributions
Alcohol and Cancer
It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mr Stuart, as ever. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Lancaster and Wyre (Cat Smith) for securing this important debate during Alcohol Awareness Week. The Government recognise that for too long there has been an unwillingness to lead on issues such …
A number of hon. Members have asked about a national alcohol strategy. We are continuing to work across Government to understand what other measures might be needed to reduce the negative impact of excessive alcohol consumption. I meet regularly with Ministers from across Government to discuss how w…
Commons
Proceedings
4 July 2025
2 contributions
Services for Adults with Learning Difficulties: Hillingdon
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Danny Beales) for securing this debate around services in the community for people with a learning difficulty in Hillingdon, and for championing the rights of people with learning difficulties in his area. I welcome those in the Galle…
I will ensure that that issue is raised with the relevant Department. I will say a little more about some of the expectations we place on local authorities to shape their care markets to meet the diverse needs of all local people, as required under the Care Act 2014.
This Government recognise the v…
Commons
Committee Stage
2 July 2025
4 contributions
Rare Cancers Bill
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stuart. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South West on his Bill reaching Committee stage. That is a huge achievement for any colleague, but especially for one who has served in this place for almost exactly a year to the day…
I congratulate my hon. Friend on the launch of the trial in her sister’s name. We do want to see more research and trials coming forward, particularly for rare cancers. She will be aware of the consortium that the Department has developed to work directly with the brain tumour community in particula…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
1 July 2025
3 contributions
Infant Feeding
I congratulate the hon. Member on securing the debate. Through her leadership of the all-party parliamentary group for infant feeding, she is working to ensure that families across the country get the right support. I thank all hon. Members who have contributed—my hon. Friends the Members for Ribble…
I agree. The hon. Member will see in the 10-year plan and some of the investments we are making—for instance, to reduce the number of women smoking in pregnancy—that the Government recognise that.
We recognise that infant feeding is critical to a baby’s healthy growth and development, and we recogn…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
30 June 2025
2 contributions
Rare Cancers Bill (Money)
I beg to move,
That, for the purposes of any Act resulting from the Rare Cancers Bill, it is expedient to authorise the payment out of money provided by Parliament of:
(1) any expenditure incurred under or by virtue of the Act by the Secretary of State, and
(2) any increase attributable to the Ac…
As the hon. Gentleman said, health is devolved. I am happy to write to him with the details of how we expect this private Member’s Bill to be implemented by the devolved Governments.
Question put and agreed to.
Commons
Debate
25 June 2025
Haemochromatosis Screening
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Torcuil Crichton) for securing this debate and for sharing his personal connection as someone who has haemochromatosis. In honour of World Haemochromatosis Week earlier this month, from 1 to 7 June, I pay tribute to the important work that …
Commons
Westminster Hall
24 June 2025
3 contributions
Care Settings: Right to Maintain Contact
Thank you, Ms Butler, for chairing this important debate at such short notice, and I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool Walton (Dan Carden) for securing it.
The Minister for Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Aberafan Maesteg (Stephen Kinnock), has asked me to pass on his apologies; he …
I do not have that data to hand, but I will make sure that it is provided to the shadow Minister afterwards.
While there is sometimes the need for temporary restrictions or modifications to minimise significant risks, the Government hope that such instances are a rarity. It is our aspiration to ens…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Proceedings
21 May 2025
4 contributions
UK Health Security Agency: Porton Down
I thank the right hon. Member for Salisbury (John Glen) for securing this important debate and for his passionate advocacy on behalf of his constituents for the vital work conducted by the UK Health Security Agency at its Porton Down site. I also take the opportunity to recognise the intervention fr…
I can assure my hon. Friend that the benefits of all options will be considered.
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 May 2025
Chronic Urinary Tract Infections
It is an honour, as ever, to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. I thank the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Luke Taylor) for securing this debate. I would like to welcome and acknowledge Phoebe and all others in the Gallery. Of course, I put on record straightaway that I will ensure that a m…
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 May 2025
3 contributions
World Asthma Day
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I thank the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for bringing this timely debate forward as we mark last week’s World Asthma Day. It shows real leadership from the chair of the APPG for respiratory health. In that spirit, I would be delight…
Yes, I confirm that I will write to the shadow Minister on FeNO at a later date. NHS England is also piloting a digital annual asthma check.
I am sorry, Dr Huq, this is highly irregular, but I am feeling extremely unwell; I need to go and make myself okay. [ Interruption. ] Thank you for your forbe…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
8 May 2025
2 contributions
Brain Tumours: Research and Treatment
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Mitcham and Morden (Dame Siobhain McDonagh) and the hon. Member for Witney (Charlie Maynard) for securing this vitally important debate. They have both been powerful voices in this place for more research, greater care and better treatments for patients with bra…
NHS England has found that creating that environment does not necessarily provide new and better ways of repurposing drugs, and that can be done far more efficiently and far less bureaucratically by using local off-label prescribing. We are looking at how we can incentivise researchers and clinical …
Commons
Oral Questions
6 May 2025
2 contributions
Topical Questions
I add my heartfelt condolences to Arlo’s family. In September, we launched a new series of funding opportunities designed to improve brain cancer research for both adults and children. We are committed to furthering our investment and support for high-quality brain tumour research, ensuring that fun…
I agree with my hon. Friend. We are making great strides in developing our cancer plans. We will be launching a national cancer plan later this year, and the targeted lung cancer screening programme has been particularly effective. The SNP has had a record settlement for Holyrood, and we expect the …
Commons
Oral Questions
6 May 2025
3 contributions
Neighbourhood Health Centres
We are committed to fixing the front door of the NHS, including by delivering the primary care infrastructure required to enable a neighbourhood health service. We have already taken steps to improve primary care infrastructure, including by providing £100 million of capital funding to upgrade GP bu…
I do agree, and I would be delighted to work with my hon. Friend on the Government’s commitment to delivering a neighbourhood health service that reinforces integrated working for the NHS, local government, social care and wider partners as the norm.
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
6 May 2025
3 contributions
Preventive Healthcare: New Technology
We are already using technology to improve preventive healthcare and to transform the NHS. We have invested £11 million in artificial intelligence to trial breast cancer screening mammogram interpretation. We are piloting the NHS health check online to tackle cardiovascular disease, and our NHS Bett…
I commend the work that my hon. Friend refers to. The new HealthTech innovation hub—a flagship project of the West Yorkshire investment zone—brings together West Yorkshire combined authority, organisations like the HealthTech Leeds partnership, academics, clinicians, policymakers and more than 250 h…
+1 more contribution in this session