Motor Neurone Disease
I sympathise deeply with all those living with motor neurone disease (MND) or supporting a loved one. We must improve care for people with neurological conditions and ensure they receive the support they need.
I know Ministers recognise the importance of timely home adaptations, especially for individuals with rapidly progressing conditions like MND. Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide adaptations for people who satisfy a needs assessment, eligibility criteria and a means test, and have powers to agree a more generous local policy.
To support this duty, I am delighted that the Government has boosted funding for the Disabled Facilities Grant by £86 million per year to £711 million for both 2024-25 and 2025-26. This additional funding could provide around 15,600 home adaptations to give older and disabled people more independence in their homes.
Local authorities are required to provide a decision on Disabled Facilities Grants applications within six months of receipt, and the works must usually be completed within 12 months of approval. Government guidance sets out that local authorities should prioritise urgent cases and work to quicker, best practice timescales. I understand Ministers have no immediate plans to review the delivery timescales for the grant.
More widely, I welcome the various initiatives at a national level supporting service improvement and better care for people with neurological conditions. One example is the RightCare Progressive Neurological Conditions Toolkit, which includes timely access to specialist and personalised equipment, such as wheelchairs, as a key area of focus.
I am also pleased that a UK-wide Neuro Forum has been set up, facilitating meetings between the UK Government, NHS England, the devolved administrations and health services, and the Neurological Alliances of all four nations. The new forum provides an opportunity to share learnings across the system and discuss challenges, best practice examples and potential solutions for improving care for people with conditions like MND.
In addition, I strongly welcome the launch of an independent commission into adult social care, as part of the first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. The commission’s Terms of Reference are sufficiently broad to enable it to independently consider how to build a social care system fit for the future, including aspects of the Disabled Facilities Grant if it sees fit. Please be assured I will closely monitor developments.
Alcohol and Cancer
For too long, governments have been unwilling to lead on issues such as alcohol harm. Deaths due to alcohol are now at the highest rates on record, and there is strong evidence showing that alcohol use can contribute to a vast range of diseases, including several types of cancer. Last year, in England alone, 103,000 people were admitted to hospital with alcohol-related cancers.
This puts an incredible strain on our public services. It is estimated that alcohol-related harms cost public services £27 billion each year in England alone, both through NHS treatment and alcohol’s contribution to levels of economic inactivity and crime. The rate of alcohol-related deaths is also 1.7 times higher in the most deprived communities, which highlights the impact that alcohol has on health inequality in our country.
I am so pleased to hear that, in the coming months, the first ever UK guidelines on alcohol treatment will be published. This will provide recommendations on assessments for alcohol-related conditions and will improve the links between specialist alcohol treatment services and the rest of the healthcare system.
More information on how best to deal with alcohol prevention and cancer will be included in the national cancer plan, which will be published later this year. I look forward to this national plan building on the progress of the 10-year health plan, which was recently published. Together, these plans will drive the shift from treatment to prevention, including for those at risk of alcohol-related cancers.
I strongly support the commitment outlined in the 10-year health plan to ensure that health warnings and nutritional information are legally required on labels for alcohol. Voluntary regulations do not lead to consistent good practice across the alcohol industry, so I support the work to ensure that it is a legal requirement to display certain information on alcohol products. This will be a vital step in aiding people to make healthier decisions when it comes to alcohol consumption.
However, this step must be the beginning of the Government’s work, not the end. That is why I am glad that Ministers have committed to working across Government to consider further measures that might be needed to reduce the negative impacts of excessive alcohol consumption.
Lung Health in the NHS
I welcome the NHS 10-Year Plan, which has now been published. In the months leading up to the plan’s publication, the Government held the biggest ever national conversation on the future of the NHS, asking staff and patients for their views, experiences, and ideas to help shape the final plan. The plan is underpinned by three key shifts: from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention.
The plan sets out the commitment to fully roll out lung cancer screening for those with a history of smoking. From the programme’s inception to April 2025, over 1.2 million lung health checks have already taken place and, as a result, clinicians have diagnosed over 7,000 cases of lung cancer. There have also been over 100,000 findings of emphysema.
I am also pleased that the Government has already taken positive steps toward preventing certain respiratory diseases. I supported the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which will progressively increase the age at which people can buy cigarettes, so no one born on or after 1 January 2009 can ever be legally sold cigarettes. The ban will pave the way for a smoke-free UK, delivering on the Government’s mission to improve healthy life expectancy and reduce the number of lives lost to the biggest killers. There will also be £70 million of investment provided for stop smoking services, so that current smokers have the support they need to quit.
This is alongside the establishment of 13 Respiratory Clinical Networks across England. These networks are playing a vital role in providing clinical leadership and supporting respiratory services, particularly in primary care settings. I am encouraged by the results of the first national vaccination campaign for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), launched in September 2024. With more than a million people now protected from this potentially deadly disease, findings indicate 30% fewer hospital admissions in 75- to 79-year-olds than would have occurred without vaccination.
I am delighted at the progress the Government has made on fixing our health service. It has stuck to its word and delivered the first step it promised of two million more appointments a year to cut waiting lists, achieving this target seven months early. The Government has now exceeded this goal, delivering 4.2 million additional appointments since July.
Lobular Breast Cancer
I sympathise profoundly with anyone who is affected by cancer. As you say, invasive lobular breast cancer (ILC) is an under-researched disease which goes undetected in too many women and robs too many families of mums, sisters and daughters.
I was saddened to hear of the recent death of the Lobular Moon Shot Project’s founder, Dr Susan Michaelis. She was an amazing woman, and I know that the UK Government is determined to honour her legacy.
I am glad that the Health Secretary has met with campaigners from the Moon Shot Project to discuss how we can improve our understanding of ILC. Following this, I welcome that he advised the Chief Scientific Adviser to bring campaigners and researchers together to plot a path forward. I hope that, together, we can build the plan we need to save women’s lives and to make a difference to those affected. I will monitor these developments closely.
I agree that further research is needed to understand the biology of lobular breast cancer. I am proud that the UK Government has invested £29 million into the Institute of Cancer Research and its partner, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) at the Royal Marsden Biomedical Research Centre in 2022-2027. This supports their efforts to strengthen research into cancer, including lobular breast cancer.
As you may know, healthcare is a devolved matter and falls under the remit of Scottish Government. Sadly, cancer remains one of the major causes of death in Scotland, with breast cancer being the most common cancer affecting women.
Breast cancer is on the rise, but far too many Scottish women are still not getting the standard of care they deserve. Swift treatment can mean the difference between life and death, and more must be done to meet these standards. That’s why I believe the Scottish Government must act with the urgency needed to improve breast cancer care and get every woman the quick, quality treatment they needs.
Early diagnosis is paramount, as any delay can change someone’s diagnosis from survivable to incurable. It is therefore nothing short of a national scandal that the Government in Scotland has not met its 62-day cancer treatment standard in over a decade.
I assure you I will stand up for women’s health, and alongside my colleagues in the Scottish Parliament, will persist in calling for cancer screenings to be made as accessible as possible so people can get the urgent, lifesaving care they need.