Written questions by Brackenridge.

Whether his Department plans to publish a long-term financial sustainability plan for community pharmacy co-produced with the community pharmacy sector in England.

Awaiting answer.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that children and families in areas with high levels of childhood excess weight, including Wolverhampton North East, have access to appropriate nutrition and dietetic support through neighbourhood health services.

Awaiting answer.

What support his Department is providing to local NHS bodies and public health teams in Wolverhampton to improve prevention and treatment for people living with obesity and diet related long term conditions in areas of high deprivation.

Awaiting answer.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure integrated care boards are accountable for commissioning effective services for patients with very severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome until the nationally commissioned specialised service is introduced.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the commissioning of specialised services that meet the needs of their local populations. ICBs are expected to commission services in line with National Health Service expectations of care. NHS England supports ICBs through statutory guidance, service specifications, and the Strategic Commissioning Framework, but decisions on commissioning and service configuration ultimately rest with individual ICBs, based on local need. This is also the case for the commissioning of services for all levels of severity of myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).The action within July 2025’s final delivery plan on ME/CFS, to consider whether a specialised service should be prescribed by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for very severe ME/CFS has been delayed until April 2027.Officials in the Department and NHS England are currently considering, along with ME/CFS stakeholders, interim measures to support patients with very severe ME/CFS, including referencing severe and very severe ME/CFS in a new template service specification for mild and moderate ME/CFS.

For what reason the action relating to a specialised service for patients with very severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome was included in the Final Delivery Plan without full consideration of system constraints affecting its implementation.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the commissioning of specialised services that meet the needs of their local populations. ICBs are expected to commission services in line with National Health Service expectations of care. NHS England supports ICBs through statutory guidance, service specifications, and the Strategic Commissioning Framework, but decisions on commissioning and service configuration ultimately rest with individual ICBs, based on local need. This is also the case for the commissioning of services for all levels of severity of myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).The action within July 2025’s final delivery plan on ME/CFS, to consider whether a specialised service should be prescribed by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for very severe ME/CFS has been delayed until April 2027.Officials in the Department and NHS England are currently considering, along with ME/CFS stakeholders, interim measures to support patients with very severe ME/CFS, including referencing severe and very severe ME/CFS in a new template service specification for mild and moderate ME/CFS.

If he will take steps to ensure that the National Cancer Plan for England includes measures that improve (a) early diagnosis and (b) outcomes for people with (i) myeloma and (ii) other blood cancers not covered by staging-based targets.

Early diagnosis is a key focus of the National Cancer Plan. It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including myeloma and other blood cancers, as early and quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, to improve outcomes.To tackle late diagnoses of blood cancers, 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. Blood cancers are one of the most common cancer types diagnosed through these pathways.We will get the NHS diagnosing blood cancers earlier and treating them faster, and we will support the NHS to increase capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services through investment, including for magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scanners.The National Cancer Plan, which will be published in the new year, will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for all cancer patients, including speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and ultimately driving up this country’s cancer survival rates.

If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Mental Health Bill on mental wellbeing in Wolverhampton.

We have carried out an Impact Assessment, which is in the public domain and is available on the Bills Parliament web page. The benefits related to wellbeing in the Impact Assessment are not quantified but are explored through breakeven analysis. The analysis seeks to estimate the non-monetised benefits required to offset the estimated net monetised impacts of the policy.The bill largely follows the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act, which heard from a broad range of stakeholders and views, including service users and carers, to make recommendations to improve people’s experience of the Mental Health Act.

What recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding for charitable hospices.

We want a society where every person receives high-quality, compassionate care from diagnosis through to the end of life. This government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting and hospices will have a big role to play in that shift.Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding from the National Health Service. The amount of funding charitable hospices receive varies by integrated care board (ICB) area, and will, in part, be dependent on the local population need and a system-wide approach using a range of palliative and end of life care provision within their ICB footprint.I recently met NHS England and discussions have begun on how to reduce inequalities and variation in access to, and the quality of, palliative and end of life care.  We will consider next steps on palliative and end of life care, including funding, in the coming months.Additionally, we have committed to develop a 10-year plan to deliver a NHS fit for the future, by driving three shifts in the way health care is delivered. We will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff and our stakeholders as we develop the plan.More information about how members of the public, patients, healthcare staff and stakeholder organisations can input into the 10-Year Health Plan is available at the following link:https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/