Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase the number of places available at UK universities to study medicine to match demand from applicants.

Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government has funded an additional 1,500 undergraduate medical school places per year for domestic students in England, which represents a 25% increase and takes the total number of medical school places in England to 7,500 each year. This expansion was completed in September 2020 and delivered five new medical schools in England.

In addition, the Government temporarily lifted the cap on medical school places for students who completed A-Levels in 2020 and in 2021 and who had an offer from a university in England to study medicine, subject to their grades. As a result of this change, the intakes for 2020/21 and 2021/22 were 8,405 and 8,460 respectively, significantly above the planned cap of 7,500.

NHS England has been commissioned to produce a Long Term Workforce Plan. The Government has committed to publishing the plan shortly, and this will include projections for the number of doctors, nurses and other professionals that will be needed in five, 10 and 15 years’ time, taking full account of improvements in retention and productivity. The workforce plan is for the whole of the National Health Service workforce.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 1 March (HL5824), which body will assume responsibility for ensuring that the immunocompromised will continue to be treated as a priority after the disbanding of the Antivirus and Therapeutics Taskforce, and its related programme and strategy boards.

Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)

In line with the Government’s strategy of living with COVID-19, as of 31 March 2023 the Antiviral and Therapeutics Taskforce has been stood down. The treatment of COVID-19 patients will continue to be overseen by National Health Service and will operate in line with evidence-based recommendations from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, following the established processes in this area.

The welfare of immunocompromised patients remains a priority, hence the enhanced protections we continue to offer, including the recently announced spring booster vaccinations, free lateral flow tests and guidance in addition to COVID-19 treatments.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that integrated care boards fulfil their obligations under the Health and Care Act 2022 to provide palliative care services to meet the needs of their population.

Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)

NHS England has actively increased its support to local commissioners to improve the accessibility, quality and sustainability of palliative and end of life care for all. This has included the publication of statutory guidance and service specifications, with further resources available on the FutureNHS Collaboration Platform. Copies of these documents are attached.

In addition, NHS England has funded the establishment of a palliative and end of life care Strategic Clinical Network in every NHS England region, which work closely with local commissioners regarding the development of accessible, high quality and sustainable services.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of hospice beds that have been lost due to shortfalls in the funding through integrated care boards and where no alternative provision has been made by local NHS providers.

Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)

No specific assessment has been made. Palliative and end of life care is commissioned at a local level by integrated care boards (ICBs) in response to the needs of their local population. NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications to support ICBs in commissioning a range of palliative and end of life services, including inpatient beds, that meet local needs and preferences.

In addition, NHS England has funded the establishment of a palliative and end of life care Strategic Clinical Network in every NHS England region to work closely with local commissioners on the development of accessible, high quality and sustainable services.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their Women’s Health Strategy for England, published on 30 August 2022, what steps they are taking to address the high rates of poor mental health amongst girls and young women.

Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)

The NHS Long Term Plan commits an additional £2.3 billion a year for mental health services in England by 2023/24, supporting an additional two million people, including girls and young women, to get the National Health Service-funded mental health support that they need.

We also continue to make progress on rolling out mental health support teams to schools and colleges, with 287 in place in over 4,700 schools and colleges across the country, offering support to children experiencing common mental health issues. The number of teams is expected shortly to have increased to 399.

We know that girls and women are more likely to experience an eating disorder, so as part of the NHS Long Term Plan investment, we are putting an extra £1 billion into community mental health care for adults with severe mental illness by 2023/24. This will give 370,000 adults and older adults with severe mental illnesses, including eating disorders, greater choice and control over their care and will support them to live well in their communities.

Since 2016, extra funding is going into children and young people's community eating disorder services every year, with £54 million per year from 2022/23. This extra funding will enhance the capacity of community eating disorder teams across the country.

The NHS Long Term Plan also includes measures to improve safety, quality and continuity of care and a commitment for a further 24,000 women to be able to access specialist perinatal mental health care by 2023/24. This care will also be available from preconception to 24 months after birth, which will provide an extra year of support. This expansion includes 33 new Maternal Mental Health Services, which bring together psychological therapy, maternity services and reproductive health for women who have mental health needs following trauma or loss related to their maternity experience. These will be available across England by March 2024.

As outlined in the Women’s Health Strategy, women are one of our priority groups when promoting our Every Mind Matters resource, which includes content to support issues affecting women’s mental health, including life changes such as pregnancy.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will meet with the British Society for Rheumatology to discuss concerns about the safety and reliability of homecare medicines services in England.

Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)

The National Homecare Medicines Committee (NHMC), managed by and including representation from NHS England, and the National Clinical Homecare Association (NCHA) have met with the British Society for Rheumatology (BSR) to discuss their concerns about the safety and reliability of homecare medicines services, including delays in treatment. The NCHA have proposed to BSR that they will repurpose their bi-annual NCHA All Members Meeting to commence the wider discussion on the main areas of concern identified. The NCHA have reported that they intend to seek a broad base of stakeholder engagement at this event which will include NCHA full and associate members, the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry, NHMC members and BSR.

This represents a high degree of commitment from the NCHA and NHMC to work actively with the BSR and other stakeholders to resolve the concerns and issues which have been raised. The BSR has written to the Department requesting a meeting and the Department will be responding to the BSR shortly.

NHMC’s standardisation programme includes an NHS Digital strategy project. Within the NHMC there is a digital sub-group working closely with NHS Digital on the output-based specification for e-prescribing for homecare medicines services to use an Electronic Prescribing System. This work is at an advanced stage in preparation for consultation with NHMC during 2023.

NHS England’s Commercial Medicines Unit, which manages four national framework agreements for the provision of homecare medicines services for Home Parenteral Nutrition, Lysosomal Storage Disorders, Pulmonary Hypertension and Clotting Factors, holds regular engagement meetings with providers on the framework and when appropriate will discuss recruitment and retention of staff. NHMC also holds discussions regarding recruitment, retention and vacancies during engagement meetings with providers when appropriate to do so.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made about the impact of delays, workforce shortages, and lack of e-prescribing systems, on the health and well-being of patients receiving homecare medicines services.

Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)

The National Homecare Medicines Committee (NHMC), managed by and including representation from NHS England, and the National Clinical Homecare Association (NCHA) have met with the British Society for Rheumatology (BSR) to discuss their concerns about the safety and reliability of homecare medicines services, including delays in treatment. The NCHA have proposed to BSR that they will repurpose their bi-annual NCHA All Members Meeting to commence the wider discussion on the main areas of concern identified. The NCHA have reported that they intend to seek a broad base of stakeholder engagement at this event which will include NCHA full and associate members, the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry, NHMC members and BSR.

This represents a high degree of commitment from the NCHA and NHMC to work actively with the BSR and other stakeholders to resolve the concerns and issues which have been raised. The BSR has written to the Department requesting a meeting and the Department will be responding to the BSR shortly.

NHMC’s standardisation programme includes an NHS Digital strategy project. Within the NHMC there is a digital sub-group working closely with NHS Digital on the output-based specification for e-prescribing for homecare medicines services to use an Electronic Prescribing System. This work is at an advanced stage in preparation for consultation with NHMC during 2023.

NHS England’s Commercial Medicines Unit, which manages four national framework agreements for the provision of homecare medicines services for Home Parenteral Nutrition, Lysosomal Storage Disorders, Pulmonary Hypertension and Clotting Factors, holds regular engagement meetings with providers on the framework and when appropriate will discuss recruitment and retention of staff. NHMC also holds discussions regarding recruitment, retention and vacancies during engagement meetings with providers when appropriate to do so.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ask NHS England to undertake a review into the safety and reliability of homecare medicines services in England.

Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)

The National Homecare Medicines Committee (NHMC), managed by and including representation from NHS England, and the National Clinical Homecare Association (NCHA) have met with the British Society for Rheumatology (BSR) to discuss their concerns about the safety and reliability of homecare medicines services, including delays in treatment. The NCHA have proposed to BSR that they will repurpose their bi-annual NCHA All Members Meeting to commence the wider discussion on the main areas of concern identified. The NCHA have reported that they intend to seek a broad base of stakeholder engagement at this event which will include NCHA full and associate members, the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry, NHMC members and BSR.

This represents a high degree of commitment from the NCHA and NHMC to work actively with the BSR and other stakeholders to resolve the concerns and issues which have been raised. The BSR has written to the Department requesting a meeting and the Department will be responding to the BSR shortly.

NHMC’s standardisation programme includes an NHS Digital strategy project. Within the NHMC there is a digital sub-group working closely with NHS Digital on the output-based specification for e-prescribing for homecare medicines services to use an Electronic Prescribing System. This work is at an advanced stage in preparation for consultation with NHMC during 2023.

NHS England’s Commercial Medicines Unit, which manages four national framework agreements for the provision of homecare medicines services for Home Parenteral Nutrition, Lysosomal Storage Disorders, Pulmonary Hypertension and Clotting Factors, holds regular engagement meetings with providers on the framework and when appropriate will discuss recruitment and retention of staff. NHMC also holds discussions regarding recruitment, retention and vacancies during engagement meetings with providers when appropriate to do so.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 21 March (HL5868), what steps they will take to uphold the provisions of Chapter 4 of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s Blue Guide, which sets out the general rules for advertising medicines to both healthcare workers and the public, and states there is a requirement not to exaggerate the benefits of medicines; and whether the reference in Chapter 4 to section 6.6 “for more information on safety claims” implies that the rules around the use of the word “safe” are applicable to advertising aimed at the general public.

Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Department is committed to following the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) Blue book and Advertising Standards Agency guidelines. Careful consideration is given to what guidance is applicable to the campaigns that are run. Government campaigns to encourage routine vaccination uptake are considered as public health interventions and therefore sit outside the scope of United Kingdom advertising regulations, which are interpreted in the MHRA Blue Guide. Whether or not specific guidance applies, all campaign messaging is subject to rigorous clinical and policy approvals, to ensure information is communicated accurately.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the process for selecting a company to provide the NHS England data platform; and which other companies they considered bids from before awarding the service to Palantir.

Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)

A procurement process for the ‘Provision of Data Management Platform Services’ was carried out by NHS England ahead of the contract award in December 2020, with a route to market evaluation identifying the G-Cloud 11 framework as the optimal route.

In line with the G-Cloud process, selection criteria helped to identify 19 suppliers with potential solutions. A process of clarification and evaluation informed by subject matter experts (SMEs) against agreed functional, non-functional, and financial criteria was carried out. The identity of bidders is not made public as this information is commercially sensitive.

The nine suppliers who met the minimum technical threshold were invited to give demonstrations in October 2020, following which they were evaluated against a set of criteria agreed by the SMEs. Palantir was subsequently selected as the preferred supplier based on receiving the highest score in the evaluation.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Evans of Rainow on 20 March (HL Deb col 1529), what is the source of their data for saying that six percent of GP services could be provided by pharmacies; and what is the evidence base for those data.

Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)

The source of the data that 6% of general practitioner (GP) services could be provided by pharmacies, as referenced by Lord Evans of Rainow on 20 March, is the report Making Time in General Practice, published by the Primary Care Foundation and NHS Alliance in October 2015. This research found that 5.5% of GP appointments were potentially avoidable by being directed instead to self-care/pharmacy. These findings were referenced in the later report General Practice Forward View, published by NHS England in April 2016. In this report the figure was rounded to 6%.

Copies of both reports are attached.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to NHS England’s instruction to hospitals to use Palantir’s Faster Data Flows database, whether hospitals will be required to seek patients’ consent for the sharing of their data.

Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)

My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has directed NHS England to undertake data collections. The directions create a legal obligation for the NHS England collection and processing and as a result consent is not required.

The Faster Data Flows pilot aims to collect data already submitted via legacy collection systems with an aim to reduce data latency. The pilot will not collect any data from providers which they are not already asked to provide, as it is the collection method which is changing, not the information being collected.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 6 March (HL5937), why the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) request for referral of 8 June is described as for “referral of Evusheld for treatment of COVID-19” but, as confirmed in a NICE freedom of information response, the request was for “referral of tixagevimab-cilgavimab for preventing COVID-19 [ID6136] on 8 June 2022”, causing delay to the possibility of a decision at a time when the preventative prophylaxis Evusheld was highly efficacious.

Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)

The request made by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to the Department on 8 June 2022 was for the referral of Evusheld for the treatment of COVID-19 for inclusion into its multiple technology appraisal on therapeutics for COVID-19, not Evusheld for prevention. I understand from NICE that an error was made in its response to the freedom of information request, and that a correction will be issued accordingly. I apologise that this happened.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the minutes of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation meeting that set out the clinical risk groups for the COVID-19 vaccination programme in Spring 2023 will be made available to the public.

Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)

The minutes of the meeting of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which discussed which groups would be eligible for the precautionary COVID-19 booster programme of spring 2023, will be made publicly available through the GOV.UK website in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the decision by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation that family members of, and carers for, people in the clinical risk groups are not recommended to receive COVID-19 booster vaccinations, what steps they are taking to protect people in clinical risk groups from contracting COVID-19.

Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)

As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement titled ‘Approach to Managing Covid-19’ on 30 March 2023, in 2023/24 the Government will maintain a range of capabilities to protect those at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19. Given the continued effectiveness of vaccines and improved treatments, for most people there is a much lower risk of severe illness compared to earlier in the pandemic.

We will therefore continue to encourage people to take up the vaccines to which they are entitled, and we will continue to fund and provide COVID-19 testing, to manage outbreaks in some high-risk settings and to enable access to treatments for those who are eligible. We will also maintain essential COVID-19 surveillance activities in the community, primary and secondary care, and in high-risk settings. Additionally, we will retain proportionate capability for testing in the event of a COVID-19 wave or variant that results in a significant increase in pressure on the National Health Service.

Vaccination does not significantly limit transmission, so there is no strong reason to prioritise vaccination for carers of those who are at high risk of severe illness.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what are their reasons for implementing restrictions on the spring 2023 COVID-19 booster programme; and what factors were considered in determining the eligibility criteria for the booster programme.

Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)

As with all vaccination programmes in the United Kingdom, the decision on which groups are eligible for a particular vaccination programme is only made following careful consideration of the groups most at risk of illness, severe illness, or death because of infection. For COVID-19, the primary aim of the vaccination programme continues to be the prevention of severe disease, both in hospitalisation and mortality, arising from COVID-19.

Therefore, in February 2023, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) provided advice for the spring 2023 COVID-19 vaccination programme. As a precautionary measure, JCVI advised a spring booster dose for the most vulnerable in the population, as a proportionate response: those over the age of 75 years, residents in a care home for older adults, and those over five years of age who are immunosuppressed.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what (1) evidential basis, and (2) rationale, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation used to determine that family members of, and carers for, people in the clinical risk groups identified in the Green Book are not recommended to receive COVID-19 booster vaccinations.

Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)

In November 2022, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) provided interim advice which indicated that in autumn 2023, persons at higher risk of severe COVID-19 could be offered a booster vaccine dose in preparation for winter 2023 to 2024. As it was interim advice, the JCVI report does not contain any evidential basis for proposed cohorts. Final advice on who will be advised to receive COVID-19 boosters in autumn 2023 will be provided in due course. The considerations for any future decisions will be referenced in JCVI reports and meeting minutes.

In February 2023, JCVI provided advice for the spring 2023 COVID-19 vaccination programme. As a precautionary measure, JCVI advised a spring booster dose for the most vulnerable in the population, as a proportionate response: those over the age of 75 years, residents in a care home for older adults, and those over five years of age who are immunosuppressed. These groups were chosen as they continue to be at highest risk of severe COVID-19.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency review into the use of Roaccutane will be (a) concluded and (b) published.

Answered by Will Quince

An Expert Working Group has reviewed the available evidence relating to isotretinoin (Roaccutane). We expect the report to be published shortly.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which consultations published by their Department are awaiting a response; and when each of those responses (a) were initially planned to and (b) will be published.

Answered by Will Quince

Policy teams across the Department consult regularly during the policy development and implementation cycle. Information is available on GOV.UK about all open and closed consultations published by the Department, including the closing date for open consultations and, where available, the Government's response. The Cabinet Office has published best practice ‘consultation principles’ for Government departments.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether Microsoft has been compliant with the Digital Technology Assessment Criteria since it first provided its Teams software to the NHS in 2021.

Answered by Will Quince

Digital Technology Assessment Criteria was launched in February 2021. We therefore do not believe that an assessment was made by NHS Digital when contracting with Microsoft against the Digital Technology Assessment Criteria as it was in consultation phase. National Health Service organisations may have chosen to use Microsoft Teams locally prior to 2021.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 23 April 2007 to Question 125276, on Nurses: Pay, if he will publish a version of the table in that Answer for the years 1992-93 to 2021-22.

Answered by Will Quince

The following table shows pay recommendations of the review body for nursing and other health professions for qualified nurses (known as the National Health Service Pay Review Body (PRB) since 2004), the pay uplift awarded in each year and the change in average qualified nurses' earnings per head.

Source: Earnings calculations from 2008 come from NHS England Earnings Statistics: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-staff-earnings-estimates. To include both trusts & support organisations these are weighted by Headcount from NHS Workforce Statistics. Core recommendations are from the annual PRB reports.

Impact for Nurses (from 2009/10) are Departmental calculations weighted by Headcount across by points. This can make a difference when there is not a uniform pay award, for example, in 2022/23 the value of £1,400 is different for different points.

The data for 2006/07 and earlier is replicated from the answer to the previous question.

Notes:

* In 1997/98, 1998/99 and 2007/08 pay awards were staged.

Prior to introduction of Agenda for Change contract annual pay awards may have included an element determined at local level.

Pay Uplift Awarded does not include any non-consolidated pay.

Pay Uplift Awarded from 2009/10 onwards indicate impact on basic pay, weighted by headcount.

Between 2008/09 and 2010/11 and between 2018/19 and 2020/21 a multi-year pay agreement was in place for Agenda for Change which meant there were no PRB new PRB pay recommendations

Difference between change in earnings and change in payscales may be caused by factors including pay drift, pay reform and changes to skill mix.

1. Change in average earnings only available from 1997/98
2. Earnings change since 2006/07 based on NHS Earnings Statistics
3. Assumed average of the award range
4. Assumed 1pc higher than the previous year
5. In 2011/12 a £250 increase was applied to pay points below £21,000. Pay Points above £21,000 were frozen
6. In 2012/13 a £250 increase was applied to pay points below £21,000. Pay Points above £21,000 were frozen

2021/22 includes the impact of transition to new pay structures from 3-year Agenda for Change pay and contract reform agreement.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recourse is available for patients whose data may not have been processed or controlled in a safe and secure fashion because the data was held by companies who were not compliant with the Digital Technology Assessment Criteria after April 2022.

Answered by Will Quince

The Digital Technology Assessment Criteria requires National Health Service organisations to ensure that information governance arrangements are appropriate for technologies that are deployed within the NHS.

The organisations deploying and providing the technology are required to determine the data controller and processor arrangements, communicate this through a Privacy Notice, put in place a Data Processing Agreement and ensure the adequacy of security measures.

If patients are concerned that their data has not been handled in accordance with legislation and/or NHS standards then they are able to raise a complaint with their NHS service provider and subsequently the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. Patients are also able to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office, as the regulator for data protection and information rights law. Any recourse would be situation-dependent.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many projects his Department is funding for research into (a) male and (b) female health; and what the cost of those programmes has been in the latest period for which data is available.

Answered by Will Quince

The National Institute for Health and Care Research welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including men’s health and women’s health issues. It is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. 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 patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the terms of reference are for the joint NHS and Health Education England diagnostic workforce board; whether there is an imaging subgroup of the board; what role the diagnostic workforce board has had in shaping the NHS long-term workforce plan; and what role the board will have in the implementation of the NHS long-term workforce plan.

Answered by Will Quince

A copy of the Terms of Reference for the joint NHS England and Health Education England Diagnostic Workforce Board is attached. There is an imaging workforce sub-group of this board.

Individual members of the Diagnostic Workforce Board have had an opportunity to feed into the development of the Long Term Workforce Plan for the National Health Service at appropriate stages and in the capacity of their roles. In line with the Terms of Reference, the board will have a role in supporting implementation of the workforce plan.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the particular mental health and wellbeing of ethnic minority girls and young women.

Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)

Whilst we are not taking steps nationally to address specifically the particular mental health and wellbeing of ethnic minority girls and young women, we are expanding access to mental health services through the NHS Long Term Plan, which commits to investing an additional £2.3 billion a year for mental health services by 2023/24, so that an additional two million people, including girls and young women from minority ethnic groups, can access National Health Service-funded mental health support.

NHS England launched its first Advancing mental health equalities strategy in October 2020 to support the ambition of reducing mental health inequalities outlined in the NHS Long Term Plan. The strategy summarises the core actions that NHS England will take to bridge the gaps for communities faring worse than others in mental health services, including black, Asian and minority ethnic groups, and women in secure care settings. A copy of the strategy is attached.

The Government and NHS England are also taking forward non-legislative work to address racial disparities, including the piloting of Culturally Appropriate Advocacy services by the Department. These are exploring approaches to identifying, supporting, and advocating for the specific cultural needs of people from ethnic minority groups.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will carry out a review of the necessary and desirable qualifications for the role of Chair of NHS England.

Answered by Will Quince

We have no specific plans to carry out such a review.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what role the Chair of NHS England has played in risk assessment for the NHS since his appointment.

Answered by Will Quince

The Chair of NHS England oversees the Board as the senior decision-making structure for NHS England. The Board sets the strategy and overall direction of NHS England, within the context of the National Health Service mandate from Government, overseeing delivery of the agreed strategy, the approach to risk, and establishing the culture and values of the organisation.

The Board has delegated some of its duties and responsibilities to Board Committees, which provide regular assurance to the Board on specific areas delegated to them and, by exception, escalate issues that merit full Board discussion and decision. They are led by non-executive directors and include the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee, which meets five times per year and reviews and monitors the integrity of the financial statements, financial and regulatory compliance, the systems of internal and control and the external and internal audit process. In accordance with good corporate governance, the Chair of NHS England is not a Member of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the takeover of Credit Suisse in the context of the role of Richard Meddings as (a) a member of the board of directors and (b) chair of the risk committee at Credit Suisse.

Answered by Will Quince

No specific assessment has been made.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the review by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on Isotretinoin: an expert review of suspected psychiatric and sexual side effects, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing redress for people who have experienced severe side effects from isotretinoin.

Answered by Will Quince

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) obtains independent advice from the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM). The Isotretinoin Expert Working Group was convened by CHM to evaluate the latest data on risk of psychiatric adverse reactions and sexual dysfunction suspected to be associated with the use of isotretinoin and to consider whether regulatory action is required to minimise risks or raise awareness of the risks. The report of this review will be published shortly, and more information on the working group is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/isotretinoin-an-expert-review-of-suspected-psychiatric-and-sexual-side-effects

The matter of redress sat outside the scope of the expert review and is also outside the remit of MHRA. Our primary focus currently is on improving future medicines and medical devices safety.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to improve patient safety within mental health hospitals following the events at Edenfield Centre.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

The Department is conducting a rapid review, chaired by Dr Geraldine Strathdee, into patient safety in mental health inpatient services, which is anticipated to last for approximately two to three months. The review will focus on what data and evidence is currently available to the healthcare system, including information provided by patients and families, and how this data and evidence can be used more effectively to identify patient safety risks and failures in care.

NHS England has also established a three-year quality improvement programme which seeks to tackle the root causes of unsafe, poor-quality inpatient care in mental health, learning disability and autism settings. We will continue to work closely with colleagues in NHS England to make sure the rapid review is aligned with and complementary to this programme.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has he made of the adequacy of safety within mental health hospitals following reports from Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has advised that it is reviewing the information it holds on the Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust to identify whether further action is needed to ensure people are safe. Action may include further inspection or enforcement action should it find evidence that people using this service are not receiving safe care and treatment. A report will be published in due course.

CQC continues to gather and review all intelligence and information held about the trust overall to inform any additional regulatory activity that may be required. The rating of the wards providing care for people with learning disabilities and autistic people has been suspended and CQC will review the rating once its inspection is complete.

More widely, the Department is conducting a rapid review into patient safety in mental health inpatient services, which is anticipated to last for approximately two to three months. The review will focus on what data and evidence is currently available to the healthcare system, including information provided by patients and families, and how this data and evidence can be used more effectively to identify patient safety risks and failures in care.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of suitability of the use of mental health hospitals for individuals with autism.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

Section 20 of the Mental Health Act Code of Practice sets out considerations for the detention of autistic people in mental health hospitals under the Act, including on their suitability. We have developed policies based on these considerations.

To reduce overall reliance on mental health inpatient care for autistic people and people with a learning disability, we published the Building the Right Support Action Plan in July 2022. This Plan brings together, in one place, actions across Government and public services to strengthen community support, along with actions to ensure that, when someone would benefit from admission to a mental health hospital, they receive therapeutic, high-quality care and remain in hospital for the shortest time possible.

The Plan includes our proposed Mental Health Act reforms to help improve support for autistic people and people with a learning disability and to end inappropriate detentions. The proposals limit the scope for detaining autistic people and people with a learning disability under the Act and place new duties on commissioners to ensure that there are sufficient community-based services for those at risk of admission.

Additionally, NHS England are working to support integrated care systems to develop sensory-friendly environments for autistic people with the publication of a sensory-friendly resource pack in October 2022. The pack is intended to support local systems to address issues raised about non-sensory-friendly environments impacting on care quality for autistic children and adults. The pack has been co-produced with people with lived experience, family carers, and clinicians.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to help improve genomic testing and care in the UK.

Answered by Will Quince

The NHS Genomic Medicine Service was launched in 2018 to support standardised, high quality and equitable access to genomic medicine across the National Health Service in England. Since then, significant progress has been made to improve genomic testing and care. This includes the establishment of a national network of seven NHS Genomic Laboratory Hubs to deliver testing as directed by the National Genomic Test Directory, which outlines the full range of genomic testing offered by the NHS, including tests for 3,200 rare diseases and over 200 cancer clinical indications.

The NHS now offers several world-leading services. It is the first health care system in the world to systematically offer whole genome sequencing (WGS) as part of routine care, and it has launched a rapid WGS service for acutely unwell children with a likely monogenic disorder and a world-leading National Fetal Exome Sequencing Service.

The NHS also has an important role in delivering a comprehensive clinical genomic and counselling service for patients of all ages and their families, who have, or are at risk of having, a rare genetic and genomic condition, including inherited cancer.

Last year, in October 2022, NHS England published the first NHS Genomics Strategy, ‘Accelerating Genomic Medicine in the NHS’, which outlines the future vision for embedding genomics in the NHS over the next five years.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the findings on concerns of general practice staff on delivering adequate level of care in winter 2023 in the Royal College of General Practitioners report entitled Fit for the Future GP Pressures 2023, published in March 2023, what steps he is taking to ensure that staff in general practice can deliver adequate levels of care in winter 2023.

Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)

We are expanding general practice (GP) teams through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme in order to create 50 million more appointments a year by 2024 and free up GPs’ time for work that only they can do. Since 2019, we have recruited over 25,000 additional staff into GPs, covering a range of roles, for example clinical pharmacists.

In the 2023/24 changes to the GP contract, we have also taken steps to streamline the Impact and Investment Fund (IIF). The remaining £246 million of the IIF will be entirely focused on improving patient experience. £172.2 million (70%) will be provided as a monthly payment to Primary Care Networks through the Capacity and Access Support Payment, and the remaining £73.8 million (30%) will be allocated by integrated care boards, according to assessment against locally agreed access improvement plans.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to introduce cannabis treatment on the NHS for people with Dravet Syndrome.

Answered by Will Quince

The licensed cannabis-based medicine Epidyolex is prescribed and routinely funded by the National Health Service for people with Dravet syndrome, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and tuberous sclerosis complex. This follows approval by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and assessment by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the number of (a) coroner and (b) serious incidence reports that have cited (i) ambulance delays to see a patient and (ii) waits outside of hospital in an ambulance as factors in (A) England, (B) Yorkshire and (C) York, in the latest year for which data is available.

Answered by Will Quince

The publication of Prevention of Future Deaths (PFD) reports, and the Department’s response, is a matter for the Chief Coroner under the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013. Reports are published by the Chief Coroner at the following link:

https://www.judiciary.uk/related-offices-and-bodies/office-chief-coroner/https-www-judiciary-uk-subject-community-health-care-and-emergency-services-related-deaths/

The total number of PFD reports is not held centrally by the Department. This is because the Department is not a recipient of all reports, as some reports are sent directly to the relevant National Health Service trust and/or NHS England. Similarly, the information requested on serious incident reports is not held in the format requested.

Information on patient safety incidents, including those relating to ambulance services, is published by NHS England as part of the National Reporting and Learning System. This does not specifically include a category of waits outside a hospital but does include safety incidents relating to ‘Access, admission, transfer, discharge (including missing patient)’. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/patient-safety/national-patient-safety-incident-reports/

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the announcement in Written Ministerial Statement UIN HCWS512 on 23 January 2023 of a rapid review into patient safety in mental health inpatient settings in England, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of widening that review.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

We have no plans to widen the rapid review. However, the review itself does not preclude any future inquiries, should the Government believe it appropriate to pursue them.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the announcement in Written Ministerial Statement UIN HCWS512 on 23 January 2023 of a rapid review into patient safety in mental health inpatient settings in England, whether funding has been allocated for the collation of new data as part of that review.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

No such funding has been allocated. We will await the findings from the rapid review before any next steps are determined.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people who give birth to a child with Down's syndrome are provided with adequate maternity care.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

Women who give birth to a child with Down syndrome need maternity care that is tailored to the needs of the woman and those of her baby. The National Health Service, through its three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services, is committed to listening to each woman and offering her a Personalised Care and Support Plan.

The Down Syndrome Act 2022, which received Royal Assent in April 2022, requires my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to publish guidance for relevant authorities across health, social care, education, and housing on practical steps that organisations should take to meet the needs of people with Down syndrome. By setting out in guidance the steps it would be appropriate for health authorities to take when providing services and support to people with Down syndrome and their families, we believe there will be a wider positive impact for expectant parents who are told their unborn baby may have Down syndrome.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2023 to Question 166164 on Government Departments: Staff, what the overall rating out of 100 recorded was in the most recent Leesman office surveys undertaken by (a) NHS England, (b) the UK Health and Security Agency and (c) the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities.

Answered by Will Quince

Subsequent to the Leesman office surveys undertaken by the Government Property Agency in their hubs during November 2022, the following table shows the overall rating out of 100 provided by the staff based in the specified offices:

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2022 to Question 97701 on Respiratory Syncytial Virus: Children, what recent discussions his Department has had with JCVI’s respiratory syncytial virus subcommittee on whether SMA type 1 patients should be added as an eligible cohort to receive a palivizumab vaccination.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are currently reviewing evidence around newly available products and the potential to expand upon the current respiratory syncytial virus immunisation offer, which includes those with SMA type 1. Once JCVI provide its advice, the Department will work alongside the UK Health Security Agency and NHS England to look at options for implementing accordingly.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the suitability of the data that is collected on NHS funded mental health inpatient services.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

Mental health data, including data on inpatient services funded by the National Health Service, are kept under regular review by NHS England and are subject to ongoing improvement. This includes a focus on improving data quality, and identifying and publishing key metrics, with the aim of monitoring both the activity within services and the quality of care delivered.

In addition, the rapid review we are conducting into mental health inpatient settings has a specific focus on how we use data and evidence, including complaints, feedback, and whistleblowing alerts, to identify risks to safety.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2023 to Question 128616 on Members: Correspondence, if his Department will resend the response of 25 January 2023 to the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

The initial response was sent out on 26 January 2023. We have resent the response on 30 March 2023.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential health risks of e-cigarettes for children.

Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)

The Department’s assessment of the risk of vaping is based upon a series of evidence reviews commissioned over the past several years. The latest, ‘Nicotine vaping in England: 2022 evidence main findings’, was published in September 2022.

The report concludes that in the short and medium term, vaping poses a small fraction of the risks of smoking, but that vaping is not risk-free. Nicotine is highly addictive and can be harmful, and there are unanswered questions on the effects of longer-term use.

The Government is clear that vaping should only be used to help adults quit smoking; vapes should not be used by people under 18 or non-smokers.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department provides to people who (a) fall ill and (b) have an accident and are a primary carer for a vulnerable child.

Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

The Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to deliver a wide range of sustainable high-quality care and support services, including support for unpaid carers. Local authorities are required to undertake a Carer’s Assessment for any unpaid carer who appears to have a need for support and to meet their eligible needs on request from the carer.

Under the Children Act 1989 and Children and Families’ Act 2014 local authorities are required to assess and support the needs of parents of and carers for children as well as those with Special Educational Needs or a disability. Since April 2015, every young carer is also entitled to an assessment to ensure they get the support they need.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it is his policy to maintain the prescription waiver for anti-virals for people who are clinically vulnerable and extremely vulnerable to covid-19.

Answered by Will Quince

We have no plans to maintain this prescription charge waiver. The waiver was introduced in December 2021 and was extended to remain in force until 31 March 2023.

Approximately 89% of prescription items are currently dispensed free of charge and there are a range of exemptions from prescription charges for which those in need of COVID-19 medicines may meet the eligibility criteria. Additionally, those on a low income who do not qualify for an exemption may be eligible for assistance with prescription charges through the NHS Low Income Scheme.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to disband the Covid-19 Enhanced Protection Panel.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

There is no COVID-19 Enhanced Protection Panel. Those who remain at higher risk from COVID-19 remain a priority for the Government and will continue to be offered enhanced protections such as treatments, booster vaccines, free lateral flow tests and public health advice. The small internal team within the Department that provided a time limited coordinating function for activity to support this group closed on 31 March 2023. Different parts of the UK Health Security Agency, the Department and NHS England will continue to provide the enhanced protection programme of work and patients will not see any difference in the advice they receive, or their treatment.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of training provided to NHS staff on dignity at work.

Answered by Will Quince

Staff training is provided and monitored locally, by employers. The underlying statutory duty to ensure staff are safe and protected under health and safety law rests with the employer, and we are committed to supporting trusts and systems to fulfil that duty.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department are taking to increase (a) early diagnosis and (b) effective treatment of (i) Paediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome and (ii) Paediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections; and what steps his Department are taking to increase awareness of these conditions among medical professionals.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

The Department has no plans to do so at present.

Should the evidence base develop further, clinical policy may be updated by relevant organisations such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. NHS England would then consider the development of care pathways for those living with paediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome and paediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections. In the meantime, integrated care systems are responsible for planning care for their populations.

Medical professionals, such as general practitioners, are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance to ensure that they can continue to provide high quality care to all patients.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a list of the locations of (a) active and (b) planned surgical hubs.

Answered by Will Quince

In August 2022, the Department published a list of 91 hubs operational across England, as well as several new hub investments. This list is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/over-50-new-surgical-hubs-set-to-open-across-england-to-help-bust-the-covid-backlogs.

Currently only 87 of these are in operation in England and 57 new surgical hubs have been proposed, of which 37 have received an NHS England approved business case, announced in February 2023.

The number of operational surgical hubs is in the process of being audited and a revised figure is expected to be updated in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the retention of staff in the NHS.

Answered by Will Quince

The NHS People Plan and People Promise set out a comprehensive range of actions to improve staff retention. They provide a strong focus on creating a more modern, compassionate and inclusive National Health Service culture by strengthening health and wellbeing, equality and diversity, culture and leadership and flexible working.

NHS priorities and operational planning guidance 2023/24 has asked systems to refresh their 2022/23 whole system workforce plans to improve staff retention through a systematic focus on all elements of the NHS People Promise. Staff wellbeing should be strategically aligned with elective recovery plans, including workforce demand and capacity planning.

In addition, the NHS Retention Programme is continuously seeking to understand why staff leave, resulting in targeted interventions to support staff to stay whilst keeping them well. A staff retention guide has been updated and includes information on supporting staff in their late and early career with specific focus on induction, reward and recognition and menopause support.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patient safety incident reports, reported on by Yorkshire Ambulance Service, were made by (a) GPs and (b) other non-Yorkshire Ambulance Service clinicians which related to delayed Yorkshire Ambulance Service responses to 999 calls in each of the last three years.

Answered by Will Quince

This information is not held in the format requested.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many times (a) he and (b) other Ministers from his Department have met with the Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation since September 2022.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

My predecessor, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Mental Health and Public Health, the hon. Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham, met with representatives of the Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust on 6 October 2022.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department collects data on the mental health of NHS staff.

Answered by Will Quince

NHS England does not hold or gather data on the mental health of National Health Service staff nationally. Rather, this is held at a local level, for example with occupational health teams.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much NHS England spent on inpatient services commissioned from providers with (a) requires improvement and (b) inadequate Care Quality Commission ratings in the last 12 months.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

This information is neither collected nor held centrally.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the April 2023 increases in NHS dental charges on (a) patients and (b) dentists.

Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)

The uplift of National Health Service dental charges by 8.5% from 24 April 2023 will raise important revenue for pressurised NHS budgets and NHS dental services following COVID-19 restrictions. The qualifying criteria for the range of exemptions to NHS dental charges and support through the low-income scheme remain unchanged. Just under half of NHS dental patients were treated free of charge in the 2021/22 financial year.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the average wait time for a 111 call in each of the last 12 months.

Answered by Will Quince

Average NHS 111 call answer times in England in the last 12 months are displayed in the table below.

Source: NHS England Integrated Urgent Care Aggregate Data Collection

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will list the existing data sets that will be considered within the rapid review of patient safety in mental health inpatient services.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

The terms of reference for the rapid review of patient safety in mental health inpatient services state that the review will consider data and evidence collected by national and regional bodies and local systems on mental health inpatient services funded by the National Health Service, including complaints, user voice and whistleblowing alerts. The terms of reference do not specify a list of datasets for the review to consider. The full terms of reference are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/terms-of-reference-for-rapid-review-into-data-on-mental-health-inpatient-settings/terms-of-reference-for-rapid-review-into-data-on-mental-health-inpatient-settings

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of (a) the average time taken by the General Dental Council to process a new application for registration and (b) the number of applications for registration made (i) in 2022 (ii) before 2022 are yet to receive a decision.

Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)

No specific estimate has been made, as the Department does not centrally hold data on the status of applications made to join the General Dental Council’s (GDC) register. This data is held by the GDC themselves as the relevant independent regulator.

The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) is responsible for overseeing the work of the healthcare professional regulators. As part of this oversight role, the PSA carries out annual reviews of the regulators’ performance which includes registration processing times. The PSA’s most recent review of the GDC is available at the following link:

https://www.professionalstandards.org.uk/publications/performance-review-detail/periodic-review-gdc-2021-22

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timetable is for the opening of specialised NHS medical centres for women during pregnancy.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

As of December 2022, all 14 Maternal Medicine Networks reported that they were operational, meaning all women in England with high-risk medical conditions can access care from the 17 open Maternal Medicine Centres, when required. The majority of maternal medicine problems will continue to be managed locally.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the serious incidences reported by Yorkshire Ambulance Service in each of the last two years; what information his Department holds on the lessons learned following those incidences; and what steps his Department has put in place to help address those within the NHS.

Answered by Will Quince

Whilst the Department holds no specific information about lessons learned from serious incidents reported by Yorkshire Ambulance Service in the last two years, these incidents should be closed by the relevant commissioner when they are satisfied that the investigation report and action plan meet the required standard. This ensures that the fundamental purpose of investigation, which is to ensure that lessons can be learnt to prevent similar incidents recurring, is realised.

NHS England published the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework in August 2022. It replaces the Serious Incident Framework and fundamentally shifts how the National Health Service responds to patient safety incidents for learning and improvement. All providers are expected to transition to the new framework by Autumn 2023.

To address the pressures the ambulance service is facing, the NHS has published a delivery plan for recovering emergency care, which aims to reduce Category 2 ambulance response times to 30 minutes next year with further improvements towards pre-pandemic levels the following year. Backed up by a £1 billion dedicated fund, the plan will include the delivery of 800 new ambulances including specialist mental health ambulances.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to increase funding for new IT systems and technology for GP practices to improve (a) booking systems and (b) the exchange of information with secondary care providers.

Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)

It is up to general practices (GPs) how they manage their own appointment booking systems to meet the reasonable needs of their patients.

NHS England has commissioned the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges to undertake a review of the clinical interface between GP and hospital services. The final report is expected soon and will be considered by the Department.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to (a) increase the range and (b) improve the standard of services available at Alfred Bean Hospital in Driffield; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Will Quince

Alfred Bean Hospital is part of Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust’s long-term estates strategy. The trust’s core goal is to maximise the use of the range of services available on site.

It is important to the trust that optimal space planning is structured in a way that will ensure maximum benefit for people across Driffield and the surrounding areas. The trust is working closely with the League of Friends, Driffield Healthy Town Group, and local commissioners to ensure the site is a continued priority.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to provide additional and funded NHS staff retention schemes.

Answered by Will Quince

The National Health Service Retention Programme is continuously seeking to understand why staff leave, resulting in targeted interventions to support staff to stay whilst keeping them well.

In 2022/23, the programme focused on five High Impact Areas which aimed to improve support for people experiencing menopause, a focus on flexible working, the roll out of a self-assessment tool and targeted interventions around later and early careers such as the preceptorship programme and legacy mentoring. In addition, the programme offered tailored support to systems and launched a pilot programme for 23 trusts across England to implement bundles of interventions aligned to all elements of the People Promise.

In 2023/24, NHS England will continue to provide support to the five High Impact Areas, direct support to systems and continue to build evidence from the 23 exemplar sites to share best practice across the country.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many dentists were registered in each year since 2003.

Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)

The Department does not hold this data centrally. The General Dental Council (GDC), as the independent regulator of dentists and dental care professionals practising in the United Kingdom, is responsible for holding and maintaining the register of dental professionals qualified to practise dentistry.

The GDC publishes registration reports on its website which provide statistical data on the registration of dentists and dental care professionals from the GDC’s registers, including the total number of registrants. Reports from January 2018 onwards are available at the following link:

https://www.gdc-uk.org/about-us/what-we-do/the-registers/registration-reports

Registration data prior to 2018 is available from the GDC on request.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding has been allocated to conducting the rapid review into mental health services inpatient services.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

The funding for the rapid review has been provided through the Department’s running costs, and as such it cannot be separately identified.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to provide support to GPs to improve the early diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)

NHS England is supporting general practices (GPs) to diagnose more cancers early by making funding available to embed clinical decision support tools within GPs. These tools are designed to support GPs in clinical decision making, such as whether to refer or request further diagnostic investigation in patients where they believe there is a risk of cancer, and identifying patients who may be at risk based on their symptoms.

In April 2020, NHS England introduced the ‘early cancer diagnosis service specification’ for Primary Care Networks. The specification is designed to support improvements in rates of early diagnosis, including ovarian cancer, by requiring Primary Care Networks to review the quality of referrals for suspected cancer and take steps to improve them.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March to Question 166116 on Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, what the accountability relationship is between his Department and the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA); and for what reason his Department cannot obtain information requested by hon. Members from the NHSBSA.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) is an arm’s length body of the Department and is accountable thereto for its performance, with the relationship between the Department and NHSBSA being set out in a Framework Document. Accountability meetings are held regularly for each of its services, and a quarterly accountability meeting takes place which looks across the whole of NHSBSA’s business.

NHSBSA updates all claimants directly on the progress of individual claims. Claimants may also provide details of a nominated person with authority to act on their behalf to receive updates on their claim, by providing written confirmation to the NHSBSA. This process ensures sensitive information is protected in line with General Data Protection Regulation and remains confidential; NHSBSA distributing the information to the Department to pass onto a third party, such as hon. Members at their request, would break the confidentiality of this system.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March to Question 166115 on Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, what steps his Department has taken in response to safety concerns about Covid-19 vaccinations as a result of the 23 successful claims in respect of deaths recorded by Coroners as having been caused by a Covid-19 vaccination.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

Vaccine safety remains at the forefront of the COVID-19 vaccine programme. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has a robust safety surveillance strategy in place for monitoring the safety of all COVID-19 vaccines approved in the United Kingdom. This includes closely considering all coroners' reports sent to MHRA that list vaccination as a possible contributing factor of death. Coroners' verdicts are part of the wide range of evidence continuously gathered and analysed by MHRA, including self-reporting tools such as the Yellow Card Reporting Scheme.

Should any information indicate a possible new safety concern, the system is well placed to rapidly and thoroughly investigate this, with advice for healthcare professionals and patients updated where appropriate.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many appointments for dental extractions by sedation were available in Cheshire and Wirral in the latest period for which data is available.

Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)

This information is not held centrally.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2023 to Question 170758 on Blood: Ethnic Groups, which languages literature relating to NHS blood and transplant donations is available in.

Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)

NHS Blood and Transplant produces literature relating to donations in various languages including Welsh, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Urdu, Arabic, Somali, Polish, Romanian, French, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Yiddish.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is he taking to ensure the provision of wellbeing services to support the (a) physical and (b) mental health of (i) NHS staff and (ii) people contracted to undertake NHS work.

Answered by Will Quince

The Government is committed to supporting the health and wellbeing of all National Health Service staff.

NHS planning guidance for 2023/24 emphasised the need to support staff and has asked systems to refresh their workforce plans to improve staff experience and retention through a systematic focus on all elements of the NHS People Promise.

The NHS People Plan and People Promise set out a comprehensive range of actions to strengthen health and wellbeing, equality and diversity, culture and leadership and increase opportunities for flexible working.

NHS England has developed a range of health and wellbeing initiatives, which include a wellbeing guardian role, a focus on healthy working environments, empowering line managers to hold meaningful conversations with staff to discuss their wellbeing, and a comprehensive emotional and psychological health and wellbeing support package.

NHS England has also published a ‘Growing Occupational Health and Wellbeing Together’ strategy. This sets out a roadmap for the NHS and partner organisations to work together to develop and invest in occupational health and wellbeing services for NHS staff over the next five years.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on the implementation of the delivery plan for recovering urgent and emergency care services; and whether the plan is being delivered on schedule.

Answered by Will Quince

The Department and NHS England are working closely together to ensure robust governance arrangements are in place to support the implementation of the plan. Good progress has been made and work is ongoing to deliver the interventions ahead of next winter.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the impact of the closure of the 85 BUPA dental practices on the provision of dentistry in (a) York and (b) the UK.

Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)

Following BUPA’s notice to NHS England of closures, regional teams and integrated care boards across England are working together to ensure that patients continue to have access to National Health Service dental care. This includes an assessment to identify potential gaps in NHS dental service provision and to consider what actions may be required.

NHS dentists are required to keep their NHS.UK profiles up to date so that patients can find a dentist more easily. This includes information on whether they are accepting new patients.

State-funded healthcare within the United Kingdom but outside of England is a devolved matter and the responsibility of the devolved Governments.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress has been made on reaching a pay agreement for NHS staff.

Answered by Will Quince

After constructive talks with health unions on 16 March, the Government put forward a best and final offer for more than one million National Health Service staff on the Agenda for Change contract. We are pleased that the Royal College of Nursing, UNISON, GMB, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and the British Dietetic Association unions have said they will recommend the offer to their members.

We are disappointed that the British Medical Association (BMA) have announced further strike action.  Further strikes will risk patient safety and cause further disruption. The BMA have made the Government making a commitment to delivering a 35% pay increase a pre-condition of them entering into talks on pay. This is unreasonable. Our door remains open to constructive conversations, as we have had with other health unions, to find a realistic way forward which balances rewarding doctors and dentists in training for their hard work while being fair to the taxpayer.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many dentists there were in (a) Stockport constituency and (b) the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport in the last (i) three, (ii) six, (iii) 12 and (iv) 24 months.

Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)

The information requested is not held centrally.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of employing dental support staff as full time NHS employees.

Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)

No assessment has been made.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of directly employing all dental support staff working in dental surgeries through the NHS.

Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)

No assessment has been made.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much has been spent on the Made with Care recruitment campaign; and how many care workers were recruited through that campaign as of 28 March 2023.

Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

The amount spent on the Department’s 2022/23 adult social care recruitment campaign ‘Made with Care’ is £3,800,000.

Information on the amount of care workers recruited via this campaign is not collected centrally.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to take steps to ensure all NHS commissioners offer primary care optometrists the opportunity to provide Minor Eye Care Services across England.

Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)

In England, integrated care boards are responsible for the planning and commissioning of services to meet local needs. This includes decisions on whether to commission locally enhanced services from primary eye care providers, such as minor eye conditions services. NHS England’s transformation programme is also considering how eye care services could be commissioned for the future, this includes considering a greater role for primary eye care providers.

In the Autumn Statement, the Department committed to an additional £3.3 billion per year until 2024/25 to respond to significant pressures facing the National Health Service. This is on top of the £8 billion already committed until 2025 to reduce waiting times across specialisms, including for ophthalmology.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to improve access to eye care services in (a) North Durham (b) all Integrated Health Board areas.

Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)

In England, integrated care boards are responsible for the planning and commissioning of services to meet local needs. This includes decisions on whether to commission locally enhanced services from primary eye care providers, such as minor eye conditions services. NHS England’s transformation programme is also considering how eye care services could be commissioned for the future, this includes considering a greater role for primary eye care providers.

In the Autumn Statement, the Department committed to an additional £3.3 billion per year until 2024/25 to respond to significant pressures facing the National Health Service. This is on top of the £8 billion already committed until 2025 to reduce waiting times across specialisms, including for ophthalmology.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to ensure that learning from (a) the Mpox and (b) other outbreaks is used to inform long-term healthcare (i) policy and (ii) practices.

Answered by Maria Caulfield

The UK Health Security Agency is assessing both the successes and issues arising from the response to mpox. We are also working with partners in Government, academia and industry to understand the findings from evaluation of COVID-19 policies and exercises and identify lessons that can be learned for future incidents.

We will build these lessons into the design and implementation of future policy and practice, and the Centre for Pandemic Preparedness is tracking them to ensure that improvement actions are taken.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support people with arthritis who are waiting for elective surgery.

Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

NHS England is working to ensure and improve early diagnosis of people with arthritis, as well as treatment and care, through the Getting it Right First Time rheumatology programme. The programme published a national report on rheumatology in 2021, which makes a series of recommendations to support equitable and consistent access to diagnostic tests. Additionally, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced a range of guidance to support early diagnosis of conditions including rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

To support the health of people with arthritis while they are waiting for elective treatment, NHS England has worked with Versus Arthritis on their Joint Replacement Support Package. The National Health Service has also published resources on the My Planned Care website to support arthritis patients waiting for hip and knee surgery to maintain their health and wellbeing and to be ready for surgery when it arrives. The website is available at the following link:

https://www.myplannedcare.nhs.uk/care-support/

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking ensure the early diagnosis of people with arthritis.

Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

NHS England is working to ensure and improve early diagnosis of people with arthritis, as well as treatment and care, through the Getting it Right First Time rheumatology programme. The programme published a national report on rheumatology in 2021, which makes a series of recommendations to support equitable and consistent access to diagnostic tests. Additionally, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced a range of guidance to support early diagnosis of conditions including rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

To support the health of people with arthritis while they are waiting for elective treatment, NHS England has worked with Versus Arthritis on their Joint Replacement Support Package. The National Health Service has also published resources on the My Planned Care website to support arthritis patients waiting for hip and knee surgery to maintain their health and wellbeing and to be ready for surgery when it arrives. The website is available at the following link:

https://www.myplannedcare.nhs.uk/care-support/

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of families expected to be on the Healthy Start Scheme in (a) 2023 and (b) 2024.

Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)

We have no current plans to make a specific estimate.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many cases of bullying in the NHS have been successfully challenged in Employment Tribunals in the latest period for which data is available.

Answered by Will Quince

NHS England does not currently have a national mechanism to capture data on the number of National Health Service staff who report bullying, harassment and discrimination; this is held at local level. NHS England also does not hold data on cases challenged in Employment tribunals.

The underlying statutory duty to ensure staff are safe and protected under health and safety law rests with the employer, and we are committed to supporting trusts and systems to fulfil that duty. However, there are questions related to these topics within the NHS annual national staff survey, which is self-reported data for around 636,000 staff. This data is publicly available for all trusts at the following link:

www.nhsstaffsurveys.com

The NHS People Plan and People Promise set a vision that places a compassionate and inclusive culture at the heart of the NHS and emphasise that all NHS employees and employers are responsible for tackling bullying and harassment. NHS England have developed an NHS Civility and Respect programme which aims to tackle bullying and harassment in the NHS and to create positive workplace cultures of civility and respect which will improve staff experience, and ultimately patient care outcomes.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number and proportion of NHS staff reporting (a) bullying, (b) harassment and (c) discrimination in each NHS provider trust in the last five years; and what steps he is taking to tackle (i) bullying, (ii) harassment and (iii) discrimination.

Answered by Will Quince

NHS England does not currently have a national mechanism to capture data on the number of National Health Service staff who report bullying, harassment and discrimination; this is held at local level. NHS England also does not hold data on cases challenged in Employment tribunals.

The underlying statutory duty to ensure staff are safe and protected under health and safety law rests with the employer, and we are committed to supporting trusts and systems to fulfil that duty. However, there are questions related to these topics within the NHS annual national staff survey, which is self-reported data for around 636,000 staff. This data is publicly available for all trusts at the following link:

www.nhsstaffsurveys.com

The NHS People Plan and People Promise set a vision that places a compassionate and inclusive culture at the heart of the NHS and emphasise that all NHS employees and employers are responsible for tackling bullying and harassment. NHS England have developed an NHS Civility and Respect programme which aims to tackle bullying and harassment in the NHS and to create positive workplace cultures of civility and respect which will improve staff experience, and ultimately patient care outcomes.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to help increase the use of community pharmacies for (a) detection, (b) prevention and (c) other services; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)

The Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) 2019-24 five-year deal commits £2.592 billion per year to the sector and outlines a joint vision for how community pharmacy will be more integrated into the National Health Service, deliver more clinical services and become the first port of call for minor illnesses. We have commissioned a range of services through the CPCF; for example, NHS 111 and GPs can refer patients to community pharmacies for advice and treatment for minor illnesses. NHS 111 can also refer for urgent medicines supply. Many pharmacies now also offer blood pressure checks.

In September last year we announced the agreement for the remainder of the five-year deal, which includes a further one-off investment in the sector of £100 million. This agreement continues the expansion of the services offered by community pharmacies by enabling community pharmacists to manage and initiate contraception and enabling urgent and emergency care settings to refer patients to a community pharmacist for a minor illness consultation or for an urgent medicine supply. We continue to discuss with the sector what more community pharmacies could sustainably do, making use of their valuable clinical skills for the benefit of patients and the NHS.

The Government had previously announced £500 million to improve recruitment, retention, progression, and staff wellbeing in social care. This has now been cut by 50% to £250 million. We believe this should be increased back to the £500 million originally announced.

I would like the Government to provide funding for mental health support for all people who have administered first aid at a medical incident. This could be as simple as a call with someone who can give Mental Health support.

Task a Royal Commission to develop a more efficient, effective, holistic health and social care system. As demand rises, we believe the complexity of the issues cannot be addressed in one Government. A Royal Commission could develop a more sustainable model for all.

PARP inhibitors can be effective at treating certain cancers, yet they only recommended for use in the NHS in limited circumstances. We want the Government to provide funding to increase access to PARP inhibitors, which can save lives and improve quality of life.

We urge the Government to implement a policy requiring mask wearing in all healthcare settings including hospitals, clinics and GP practices for staff, visitors and patients. An FFP2 minimum should be mandated, to protect against infectious diseases, including COVID-19.

To please reduce or fully stop corporation tax on community interest company initiatives, which focus on social objectives, in a similar way to charities. This will enable CICs to help more people with the savings made, reducing pressure on the NHS and helping society.

Many foreign students are not entitled to student loans which means they are automatically not entitled to the NHS Learning Support Fund. We believe this is not fair as foreign students have the same amount of placement hours in the NHS as students who do qualify for support.

More research into the condition needs to be done. Awareness of this disorder also needs to be increased, especially for clinicians. Research should look at how treatment options for sufferers can be improved.

The Government should fund increased NHS support for sufferers of Avoidance Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID).

Currently the Government is not negotiating because the junior doctors are striking and because of their pay demand. This is not constructive and we think the Government should enter negotiations and increase pay to ensure we retain good and well-motivated doctors in the NHS, and protect patients.

Found: from the DWP, Helen Tomlinson, the menopause employment champion, and Marian Holliday from the DHSC

Found: probably in the February before the pandemic started, and being told by the permanent secretary for DHSC

Found: for Welfare Delivery (attached) , the Healthy Start scheme is administered by the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: to ensure effective partnership working; this includes the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC

Found: evaluation and modelling in government HC 254 5th Local economic growth HC 252 6th Department of Health and Social Care

Found: 2022), Available at https://contact.org.uk/about-contact/news-and-views/school-attendance/ 9 DfE & DHSC

Found: Correspondence from Sir Chris Wormald, Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: from the Minister of State for Housing and Planning (DLUHC) and Minister of State for Social Care (DHSC

Found: health services is worsening their mental health.Enquiry response 1.Whether the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: This submission will address Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and Health Education

Found: Education Policy Institute, 2018; Access to Children and Young Peoples Mental Health Services. 18 DHSC

Found: The DHSC and NHSE should continue to invest in improving access, capacity, workforce and funding for

Found: there is no guarantee on how much further, or how quickly, MHSTs will be expanded (Department of Health and Social Care

Found: The DHSC should invest in a national roll-out of open access, early support mental health

Found: The Department of Health and Social Care should publish its long-term capital strategy, outlining the

Found: achieve future ambitions. 4.1 Risks and challenges 4.1.1 The ability of the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: To achieve this we recommend: ●Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England’s forthcoming

Found: As the Committee will question senior officials at the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS

Found: There are many risks and challenges faced by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHS

Found: How will DHSC ensure that the replacement of the 10-year Mental Health Plan with the Major Conditions

Found: We believe the Department of Health and Social Care should endorse and adopt the access and

Found: RCPsych endorses the NAO’s recommendation for DHSC and NHSE to produce a detailed statement to clarify

Found: system is performing and there is much more granular tracking of mental health spending. 3.Have DHSC

Found: recommendations of the National Audit Office and particularly welcome their recommendation that NHSE and DHSC

Found: The Department [of Health and Social Care] must lead the development of a strategy to achieve this target

Found: On Thursday, we will be back to question the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England.

Found: Engage senior civil servants across Whitehall in the Department of Science and Technology, DFE, DHSC

Found: Jonathan Marron, Director General, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Correspondence from Sir Chris Wormald, Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: 20 Thirty-fifth Report of Session 2022- 23 Department of Health and Social Care Introducing Integrated

Found: DCMS, the Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care all contributed funding

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Barnett consequential arising from the pay settlement for NHS workers in England is.

Answered by John Glen

The Barnett formula is applied when departmental budgets change – not when departments announce how they are spending their budgets.

Discussions between HMT and DHSC on the funding implications, should a pay deal be agreed, are ongoing.

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Health and (b) the Welsh Government on sharing best practice on giving every baby the best start in life.

Answered by David T C Davies

I thank the Rt Honourable Lady for her tireless efforts on this matter.

Health is devolved in Wales, however, the UK Government published its ‘Best Start for Life’ Vision in March 2021, which includes the intention to share best practice with the Welsh Government. Officials in the Department of Health and Social Care will continue to share best practice with Welsh Government officials to ensure every baby gets the best start in life.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Department of Health and Social Care on the regulation of experts in family courts.

Answered by Mike Freer

Officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Health and Social Care have been engaging on the issue of the regulation of experts in the family courts.

The issue of whether experts are appointed in family proceedings is a matter for the independent judiciary in each individual case, following the parameters set down in legislation and procedure rules, in particular, section 13 of the Children and Families Act 2014 and Practice Direction 25B. If the expert’s area is regulated by a UK statutory body, they must confirm possession of a current licence to practice or equivalent. If the area is not regulated, then they must demonstrate appropriate qualifications and/or registration with a relevant professional body.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons the recording of ethnicity on death certificates has not been made mandatory.

Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice

Civil Registration is a devolved matter, and the General Register Office can only advise on death registration in England and Wales.

The information collected on a death registration is specified in law. As the death registration process itself is not the most effective method to establish ethnicity, there are no plans to change the law.

The Minister for Women and Equalities has stated that the government plans to include ethnicity information in the new electronic medical certificate of cause of death. The introduction of this new electronic certificate is being led by the Department of Health and Social Care.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address geographical areas where there is a shortfall in specialist community support for girls and young women, particularly those with protected characteristics, informed by age, gender, culture, and trauma of those in need.

Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)

Local authorities are supported by a range of grants from central government. The Department of Health and Social Care are investing £25 million in women’s health hubs across England, so that women can get better access to care for essential services such as menstrual problems, contraception and the menopause.

The Government Equalities Office are responsible for equalities legislation, but all public authorities are bound by public sector equality duties.

Found: Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC

Found: ending cigarette sales to those born on or af ter 1 January 2009 , published 4 October 2023 , and DHSC

Found: ongoing scientific developments and interest in fetal awareness, including from the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: • Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC). • The Charity Commission.

Found: been designed by other government departments alongside DCMS, including CDDO, BEIS, Home Office and DHSC

Found: Quality Commission (CQC) is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Health Unit (WHU) which is sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: the Work and Health Unit (WHU) – a joint unit between the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC

Found: CommunitiesLocal councillors Department for Transport Regulated activity definition Department of Health and Social Care

Found: DHSC has been engaging closely with the Department of Health in Northern Ireland to discuss the issues

Found: My colleagues at DHSC, the ministers over there, have embraced this concept enthusiastically which is

Found: NHS Trust Included after DHSC/NHS notification 2107 Stanley Primary Care Centre Department of

Found: DSIT will work with DHSC, NHS England, ICSs and local authorities to ensure that health and social care

Found: DHSC (2021) - Link 70responsible for their development or use.

Found: This is mostly due to increases within the portfolios held by BEIS, DCMS and DHSC.

Found: Stepping up from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) where she was Legal Director, Caroline

Found: These include: the Department for Education and Department of Health and Social Care should develop

Found: The MHRA is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Found: 23.675 19.788 29.358 56.881 13.761 62.049 67.492 59.167 37.167 69.774 72.936 5.017 78.608 25.807 72.965 DHSC

Found: 52.273 14.607 26.033 23.75 14.773 63.174 67.913 59.119 36.718 71.07 72.769 4.729 81.221 24.596 73.802 DHSC

Found: NHS Trust Included after DHSC/NHS notification 2107 Stanley Primary Care Centre Department of

Found: CommunitiesLocal councillors Department for Transport Regulated activity definition Department of Health and Social Care

Found: UKHSA is an executive agency, sponsored by the Department of Health and Social Care .

Found: Consumer Products and the Environment (COC) Public Interest Representative at the UK Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Brien MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Primary Care and Public Health, Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Unless the Department of Health and Social Care indicates otherwise, NICE will not develop guidance

Found: treating HER2 -low metastatic or unresectable breast cancer after chemotherapy The Department of Health and Social Care

Found: This work is being led by DHSC, OHID and N HS England, with the Maternity Disparities Taskforce17 seeking

Found:  Publication of the response was led by the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC

Found: Cabinet Secretary responded that "just under 60 per cent" of respondents to the 2017 Department of Health and Social Care

Found: (DHSC), with the support of the four UK governments, asked us, in July 2019, to regulate

Found: We were delighted to have confirmation from the Department of Health and Social Care that it w ill consider

Found: The Department of Health and Social Care has now launch ed a UK-wide public consultation on these proposals

Found: The UK Department of Health and Social Care , along with the Scottish Government and other devolved

Found: is co- funded between the Home Office, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Department of Health and Social Care

Found: ultation A UK-wide public consultation on a reciprocal healthcare policy framework, proposed by DHSC

Found: proposals for a Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland in that it is sponsored by the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: build capacity and scale up NCD care is low and mainly anecdotal e.g., role of the Department of Health and social care

Found: There are many factors which contribute to medicines waste and a Department of Health and Social Care

Found: within Scottish Government’s gift to resolve, we have been engaging with UK Government, Department of Health and Social Care

Found: (DHSC) is establishing an Implementation Steering Group for Organ Utilisation (ISOU)

Found: Freedom of Information Team Department of Health and Social Care 39 Victoria Street London SW1H

Found: The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has since published 3 adult autism strategies.

Found: The Department of Health and Social Care in England has created 3 adult autism strategies.

Found: For example, positive progress has been made on naloxone distribution, and the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Responsibility for this policy sits with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) but the Home

Found: DHSC, PHE, NHS. CEM/CMO/2020/043.

Found: regards, Policy Manager – Infected Blood Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Statistics Authority, Cabinet Office, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Statistics Authority, Cabinet Office, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department of Health and Social Care

Found: He was Minister of State at the Department of Health and Social Care between 10 September 2019 and 6

Found: [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] NHS Policy & Performance Group Department of Health and Social Care

Found: The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) will fund the additional lump sum payments and the increases

Found: consumption behaviour and the effectiveness of retail environment interventions Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Statistics Authority, Cabinet Office, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department of Health and Social Care

Found: further elaborated in a report from Understanding Patient Data and the Ada Lovelace Institute , and DHSC

Found: At the time of last year’s publication, it was chall enging to identify how much Department of Health and Social Care

Found: the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants Defra Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs DHSC

Found: an overall trend driven by a change among girls.46 Survey data from 20 22 by the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: is co -funded between the Home Office, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Statistics Authority, Cabinet Office, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Chief Medical Officer’s annual report 2022: air pollution - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) , Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Minister for Crime, Policing and Fire, UKG; Rosanna O’Connor, Director Alcohol, Drugs and Tobacco, DHSC

Found: The UK Department of Health and Social Care commissioned research that analysed data from the World Health

Found: The UK Department of Health and Social Care commissioned research that analysed data from the W orld

Found: funded by a combination of the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK and the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: VPAS funding is provided to the Scottish Government by the UK Department of Health and Social Care on

Found: were advised to plan for a share of £80m from the NMF based on forecasts from the UK Department of Health and Social Care

Found: (DHSC) , and the other Devolved Administrations to set the policy for the Code of

Found: Statistics Authority, Cabinet Office, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department of Health and Social Care

Found: plied Virus Transport Medium kits (VTM Kit) provided by the Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC

Found: are made up of £59.6 million for the Scottish Infected Blood Support sch eme, £10.2 million from DHSC

Found: Statistics Authority, Cabinet Office, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Louise Whyte, SHBBV Policy Team, Scottish Government Contributors Adam Winter, Department of Health and Social Care

Found: is co -funded between the Home Office, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Department of Health and Social Care

Found: the Consumption of alcohol by children and young people , Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health and Social Care

Found: The UK Department of Health and Social Care commissioned research that analysed data from the World

Found: Directorate of the Chief Medical Officer is working closely with colleagues in the UK Department of Health and Social Care

Found: However, they were still waiting for confirmation from the Department of Health and Social Care and the

Found: However, they were still waiting for confirmation from the Department of Health and Social Care and

Found: Statistics Authority, Cabinet Office, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department of Health and Social Care

Found: funded by the Department for Work and Pension's (DWP) and the Department for Health and Social Care's (DHSC

Found: by the Department for Work and Pension ’s (DWP ) and the Department for Health and Social Care’s (DHSC

Found: The Committee noted the importance of close dialogue with the UKHSA, the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: DHSC aim to communicate all test results within 48 hours, however if after 6 days has elapsed since

Found: DHSC aim to communicate all test results within 48 hours, however if after 6 days has elapsed since

Found: The UK Government’s Department of Health and Social Care continued to deliver HSVs to Scottish recipients

Found: Anthony Clarkson advised that NHSBT are currently waiting for an announcement from the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: s.org.uk/uploads/1/0/6/2/106271141/20180103_cpsa_ supervision_matrix_final.pdf Department of Health and Social Care

Found: innovation programmes across adult social and health across the UK, in- cluding leading a DHSC

Found: ) we will use the policy opportunity to make an evidence -based case for further regul ation to DHSC

Found: workers and their employers in Scotland should also use the portal operated by the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Statistics Authority, Cabinet Office, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department of Health and Social Care

Found: The scheme is delivered on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care[1].

Found: England Children and Young People National Clinical Director was commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Swansea University • Queen's University Belfast • University of Edinburgh • Department of Health and Social Care

Found: The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has published revised guidance for pregnant employees

Found: iting survey design, HSCA worked with colleagues in Public Health England and the UK Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Statistics Authority, Cabinet Office, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department of Health and Social Care

Found: I welcome the positive progress on easing access to naloxone distribution by the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Work in partnership with UK Government’s Department of Health and Social Care on developing partnerships

Found: Health Care  PI of EAVE II COVID -19 surveillance platform  Research grants from UKRI, NIHR, CSO, DHSC

Found: 12am/12pm daytime But night-time.department Lower case except when in the title: the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: The CMO plays a key role in working with the Department of Health and Social Care public health agencies

Found: increased number of unvaccinated pregnant women with COVID in intensive care, the department of Health and Social Care

Found: increased number of unvaccinated pregnant women with COVID in intensive care, the department of Health and Social Care

Found: and Pensions (DWP) • HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) • Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC

Found: Following engagement with DWP , HMRC, DHSC , Northern Irish social security colleagues and relevant

Found: testing laboratoriesAvailable through framework and also bought ownAvailable from APUC frameworks and DHSC

Found: laboratories Available through framework and also bought own Available from APUC framework s and DHSC

Found: Pharmaceutical OfficerThe following patient cohorts were determined by an independent Department of Health and Social Care

Found: treatment with nMABs The following patient cohorts were determined by an independent Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Alison Ismail, Chair Roll call to confirm key departments are present (Defra, PHE, HSE, FSA, FSS, DHSC

Found: budgeting and final outturn purposes, and is in line with the approach taken by the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Additional consequential funding in relation to £800m of additional funding for the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: ELC asymptomatic testing programme, working closely where appropriate with the UK Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Statistics Authority, Cabinet Office, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department of Health and Social Care

Found: the Need ’ was formally launched on 1st June 2021 following final sign off from the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Approval / authorisation is required at the appropriate level within SG / DHSC.

Found: Compensation Recovery Unit Directorate for Health Finance, Corporate Governance & Value Department of Health and Social Care

Found: DHSC are to pull together experts across UK on this.

Found: Events Research Programme Phases I, II and III data release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Department of Health and Social Care

Found: We continue to participate in the MOD/ DHSC/Devolved Administrations Partnership Board, including

Found: capability to tackle the COVID -19 pandemic SAGE fortnightly reporting Reporting to SAGE and the UKRI/DHSC

Found: Rhoswyn Walker, Health Data Research UK Charlie Davie, DATA -CAN Ronan Lyons, SAIL Databank (UKRI/DHSC

Found: and Pensions (DWP) • HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) • Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC

Found: We are working with DWP , HMRC, DHSC , Northern Irish and Welsh social security colleagues and relevant

Found: The UK Government Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), who consulted on the Strategy document

Found: Scottish Government confirmed that Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has notified settings

Found: NMS is administered by a Nursery Milk Reimbursement Unit (NMRU) on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Scotland refused to utilise the NHS Vaccine Pass service developed by NHSX within the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Following further engagement with the Department of Health and Social Care, we are confident in the required

Found: have the information you have asked for because the UK Government (UKG) led by its Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Events Researc h Programme Phases I, II and III data release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Department of Health and Social Care

Found: We would suggest contacting the UK Government through the UK Department of Health and Social Care for

Found: survey -of- hours -and-earnings -2019/ 6 Department for Work and Pensions, and Department of Health and Social Care

Found: the Need ’ was formally launched on 1st June 2021 following final sign off from the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: 53,709.36 02-Nov-2020 Whole System Approach Directorate for Children and Families Department of Health and Social Care

Found: Any views expressed in this message are not necessarily those of the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: in England Challenge As part of the national response to the pandemic, the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: (DHSC ) under the terms of the 2019 Welfare Foods Agency Agreement (the Agreement)

Found: During this period the UK Depart ment of Health and Social Care (DHSC), who administer the UK Nursery

Found: During this period the UK Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), who administer the UK Nursery

Found: - To be consistent with UKG agreed approach between BEIS, DHSC and No10 remove any numbers in the

Found: articipants by post via existing Glasgow City Council contractual arrangements (alternative options with DHSC

Found: The UK Government (UKG) led by its Department of Health and Social Care are the principle contract owners

Found: Hancock Matt Hancock The Secretary of State is responsible for the work of the Department of Health and Social Care

Found: January 2022 are still unknown and in the latest communication with the pharmaceutical industry the DHSC

Found: Community discharge grant in England Introductions and a discussion facilitated by [redacted - DHSC

Found: Colleagues in UK Department of Health and Social Care have been working over this issue for years.

Found: -19 Vaccines: BEIS Lead: EM 06/07/20 Dear All, Please note Change of Department lead from DHSC

Found: -19 Vaccines: BEIS Lead: EM 06/07/20 Dear All, Please note Change of Department lead from DHSC

Found: The Cabinet Secretary asked or any details we have on DHSC plans and how they may impact on Scotland