Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
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 plans to build a new hospital in Basingstoke as part of the £3.7 billion funding for infrastructure investment; and what the timescale is for the public consultation phase of the process.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
A new hospital for Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust forms part of the Government’s commitment to deliver 40 new hospitals by 2030.
Delivery of the new hospitals is grouped into cohorts based on an assessment of readiness to progress and the extent to which new hospitals can benefit from advantages of delivery through a national programme. The new hospital for Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is in a later cohort, with delivery expected in the latter half of the decade. We are working with Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and currently anticipate a consultation to begin at the end of 2022, which will be subject to standard processes and timings.
Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people received support from Hampshire Liaison and Diversion Services in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The number of people who have received support from Hampshire Liaison and Diversion Services in:
- 2015/16 financial year is 1,553 people (1,493 adults and 57 children/young people);
- 2016/17 financial year is 1,309 people (1,077 adults and 232 children/young people); and
- 2017/18 financial year is 2,112 people (1,712 Adults and 400 children/young people).
Providing appropriate intervention and treatment at the right time and in the right place is vital to improving outcomes for people with mental health issues and problems with substance misuse. We know that treating offenders in the community can effectively reduce reoffending and can offer better value to the public purse.
Prison is not the right place for people with severe mental health and substance misuse problems, which is why we are rolling out Liaison and Diversion services across the country.
Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to pages 18 and 19 of the Government response to the First Report from the Women and Equalities Committee, Session 2015-16, on Transgender Equality, Cm 9301, published in July 2016, what steps NHS England has taken to strengthen governance arrangements to review within six months NHS compliance with the Equality Act 2010 in respect of services for transgender people.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
NHS England agrees with the Women and Equalities Committee’s recommendations that the requirement to undergo real-life experience prior to surgery must not entail conforming to externally imposed preconceptions about gender identity. The proposed new service specifications for adult gender identity services will be clear that this requirement is not about qualifying for surgery, but rather preparing the patient to cope with the profound consequences of surgery. NHS England has convened a stakeholder engagement event on 5 January 2017 where stakeholders will have an opportunity to shape draft service specifications before they go out for wider public consultation.
The final service specification for the children and young people's Gender Identity Development Service and the final clinical commissioning policy for prescribing cross-sex hormones to young people were agreed and published in August 2016. Both documents were informed by a process of stakeholder engagement and public consultation.
At the most recent multi-agency symposium in October 2016, Health Education England presented an outline plan for the development of a programme of work which will make recommendations for the training and development of the future workforce in this field. It was agreed with stakeholders that this work will focus on new core competencies for staff working in gender identity services; professional standards for Continuing Professional Development; establishing new trainee placements within gender identity services; and recommendations for general awareness raising amongst National Health Service staff. It will also include engagement with patient groups and people who use gender identity services. Health Education England aims to deliver recommendations in the new year.
Following stakeholder engagement earlier in the year, NHS England implemented a new governance framework for its Clinical Reference Groups (CRFs), which exist to provide expert advice to NHS England on specialised services. A new CRF for adult gender identity services was established in September 2016. Membership of the group includes those using NHS services for transgender people and clinicians and the Chair was appointed following an open recruitment process. The CRF has been asked to deliver draft service specifications for adult gender identity services in January 2017. These will be informed by a consideration of the Women and Equalities Committee’s findings and recommendations and by a process of stakeholder engagement and public consultation. In October 2016, NHS England gave notice to all current providers of gender identity services in England that their contracts would be terminated in 2017 and that they will run an open national procurement process to identify providers to deliver against new contracts. Prospective bidders will be required to demonstrate compliance with the new service specifications, once agreed.
Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to page 20 of the Government response to the First Report from the Women and Equalities Committee, Session 2015-16, on Transgender Equality, Cm 9301, published in July 2016, what progress has been made on the development of an action plan arising from the multi-agency symposium on a national and training plan in March 2016.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
NHS England agrees with the Women and Equalities Committee’s recommendations that the requirement to undergo real-life experience prior to surgery must not entail conforming to externally imposed preconceptions about gender identity. The proposed new service specifications for adult gender identity services will be clear that this requirement is not about qualifying for surgery, but rather preparing the patient to cope with the profound consequences of surgery. NHS England has convened a stakeholder engagement event on 5 January 2017 where stakeholders will have an opportunity to shape draft service specifications before they go out for wider public consultation.
The final service specification for the children and young people's Gender Identity Development Service and the final clinical commissioning policy for prescribing cross-sex hormones to young people were agreed and published in August 2016. Both documents were informed by a process of stakeholder engagement and public consultation.
At the most recent multi-agency symposium in October 2016, Health Education England presented an outline plan for the development of a programme of work which will make recommendations for the training and development of the future workforce in this field. It was agreed with stakeholders that this work will focus on new core competencies for staff working in gender identity services; professional standards for Continuing Professional Development; establishing new trainee placements within gender identity services; and recommendations for general awareness raising amongst National Health Service staff. It will also include engagement with patient groups and people who use gender identity services. Health Education England aims to deliver recommendations in the new year.
Following stakeholder engagement earlier in the year, NHS England implemented a new governance framework for its Clinical Reference Groups (CRFs), which exist to provide expert advice to NHS England on specialised services. A new CRF for adult gender identity services was established in September 2016. Membership of the group includes those using NHS services for transgender people and clinicians and the Chair was appointed following an open recruitment process. The CRF has been asked to deliver draft service specifications for adult gender identity services in January 2017. These will be informed by a consideration of the Women and Equalities Committee’s findings and recommendations and by a process of stakeholder engagement and public consultation. In October 2016, NHS England gave notice to all current providers of gender identity services in England that their contracts would be terminated in 2017 and that they will run an open national procurement process to identify providers to deliver against new contracts. Prospective bidders will be required to demonstrate compliance with the new service specifications, once agreed.
Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to page 20 of the Government response to the First Report from the Women and Equalities Committee, Session 2015-16, on Transgender Equality, Cm 9301, published in July 2016, whether the final service specification for the children and young people's Gender Identity Development Service and the final clinical commissioning policy for prescribing cross-sex hormones to young people have been (a) agreed and (b) published.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
NHS England agrees with the Women and Equalities Committee’s recommendations that the requirement to undergo real-life experience prior to surgery must not entail conforming to externally imposed preconceptions about gender identity. The proposed new service specifications for adult gender identity services will be clear that this requirement is not about qualifying for surgery, but rather preparing the patient to cope with the profound consequences of surgery. NHS England has convened a stakeholder engagement event on 5 January 2017 where stakeholders will have an opportunity to shape draft service specifications before they go out for wider public consultation.
The final service specification for the children and young people's Gender Identity Development Service and the final clinical commissioning policy for prescribing cross-sex hormones to young people were agreed and published in August 2016. Both documents were informed by a process of stakeholder engagement and public consultation.
At the most recent multi-agency symposium in October 2016, Health Education England presented an outline plan for the development of a programme of work which will make recommendations for the training and development of the future workforce in this field. It was agreed with stakeholders that this work will focus on new core competencies for staff working in gender identity services; professional standards for Continuing Professional Development; establishing new trainee placements within gender identity services; and recommendations for general awareness raising amongst National Health Service staff. It will also include engagement with patient groups and people who use gender identity services. Health Education England aims to deliver recommendations in the new year.
Following stakeholder engagement earlier in the year, NHS England implemented a new governance framework for its Clinical Reference Groups (CRFs), which exist to provide expert advice to NHS England on specialised services. A new CRF for adult gender identity services was established in September 2016. Membership of the group includes those using NHS services for transgender people and clinicians and the Chair was appointed following an open recruitment process. The CRF has been asked to deliver draft service specifications for adult gender identity services in January 2017. These will be informed by a consideration of the Women and Equalities Committee’s findings and recommendations and by a process of stakeholder engagement and public consultation. In October 2016, NHS England gave notice to all current providers of gender identity services in England that their contracts would be terminated in 2017 and that they will run an open national procurement process to identify providers to deliver against new contracts. Prospective bidders will be required to demonstrate compliance with the new service specifications, once agreed.
Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to page 19 of the Government response to the First Report from the Women and Equalities Committee, Session 2015-16, on Transgender Equality, Cm 9301, published in July 2016, what steps NHS England has taken as part of its ongoing work to consider the uses of real-life experience for transgender people before genital surgery.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
NHS England agrees with the Women and Equalities Committee’s recommendations that the requirement to undergo real-life experience prior to surgery must not entail conforming to externally imposed preconceptions about gender identity. The proposed new service specifications for adult gender identity services will be clear that this requirement is not about qualifying for surgery, but rather preparing the patient to cope with the profound consequences of surgery. NHS England has convened a stakeholder engagement event on 5 January 2017 where stakeholders will have an opportunity to shape draft service specifications before they go out for wider public consultation.
The final service specification for the children and young people's Gender Identity Development Service and the final clinical commissioning policy for prescribing cross-sex hormones to young people were agreed and published in August 2016. Both documents were informed by a process of stakeholder engagement and public consultation.
At the most recent multi-agency symposium in October 2016, Health Education England presented an outline plan for the development of a programme of work which will make recommendations for the training and development of the future workforce in this field. It was agreed with stakeholders that this work will focus on new core competencies for staff working in gender identity services; professional standards for Continuing Professional Development; establishing new trainee placements within gender identity services; and recommendations for general awareness raising amongst National Health Service staff. It will also include engagement with patient groups and people who use gender identity services. Health Education England aims to deliver recommendations in the new year.
Following stakeholder engagement earlier in the year, NHS England implemented a new governance framework for its Clinical Reference Groups (CRFs), which exist to provide expert advice to NHS England on specialised services. A new CRF for adult gender identity services was established in September 2016. Membership of the group includes those using NHS services for transgender people and clinicians and the Chair was appointed following an open recruitment process. The CRF has been asked to deliver draft service specifications for adult gender identity services in January 2017. These will be informed by a consideration of the Women and Equalities Committee’s findings and recommendations and by a process of stakeholder engagement and public consultation. In October 2016, NHS England gave notice to all current providers of gender identity services in England that their contracts would be terminated in 2017 and that they will run an open national procurement process to identify providers to deliver against new contracts. Prospective bidders will be required to demonstrate compliance with the new service specifications, once agreed.
Asked by: Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the recent Supreme Court ruling concerning which individuals in care homes and hospitals should be subject to a deprivation of liberty assessment; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Norman Lamb
On 19 March 2014, the Supreme Court handed down a judgment that clarified the test for what constitutes a deprivation of liberty. The clarified test is: “An individual who lacks the mental capacity to consent to the arrangements for his or her care and is under continuous control and supervision and is not free to leave”.
Following the judgment, the Department issued an advice note to health and care professionals and local authorities to highlight this legal interpretation and its implications.
The Department is currently monitoring the effects of the judgment on the health and care system and on local authorities. The Health and Social Care Information Centre will carry out an additional voluntary data collection. This will gather information from local authorities on how many applications have been received for authorisations in care homes and hospitals under the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards since the judgment. We expect the data to be available in October 2014; this will facilitate an assessment of the judgment’s impact.
At the Department’s request, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services is leading a task group to consider the implications of the judgment. This group has representation from local authorities, NHS England, the Care Quality Commission and the Department. The group intends to issue advice in the autumn.