Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what criteria apply to NHS hospitals when requesting patients to sign a 'do not resuscitate' form.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no set criteria applied to National Health Service hospitals when requesting patients sign do not resuscitate forms. Doctors are required to make do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DNACPR) decisions based on the individual circumstances of a patient, and with the involvement of the person concerned or, where the person lacks capacity, their family, or any other legally recognised advocate.
Patient facing guidance setting out how DNACPR decisions should be made, and how individuals or their families can get support about a DNACPR, is provided on the NHS website, in an online only format.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many 'do not resuscitate' forms have been signed in each of the past five years.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold this data.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address barriers to discharge from mental health inpatient units for autistic people and people with learning disabilities related to the provision of (1) suitable housing, and (2) social care support.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 26 January 2024, we published statutory guidance on discharge from mental health inpatient settings. This guidance sets out key principles for how National Health Service bodies and local authorities across adult and children’s services should work together to support people to be discharged from mental health inpatient services, including mental health inpatient services for people with a learning disability and for autistic people. This guidance states that strong links should be made with relevant community services prior to, and during, the person’s stay in hospital, and that this should include links in relation to meeting the person’s needs related to health, social care, education, housing, and any other individual needs.
In 2023/24, we are investing an additional £121 million to improve community support, as part of the NHS Long Term Plan. This includes funding for children and young people’s keyworkers. We continue to support the delivery of new supported housing by providing capital subsidies to providers, through the Care and Support Specialised Housing Fund and the Affordable Homes Programme in England. We have also made available up to £8.6 billion over this and next financial year, to support adult social care and discharge.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the dynamic support register and Care (Education) and Treatment Review policy for autistic people without a learning difficulty in (1) preventing hospital admissions, and (2) speeding up hospital discharges.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England published updated policy and guidance on both Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews (C(E)TRs) and Dynamic Support Registers (DSRs) on 25 January 2023, for implementation from 1 May 2023, to help ensure people get the support they need to stay well in their communities. This includes guidance on the timescales for C(E)TRs and on ensuring that actions are taken forward.
NHS England produced the updated policy and guidance following a process of reviewing the learning since the inception of C(E)TRs and DSRs, including consultation and engagement with people with lived experience. This process included drawing on the findings of the Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board’s review of the deaths of Joanna, Jon and Ben at Cawston Park in Norfolk, and the subsequent safe and wellbeing reviews for all people with a learning disability and autistic people in mental health hospitals.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews are taking place within recommended timeframes, and that recommendations arising from those reviews are being acted on.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England published updated policy and guidance on both Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews (C(E)TRs) and Dynamic Support Registers (DSRs) on 25 January 2023, for implementation from 1 May 2023, to help ensure people get the support they need to stay well in their communities. This includes guidance on the timescales for C(E)TRs and on ensuring that actions are taken forward.
NHS England produced the updated policy and guidance following a process of reviewing the learning since the inception of C(E)TRs and DSRs, including consultation and engagement with people with lived experience. This process included drawing on the findings of the Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board’s review of the deaths of Joanna, Jon and Ben at Cawston Park in Norfolk, and the subsequent safe and wellbeing reviews for all people with a learning disability and autistic people in mental health hospitals.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government why social service departments are discharging hospital patients to residential care for the first time when they are self-funding, while encouraging those patients (1) to contract with, (2) to be charged by, and (3) to be added to, social services’ admissions to private care, instead of contracting directly with the residential home; what impact this practice has on patients’ contractual rights; and what assessment they have made of the impact of this on the viability of the private care home sector.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is our priority to ensure that patients are discharged at the right time and to the right place, and to ensure that people receive appropriate care and support after they have been discharged. We believe it is crucial to ensure that the discharge process remains person-centred and driven by the patient’s fully informed decisions of the available options, including their own home or a residential care setting after they are discharged, with the support of their family or unpaid carers.
Whether or not a person qualifies for any financial support towards their care costs depends on their capital assets. Anyone who has assets above the upper capital limit, £23,250, is expected to meet the full cost of their own care. A person with more in capital than the upper capital limit can nonetheless ask their local authority to arrange their care and support for them.
Where the person’s needs are to be met by care in a care home, the local authority may choose to arrange the care, but is not required to do so. In supporting self-funders to arrange care, the local authority may choose to enter into a contract with the preferred provider or may broker the contract on behalf of the person.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the NHS about changes they are making to (1) outpatient departments, and (2) in-patient care, to avoid hospital acquired COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Kamall
NHS England and NHS Improvement work with National Health Service trusts to ensure effective implementation of United Kingdom infection prevention and control guidance in all areas, for both outpatient and inpatient care.
Mechanisms for infection prevention including physical distancing, optimal hand hygiene, equipment and environment decontamination, and extended use of face masks by healthcare staff, patients and visitors, are continually reviewed. The Department continues to have ongoing discussions with NHS England and NHS Improvement on controlling the spread of COVID-19 infection in all healthcare settings.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether their future management of COVID-19 will be determined by scientific advice.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Government continues to listen to advice provided by the scientific community, including the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies and its sub-groups, when making decisions on the approach to the management of COVID-19.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the (1) residential home, and (2) nursing home, capacity in England since March 2020.
Answered by Lord Kamall
In March 2020, there were 234,416 residential care beds which decreased by 0.4% to 233,444 in October 2021. The number of nursing beds in March 2020 was 222,607 which rose by 1.1% to 224,979 in October 2021.
Since March 2020, the number of overall care beds rose by 0.3% to 458,423 in October 2021.
Asked by: Baroness Browning (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take support the mental health needs of frontline care workers in the charitable and not-for-profit sectors.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We have worked alongside the National Health Service and other organisations to provide a package of emotional, psychological and practical resources for all care workers, including those in the charitable and not-for-profit sectors. This package includes support helplines, guidance, bereavement resources and a bespoke package of support for registered managers. We have also worked with the sector to ensure that wellbeing resources and best practice advice are streamlined and easier to navigate.