Asked by: Baroness Nye (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many clinical commissioning groups have a perinatal mental health strategy.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
Details of which clinical commissioning groups have a perinatal mental health strategy are not collected centrally.
A National Childbirth Trust survey published in 2014 found that out of 194 CCGs questioned, 5 CCGs (3%) said they have a strategy for providing perinatal mental health services. A further 34 (18%) said they are developing or planning to develop a strategy.
However, NHS England will, through its Maternity and Children Strategic Clinical Networks, support the continued development of maternity and perinatal mental health networks to drive improvements to access, quality of care and inter-service communication. This will enhance the experience of women and families generally, and more specifically for the large numbers of women who are at risk of poor mental health during pregnancy and following childbirth.
Specialised Perinatal Mental Health Services (mother and baby units) are part of a wider network of Perinatal Mental Health services and the commissioning of the ‘specialist’ (local) and ‘specialised’ (national) pathway is a responsibility shared between NHS England, clinical commissioning groups and local authorities.
Health Education England is working with partners to ensure that pre and post registration training in perinatal mental health is available to enable specialist staff to be available to every birthing unit by 2017.
Asked by: Baroness Nye (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many of the proposed 375 perinatal mental health visitor champions have been trained.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Department has already funded the successful training of 573* perinatal mental health champions and this total is likely to increase further. The champions’ training was commissioned from the Institute of Health Visiting. It covers the fundamental requirements necessary for health visitors to manage anxiety, mild to moderate depression and other perinatal mental disorders, including knowing how to assess for the presence of these conditions and if identified, the variety of ways they can support mothers - either by intervening themselves or through referral on to a general practitioner or specialist.
The training model enables participants to become local perinatal mental health champions and to disseminate their skills and knowledge to health visitor and other professional colleagues locally. All health visitors also have access to supportive interactive e-learning modules to help them in the detection and management of perinatal depression and other maternal mental health conditions.
*Source: latest available data from the Institute of Health Visiting
Asked by: Baroness Nye (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the report by the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at Oxford University commissioned by the Department of Health will be published; and if so, when.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The report has been completed and its publication is planned for the end of February 2015.
Asked by: Baroness Nye (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of midwives are trained to provide mothers with mental health support.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Government is committed to giving mothers the support and care they need throughout their pregnancy, birth and after birth. Safety and high quality care for mothers are at the heart of maternity services.
Health Education England’s (HEE) Mandate requires it to build knowledge and competence in perinatal mental health. HEE has developed a proposed set of learning objectives on perinatal mental health for student midwives, and has engaged with the Royal College of Midwives to discuss this proposal and ensure that the curriculum provides midwives with the appropriate level of knowledge and competence in perinatal mental health.
To ensure that qualified midwives keep their skills up-to-date with the latest evidence, HEE has developed three e-learning modules in partnership with the Institute of Health Visiting on perinatal mental health, intended for use by midwives, nurses and health visitors. The modules specifically cover perinatal depression and other maternal mental health disorders. HEE plans to develop further e-learning modules for the existing workforce in 2015, to reduce the incidence and impact of postnatal depression through earlier diagnosis, and better intervention and support.
HEE is working with partners to ensure that pre and post registration training in perinatal mental health is provided consistently. This will facilitate staff with specialist skills being available to every birthing unit by 2017.
HEE are sustaining the record number of midwives entering training this year, and has commissioned 2,563 new Midwifery training places for 2014/15. Between May 2010 and October 2014, the numbers of full-time equivalent midwives have increased by nearly 2,000 and over 6,000 are in training.
Asked by: Baroness Nye (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of Burma regarding the reform of the National Education Law in that country.
Answered by Baroness Northover
DFID have not held any direct discussions with the Government of Burma regarding the reform of the National Education Law. A DFID official attended a briefing with the Burmese Minister of Education on the recent dialogue around the National Education Law on 9 February, but did not provide any comments. DFID’s Minister of State met with Burma’s Deputy Minister for Education in January and encouraged the government of Burma to consult widely on further rules relating to the National Education Law. DFID, together with other International Development Partners, has funded technical support for the Comprehensive Education Sector Review (CESR). This review has informed the development of the National Education Law.
Asked by: Baroness Nye (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have achieved their target of 4,200 extra health visitors by 2015.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Government is committed to growing the health visitor workforce by 4,200 full-time equivalents (FTEs) by April 2015, and transforming health visiting services to improve health outcomes and contribute to reducing health inequalities. The most recent management information (December 2014) published by NHS England estimates an indicative count of 11,310 FTE health visitors: some 3,218 more than the May 2010 baseline, representing an increase of 40% so far. In addition, there are approximately 1,036 health visitors who are due to complete training by the end of March 2015.
Asked by: Baroness Nye (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by the Secretary of State for International Development on 5 March (HC Deb, col 879), what is the timeframe for integrating collaborative tuberculosis and HIV activities into all Department for International Development HIV programmes.
Answered by Baroness Northover
Last year’s review of our 2011 HIV Position Paper highlighted integrated responses to tackling HIV and tuberculosis co-infection as a key area of current and on-going work.
DFID health advisers are aware of the package of collaborative TB and HIV activities recommended by WHO and are able to discuss these with the TB and HIV control programmes in the countries we support. However due to our current financial and management information systems we are unable to report on the specific interventions requested without incurring disproportionate cost.
Increasingly the Global Fund is the main financing mechanism for the UK’s support to TB and HIV. DFID has been strongly involved in the recent Global Fund requirement for countries burdened by the two diseases to put forward a unified and integrated application for joint TB-HIV programmes.
Asked by: Baroness Nye (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the HIV and tuberculosis co-ordinating bodies in countries where the Department for International Development has a bilateral HIV programme are (1) developing integrated tuberculosis and HIV services, and (2) carrying out joint tuberculosis and HIV planning.
Answered by Baroness Northover
Last year’s review of our 2011 HIV Position Paper highlighted integrated responses to tackling HIV and tuberculosis co-infection as a key area of current and on-going work.
DFID health advisers are aware of the package of collaborative TB and HIV activities recommended by WHO and are able to discuss these with the TB and HIV control programmes in the countries we support. However due to our current financial and management information systems we are unable to report on the specific interventions requested without incurring disproportionate cost.
Increasingly the Global Fund is the main financing mechanism for the UK’s support to TB and HIV. DFID has been strongly involved in the recent Global Fund requirement for countries burdened by the two diseases to put forward a unified and integrated application for joint TB-HIV programmes.
Asked by: Baroness Nye (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many of the Department for International Development's bilateral HIV programmes seek to prevent tuberculosis among people living with HIV through (1) infection control, (2) active case finding, and (3) initiation of preventative therapies.
Answered by Baroness Northover
Last year’s review of our 2011 HIV Position Paper highlighted integrated responses to tackling HIV and tuberculosis co-infection as a key area of current and on-going work.
DFID health advisers are aware of the package of collaborative TB and HIV activities recommended by WHO and are able to discuss these with the TB and HIV control programmes in the countries we support. However due to our current financial and management information systems we are unable to report on the specific interventions requested without incurring disproportionate cost.
Increasingly the Global Fund is the main financing mechanism for the UK’s support to TB and HIV. DFID has been strongly involved in the recent Global Fund requirement for countries burdened by the two diseases to put forward a unified and integrated application for joint TB-HIV programmes.
Asked by: Baroness Nye (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many of the Department for International Development's bilateral HIV programmes actively incorporate (1) screening for, and (2) diagnosis of, tuberculosis.
Answered by Baroness Northover
Last year’s review of our 2011 HIV Position Paper highlighted integrated responses to tackling HIV and tuberculosis co-infection as a key area of current and on-going work.
DFID health advisers are aware of the package of collaborative TB and HIV activities recommended by WHO and are able to discuss these with the TB and HIV control programmes in the countries we support. However due to our current financial and management information systems we are unable to report on the specific interventions requested without incurring disproportionate cost.
Increasingly the Global Fund is the main financing mechanism for the UK’s support to TB and HIV. DFID has been strongly involved in the recent Global Fund requirement for countries burdened by the two diseases to put forward a unified and integrated application for joint TB-HIV programmes.