Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an estimate of the number of missed breast cancer screening appointments by women whose employers have not allowed them to attend during working hours; and if will he make a statement.
Answered by Steve Brine
This information is not collected.
The NHS Breast Screening Programme offers all women in England who are aged from 50 up until their 71st birthday and registered with a general practitioner or resident in an area are automatically invited for screening every three years. Although in some areas women may be invited from the age of 47 as part of the age extension trial.
A timed appointment at a specific screening location and date is offered. If the appointment scheduled is inconvenient, women can telephone to reschedule their appointment. Otherwise, if they do not attend, they will be sent a further timed appointment to attend for screening.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
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 adequacy of the level of spending on research into the causes and treatment of dementia; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The usual practice of NIHR is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics such as dementia. Research proposals in all areas compete for the funding available. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health including dementia. These 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. In all disease areas, the amount of NIHR funding depends on the volume and quality of scientific activity.
NIHR funding for dementia research was £43.0 million in 2017/18, having grown from £27 million in 2013/14. Overall public funding for dementia research continues to run well ahead of the Government’s 2020 Dementia Challenge commitment to maintain funding at £60 million a year. The other main public funders of dementia research are the Medical Research Council, which in 2017/18 spent £36.3 million, and the Economic and Social Research Council, which spent £3.2 million, to bring total Government spending on dementia research to £82.5 million.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will review the level of charges for social care payable by vulnerable people on benefits; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
To help local authorities design reasonable and fair policies, the Department has issued the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014 and statutory guidance in the Care and Support Statutory (CASS) Guidance. The CASS Guidance is issued under section 78 of the Care Act and local authorities must have regard to it.
The Regulations and Guidance do not require local authorities to charge. They seek to ensure that, where local authorities do charge, this will be based on fairer, well-designed charging policies and ensure in particular that service users on low incomes are protected from charging and that any charges levied on disability benefits are subject to an assessment of disability costs, to ensure their reasonableness.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance he has issued to local authorities on social care charges for vulnerable people receiving benefits; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
To help local authorities design reasonable and fair policies, the Department has issued the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014 and statutory guidance in the Care and Support Statutory (CASS) Guidance. The CASS Guidance is issued under section 78 of the Care Act and local authorities must have regard to it.
The Regulations and Guidance do not require local authorities to charge. They seek to ensure that, where local authorities do charge, this will be based on fairer, well-designed charging policies and ensure in particular that service users on low incomes are protected from charging and that any charges levied on disability benefits are subject to an assessment of disability costs, to ensure their reasonableness.