Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to analyse (1) those elements of health and social care which need to be strengthened, and (2) those aspects of entitlements for disabled children and their families and carers which need to be clarified; and what consequent action they are taking.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The commissioning of health and social care services for children with disabilities is the responsibility of clinical commissioning groups and local authorities respectively. Local commissioners are best placed to assess the needs of the local population and which areas may need strengthening. Clinical commissioning groups must ensure that they secure health services to meet the needs of disabled children to a reasonable extent.
Children’s social care is the responsibility of the Department for Education. All disabled children are regarded as children ‘in need’ under the Children Act 1989 and may receive social care from the local authority. The Children and Families Act 2014 placed a duty on local authorities to assess whether a parent carer in their area has needs for support.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the YMCA and NHS campaign #IAMWHOLE; and what action, if any, they have taken in response to that campaign.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
Campaigns such as #IAMWHOLE make an essential contribution to challenging the stigma that surrounds mental health, and Ministers have supported it. The Department has long funded, in partnership with charities, the Time to Change (TTC) campaign to challenge the stigma surrounding mental illness. TTC has campaigned on these issues for over ten years, and has reported to the Department that it estimates it has improved attitudes to mental health of over 4 million people in England.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Ministerial Statement on the NHS Commissioning Board: Annual Assessment and Annual Report and Accounts by Earl Howe on 22 July (WS 124–5), what factors they considered when they decided on which date to make that statement; and what arrangements they have made for parliamentary scrutiny of the NHS mandate for 2015–16.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
We announced on 22 July 2014 in a Written Ministerial Statement on the NHS Commissioning Board: Annual Assessment and Annual Report and Accounts (WS 124-5) that the Government proposes to uphold all of the existing objectives in the current mandate and maintain a stable mandate for 2015-16. This announcement was made on 22 July so the annual assessment could be published before Parliamentary recess and alongside the annual report of the NHS Commissioning Board (known as NHS England). The timing of the publication of NHS England’s Annual Report and Accounts was determined by the annual reporting cycle of the Department and its arm’s-length bodies. The exact date of the Written Ministerial Statement was subject to other Government business.
The Health and Social Care Act 2012 requires the Secretary of State to publish and lay before Parliament its mandate to NHS England. Before specifying any objectives or requirements in the mandate, the Secretary of State must consult NHS England, Healthwatch England and any other persons he considers appropriate.
We have been working closely with NHS England on the approach to the mandate and have been engaging with stakeholders over the summer, ahead of publishing and laying the final mandate before Parliament in the autumn. The mandate for 2015-16 will take effect from April 2015.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the data collected by the Palliative Care Funding Review; and whether they have plans to introduce the provision of free social care at the end of life.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The data collection exercise following the Palliative Care Funding Review concluded at the end of March 2014. These data are currently being analysed by NHS England, who intend to complete this analysis by the end of August.
Any decisions on the provision of free social care at the end of life will be based on a combination of the analysis of these data, other relevant data sources and wider policy and financial considerations.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of variations in cancer patient experiences.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The latest Cancer Patient Experience Survey (CPES) results, from 2013, show that whilst variations between trusts still exist, the overall range of variation for many indicators has narrowed.
For example, in 2010 the proportion of patients saying that they had been given the name of a Clinical Nurse Specialist ranged from 92% in the highest performing trust to 59% in the poorest performing trust (33 points); by 2013 this had reduced to 97% to 76% (21 points).
NHS England is working with NHS Improving Quality to develop better ways of using CPES data within the National Health Service in order to maximise the impact of the survey, to be able to work with successful and struggling organisations to spread best practice for example. Their intention is that the learning from this can then be transferred across all surveys to understand what the barriers are to implementing change and to showcase best practice where real improvements can be demonstrated.