Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what effective measures they propose to take to cut the waiting time of patients waiting for NHS treatment, and in particular to address the number of patients waiting more than a year.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
Cutting waiting lists is one of the Government’s priorities. The Government has committed more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to drive up and protect elective activity. This is supported further by £5.9 billion investment in capital for new beds, equipment and technology.
New and expanded surgical hubs are being rolled out to increase capacity and activity, focusing on providing high volume low complexity surgery, which is backed by £1.5 billion capital funding. There are currently 93 elective surgical hubs that are operational across England.
From October 2023, all patients waiting over 40 weeks where a decision to treat a patient has been made but the patient has not received a date for their treatment will be able to initiate a request to transfer to another provider and receive treatment more rapidly via the Patient Initiated Digital Mutual Aid System.
We have met our target to virtually eliminate long waits of two years or more for elective procedures in July 2022, and significantly reduced the number of patients waiting 18 months or more by April 2023 by over 91% from the peak in September 2021. We have now moved our focus to cutting waits of 65 weeks or more to as near zero as possible, by March 2024.
Capacity is being sought across the National Health Service and the independent sector locally, regionally and across the country to support efforts in hitting this target.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase the number of dentists treating NHS patients.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
In July 2022, we announced a package of dental system improvements to increase access for National Health Service dental patients and make NHS dentistry more attractive to practices.
NHS England negotiated amendments to the NHS dental contract with the British Dental Association and other stakeholders. These improvements, which came into effect in November 2022, will ensure dentists are more fairly remunerated for the delivery of NHS care and making NHS dentistry a more attractive place to work and improve access for patients.
We have also recently simplified the General Dental Council's legislative framework for the registration of international dentists and dental care professionals. The legislative changes came into force on 8 March 2023.
We will announce our plan for further reform of the NHS dental system later this year. It will include several areas requiring further action to support and recover activity in NHS dentistry.
We are also committed to publishing a long-term NHS workforce plan that will set out the actions and reforms that are required to reduce supply gaps and improve retention, including in dentistry.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - 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 all possible alternatives are considered across England to tackle NHS waiting lists.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The use of surgical hubs and community diagnostics centres (CDCs) is being expanded to increase capacity in planned elective services, in addition to alternative capacity with independent providers and engaging with patients to understand choices made regarding their care. An Elective Recovery Taskforce has been established to determine how the National Health Service can use additional independent provider capacity to address waiting times.
We are investing in up to 160 CDCs which will deliver up to 17 million tests by March 2025. There are currently 91 CDCs operating, which have delivered more than 2.5 million additional tests as of November 2022. In England there are 89 elective surgical hubs focusing on providing high volume, low complexity surgery. The NHS has eliminated waiting times of two years or more for elective procedures. We aim to eliminate waiting times of eighteen months or more by April 2023 and waiting times of over 65 weeks by March 2024.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure face-to-face GP appointments are more readily available to patients.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
On 22 September 2022, we announced measures to assist people to make an informed choice on their general practitioner (GP) practice, book an appointment more easily, benefit from more care options and increase the diversity of general practice teams. This aims to increase the availability of appointment types, such as face-to-face, in England.
NHS England’s guidance states that GP practices must provide face-to-face appointments and remote consultations and should respect preferences for face-to-face care unless there are good clinical reasons to the contrary. While remote consultations can provide additional choice, flexibility and convenience for patients, this is not suitable for all patients or in all circumstances. In October 2022, 71.3% of appointments were conducted face-to-face, excluding COVID-19 vaccinations, up from 64.3% in October 2021.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what data they have gathered, if any, which support the view that young people's hearing is placed at risk as a result of unsafe listening habits using headphones.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
No specific assessment has been made. However, the World Health Organization estimates that more than one billion young people globally are at risk of hearing loss due to recreational exposure to loud sound, including through headphones.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consultations they have had with the devolved administrations to secure equal GP provision across the UK.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
Departmental officials have regular discussions with the devolved administrations to share best practice and information related to general practitioner provision in the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to inform the public about the consequences of rising diabetes levels.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
Obesity is the single greatest risk factor to developing type 2 diabetes, which can lead to associated conditions such as diabetic foot ulcers and diabetic retinopathy. The Better Health adult obesity campaign was launched in July 2020, highlighting the harms of excess weight and providing motivation to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. The campaign directs the public to a range of free online tools and support, including the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme, the National Health Service weight loss plan app, local authority healthy lifestyle services and discounted offers from healthy weight partners. Primary care providers also support individuals in accessing weight management programmes, including the Diabetes Prevention Programme, depending on their risk factors.