Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for Health (Secondary Care) on 24 January (HC25099), what assessment they have made of the health risks resulting from the NHS using gender-neutral language that may obscure the impact of biological sex on the physical effects of drugs.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government expects the National Health Service to deliver health services in accordance with the Equality Act 2010, having appropriate regard to protected characteristics as defined in the Act where relevant.
Language is very important when communicating with patients and whilst no assessment has been made of the impact of specific language, the NHS always strives to ensure clear terms that everyone can understand should always be used. Sex and gender identity are not always the same thing, and it is important for patients that we record both accurately.
The Department is committed to delivering safe and holistic care for both adults and children when it comes to gender, and that also means accurately recording biological sex, not just for research and insight, but also for patient safety. Following the publication of the Sullivan Review, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Wes Streeting MP) instructed the health service to immediately suspend applications for NHS number changes for children under 18 years old, in order to safeguard them.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what commemorative (1) days, (2) weeks, and (3) months, are recognised by (a) the Department of Health and Social Care, and (b) NHS England, as significant for diversity and inclusion, excluding religious holidays.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold an official list of approved commemorative days, weeks, or months. We follow direction from Cabinet Office on important national days to be marked across the Civil Service. All other commemorative days, weeks, or months are considered on a case- by-case basis in discussion with our staff networks and senior sponsors. Efforts are made to align any commemorative events to departmental priorities, and to include a health and social care angle to broaden the reach of the activity and deepen departmental understanding of how we are making a difference in our communities. Examples of commemorative events the Department has marked to date include Holocaust Memorial Day, Mental Health Awareness Week, Veterans Day, Pride Month, Black History Month, Cancer Awareness Days, Carers Day, and Social Mobility Day.
The Department will continue to be led by Cabinet Office steers and by the recommendations of our staff networks and leadership, and will try and leverage commemoration days to deepen our organisational knowledge of health and care issues and the communities we serve.
NHS England acknowledges a range of significant commemorative days and events that align with their organisational priorities and help them fulfil their Public Sector Equality Duty under the Equality Act 2010. While they engage with a broad spectrum of important health awareness and equality-related events, there is no formalised schedule or overarching programme in place.
Some of the commemorative days and events NHS England has recognised to date include VE Day, Mental Health Awareness Week, Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week, International Women’s Day, Bowel Cancer Awareness Day, Ovarian Cancer Awareness Day, Black History Month, International Nurses Day, and Holocaust Memorial Day.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 3 October (HL1032), what is the Government’s Health Mission, and how they envision equality, diversity and inclusion policies developed by NHS trusts aligning with the Government's Health Mission and priorities.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government’s Health Mission is to build a health and social care system fit for the future, working in partnership with health and care system partners. The goals of the mission are to: ensure the National Health Service is there when people need it; reduce the lives lost to the biggest killers; and create a fairer Britain where everyone lives well for longer.
The Department and NHS England support the NHS trusts to define their own appropriate policies to support equality, diversity, and inclusion.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 27 September (HL1033), whether NHS England has a list of banned words and phrases.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England does not have a list of banned words or phrases. NHS England encourages the use of plain English and inclusive language to help everyone to make informed decisions about their health needs.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 3 October (HL1032), whether NHS England is affiliated to Stonewall; and which arm's-length bodies of the Department for Health and Social Care are affiliated to Stonewall, and at what cost.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The department supports arm’s-length bodies (ALBs) to define the appropriate policies to support equality, diversity and inclusion to align with the government’s health mission and priorities and make health and social care accessible to all.
Latest reporting shows that the only ALB with a subscription to Stonewall is NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) for the Diversity Champions Programme, with a cost of £3,090 for 2024/25.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (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 appropriateness of NHS Blood and Transplant continuing to be a paid member of Stonewall.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department supports Arm’s Length Bodies to define the appropriate policies to support equality, diversity, and inclusion, to align with the Government’s Health Mission and priorities, and make health and social care accessible to all.
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) is committed to championing and promoting equal opportunity for those donating blood, including by: lifting the blood donation ban for men who have sex with men in 2021; encouraging more LGBT+ people to help save and improve lives by giving blood and joining the NHS Organ Donor Register; and making NHSBT a more inclusive place to work.
NHSBT continues to keep all its memberships under review, to ensure they best meet the needs of the organisation and benefit the public and patients they serve.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of overall pregnancy terminations have been carried out in accordance with paragraph (d) of section 1(1) of the Abortion Act 1967 in each of the past five years.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
We are unable to provide the data requested for 2022 and 2023 as these statistics have not yet been published. Abortion statistics for 2022 are provisionally scheduled to be published in May 2024. The date of publication of abortion statistics for 2023 will be announced in due course.
The following table shows information on the proportion of overall pregnancy terminations carried out in accordance with paragraph (d) of section 1(1) of the Abortion Act 1967 between 2019 and 2021:
Year | Proportion (%) |
2019 | 2.0 |
2020 | 1.5 |
2021 | 1.6 |
Source: NHS England
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many pregnancy terminations have been carried out on grounds of a diagnosis of (1) Downs Syndrome, or (2) Brittle Bones, in each of the past five years.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
We are unable to provide the data requested for 2022 and 2023 as these statistics have not yet been published. Abortion statistics for 2022 are provisionally scheduled to be published in May 2024. The date of publication of abortion statistics for 2023 will be announced in due course.
The following table shows information on the number of pregnancy terminations carried out on grounds of a diagnosis of Downs Syndrome or congenital malformations of the musculoskeletal system between 2019 and 2021:
Year | ICD-10 code | Condition | Number of mentions |
2019 | Q90 | Down's syndrome | 656 |
2020 | Q90 | Down's syndrome | 693 |
2021 | Q90 | Down's syndrome | 859 |
2019 | Q65 to Q79 | Congenital malformations of the musculoskeletal system | 357 |
2020 | Q65 to Q79 | Congenital malformations of the musculoskeletal system | 443 |
2021 | Q65 to Q79 | Congenital malformations of the musculoskeletal system | 486 |
Source: NHS England
Notes:
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman correspondence to the Chief Executive of Sciensus on 16 October 2023 asking him to review the Sciensus complaints process.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) reports to Parliament directly and is held to account through the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee.
As the PHSO's jurisdiction includes independent healthcare providers that deliver services on behalf of the National Health Service in England, it is right that the Ombudsman wrote to the Chief Executive of Sciensus, a company providing home care medicines service to NHS patients, about its complaints process. We understand that Sciensus has agreed to continue to improve their complaints handling process in line with the principles set out in the NHS Complaint Standards.
The NHS Complaint Standards were co-created by the PHSO and organisations across the NHS and Government. The Standards, along with the model complaint handling procedure and guidance, set out how organisations providing NHS services should approach complaint handling. They apply to NHS organisations in England and independent healthcare providers who deliver NHS-funded care.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have assessed the difference between a missed delivery and a missed dose of medicine in terms of their policy implications as part of the National Homecare Medicines Committee’s review of national homecare medicines services.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
NHS England is committed to improving patient safety and understanding the important role data can play in driving quality improvement.
There are currently national key performance metric definitions available as part of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Homecare Services Professionals Standards which include definitions criteria on the number of failed deliveries, missed doses and patient safety incidents. Patients routinely hold approximately two weeks’ worth of supply of medicines to minimise the risk of a missed or delayed delivery becoming a missed dose.
NHS England has been carrying out an internal review on homecare medicines services. Extensive stakeholder engagement has been undertaken on revising the national key performance indicators (KPIs) and a transition to new KPIs will begin in spring 2024, with full reporting expected by autumn 2024.