Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any adverse effects on children as a result of not establishing a consistent child identifier, especially those children with (1) complex needs and disabilities, (2) long-term conditions such as asthma, autism and epilepsy and (3) looked after children and those at risk; and whether they will publish such an assessment.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
No specific assessment has been made. Every child is assigned an National Health Service number at birth or the first time they have contact with NHS services. The NHS number acts as is a unique patient identifier and is used to share information within electronic healthcare records. This contributes to improved health outcomes for children, including looked after children and those with complex needs, disabilities and long-term conditions, by ensuring that health professionals identify patients correctly and have access to information to inform the delivery of appropriate care.
Through the Health and Care Act 2022, the Government has committed to report on Government’s policy on information sharing in relation to the safeguarding of children, including looked after children and those at risk, by summer 2023. The report will include an explanation of whether it is the Government’s policy that a consistent child identifier should be used across agencies.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adverse (1) costs, and (2) effectiveness, of NHS services for children as a result of the absence of a consistent child identifier.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
No specific assessment has been made. Every child is assigned a National Health Service number at birth or the first time they have contact with NHS services. The NHS number acts as a unique patient identifier and is used to share information within electronic healthcare records. This contributes to improved health outcomes for children by ensuring that health professionals identify patients correctly and have access to information to inform the delivery of appropriate care.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the British Medical Association report Building the Future: Getting IT Right, published on 5 December 2022; in particular, the finding that "nearly 76 per cent of doctors ranked 'interoperability of systems' as a 'significant barrier' to digital transformation"; and what assessment they have made of whether the absence of a consistent child identifier prevents the interoperability of IT systems for protecting children's health and care.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
An assessment on interoperability has been made across several areas through the Digital Maturity Assessment, providing greater understanding of individual organisational-level capability and enabling focus on national efforts to support levelling up those organisations at a lower level of maturity.
Every child born in England is issued a National Health Service number at birth which stays with them throughout their life. The NHS number acts as a unique patient identifier and is used to share information within electronic healthcare records. This contributes to improved health outcomes for children by ensuring that health professionals identify patients correctly and have access to information to inform the delivery of appropriate care.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham of 14 February (HL5163), whether they will undertake a comparison of the impact of the UK's rebate rates in the voluntary scheme for branded medicines with the more favourable rebates in other European countries, given their declared ambitions for the UK life sciences sector.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
We have no plans to undertake such a comparison. Differences in the structure of medicine pricing policies and systems make direct comparisons of payment percentages or rebates with other countries difficult and potentially misleading.
The Government is open to ideas about how a successor to the voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access should operate from 2024 onwards. We will be considering a range of factors and will work with industry to consider learning from approaches in the United Kingdom and internationally, to agree a mutually beneficial successor that supports better patient outcomes; ensures the sustainability of National Health Service spend on branded medicines; and enables a strong UK life sciences industry.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to measure the effectiveness of (1) NHS England's plan to fund art, music or gardening classes instead of prescribing antidepressants, announced on 2 March, and (2) the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence's draft guidance, issued on 1 March, approving the use of digitally enabled therapies for patients with depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and body dysmorphia disorders.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department is committed to the roll out of social prescribing and associated activities, including arts, music and gardening across the National Health Service in England. Social Prescribing Link Workers (SPLWs) work with people to understand ‘what matters to them’ then to connect them to agencies for practical, emotional and social support and to community groups and activities. Where individuals consent, SPLWs capture wellbeing outcomes before and after engagement with the social prescribing service as routine practice, using standardised outcomes measures such as Office for National Statistics Four. There is growing evidence on the role that activities, whether they be creative, activity- or nature-based, improve people’s health and wellbeing. The role of SPLW is also being evaluated by the National Institute for Health and Care Research to determine how access, engagement and outcomes vary by delivery model, geography and population characteristics over time.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Guidance has been released for guided Digital Cognitive Behavioural Therapy tools for children and young people with symptoms of low mood and anxiety. The technologies in these categories are being evaluated by NICE as part of their Early Value Assessment, which covers both clinical and cost effectiveness.
For NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression services, a key characteristic is the routing collection of clinical outcome measures and monitoring activity. NHS England’s Digitally Enabled Therapies (DETs) Assessment Criteria enables DETs to be reviewed for suitability for use in NHS Talking Therapies Services.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that staff in the adult social care sector (1) are all paid at above the legal minimum wage, and (2) have their pay brought in line with staff undertaking similar roles in the NHS.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
All businesses irrespective of their size or business sector are responsible for paying the correct National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage to their staff.
If any care worker is concerned that they are being underpaid, we strongly urge them to call the the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) helpline for free, impartial and confidential advice about their rights and entitlements. Acas officers will pass on cases to HM Revenue & Customs for further consideration where appropriate.
The Department has no plans to align the pay progression of adult social care workers to National Health Service pay scales.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether budgets for adult social care for 2023–23 and 2023–24 were adjusted to take account of (1) increased energy and fuel costs, and (2) the need to make greater use of agency staff due to high vacancy rates.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
Local authorities are responsible for setting budgets for adult social care. They are best placed to assess local resources and need. The funding we have made available gives them the flexibility to do so in their local budgets.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the number of vacant posts in the adult social care sector from their current high level.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
We are running a national recruitment campaign until 31 March 2023 to encourage more people to consider a rewarding role in care. In February 2022, we made care workers eligible for the Health and Care Visa and added them to the Shortage Occupation list.
We are making available £15 million in 2023/24 to help local areas establish support arrangements for international recruitment and improve workforce capacity in adult social care. In addition, the £500 million adult social care discharge fund announced last September can be used by local authorities for the recruitment and retention of the social care workforce.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the report by The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry False economy? How NHS medicine procurement threatens the UK’s Life Sciences growth engine, published on 23 February, that the continued current high rebate rates under the voluntary and statutory schemes for branded medicines during the next five years would mean foregoing £50 billion in GDP and £17.9 billion in tax revenues as a result of lost research and development investment; and what are their estimates of the value of the potential lost investment in this sector.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department carefully considers all evidence in the public domain on matters relating to the growth and competitiveness of the United Kingdom’s life science sector, including the recent report by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. This occurs in combination with broad engagement with individual companies, the National Health Service and with charities and patient representatives and will continue moving forward as part of the delivery of the Government’s Life Science Vision.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 7 February (HL5233), what assessment they have made of the reports by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (1) False economy? How NHS medicine procurement threatens the UK’s Life Sciences growth engine, published on 23 February, and (2) At the crossroads: how a new UK medicines deal can deliver for patients, the NHS and the economy, published on 1 March; and what assessment they have made of the findings of those reports that the present NHS medicine procurement system threatens the growth of the UK Life Sciences sector.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department carefully considers all evidence in the public domain on matters relating to the growth and competitiveness of the United Kingdom’s life science sector, including the recent report by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. This occurs in combination with broad engagement with individual companies, the National Health Service and with charities and patient representatives and will continue moving forward as part of the delivery of the Government’s Life Science Vision.