Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) her Department, (b) NHS England and (c) NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of the local workforce to provide (i) maternity and (ii) children's services at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The reconfiguration of services is a clinically led local decision following appropriate engagement with patients and stakeholders. There are no plans to change the current configuration of services.
There have been significant improvements to children’s and maternity services provided by the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust since the reconfiguration of services. The presence of consultants for children’s services has increased with reduced reliance on agency locums and the Care Quality Commission has improved the rating for maternity services from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’ at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of returning (a) maternity and (b) children's services to the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The reconfiguration of services is a clinically led local decision following appropriate engagement with patients and stakeholders. There are no plans to change the current configuration of services.
There have been significant improvements to children’s and maternity services provided by the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust since the reconfiguration of services. The presence of consultants for children’s services has increased with reduced reliance on agency locums and the Care Quality Commission has improved the rating for maternity services from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’ at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the provision of (a) maternity and (b) children's services in Redditch.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The reconfiguration of services is a clinically led local decision following appropriate engagement with patients and stakeholders. There are no plans to change the current configuration of services.
There have been significant improvements to children’s and maternity services provided by the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust since the reconfiguration of services. The presence of consultants for children’s services has increased with reduced reliance on agency locums and the Care Quality Commission has improved the rating for maternity services from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’ at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what medical research the Government has funded into bad nerves.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The remit of the NIHR is early translational, that is experimental medicine, clinical and applied health research, and social care research. In 2022/23, the NIHR spent approximately £99 million on research into mental health. In the last 10 years, the NIHR has invested approximately £41.5 million into research specifically focused, or including a focus, on anxiety and/or anxiety disorder. The NIHR is not currently funding any research explicitly focused on ‘bad nerves’. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including mental health.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what medical research the Government has funded into anxiety.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The remit of the NIHR is early translational, that is experimental medicine, clinical and applied health research, and social care research. In 2022/23, the NIHR spent approximately £99 million on research into mental health. In the last 10 years, the NIHR has invested approximately £41.5 million into research specifically focused, or including a focus, on anxiety and/or anxiety disorder. The NIHR is not currently funding any research explicitly focused on ‘bad nerves’. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including mental health.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) full and (b) part time work on (i) bad nerves, (ii) anxiety and (iii) depression in working age adults.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Research has found strong evidence showing that work is generally good for both physical and mental health and well-being, although this does not distinguish between full-time and part-time work. The research is available at the following link:
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has established criteria for when it would intervene to require the NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board to commission additional services at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Department does not have any plans to intervene in the commissioning of National Health Service healthcare services undertaken by integrated care boards (ICBs). ICBs have a statutory duty to commission most NHS healthcare services for their respective populations in line with their other statutory duties and guidance. The performance of ICBs in the exercise of their functions is assessed, annually, by NHS England. The NHS Oversight Framework describes NHS England’s approach to the oversight of ICBs, and is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/nhs-oversight-framework/
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information (a) her Department and (b) the NHS has collected on (i) interventions, (ii) strategies and (iii) policies that are successful at reducing levels of (A) depression, (B) bad nerves and (C) anxiety in the working age population.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Considerable progress has been made in developing effective psychological therapies for these conditions. This progress has been recognised by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) which now recommends psychological therapies as first choice interventions for depression and anxiety disorders, including bad nerves. Individuals who are seen within NHS Talking Therapies services can expect to receive a course of NICE-recommended psychological therapy from an appropriately trained individual. Services are delivered using a stepped-care model, which works according to the principle that people should be offered the least intrusive intervention appropriate for their needs first.
In 2021/22, over 1.2 million people were able to access NHS Talking Therapies services. This expansion was the result of training and deploying thousands of new psychological therapists and practitioners, as well as providing additional training modules for existing therapists. The recovery rate was 50% in 2021/22. The 2023 Autumn Statement invested further in NHS Talking Therapies. This will increase the number of sessions per course of Talking Therapies treatment to tackle the root causes of common mental health conditions like anxiety and depression and broaden access, leading to an expected additional 384,000 people completing a course of treatment by 2028/29.
There is an extensive literature showing that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and NHS Talking Therapies more widely have significant positive and durable health impacts, including for those of working age specifically. A University of Sheffield study highlighted a large post-treatment effect in depression and anxiety measures in the United Kingdom.
Another UK study by Professor David Clark found that around 50% of patients treated in NHS Talking Therapies services recover, and two-thirds show worthwhile benefits.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps (a) her Department and (b) the NHS is taking to (i) manage and (ii) reduce the growth of (A) depression, (B) bad nerves and (C) anxiety in the working age population.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
We are investing £2.3 billion of additional funding a year by March 2024 compared to 2018/19 to expand and transform mental health services in England so that two million more people can get the mental health support that they need. This includes expanding NHS Talking Therapies for adults with common mental illness such as depression or anxiety, and including bad nerves.
The Spring 2023 Budget contained several packages that support mental health, including over £400 million to support the long-term sick and disabled to remain in or enter employment. This includes around £200 million for digital mental health, which is funding to modernise and digitise mental health services in England, providing wellness and clinical grade apps free at the point of use, pilot cutting-edge digital therapies and digitise the NHS Talking Therapies programme.
In addition, as announced at the 2023 Autumn Statement, we are further expanding and improving Talking Therapies from 2024/25 to 2028/29 so that an additional 384,000 people with anxiety or depression can benefit from accessing a course of treatment. The additional funding will also enable us to increase the average number of therapy sessions that each person can access, helping more people to recover.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the use of social media by different age groups on levels of (a) depression, (b) bad nerves and (c) anxiety.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
We have funded independent research into the impact of screen-based activities, including use of social media on young people’s mental health outcomes. Following this, in 2019, the United Kingdom’s Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) produced advice for parents and carers on screen and social media use.
The findings of the research were insufficiently conclusive to support evidence-based guidelines by the CMOs on optimal amounts of screen use or online activities. However, we will continue to evaluate this and our policy development in light of any new research. The findings of the research are available at the following link:
http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/cms/Default.aspx?tabid=3748