Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with the women’s health ambassador for England on disparities in birth control prescriptions.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Ministers and officials have regular discussion with the Women’s Health Ambassador on a range of issues.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to ensure people from low-income backgrounds have access to advanced therapies for (a) rare, (b) genetic and (c) undiagnosed conditions.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government is committed to supporting access to clinically and cost effective new treatments for National Health Service patients, including for rare, genetic and undiagnosed conditions. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the NHS on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. The NHS in England is legally required to fund treatments recommended by NICE, usually within three months of final guidance. This means that any treatment positively appraised by NICE should be available for clinicians to offer to all their eligible patients.
NHS England has struck commercial agreements with the manufacturers of several cell and gene therapies that have enabled NICE to recommend them for routine NHS use or through the Cancer Drugs Fund. These treatments are now available for the treatment of all NHS patients.
The Innovative Medicines Fund was launched in June 2022 and will allow patients to benefit from early access to the most promising medicines where there is too much uncertainty for NICE to be able to recommend routine funding. This will further support the rapid introduction of effective new medicines for the benefit of NHS patients.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department is taking to increase accessibility for cell and gene therapies.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government is committed to supporting access to clinically and cost effective new treatments for National Health Service patients, including for rare, genetic and undiagnosed conditions. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the NHS on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. The NHS in England is legally required to fund treatments recommended by NICE, usually within three months of final guidance. This means that any treatment positively appraised by NICE should be available for clinicians to offer to all their eligible patients.
NHS England has struck commercial agreements with the manufacturers of several cell and gene therapies that have enabled NICE to recommend them for routine NHS use or through the Cancer Drugs Fund. These treatments are now available for the treatment of all NHS patients.
The Innovative Medicines Fund was launched in June 2022 and will allow patients to benefit from early access to the most promising medicines where there is too much uncertainty for NICE to be able to recommend routine funding. This will further support the rapid introduction of effective new medicines for the benefit of NHS patients.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on ensuring those with (a) Type 1 and (b) Type 2 diabetes receive the health checks they need to manage their condition; and what recent steps has he taken to ensure vulnerable people receive the treatment they need in Hornsey and Wood Green constituency.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS England Long Term Plan set out a number of key ambitions, to improve care and outcomes for those individuals with both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Progress continues to be made for patients with Type 1 diabetes, with over 65% of people currently using Flash Glucose Monitoring to help manage their condition. 97% of pregnant women are being offered Flash Glucose Monitoring and 78% accept the offer.
The NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme supports those identified at high risk of Type 2 diabetes to reduce their risk. Latest figures in February 2023 shows a 20% reduction in risk for those who are referred to the programme compared to those who are not. Integrated care boards are responsible for the provision of treatment at a local level and they decide what is best for the whole of their local population.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department is taking to reduce health inequalities for people with (a) rare, (b) genetic and (c) undiagnosed conditions in Hornsey and Wood Green constituency.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the responsibility of integrated care systems (ICSs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population.
England’s 2023 Rare Diseases Action Plan includes a specific action to address health inequalities. This action is to gather the evidence needed to include rare diseases in NHS England’s Core20PLUS5 Framework. This will enable integrated care systems, including the North Central London Integrated Care Board, to develop targeted actions to reduce these inequalities in their local populations. Additionally, the UK Rare Diseases Framework commits the four nations to ensure any impacts on health inequalities are considered when developing action plans for rare conditions.
Genomics England will lead a programme to carry out tailored genomic sequencing of 15,000 to 25,000 research participants from diverse ancestry groups that are currently under-represented in genomic research. This will increase our understanding of genomic diversity and its impact on scientific, clinical and health system outcomes, aiming to reduce health inequalities, and improve patient outcomes across all communities.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve access to birth control for women.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We are committed to ensuring the public receive the best possible contraceptive services. We recently announced a £25 million investment over the next two years to accelerate the development of women’s health hubs. Women across England will benefit from tailored health care and support by the new hubs, improving access and quality of care for women’s health services including contraception.
Furthermore, in April we introduced the NHS Pharmacy Contraception Service. This service offers greater choice in how people can access contraception services. At this moment, community pharmacies can manage ongoing oral contraception for women. We will expand this service from late 2023 to enable pharmacies to also initiate oral contraception, dependent on findings from pilots currently underway.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure access to Independent Mental Health Advocates for all children in detention.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Patients detained under the Mental Health Act, including children and young people, are eligible for Independent Mental Health Advocates (IMHAs) who provide information about patient rights and how these can be exercised.
The reforms set out in the draft Mental Health Bill published in June 2022 are expanding the right to an IMHA to all mental health inpatients, including voluntary patients, of which children and young people make up a significant proportion.
These proposals include introducing an opt out advocacy model in which all qualifying children and young people will be referred automatically to an IMHA provider. Under this system, every child will receive an IMHA unless they decline this at a time in which they have been deemed competent to make that decision.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to commission NHS services to help people with (a) hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and (b) hypermobility spectrum disorders receive a multidisciplinary, coordinated approach to care.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
One of the four priorities of the UK Rare Diseases Framework is better coordination of care for rare diseases, such as hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and hypermobility spectrum disorders, with rare disease action plans ensuring delivery. Significant steps were taken during 2022 to deliver on the commitments made in England’s first Rare Diseases Action Plan. This includes the creation and rollout of a toolkit for virtual healthcare consultations to help people with complex, multi-system rare diseases access multiple specialists without needing to travel.
In England’s 2023 Action Plan, NHS England will be taking forward work to improve the way in which services for rare diseases are commissioned, placing patient voice at the centre of service delivery, and ensuring coordinated access to specialist care, treatment, drugs, social care, mental health and special educational support.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to introduce monitoring of postnatal depression for fathers during routine NHS health visits.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Supporting infant and family mental health, including for fathers, is already a core element of routine health visits.
In addition to this, the Government is investing approximately £100 million to support perinatal mental health and parent-infant relationships. This will promote positive early relationships and provide mental health support for families in 75 local authorities in England as part of the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme. This includes providing perinatal mental health support for fathers and co-parents, including those suffering from postnatal depression.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support fathers suffering from postnatal depression.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Supporting infant and family mental health, including for fathers, is already a core element of routine health visits.
In addition to this, the Government is investing approximately £100 million to support perinatal mental health and parent-infant relationships. This will promote positive early relationships and provide mental health support for families in 75 local authorities in England as part of the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme. This includes providing perinatal mental health support for fathers and co-parents, including those suffering from postnatal depression.