Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress the Government has made in response to the review of the Challenge on Dementia.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
In 2018 we undertook a review of the progress made in implementing the Challenge on Dementia 2020. This was informed by a call for evidence. Respondents told us that we were largely on track to meet our commitments. In a small number of areas additional or refined actions were identified to help ensure that commitments could be met. The report of the review was published on 22 February 2019 and is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dementia-2020-challenge-progress-review
Implementation of the Challenge on Dementia 2020 actions is overseen by the Department‘s Dementia Programme Board which brings together all Delivery Partners and is chaired by myself.
We continue to make significant progress in meeting the commitments made in the Challenge.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding from the public purse was allocated by local authorities for adult social care in each year since 2009-10, by local authority.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The amount of expenditure for adult social care by local authority is not available in the format requested. Funding for adult social care comes from several sources, including central Government grants, council tax revenue, business rates, and National Health Service funding through the Better Care Fund. Local authorities are responsible for setting their own overall budgets for adult social care.
The attached table from the NHS Digital Activity and Finance Report 2018-19 provides an overview of expenditure in England on adult social care including a number of sources of funding. However, these are not available at the local authority level.
A local authority level timeseries breakdown is not compiled centrally. However, raw data for local authority level breakdowns of expenditure is available on the NHS Digital website in their social care collections. Not all sources of funding are available at local authority level, such as the Better Care Fund. Links to the reports are below and include 2009-10 to 2018-19.
2016/17 to 2018/19
Before 2016/17
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many prescriptions were issued for tranquillisers in each year from 2015 to date, which exceeded the Committee on Safety of Medicines two to four week guidelines issued in 1988.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not hold the information requested as the NHS Business Services Authority does not capture the duration for which a prescription is intended to be used.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
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 on the prescription of benzodiazepines and z drugs by doctors beyond the two to four week guidelines issued by the Committee on Safety in Medicines in 1988.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In September 2019 Public Health England published an evidence review of medicines associated with dependence or withdrawal, including benzodiazepines and z drugs. The report is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prescribed-medicines-review-report
Alongside ongoing improvements to medicines safety and the use of prescribed drugs, NHS England is reviewing the recommendations from this review and other evidence to develop a set of actions to reduce and treat prescription medicine dependency.
A national review of overprescribing in the National Health Service is being led by Chief Pharmaceutical Officer Dr Keith Ridge and will be published in 2020. This will focus on people who take multiple medicines to ensure patients are receiving the most appropriate treatment for their needs. The review will consider how to improve management of non-reviewed repeat prescriptions including prescriptions beyond guidelines, and the role of digital technologies in reducing overprescribing.
The Government is committed to growing the workforce by 6,000 more doctors in general practice and 6,000 more primary care professionals, including pharmacists. This is on top of the additional 20,000 primary care professionals NHS England are providing funding towards recruiting. Community pharmacists have a key role in monitoring the care and treatment of patients, and would be in a position to review a patient’s medication usage and prescriptions.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the 2020 cross-government addiction strategy will include proposals on treatment for people who have become dependent on drugs prescribed by their doctor.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In September 2019 Public Health England published an evidence review of medicines associated with dependence or withdrawal, including benzodiazepines and z drugs. The report is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prescribed-medicines-review-report
Alongside ongoing improvements to medicines safety and the use of prescribed drugs, NHS England is reviewing the recommendations from this review and other evidence to develop a set of actions to reduce and treat prescription medicine dependency.
A national review of overprescribing in the National Health Service is being led by Chief Pharmaceutical Officer Dr Keith Ridge and will be published in 2020. This will focus on people who take multiple medicines to ensure patients are receiving the most appropriate treatment for their needs. The review will consider how to improve management of non-reviewed repeat prescriptions including prescriptions beyond guidelines, and the role of digital technologies in reducing overprescribing.
The Government is committed to growing the workforce by 6,000 more doctors in general practice and 6,000 more primary care professionals, including pharmacists. This is on top of the additional 20,000 primary care professionals NHS England are providing funding towards recruiting. Community pharmacists have a key role in monitoring the care and treatment of patients, and would be in a position to review a patient’s medication usage and prescriptions.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
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 specialist withdrawal services are available to support patients dependent on prescribed benzodiazepine and z drug tranquillisers.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In September 2019 Public Health England published an evidence review of medicines associated with dependence or withdrawal, including benzodiazepines and z drugs. The report is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prescribed-medicines-review-report
Alongside ongoing improvements to medicines safety and the use of prescribed drugs, NHS England is reviewing the recommendations from this review and other evidence to develop a set of actions to reduce and treat prescription medicine dependency.
A national review of overprescribing in the National Health Service is being led by Chief Pharmaceutical Officer Dr Keith Ridge and will be published in 2020. This will focus on people who take multiple medicines to ensure patients are receiving the most appropriate treatment for their needs. The review will consider how to improve management of non-reviewed repeat prescriptions including prescriptions beyond guidelines, and the role of digital technologies in reducing overprescribing.
The Government is committed to growing the workforce by 6,000 more doctors in general practice and 6,000 more primary care professionals, including pharmacists. This is on top of the additional 20,000 primary care professionals NHS England are providing funding towards recruiting. Community pharmacists have a key role in monitoring the care and treatment of patients, and would be in a position to review a patient’s medication usage and prescriptions.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust on the potential effect on NHS staffing levels of the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The Department, alongside NHS England and NHS Improvement, is ensuring that there is regular communication with frontline National Health Service organisations regarding European Union exit preparations.
We have published EU exit operational readiness guidance for the health and care system in England outlining actions that providers and commissioners of health and social care services should take to prepare for, and manage, the risks of the United Kingdom leaving the EU. We do not currently expect the manner by which the UK leaves the EU to have a significant impact on NHS staffing levels on or around exit day.
We are, however, not complacent and have plans in place to ensure there will continue to be sufficient staff to deliver the high-quality services on which the public relies. Our overall programme of work is comprehensive, thorough and continuously updated and will stand irrespective of the terms in which the UK leaves the EU. We continue to monitor and analyse overall staffing levels in the NHS and social care sector and we have been monitoring leaver and joiner rates of EU staff on a regular basis since the 2016 referendum. In addition, individual organisations can escalate concerns through existing reporting mechanisms to ensure there is regional and national oversight.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with Oldham Council on the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement on the availability of medicines.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
As part of a responsible Government, the Department is doing everything appropriate to prepare for European Union exit. We want to reassure patients that our plans should ensure the supply of medicines and medical products when we leave the EU on 31 October.
The Department, alongside NHS England and NHS Improvement, are ensuring that there is regular communication with frontline National Health Service organisations and stakeholders in the health and social care sector regarding EU Exit preparations. NHS England and NHS Improvement will be holding EU Exit roadshows in the lead up to 31 October, building on the regular communication that the Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement has with the frontline.
On 26 June, we wrote to suppliers of medicines to the UK from or via the EU or European Economic Area setting out our continuing multi-layered approach to support continuity of supply of medicines and medical products from 31 October.
Further details can be found at the following link:
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with (a) Oldham Council and (b) Oldham Clinical Commissioning Group on the potential effect on staffing levels in care homes of the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Department is working closely with local government, other Government departments, and with national partners including the Local Government Association and Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, to do everything appropriate to prepare for a ‘no deal’ exit on 31 October 2019. This will ensure that the potential impacts of exiting the European Union on vulnerable people using adult social care services are mitigated as far as possible.
The Department continues to monitor and analyse overall staffing levels in the social care sector and we have been monitoring leaver and joiner rates of EU staff on a regular basis since the 2016 referendum. We are not complacent and have plans in place to ensure there will continue to be sufficient staff to deliver the high-quality services on which the public relies. Our overall programme of work is comprehensive, thorough and continuously updated and will stand irrespective of the terms in which the United Kingdom leaves the EU.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the finding in the Royal College of Psychiatrists fourth annual National Audit of Dementia Care in General Hospitals 2018-19 that 40 per cent of patients with dementia are not being given an initial assessment for delirium, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all patients with delirium are given an initial delirium assessment as set out in NICE guidelines.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) clinical guidelines provide recommendations for the care of individuals in specific clinical conditions or circumstances within the National Health Service. NICE’s clinical guidelines help healthcare professionals deliver the best possible care based on the best available evidence. The guidelines are not mandatory, although health and care commissioners are expected to take them fully into account.
One of the key priorities of NHS England’s Long Term Plan is to reduce avoidable admissions to hospital and to ensure that, when admission is needed, people with dementia and delirium experience the best possible care.
We are committed to further expanding the provision of liaison mental health services so that no acute hospital is without an all-age mental health liaison service in accident and emergency (A&E) departments and inpatient wards by 2020/21. The establishment of acute frailty services in all hospitals with a major A&E department by the end of 2019 will ensure that patients can be assessed, treated and supported by skilled multidisciplinary teams delivering a geriatric assessment within the first hour of arrival. These services will support better identification and treatment of dementia and delirium in hospitals.