Asked by: Gillian Keegan (Conservative - Chichester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the level of misdiagnosis by NHS employees and locums in hospital pathology departments.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
We do not routinely collect this information and we have not made an estimate.
Whilst the vast majority of patients receive safe and effective care, any incident of misdiagnosis can have a significant impact on patients and their families, which is why have we are committed to a systematic approach of understanding and learning from avoidable causes of patient harm. Since 2016, the National Health Service has been creating 29 national pathology networks that bring together clinical expertise in regional hubs. This will deliver the highest-quality service for patients and allow the use of cutting-edge technology to increase the speed and accuracy of diagnostics.
Asked by: Gillian Keegan (Conservative - Chichester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what engagement his Department has had with the eating disorder charity Beats.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
I last met Beat on 7 November 2017.
The Department met Beat early last year to discuss the work they are doing and their ongoing campaigns. The Department recognises the importance of the work they do in terms of raising awareness of eating disorders.
Asked by: Gillian Keegan (Conservative - Chichester)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the difference in (a) treatments available and (b) waiting times between adult and children's services for patients with eating disorders.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
Recommended treatments for eating disorders are set out in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline, ‘Eating disorders: recognition and treatment’. The guideline makes it clear where there are particular treatments or considerations for children and young people. It is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/NG69
To find out more about the treatment available for children and young people, Health Education England has commissioned NHS Benchmarking to collect data on the provision, workforce capacity and skills, and activity of services delivering mental health care. This collection will provide information on the treatments delivered, including by community eating disorder services.
Data on waiting times from referral to starting treatment for children and young people with an eating disorder are published every quarter at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cyped-waiting-times/
Data from the last quarter (October-December 2018) shows that 80.7% of urgent cases start treatment within one week and 86.8% of non-urgent cases starts treatment within four weeks.
Asked by: Gillian Keegan (Conservative - Chichester)
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 support young people with eating disorders transferring from children's to adult care services.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The Eating Disorder pathway (published 2015) provides guidance on supporting transitions between services. Best practice is also outlined in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) clinical guideline for recognition and treatment of eating disorders (2017) and NICE Quality Standards for Eating Disorders (2018).
The NHS Long Term Plan sets out ambitions and additional investment to provide a comprehensive offer for 0 to 25 year olds and improve the community offer for adults with mental health problems, which includes dedicated services for eating disorders. The ambitions aim to improve integration between children and young people’s and adult mental health services to meet the needs of young adults, including those with an eating disorder, and ensure people experience a seamless and continuous treatment pathway.
Asked by: Gillian Keegan (Conservative - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of adding football to the PE curriculum for girls.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The national curriculum for PE is designed to ensure that all pupils develop competence to excel in a broad range of physical activities, are physically active for sustained periods of time and lead healthy and active lives. The requirements do not differentiate in relation to gender.
Schools are free to organise and deliver a diverse and challenging PE curriculum that suits the needs of all of their pupils. In doing so, they must have regard to their duties under the Equality Act (2010). The government guidance on the Equality Act makes it clear that, while an exception in the act allows for the provision of single-sex sporting activities, the school would still have to allow girls equal opportunities to participate in comparable sporting activities.
Football is a popular sport in schools. Data from the Active Lives Children and Young People Survey 2017/18 reported that 31% of pupils – boys and girls - took part in football at least once a week at school.
Our cross-government school sport and activity action plan will consider ways to ensure that all children have access to quality, protected PE and sport sessions during the school week and opportunities to be physically active throughout the school day. It will be published in spring 2019.
Asked by: Gillian Keegan (Conservative - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to improve quality and choice in higher education.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The department has established a new regulator, the Office for Students (OfS), and has given it the legislative powers and a clear remit to create the conditions in which the interests of students are consistently prioritised, and in which a diversity of high quality institutions can thrive. The OfS holds providers to account for delivering well-designed courses that offer successful outcomes for all of their students.
The department is taking a number of steps to enhance the information, advice and guidance available to anyone considering higher education. In particular:
Asked by: Gillian Keegan (Conservative - Chichester)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to tackle domestic abuse.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
On 21 January we published a landmark draft Domestic Abuse Bill, containing a ground-breaking series of measures to promote awareness, support victims, tackle perpetrators and improve services.
We have also published a package of non-legislative actions that will see further support for children, the elderly, disabled, male and migrant victims and those in the LGBTQ community.
We have already committed over £100million to tackle violence against women and girls, including £20m for victims of domestic abuse and £40 million for safe accommodation services.
Asked by: Gillian Keegan (Conservative - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timetable is for the publication of the Government response to the consultation on the application of EU Regulation 1071/2009 and proposed exemptions for community transport providers operating for non-commercial purposes.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
Almost 500 consultation responses were received about how EU Regulation 1071/2009 applies to Transport Act 1985 permits, and over 550 community transport operators, local authorities and passengers attended the consultation events across Great Britain.
The Department is still working to address all the legal and other issues raised by the Regulation and we intend to announce the Government’s response shortly.
Asked by: Gillian Keegan (Conservative - Chichester)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that steel plating made before the nuclear testing era and taken from maritime war graves does not enter the supply chain for scientific and medical equipment.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
UK Government officials continue to work closely with regional authorities to protect the wrecks of Royal Navy vessels, share information and support each other's interests where possible to protect these sites and to ensure the last resting places of our people are adequately protected. Where we have evidence of desecration of the wrecks of Royal Navy vessels, we will take appropriate action.
Asked by: Gillian Keegan (Conservative - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the merits of not requiring people with degenerative conditions who were in receipt of employment and support allowance before September 2017 to attend a further face-to-face work capability assessment.
Answered by Sarah Newton
From the 29 September 2017 those placed in Employment and Support Allowance’s (ESA) Support Group and the Universal Credit (UC) equivalent who have the most severe and lifelong health conditions or disabilities will no longer be routinely reassessed.
For those claiming ESA prior to 29 September 2017, the Severe Conditions criteria will be taken into consideration at their next Work Capability Assessment. People will be asked to complete a health questionnaire, and where appropriate we will ask their General Practitioner or Specialist healthcare professional for further supporting evidence. In the vast majority of cases where the Severe Conditions criteria would apply, we would expect to be able to make a decision without the need for a face-to-face assessment.