Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of January 5 2022 to Question 90361, on Mental Health Services: Nurses, what steps he is taking to encourage people to study and qualify as mental health nurses.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Baroness Watkins of Tavistock is working with Health Education England on the future of mental health nursing, identifying ways to encourage people to enter the profession. We have introduced grants of at least £5,000 per academic year for eligible pre-registration nursing, midwifery and most allied health professions students on courses at English universities from September 2020. We have also announced an additional £1,000 a year to prioritise groups with shortages, including new students on courses for mental health and learning disability nursing. We are also developing the role of existing mental health nurses, including outlining career pathways and associated training opportunities.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NHS England on the exemption of people in receipt of carer’s allowance from NHS prescription charges.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
There have been no specific discussions. Approximately 89% of prescriptions are dispensed free of charge and arrangements are already in place to help those with the greatest need. Eligibility depends on the patient’s age, whether they are in qualifying full-time education, whether they are pregnant or have recently given birth or whether they are in receipt of certain benefits or a war pension.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people with cystic fibrosis in England pay for their prescriptions.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The information requested is not held centrally. Approximately 89% of prescriptions are dispensed free of charge and extensive arrangements are already in place to help those with the greatest need. Some people with cystic fibrosis may meet the eligibility criteria for prescription charge exemptions and may therefore be in receipt of free prescriptions.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) discussions he has had with and (b) assessment he has made of representations received from campaigns, charities and other organisations representing children's interests on the potential merits of reforming the Mental Health Act 1983.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
As part of the public consultation on the proposed reforms to the Mental Health Act 1983, we received responses from service users, parents and carers and organisations. During the consultation, we engaged with the charities YoungMinds, British Institute of Learning Disabilities and Rethink Mental Illness. We continue to work with children’s organisations and young people in developing the draft Bill. We analysed the consultation responses and published a formal report on 15 July 2021. This will inform the development of the planned Mental Health Bill which will be brought forward when Parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has held with NHS England on the specialised recruitment of mental health nurses.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
There have been no specific discussions on the specialised recruitment of mental health nurses.
To recruit more mental health nurses, NHS England and NHS Improvement are supporting mental health trusts to develop specialised international recruitment infrastructure and teams. To date, 1,500 international nurses have been recruited to work in mental health settings, with 490 of these joining mental health trusts in the past twelve months.
The mental health workforce directly employed by the National Health Service has increased by 18,000 whole time equivalents between March 2016 and March 2021. Our aim is to increase the mental health workforce by an additional 27,000 healthcare professionals by 2023/24 to support the transformation of NHS mental health services and allow an additional 2 million people to access the mental health support they need.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) mental health nurses and (b) learning disability nurses are registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council; and how many of those nurses were newly registered in the years (i) 2018, (ii) 2019, (iii) 2020 and 2021.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The following table shows the number of mental health and learning disability nurses registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council in the 12 months to September of each year.
Year | Mental health nurses | Learning disability nurses |
September 2018 | 88,980 | 17,311 |
September 2019 | 89,831 | 17,383 |
September 2020 | 91,215 | 17,494 |
September 2021 | 92,107 | 17,288 |
Source: Nursing and Midwifery Council
Note:
These figures show the total number of registered mental health and learning disability nurses at the end of each year. This includes newly registered nurses in each field, those returning to practice less those who have left. It should also be noted that some professionals are registered in more than one field and therefore some of these nurses may also be registered adult or children’s nurses.
The following table shows the number of initial registrations in the field of practice of mental health and learning disabilities by the Nursing and Midwifery Council in the 12 months to September of each year.
Year | Mental health | Learning disabilities |
September 2018 | 3,396 | 627 |
September 2019 | 3,695 | 640 |
September 2020 | 3,827 | 670 |
September 2021 | 3,694 | 451 |
Total | 14,612 | 2,388 |
Source: Nursing and Midwifery Council
Notes:
The data on numbers of initial registrations in the requested fields of practice does not include those who add either field of practice as a subsequent registration. If they have initially registered in another field such as adult or children’s services, it will not be recorded in this data will not demonstrate this. However, the total numbers of people in all these fields are shown in the total column.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department is providing to people with myalgic encephomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome pending the publication of updated clinical guidelines for that condition.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and is responsible for developing its guidelines in line with its established methods and processes. NICE the Department regarding its publication of an updated guideline on chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME). NICE now plans to host a roundtable event in October to determine how it can gain support for the guideline to ensure effective implementation.
Services for CFS/ME are commissioned locally by clinical commissioning groups to plan the provision of services subject to local prioritisation and funding. NICE’s existing guideline on CFS/ME provides guidance on diagnosing and managing the condition. Health and care professionals should continue to take this into account until the updated guideline is published.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with NICE on the timeline for the publication of clinical guidelines on myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and is responsible for developing its guidelines in line with its established methods and processes. NICE the Department regarding its publication of an updated guideline on chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME). NICE now plans to host a roundtable event in October to determine how it can gain support for the guideline to ensure effective implementation.
Services for CFS/ME are commissioned locally by clinical commissioning groups to plan the provision of services subject to local prioritisation and funding. NICE’s existing guideline on CFS/ME provides guidance on diagnosing and managing the condition. Health and care professionals should continue to take this into account until the updated guideline is published.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the future funding of motor neurone disease (a) research and (b) treatment ahead of the 2021 Spending Review.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There have been no specific discussions. However, we are currently working on ways to significantly boost further research on dementia and neurodegeneration at all stages. The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including motor neurone disease (MND). Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.
NHS England and NHS Improvement commission the specialised care and treatment that patients with MND may receive from the specialised neurological treatment centres across England. Funding decisions for these are made in line with local priorities and in the context of the interim funding regime in place during the pandemic.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to increase funding for motor neurone disease research and treatment over the next five years.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). It is not usual practice to ring-fence funding for particular topics or conditions. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including motor neurone disease (MND). Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.
NHS England and NHS Improvement commission the specialised care and treatment which patients with MND may receive from the specialised neurological treatment centres across England. Funding decisions for these are made in line with local priorities and in the context of the interim funding regime in place during the pandemic.