Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Our plan for patients, published on 22 September 2022, what progress his Department has made on increasing patient access to NHS dentistry services.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
In November 2022, many of the dental system reforms announced in July 2022 and reiterated in ‘Our plan for patients’ came into force. These included splitting Band 2 payments to ensure dentists were more fairly remunerated for more complex dental treatment and allowing dentists to deliver up to 110% of their contracted dental activity to further improve access.
NHS England also reissued guidance on using dental care practitioners to the full extent of their professional skills and reiterated the guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence that adults with good oral health do not need to see a dentist more often than every two years and a child every one year. There is also now a contractual requirement for all practices to keep their availability and whether or not they are accepting new National Health Service patients up to date on the NHS website which will help patients in accessing care. However, we know we need to do more and that is why we are working on additional reforms which we plan to announce shortly.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on encouraging schools to appoint mental health leads.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
There are 399 operational Mental Health Support Teams now in place, supporting over 3 million children and young people. That means we have already achieved our 35% coverage target, 8 months ahead of schedule.
I am planning to deliver an additional 101 teams by spring 2024 taking us to 500. The NIHR – who undertook a review of the programme – found that 77% of children and young people surveyed saw positive improvements in their mental health and wellbeing. We have also set an ambition for all state schools and colleges to train a senior mental health lead by 2025-26 in 10 state-funded secondary schools in England now have a dedicated mental health lead.
I am thankful to the support of the Department for Education in supporting this rollout.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he (a) has had and (b) plans to have discussions with NHS England on ensuring the (i) adequacy and (ii) consistency of treatment pathways for children living with (A) PANS and (B) PANDAS; and what steps he is taking to ensure that children living with (1) PANS and (2) PANDAS and their parents receive adequate (x) information and (y) support to take informed decisions on care pathway options.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No such discussions with NHS England have taken place or are planned at present. Should the evidence base develop further, clinical policy may be updated by relevant organisations such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. NHS England would then consider the development of care pathways for those living with PANS and PANDAS. In the meantime, integrated care systems are responsible for planning care for their populations.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on determining the allocated capital to the eight hospitals in cohort three of the New Hospitals Programme; and when an announcement on the outcome of that determination will be made.
Answered by Will Quince
The New Hospital Programme was allocated £3.7 billion for the first four years of the programme in 2020. With any multi-year investment, further funding will be set out at future Spending Reviews. Individual funding allocations for schemes are only confirmed once the respective Full Business Cases have been reviewed and agreed, including by HM Treasury.
We are working closely with all schemes in the programme, including the cohort three schemes on progressing their new hospital aligned with the national programme approach. The national approach will enable cost and time savings and transform the way we deliver healthcare infrastructure for the National Health Service through standardised and repeatable hospital designs and modern methods of construction to ensure value for money.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
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 adequacy of access to genetic testing for Familial Hypercholesterolaemia in (a) the UK and (b) Leicestershire.
Answered by Will Quince
The NHS Genomic Medicine Service was launched in 2018 to provide consistent and genomically informed care and treatment for patients in the National Health Service in England. This is delivered via seven NHS Genomic Laboratory Hubs (GLHs), covering the entire geography of England, who operate as part of a national network to deliver the genomic testing as outlined in the National Genomic Test Directory. The East Genomic Laboratory Hub provides and coordinates a wide range of genomic tests for the Leicestershire area. Genomic testing for Familial Hypercholesterolaemia is currently offered through the Test Directory, the testing code for this clinical indication is labelled as R134.
NHS England has data collection and monitoring systems in place across all seven NHS GLHs to support service improvements and meet with each region on a quarterly basis to monitor performance.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
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 potential merits of introducing a national strategy on Familial Hypercholesterolaemia.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Department and NHS England have not made an assessment on the potential merits of introducing a national strategy on Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (FH).
In April 2020, following a review of the evidence, the UK National Screening Committee concluded a national screening programme for FH was not recommended.
The NHS Long Term Plan has committed to expanding access to genetic testing for FH, with the ambition to improve diagnosis to at least 25% by March 2024 through the NHS Genomics Programme. The NHS Health Check, England’s cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention programme, aims to prevent CVD among healthy adults aged 40-74 years old through earlier awareness and management of six of the top risk factors for CVD, with cholesterol among the assessed risk factors.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the contribution of GPs to the delivery of primary care.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We are hugely grateful to GPs and their teams for the role they play in delivery services to their communities. In November 2022, there were 31.3 million general practice appointments, excluding Covid-19 vaccinations, 14.4 million of which were delivered by general practitioners.
General practice teams include a range of other health professionals who are able to respond to the needs of their patients, and we are on track to recruit an additional 26,000 primary care staff.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Health and Social Care Committee’s report entitled The impact of body image on mental and physical health, published on 2 Aug 2022, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of that report's recommendations on (a) commissioning a review and (b) awareness campaign on safe anabolic steroid use.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No assessment has been made. The recommendation in question is a matter for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The full Government response to the Health and Social Care Committee’s report will be published in early 2023.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has taken recent steps to expand the range of services available from community pharmacies in (a) England, (b) Leicestershire and (c) Bosworth constituency.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework 2019-24 (CPCF) five-year deal commits £2.592 billion each year to the sector. The deal sets out the vision for how community pharmacy will support the NHS Long Term Plan by being better integrated into the National Health Service, delivering more clinical services and becoming the first port of call for minor illness. A range of clinical services have been introduced under the deal including blood pressure checks and minor illness referrals from general practitioners and NHS 111 which can be delivered by all community pharmacies in England, Leicestershire and Bosworth.
In September 2022, we announced a £100 million investment into pharmacy for the remainder of the five-year deal. The agreement also includes new and expanded services in community pharmacy. We will enable community pharmacists across England to manage and initiate contraception and provide extra support for patients newly prescribed anti-depressants. Urgent and emergency care settings will be able to refer patients to a community pharmacist for a minor illness consultation or for an urgent medicine supply.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on the integration of community pharmacies into the NHS in (a) Bosworth constituency, (b) Leicestershire and (c) England.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework 2019-24 (CPCF) five-year deal commits £2.592 billion each year to the sector. The deal sets out the vision for how community pharmacy will support the NHS Long Term Plan by being better integrated into the National Health Service, delivering more clinical services and becoming the first port of call for minor illness. A range of clinical services have been introduced under the deal including blood pressure checks and minor illness referrals from general practitioners and NHS 111 which can be delivered by all community pharmacies in England, Leicestershire and Bosworth.
In September 2022, we announced a £100 million investment into pharmacy for the remainder of the five-year deal. The agreement also includes new and expanded services in community pharmacy. We will enable community pharmacists across England to manage and initiate contraception and provide extra support for patients newly prescribed anti-depressants. Urgent and emergency care settings will be able to refer patients to a community pharmacist for a minor illness consultation or for an urgent medicine supply.