Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
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 provide additional mental health support for people affected by rises in the cost of living.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We remain committed to the aims of the NHS Long Term Plan, investing at least £2.3 billion of extra funding a year in expanding and transforming mental health services in England by March 2024. This extra funding will enable an extra two million people, including those who are affected by rises in the cost of living, to be treated by mental health services in the National Health Service by March 2024.
We have also been working with Treasury and the Money and Pensions Service to promote the Mental Health Breathing Space scheme. The Breathing Space scheme has been set up to provide support to people who are in debt and receiving mental health crisis treatment to essentially give people a ‘pause’ in their debt repayments so they can focus on recovery.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many meetings (a) he and (b) Ministers from his Department have held with members of senior and executive leadership at Penn Hospital since January 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and other Departmental Ministers regularly engage with external organisations, including National Health Service mental health trusts, on a range of issues relating to health and social care. These are routinely published on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
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 adequacy of staffing levels at Penn Hospital.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department has not made any such assessments as these are matters for the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The CQC recently inspected Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in February 2023. The CQC looked at acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units core services at five sites, including wards at Penn Hospital.
The CQC rated wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units as ‘Requires Improvement’ overall and in all domains except ‘Caring’, which was rated ‘Good’.
The CQC identified five breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. The CQC served requirement notices for the breaches and the Trust has subsequently devised an action plan to address the CQC’s concerns. The CQC monitors this regularly, including via monthly meetings with Trust leaders.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
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 adequacy of patient safety at Penn Hospital.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department has not made any such assessments as these are matters for the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The CQC recently inspected Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in February 2023. The CQC looked at acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units core services at five sites, including wards at Penn Hospital.
The CQC rated wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units as ‘Requires Improvement’ overall and in all domains except ‘Caring’, which was rated ‘Good’.
The CQC identified five breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. The CQC served requirement notices for the breaches and the Trust has subsequently devised an action plan to address the CQC’s concerns. The CQC monitors this regularly, including via monthly meetings with Trust leaders.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
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 quality of patient care at Penn Hospital.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department has not made any such assessments as these are matters for the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The CQC recently inspected Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in February 2023. The CQC looked at acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units core services at five sites, including wards at Penn Hospital.
The CQC rated wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units as ‘Requires Improvement’ overall and in all domains except ‘Caring’, which was rated ‘Good’.
The CQC identified five breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. The CQC served requirement notices for the breaches and the Trust has subsequently devised an action plan to address the CQC’s concerns. The CQC monitors this regularly, including via monthly meetings with Trust leaders.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
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 reduce the number of (a) children and (b) young adults placed on adult psychiatric wards.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We recognise that for some young people, admission to hospital will not be the most appropriate way to meet their needs. The overall strategy is therefore to reduce reliance on inpatient mental health beds for children and young people with a severe mental illness.
The model of provision of National Health Service-funded inpatient treatment for children and young people is being reviewed and re-designed to support the move to a community-based provision, where children and young people are able to access appropriate support in a timely, effective and patient-centred way, close to home and in the least restrictive environment.
This transition is being supported by the introduction of provider collaboratives to support place-based commissioning and to develop local services that meet the needs of their communities. Options may include increased day provision and the new model will see a change to how inpatient environments are best utilised.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many assaults against LGBTQ+ staff members in social care settings there were in the last 12 months.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold data on assaults against staff members in social care settings and does not hold data on the number of people who work in adult social care who identify as LGBT.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number of assaults against LGBTQ+ staff members in primary care settings in the last 12 months.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The data requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department has spent on research into LGBTQ+ mental health in the last 12 months.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). In 2021/22, NIHR spent approximately £120 million on mental health research, reflecting a significant year-on-year increase in investment.
The NIHR is currently supporting 11 research studies into LGBT mental health with an approximate total award value of £9.6 million.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding has been allocated for LGBTQ+ appropriate mental health treatment for financial years (a) 2023-24, (b) 2024-25 and (c) 2025-26.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision of mental health services and thus for allocating funding for services tailored to their local populations. This means that the provision of LGBTQ+ appropriate mental health treatment should be commissioned at ICB level.
At a national level, we are expanding and transforming National Health Service mental health services in England, backed by additional funding of £2.3 billion a year by March 2024. This will allow an extra 2 million people, including LGBTQ+ individuals, to get the mental health support that they need.
Through its mental health equalities strategy, NHS England is working closely with patients, carers, health system leaders and other key stakeholders to bridge the gaps for groups, such as the LGBTQ+ community, faring worse than others in mental health services.