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Written Question
Alzheimer's Disease: Screening
Thursday 7th March 2024

Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department is taking steps to expand testing for Alzheimer's to enable people to benefit at an early stage from new treatments (a) lecanemab and (b) other new treatments.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England is committed to improving diagnosis rates, and recovering to the national ambition for two thirds of people with dementia to have a formal diagnosis. This commitment is included in the operational planning guidance for 2023/24, giving clear direction for integrated care boards to prioritise dementia. The national ambition includes provision for a sub-type diagnosis.

NHS England has established a dedicated national programme team which co-ordinates the preparations for the potential roll out of new treatments, for use in the earlier stages of Alzheimer’s disease. These plans assume that, if these new treatments are approved by the regulators, significant additional diagnostic capacity including amyloid positron emission tomography and computed tomography (PET-CT) lumbar puncture and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), will be needed both to identify patients who are most able to benefit, and to provide important safety monitoring for potential adverse effects during treatment.

The team at NHS England is taking concrete steps to ramp up preparations across the country and assess the additional scanning, treating, and monitoring capacity that will be needed. This encompasses securing additional diagnostic capacity including MRI, lumbar puncture, and PET-CT.


Written Question
Dementia: Training
Wednesday 21st February 2024

Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with NHS England about improving training for NHS workers on caring for people with dementia.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We want all relevant staff to have received appropriate training to provide high quality care to people with dementia, whether in hospital or in the community.

Individual employers are responsible for ensuring their staff are trained and competent to carry out their role, and for investing in the future of their staff through providing continuing professional development (CPD) funding.

To supplement local employer investment for CPD, the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published on 30 June 2023, sets out NHS England’s commitment to continue national CPD funding for nurses and allied health professionals.

There are a variety of resources available on the NHS England E-learning for Health platform, including a programme on dementia care, designed to enhance the training and education of the health and social care workforce.


Written Question
Maternity Services: Ethnic Groups
Tuesday 13th February 2024

Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to measure progress made by initiatives to tackle health inequalities in maternity care in the black and Asian community.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

NHS England’s three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services outlines an ambition to reduce inequalities for all in access, experience, and outcomes, and provide targeted support where health inequalities exist. As part of this plan, NHS England will utilise several metrics to track the impact on maternity and neonatal outcomes based on ethnicity, to measure progress towards improving equity for mothers and babies. These metrics are of sufficient sensitivity and statistical power to track changes in clinical outcomes for the groups most at risk of adverse outcomes.

Ethnic coding data completeness has improved year on year since 2019, helping to better understand health outcomes for different ethnic groups. NHS Resolution’s Maternity Incentive Scheme safety action two also sets a data quality standard to improve ethnic coding data completeness.


Written Question
General Practitioners: Training
Monday 12th February 2024

Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to ensure that all general practice clinicians have access to training on the (a) risk factors and (b) symptoms of liver (i) disease and (ii) cancer.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

General practitioners (GP) are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge, including on liver disease and cancer, remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance, such as that produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, to ensure that they can continue to provide high quality care to all patients.

All doctors registered in the United Kingdom are expected to meet the professional standards set out in the General Medical Council’s (GMC’s) Good Medical Practice. In 2012 the GMC introduced revalidation which supports doctors in regularly reflecting on how they can develop or improve their practice, which gives patients confidence that doctors are up to date with their practice, and promotes improved quality of care by driving improvements in clinical governance. The training curricula for postgraduate trainee doctors is set by the Royal College of General Practitioners and must meet the standards set by the GMC.


Written Question
Maternity Services: Ethnic Groups
Monday 12th February 2024

Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had recent discussions with NHS England on improving awareness of inequalities in black and Asian maternal health outcomes amongst clinicians.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The Government is committed to tackling and reducing disparities in health outcomes. My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, has not had specific discussions with NHS England about improving clinician awareness. However, the Maternity Disparities Taskforce, of which I am a co-chair, was established in February 2022 to tackle disparities for mothers and babies and reduce maternal and neonatal deaths.

The taskforce brings together experts from across the health system, governmental departments, and the voluntary sector to explore and consider evidence-based interventions to tackle maternal disparities. One of the key priorities of the taskforce at present is focusing on improving access to effective pre-conception and maternity care for women from ethnic minorities, and those living in the most deprived areas.

NHS England has also published their Equity and Equality guidance for Local Maternity Systems, supported by a £6.8 million investment, which focuses on actions to reduce disparities for women and babies from ethnic minorities and those living in the most deprived areas.


Written Question
Maternity Services: Ethnic Groups
Thursday 8th February 2024

Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will provide additional funding for research into the development of effective interventions to help tackle disparities in maternal health outcomes for black and Asian women.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department funds research in maternal and neonatal health through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including disparities in maternal health outcomes for black and Asian women.

In January my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care announced the first ever NIHR Challenge, backed by £50 million, to task researchers and policymakers with finding new ways to tackle maternity disparities. We expect the funding call to launch in spring 2024.


Written Question
Mental Health Services: Chipping Barnet
Thursday 7th December 2023

Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to her Department's press release Earlier mental health support announced for thousands nationwide, published on 25 October 2023, how much of the £2.3 billion of additional funding for mental health services in England will be spent on mental health services for residents of Chipping Barnet constituency.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

It is for individual local commissioners to allocate funding to mental health services to meet the needs of their local populations and this information is not collected centrally or at constituency level. Integrated care boards are expected to continue to meet the Mental Health Investment Standard by increasing their investment in mental health services in line with their overall increase in funding for the year.


Written Question
IVF: Older People
Monday 13th November 2023

Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's policy is on remedies for women who (a) cannot receive and (b) have difficulty receiving NHS IVF treatment because they have reached the age threshold for such treatment during the time taken to get a referral to a fertility (i) specialist and (ii) clinic from their GP.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

Funding decisions for health services in England, including in vitro fertilisation (IVF), are made by integrated care boards (ICBs) and are based on the clinical needs of their local population.

We recognise that the impact of COVID-19 and industrial action has caused delays for some patients in receiving fertility treatment and we would expect ICBs to take this into account in assessing age-related entitlement to treatment.


Written Question
IVF: Older People
Monday 13th November 2023

Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to help women over 40 access IVF treatment.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

Funding decisions for health services in England, including in vitro fertilisation (IVF), are made by integrated care boards (ICBs) and are based on the clinical needs of their local population.

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines for fertility provide the best practice for treatment for National Health Service patients and ICBs should have regard for their recommendations. The guidelines include a recommendation to offer one cycle of IVF for women between the ages of 40 and 42.


Written Question
Ferric Maltol: Chipping Barnet
Thursday 9th November 2023

Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that Ferric Maltol is available on prescription to people in Chipping Barnet constituency.

Answered by Will Quince

Clinicians can prescribe any product on the National Health Service they consider necessary for the treatment of their patient unless it is listed in Schedules 1 or 2 to the NHS (General Medical Services Contracts) (Prescription of Drugs etc.) Regulations 2004. Ferric Maltol is not listed in Schedules 1 or 2; however, NHS guidance is that vitamins and minerals should not be routinely prescribed except for when a patient has a medically diagnosed deficiency. This includes those patients who may have a lifelong or chronic condition or have undergone surgery that results in malabsorption. Ferric Maltol, which may be used to treat iron deficiency, may therefore be prescribed to patients, including those in Chipping Barnet constituency, on that basis.

It is for the general practitioner or other responsible clinician to work with their patient and decide on the course of treatment, with the provision of the most clinically appropriate care for the individual always being the primary consideration. Clinicians are responsible for making prescribing decisions for their patients, considering best prescribing practice and the local commissioning decisions of their respective integrated care board.