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 safety checks his Department is recommending that the NHS carry out in Barnet on reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.
Answered by Will Quince
NHS England has provided guidance for trusts nationally on how to establish the presence of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) in their estate. There is ongoing engagement with trusts on a national and regional level to ensure RAAC is identified across the National Health Service estate. Where structural surveys identify RAAC in their estate, trusts are inducted into the national remediation programme.
The NHS already has a comprehensive mitigation plan in place for hospital buildings with RAAC, including significant additional funding totalling £698 million from 2021 to 2025 for trusts to put in place necessary remediation and failsafe measures, such as propping, as well as to eradicate RAAC in non-whole hospital sites.
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 the number of face-to-face GP has returned to pre-covid-19 levels.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
From January to July 2023 69.5% of general practice appointments were face-to-face. For the same period in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 79.3% of general practice appointments were face-to-face. The proportion of face-to-face appointments was lowest in April 2020, at 46.7%.
A combination of face-to-face and remote appointments provides a choice of access routes for patients and additional flexibility and convenience. We expect patients to experience the same high quality of care regardless of how they access their general practice, and patients unable to access remote appointments should be offered an alternative appointment type.
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 proportion of GP appointments were carried out face-to-face in 2023.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
From January to July 2023 69.5% of general practice appointments were face-to-face. For the same period in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 79.3% of general practice appointments were face-to-face. The proportion of face-to-face appointments was lowest in April 2020, at 46.7%.
A combination of face-to-face and remote appointments provides a choice of access routes for patients and additional flexibility and convenience. We expect patients to experience the same high quality of care regardless of how they access their general practice, and patients unable to access remote appointments should be offered an alternative appointment type.
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 he Department is taking to improve the performance of the NHS in supporting women who experience birth trauma.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The NHS Long Term Plan includes a commitment that 66,000 women to access specialist perinatal mental health services by 2023/24. An estimated 52,000 accessed support in the 12 months to March 2023, over 60% higher than March 2021.
Alongside the expansion of specialist community perinatal mental health services, new services (called Maternal Mental Health Services) which combine maternity, reproductive health and psychological therapy are being established for women who experience moderate to severe or complex mental health difficulties arising from, or related to, their maternity experience. This may include those who experience post-traumatic stress disorder following birth trauma, perinatal loss or severe fear of childbirth (tokophobia).
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 include birth trauma in the Women's Health Strategy in the future.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Women’s Health Strategy sets out our plans for boosting the health and wellbeing of women and girls, and for improving how the health and care system listens to women. Fertility, pregnancy, pregnancy loss and postnatal support, and mental health and wellbeing, are both priority areas in the strategy.
As set out in the strategy, NHS England is improving perinatal mental health support. Mental health services around England are being expanded to include new mental health “hubs” for new, expectant or bereaved mothers. The 33 new maternal mental health services will provide psychological therapy, maternity services and reproductive health for women with mental health needs following trauma or loss related to their maternity experience. These will be available across England by March 2024.
In addition, specialist Community Perinatal Mental Health Services care will be available from preconception to 24 months after birth by 2023/24, with increased access to evidence-based psychological therapies.
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 planned timescale is for making a decision on whether to continue the NHS England Children's Hospice grant after the 2023-24 financial year.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative and end of life care is commissioned locally by integrated care boards in response to the needs of their local population.
NHS England and the Government are committed to the long-term sustainability of high-quality palliative and end of life care for all children and young people. Internal discussions regarding the future of the Children’s Hospice Grant beyond 2023/24 are ongoing, and NHS England is aiming to communicate details in the coming weeks, as soon as is practically possible.
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 make it his policy to continue the NHS England Children's Hospice grant beyond the 2023-24 financial year.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative and end of life care is commissioned locally by integrated care boards in response to the needs of their local population.
NHS England and the Government are committed to the long-term sustainability of high-quality palliative and end of life care for all children and young people. Internal discussions regarding the future of the Children’s Hospice Grant beyond 2023/24 are ongoing, and NHS England is aiming to communicate details in the coming weeks, as soon as is practically possible.
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 provide funding for the London Air Ambulance to purchase two new helicopters.
Answered by Will Quince
Air ambulances are not directly funded by the National Health Service. However, the Government has provided significant and sustained support to the sector. In 2019, the Department launched a three year capital grant programme which allocated £10 million to nine air ambulance charities across England, of which London’s Air Ambulance Charity and Barts Health NHS Trust received £1,393,552.
In addition, the Department provided £6 million of COVID-19 emergency funding to all 21 air ambulance charities across the United Kingdom, to ensure that each charity could continue to provide their life-saving services during the pandemic. London’s Air Ambulance Charity received £252,500 of this funding.
There are no current plans to provide further funding to the sector which operates through a longstanding and successful charitable model.
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, when he plans to respond to the correspondence from the Rt hon. Member for Chipping Barnet of 22 August, 7 October and 22 October 2022 on a request for a meeting to discuss the establishment of a dedicated three-digit mental health emergency hotline.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
I have received the correspondence from the Rt. hon. Member and will be in contact to arrange a meeting with the Rt. hon. Member as well as her constituents and representatives from the Calzy Foundation.
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 make it his policy to reduce waiting times for (a) tests and (b) treatment for functional neurological disorder.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
To increase capacity and reduce treatment backlogs in England across specialisms including for functional neurological disorder (FND), the Government plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help drive up and protect elective activity.
This is supported further by £5.9 billion investment in capital for new beds, equipment and technology and the National Health Service rollout of surgical hubs and up to 160 Community Diagnostic Centres to deliver up to 17 million tests by March 2025.
Furthermore, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has guidance in place to support clinicians to quickly diagnose and refer those with FND which is available at the following link:
www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng127