Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
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 increase mental health services provision for (a) children under the age of 16 and (b) 16 to 18 year olds.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
No specific assessment has been made.
Through the NHS Long Term Plan we will invest at least an additional £2.3 billion a year into mental health services by 2023/24, which will see a further 345,000 children and young people a year able to access support through National Health Service-funded services including school and college-based mental health support teams by 2023/24. We have also announced an additional £79 million in this financial year to significantly accelerate the planned expansion of children and young people’s mental health services.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
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 level of demand for mental health services by (a) children under the age of 16 and (b) 16 to 18 year olds.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
No specific assessment has been made.
Through the NHS Long Term Plan we will invest at least an additional £2.3 billion a year into mental health services by 2023/24, which will see a further 345,000 children and young people a year able to access support through National Health Service-funded services including school and college-based mental health support teams by 2023/24. We have also announced an additional £79 million in this financial year to significantly accelerate the planned expansion of children and young people’s mental health services.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of Centene taking control of (a) Thamesmead Health Centre and (b) other GP practices in Greater London on the quality of care provided to patients in those areas.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made. It is for local commissioners to arrange the provision of appropriate services, by contracting with providers, in order to best serve the needs of their patient population.
Regardless of whether the contract holder is an individual, a partnership, or an organisation, all contract holders and providers of National Health Service core primary medical services are subject to the same requirements, regulation, and standards.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that Centene upholds NHS standards of healthcare in the GP practices it operates in England.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made. It is for local commissioners to arrange the provision of appropriate services, by contracting with providers, in order to best serve the needs of their patient population.
Regardless of whether the contract holder is an individual, a partnership, or an organisation, all contract holders and providers of National Health Service core primary medical services are subject to the same requirements, regulation, and standards.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of designating family carers of people with dementia as key workers.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Adult Social Care Winter Plan, the Government recognises the very important role of all types of unpaid, or family, carers supporting those they care for, including those with dementia.
The role of unpaid carers has been considered in the development of policies throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and they have been prioritised for a range of support. For example, they are included in the priority list for a vaccine, have access to personal protective equipment and have been exempted from interhouse mixing rules when providing the vital care and support they offer.
We will continue to work closely with stakeholders, care organisations and the wider sector and will keep support for family carers under review.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to increase (a) staff capacity in and (b) recruitment to oncology departments.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
‘We are the NHS: People Plan for 2020/2021 – action for us all’ sets out actions to support transformation across the whole NHS, including the following commitment on the cancer workforce:
In 2021, Health Education England is prioritising the training of 400 clinical endoscopists and 450 reporting radiographers. Training grants are being offered for 350 nurses to become cancer nurse specialists and chemotherapy nurses, training 58 biomedical scientists, developing an advanced clinical practice qualification in oncology and extending cancer support-worker training.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
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 making available to medically vulnerable parents whose children have returned to school during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has published additional guidance for everyone in England who has been identified as clinically extremely vulnerable, to help protect them from COVID-19. People in this group will previously have received a letter from the National Health Service or their general practitioner telling them this and may have been advised to shield in the past.
Children who live with someone who is clinically extremely vulnerable, but who are not clinically extremely vulnerable themselves, should still attend school.
Where parents who are clinically vulnerable or extremely vulnerable have concerns about their children attending school during the COVID-19 outbreak, the school should discuss those concerns with them and provide reassurance of the measures they are putting in place to reduce the risk in school.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the circumstances are in which the easements provided for in the Care Act 2014 and the Children and Families Act 2014 would be activated under the Coronavirus Act 2020.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Guidance for local authorities on use of the Care Act 2014 easements states that they should only take a decision to begin exercising them when the workforce is significantly depleted, or demand on social care has increased, to an extent that it is no longer reasonably practicable for it to comply with its full Care Act duties (as they stand prior to amendment by the Coronavirus Act 2020) and where to continue to try to do so is likely to result in urgent or acute needs not being met, potentially risking life.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to offer mental health support for children and young people during the second covid-19 lockdown.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
We recognise the pressures on children and young people’s mental health due to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated measures. We will bring forward our winter plan for mental health and wellbeing in due course, outlining the support available over the winter period.
We have published ‘Guidance for parents and carers on supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic’ on GOV.UK and Every Mind Matters. In September 2020, we launched a campaign through Every Mind Matters to raise awareness of the guidance and tools available to support children and young people’s mental wellbeing.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department is providing to parents with children with covid-19 symptoms who have been required to self-isolate by schools and who are not entitled to statutory sick pay if they do not go to work.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
If a child is self-isolating because they have symptoms of COVID-19, other members of their household should also self-isolate. In this situation, parents and/or guardians should follow guidance and book a test for their child. They can do this through any of the main testing channels. In the event the child does test positive, they should continue to self-isolate for at least ten days from the onset of their symptoms, and only return to school after ten days if they do not have symptoms. All other members of the household should continue to self-isolate until 14 days after the onset of the child’s symptoms.
If a child has tested positive, other members of their household who need to self-isolate may be eligible for the £500 Test and Trace Support Payment, if they are a low-income worker, unable to work from home and losing income as a result.
If a parent or guardian needs support while a child is self-isolating, there is Government guidance on staying at home and self-isolating, accessing local support provided by their local authority and receiving assistance from NHS Volunteer Responders.