Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of allowing dental therapists to carry out some minor dental procedures.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
From August to September 2023, we consulted on changes to the Human Medicines Regulations, which will enable dental therapists and dental hygienists to supply and administer some medicines without the need for a prescription from a dentist, allowing therapists and hygienists to work to their full scope of practice. We will respond shortly to the consultation on the proposals. Furthermore, NHS England’s January 2023 guidance clarified that dental therapists and dental hygienists can open and close National Health Service courses of treatment and provide direct access to NHS care, where that care is within the General Dental Council scope of practice, provided that they are qualified, competent, and indemnified to do so.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to re-examine the use of fluoridisation of water supplies.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under new legislation, we have made it simpler to start new water fluoridation schemes. Our plan to recover and reform dentistry included a long-term ambition to systematically bring water fluoridation to more of the country, as a safe and effective intervention, with a particular focus on the most deprived areas.
As a first step, we will consult on expanding existing water fluoridation in the North East. We will begin consultation early this year. My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care continues to have a duty to monitor the effects of the water fluoridation schemes every four years, with the next report due in 2026.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
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 reduce the number of people with a learning disability detained in inpatient units for five or more years.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In 2023/24, we are investing an additional £121 million to improve community support for people with learning disabilities and autistic people, as part of the NHS Long Term Plan. This includes funding for children and young people’s keyworkers.
In November 2023, NHS England published national guidance setting out that a mental health in-patient stay for a person with a learning disability should be for the most minimal time possible and should be for assessments and treatments which can only be provided in hospital. This was followed by a letter from NHS England, the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services to local system partners across health and social care to ask that they have a concerted focus on supporting those people, who no longer need to be in hospital, in moving back into their local community in a safe and timely way, highlighting five key elements that are critical to enable this to happen.
NHS England continues to work with local system partners to ensure that they have a good understanding of those people that are in hospital who are clinically ready for discharge, including those people that have been in hospital for more than five years, and that there are plans in place to support these people in leaving hospital when they are ready to do so.
In July 2022, we published the Building the Right Support Action Plan, which sets out cross-government actions to strengthen community support and reduce reliance on mental health inpatient care for people with learning disabilities and autistic people. As well as overseeing implementation of the Action Plan going forward, the Building the Right Support Delivery Board will maintain focus on quality of care and on reducing long stays.
To help ensure that a greater proportion of people with mental health needs, including those with learning disabilities, will be supported in their community, NHS England is investing £36 million over three years as part of the Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism Inpatient Quality Transformation Programme.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information her Department holds on the number of Integrated Care Systems that have a specialist multidisciplinary and crisis support service for (a) autistic people and (b) people with a learning disability; and whether she has made an assessment of the (i) adequacy and (ii) availability of such services.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The information requested is not held centrally as these services are commissioned locally. The NHS Long Term Plan committed to increased investment in intensive, crisis and forensic community support to enable people with learning disabilities and autistic people to receive personalised care in the community, closer to home, and with reduced preventable admissions to inpatient services. All systems are expected to have a seven-day multi-disciplinary service and crisis care to support people when they are unwell.
NHS England has worked with local systems to help them understand their gaps against this commitment and has invested £121 million to support local systems in continuing to develop and implement these services during 2023/24. NHS England has commissioned the Local Government Association to work with local systems more intensively to identify and address challenges in implementing this model of community infrastructure, through the peer review programme.
NHS England will continue to work with regional teams and local systems to identify and share areas of good practice, where services have been successful in reducing avoidable admissions to hospital, and helping people to leave hospital when they are clinically ready for discharge.
Each integrated care board produces a five-year joint forward plan with partner trusts and foundation trusts. This will include the needs of the entire local population, including people with a learning disability and autistic people.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the (a) adequacy and (b) availability of forensic community support services for (a) autistic people and (b) people with a learning disability.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
This specific assessment has not been made. The NHS Long Term Plan committed to increased investment in intensive, crisis and forensic community support to enable people with learning disabilities and autistic people receive personalised care in the community, closer to home, and with reduced preventable admissions to inpatient services. All systems are expected to have a seven-day multi-disciplinary service and crisis care to support people when they are unwell.
NHS England has worked with local systems to help them understand their gaps against this commitment and has invested £121 million to support local systems in continuing to develop and implement these services during 2023/24. NHS England has commissioned the Local Government Association to work with local systems more intensively to identify and address challenges in implementing this model of community infrastructure, through the peer review programme.
NHS England will continue to work with regional teams and local systems to identify and share areas of good practice, where services have been successful in reducing avoidable admissions to hospital, and helping people to leave hospital when they are clinically ready for discharge.
Each integrated care board produces a five-year joint forward plan with partner trusts and foundation trusts. This will include the needs of the entire local population, including people with a learning disability and autistic people.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the (a) adequacy and (b) availability of alternative short-term accommodation provided by integrated care systems for (i) autistic people and (ii) people with a learning disability.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The NHS Long Term Plan committed to increased investment in intensive, crisis, and forensic community support to enable people with learning disabilities and autistic people to receive personalised care in the community, closer to home, and to reduce preventable admissions to inpatient services. All systems are expected to have a seven-day multi-disciplinary service and crisis care to support people when they are unwell.
NHS England has worked with local systems to help them understand their gaps against this commitment and has invested £121 million to support local systems to continue developing and implementing these services during 2023/24. NHS England has commissioned the Local Government Association to work with local systems more intensively to identify and address challenges to implementing this model of community infrastructure, through the peer review programme.
NHS England will continue to work with regional teams and local systems to identify and share areas of good practice, where services have been successful in reducing avoidable admissions to hospital, and helping people to leave hospital when they are clinically ready for discharge.
Each integrated care board produces a five-year joint forward plan with partner trusts and foundation trusts. This will include the needs of the entire local population, including people with a learning disability and autistic people.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
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 (a) increase stocks and (b) prevent shortages of triamcinolone hexacetonide injections.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are aware of a shortage of triamcinolone hexacetonide 20 milligram/1 millilitre suspension for injection ampoules, which has been caused by the supplier experiencing manufacturing issues. We are liaising with the supplier of this product to ensure that action is taken to resolve this issue, as quickly as possible.
We have issued communications to healthcare professionals, providing guidance and advice on how to manage patients during the shortage. We have also been liaising with the British Society of Rheumatology, to keep them updated on the supply position. We have well-established procedures and tools for managing medicine supply issues, whatever the cause, and we work closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the pharmaceutical industry, the National Health Service and others operating in the supply chain to help prevent shortages and to ensure that the risks to patients are minimised when shortages do arise.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has he made of the potential reasons for the increase in people accessing alcohol support services post-covid.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are several potential reasons for the 2% increase in people attending alcohol-only treatment in 2022/23, the period for which the most recent data is available.
In December 2021, the Government published its landmark 10-year drug strategy, backed by record funding. Although the primary focus of the strategy is drugs, commissioning and delivery of drug and alcohol treatment services are integrated in England. This means that implementation of the strategy is also benefitting people seeking alcohol treatment, through mechanisms such as new commissioning standards and plans to build back the workforce. £532 million of additional funding is being invested in local authority commissioned substance misuse treatment services in England between 2022/23 and 2024/25, to increase the number of people in substance misuse treatment by 54,500 over this period.
Additionally, the 2021 Public Health England publication, Monitoring alcohol consumption and harm during the COVID-19 pandemic, found that increases in alcohol consumption since the beginning of the pandemic tended to be among people who were already heavy drinkers before this period. This report is available at the following link:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/60f01076d3bf7f568a2d93e3/Alcohol_and_COVID_report.pdf
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress she has made on implementing the recommendations of Baroness Hollins' report entitled Independent Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews: final report, published on 8 November 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Work is underway to implement recommendations in Baroness Hollins’ final report and to improve outcomes for people with a learning disability and autistic people through reducing use of restrictive practices.
The HOPE(S) training programme, which aims to embed good practice across inpatient services and reduce the use of long-term segregation and restrictive practices, is in place, currently piloted until 2024, and will be independently evaluated.
The programme of independent reviews will continue, now led by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), to preserve regulatory oversight and support people to less restrictive settings and discharge to the community. CQC are finalising their methodology, quality, and governance processes.
Progress is also being made on proposals to make changes to the CQC regulations, which would be subject to Parliamentary approval, to improve reporting and notifications by providers to CQC on use of restrictive practices.
Additionally, NHS England’s Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism Inpatient Quality Transformation Programme was established in 2022 and aims to make improvements in quality and safety, so that patients experience good and meaningful care. This programme is backed by £36 million investment over three years.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she expects the Adult Senior Intervenors pilot project evaluation report to be published.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Adult Senior Intervenors project, initially funded until March 2022, has been extended to ensure those individuals who have a Senior Intervenor continue receiving an intervention. Following the successful impacts of the model, NHS England is now working to embed the approach in a sustainable way across England. This has been supported by the evaluation. We do not intend to publish an evaluation report.