Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of Tier 2 visa rules on NHS staff (a) recruitment and (b) retention.
Answered by Will Quince
No assessment has been made.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
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 impact of covid-19 on access to ovarian cancer treatment.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’ sets out how the National Health Service will recover and expand elective services over the next three years, including cancer services. We have allocated more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, in addition to the £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund and £700 million Targeted Investment Fund already made available in 2021/2022 to increase elective activity, including cancer services.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
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 improve early diagnosis of ovarian cancer.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
One of the core ambitions in the NHS Long Term Plan is to diagnose 75% of cancers at stage 1 or 2 by 2028, which would be an increase from the current rate of around 55%.
The National Health Service is implementing non-specific symptom (NSS) pathways for patients who do not fit clearly into a single ‘urgent cancer’ referral pathway but who are at risk of being diagnosed with cancer. 99 NSS pathways are currently operational across England, with more in development.
NHS England is running the ‘Help Us, Help You’ campaigns, which seek to address the barriers that are deterring patients from accessing the NHS. A campaign on abdominal and urological symptoms launched on 31 October 2022 and ran through to December 2022, directly addressing symptoms of ovarian cancer.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
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 ensure that patients diagnosed with ovarian cancer can access high-quality mental health and wellbeing support.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England have asked Cancer Alliances to map out and identify any gaps in psychosocial support provision as part of the 2022/23 planning guidance and are supporting adults experiencing cancer with access to Adult Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme mental health services, which provide evidence based psychological therapies for people with anxiety disorders and depression.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has a timetable for the introduction of legislative proposals to give care home residents a legal right to receive visitors.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government’s guidance states that every resident should be able to have at least one visitor in all circumstances. We are working to review a range of options to strengthen the guidance around visiting and avoid instances where residents are unable to receive visitors.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, by which date he intends to publish the NHS Long Term Plan refresh.
Answered by Will Quince
Following the autumn statement, the Department and NHS England will prepare detailed financial and delivery plans for future years, including in relation to the NHS Long Term Plan. Further information will be available in the new year.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding the Government will make available for the implementation of the 10-year plan for dementia.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are currently reviewing plans for dementia in England.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment with local authorities of the potential barriers faced by carers in accessing the support to which they are entitled; and if he will take steps to help increase access to support for carers.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are required to undertake an assessment for any unpaid carer who appears to have a need for support and to meet their eligible needs on request from the carer.
The Health and Care Act 2022 includes provisions for the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to assess the performance of local authorities’ delivery of adult social care duties. The CQC is working with local government, the care sector and those with care and support needs to develop a framework for these assessments, including consideration of local authorities’ responsibilities to carers.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment the Department has made of the potential impact on contractors of the merger of NHS England merger and NHS Digital.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
NHS England, NHS Digital and Health Education England will be merged from 1 April 2023. The merger will be managed through statutory transfer orders which will be developed as part of the secondary legislation for all staff employed by NHS Digital and Health Education England transferring to NHS England. A programme to oversee the merger has been established. The organisational design work currently underway will determine the impact on the current workforce and also the future workforce needs of the new organisation. We expect that by the end of 2023/24 the new NHS England will be at least 30% and up to 40% smaller than the current combined size of NHS England, Health Education England and NHS Digital.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham 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 potential impact of the merger of NHS England and NHS Digital on the current workforce of both bodies.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
NHS England, NHS Digital and Health Education England will be merged from 1 April 2023. The merger will be managed through statutory transfer orders which will be developed as part of the secondary legislation for all staff employed by NHS Digital and Health Education England transferring to NHS England. A programme to oversee the merger has been established. The organisational design work currently underway will determine the impact on the current workforce and also the future workforce needs of the new organisation. We expect that by the end of 2023/24 the new NHS England will be at least 30% and up to 40% smaller than the current combined size of NHS England, Health Education England and NHS Digital.