Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
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 lactation consultants are widely available on the NHS.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government’s vision, as set out in The Best Start for Life: A Vision for the 1,001 Critical Days, is that every parent and carer has access to high quality infant feeding services. Through the Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme, we are investing £50 million to enable 75 participating local authorities to design and deliver a blended offer of infant feeding support. The investment is being used to increase the range of advice and support available, including recruiting and training staff to improve workforce capacity and capability.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets out the steps the National Health Service and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. The Government is backing the plan with over £2.4 billion over the next five years to fund additional education and training places.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department have taken to reduce the time taken from initial presentation of symptoms to diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We’re set to reach nearly £1 billion of additional funding invested by 2023/24, compared to 2018/19, to transform community mental health services. In 2022/23, 288,000 people with severe mental illness, including bipolar disorder, accessed support through new integrated models of community care.
The funding aims to increase access to high quality care and transform care pathways for people with severe mental illness, including bipolar disorder, through: greater integration of primary and community services, to provide care in the community driven by the needs of individuals, rather than based solely on diagnoses; physical health checks; and Individual Placement and Support schemes, as well as Early Intervention in Psychosis services.
NHS England is also working on implementing new access and waiting time standards for mental health services, including one for adults with bi-polar disorder or similar, to start to receive community-based mental health care within four weeks of referral.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the average waiting time for people diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder to receive their first medication prescription in Leeds.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) treatment, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance. The NICE guideline on ADHD does not set out a timeframe within which medication for ADHD should be provided. The Department has not made a specific assessment of the implications on departmental policies of the average waiting time from diagnosis of ADHD, to receiving a first medication prescription in Leeds.
In respect of the adequacy of ADHD service provision nationally, in December 2023, NHS England initiated a rapid piece of work to consider ADHD service provision within the National Health Service. The initial phase of work identified challenges, including with current service models and the ability to keep pace with demand. Following this initial review, NHS England is establishing a new ADHD taskforce alongside the Government, to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The new taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, and help provide a joined up approach in response to concerns around rising demand for assessments and support.
Alongside the work of the taskforce, NHS England has announced that it will continue to work with stakeholders to develop a national ADHD data improvement plan, carry out more detailed work to understand the provider and commissioning landscape, and capture examples from local health systems which are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services to ensure best practice is captured and shared across the system.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the number of professionals able to offer pre-school autism assessments in Leeds.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
An assessment of the adequacy of the number of professionals able to offer pre-school autism assessments in Leeds is not currently planned. It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including autism assessment services, in line with relevant clinical guidelines.
The West Yorkshire ICB advises that pre-school autism assessments in Leeds were temporarily stopped due to a shortage of professionals. The service remains suspended as it needs one full time equivalent clinical psychologist. The post has recently been recruited, and plans are in place for the service to reopen by the end of June 2024.
Nationally, we are taking steps to improve autism assessment services. NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance for autism assessment services on 5 April 2023. These documents are intended to help the National Health Service improve autism assessment services, and improve the experience for adults and children who are going through an autism assessment. They also set out what support should be available before an assessment, and what support should follow a recent diagnosis of autism.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the number of (a) people that are on a waiting list and (b) assessments provided each month at the Leeds adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder service.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available the appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. The NICE guidelines for ADHD diagnosis and management aim to improve the diagnosis of ADHD and the quality of care and support people receive. The NICE guidelines do not recommend a maximum waiting time standard for ADHD diagnosis, either from referral for an assessment to receiving an assessment, a diagnosis, or a first contact appointment.
There is, at present, no single, established dataset that can be used to monitor waiting times for assessment for ADHD. A specific assessment of the implications for departmental policies of the number of people on a waiting list, or the number of assessments provided each month for adult ADHD services in Leeds, is not currently planned.
The Department is exploring options to improve data collection and reporting on ADHD assessment waiting times nationally, to help improve access to ADHD assessments in a timely way, and in line with the NICE guideline. In support of this, the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Policy Research Programme has commissioned a research project to provide insights into local ADHD diagnosis waiting times data collection.
In December 2023, NHS England initiated a rapid piece of work to consider ADHD service provision within the National Health Service. The initial phase of work identified challenges, including with current service models and the ability to keep pace with demand. Following this initial review, NHS England is establishing a new ADHD taskforce alongside the Government, to improve care for people living with the condition. The new taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD and help provide a joined-up approach in response to concerns around rising demand for assessments and support.
Alongside the work of the taskforce, NHS England has announced that it will continue to work with stakeholders to develop a national ADHD data improvement plan, carry out more detailed work to understand the provider and commissioning landscape, and capture examples from local health systems who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services, to ensure best practice is captured and shared across the system.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
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 waiting times for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder assessments in Leeds North West constituency.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available the appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. The NICE guidelines for ADHD diagnosis and management aim to improve the diagnosis of ADHD and the quality of care and support people receive. The NICE guidelines do not recommend a maximum waiting time standard for ADHD diagnosis, either from referral for an assessment to receiving an assessment, a diagnosis, or a first contact appointment.
There is, at present, no single, established dataset that can be used to monitor waiting times for assessment for ADHD. A specific assessment of the implications for departmental policies of the number of people on a waiting list, or the number of assessments provided each month for adult ADHD services in Leeds, is not currently planned.
The Department is exploring options to improve data collection and reporting on ADHD assessment waiting times nationally, to help improve access to ADHD assessments in a timely way, and in line with the NICE guideline. In support of this, the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Policy Research Programme has commissioned a research project to provide insights into local ADHD diagnosis waiting times data collection.
In December 2023, NHS England initiated a rapid piece of work to consider ADHD service provision within the National Health Service. The initial phase of work identified challenges, including with current service models and the ability to keep pace with demand. Following this initial review, NHS England is establishing a new ADHD taskforce alongside the Government, to improve care for people living with the condition. The new taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD and help provide a joined-up approach in response to concerns around rising demand for assessments and support.
Alongside the work of the taskforce, NHS England has announced that it will continue to work with stakeholders to develop a national ADHD data improvement plan, carry out more detailed work to understand the provider and commissioning landscape, and capture examples from local health systems who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services, to ensure best practice is captured and shared across the system.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of her Department's decision to exclude people aged between 66 and 69 on 1 September 2023 who do not have a severely weakened immune system in the phased roll-out of the shingles vaccination on those people.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
An assessment on the potential impact of not providing the vaccine to people aged 66 to 69 years old is not required, as they remain eligible to receive a shingles vaccination when they turn 70 years old, as they would have done prior to 1 September 2023.
The current policy offers the shingles vaccine Shingrix to anyone who turned 65 or 70 years old on or after 1 September 2023, and to anyone aged 50 years old and over who is at higher risk of serious complications as a result of having a severely weakened immune system.
This approach has been used in the effective implementation of previous immunisation programmes. Whilst some individuals may have to wait until they are eligible, the population benefit of adopting this approach is greater, meaning many individuals will receive the vaccine sooner and will benefit for longer.
The approach is modelled on the first shingles programme, optimizing achievements within the resources and capacity of the National Health Service, while being delivered alongside other important healthcare priorities, and avoiding undue additional pressure on NHS delivery services.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has approved the business case costings for the New Hospital Programme.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 25 May 2023, the Government announced that the New Hospital Programme (NHP) is expected to represent over £20 billion of capital investment for the financial year 2030/31, and that there would be a rolling programme of investment in health infrastructure in the longer term. Future spending beyond this current spending review period will be subject to the usual spending review processes.
The NHP has developed a third version of its Programme Business Case (PBC) which includes costs for the programme’s future spend. This was approved by the Department’s Joint Investment Committee on 19 February 2024. Following this approval, the PBC will go through Government assurance processes in May 2024.
Future spend will be confirmed through the usual processes of future spending reviews, and all funding allocations for specific schemes within the NHP will only be confirmed once the individual Full Business Cases have been reviewed and agreed by ministers.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
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 help ensure that specialist medical services for Tourette's Syndrome are accessible to people outside of London.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Most services for people with Tourette’s syndrome are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs) as they are best placed to plan and improve the provision of services subject to local prioritisation and funding. I know, for example, that there have been recent ICB discussions within the provider trust in Leeds related to strengthening the local offer for Tourette’s syndrome.
Nationally, the government is taking steps to alleviate workforce demands to support services for Tourette’s syndrome. This includes, increasing the number of trained clinical psychologists available. Health Education England, now merged with NHS England, supported a 60 per cent expansion in the clinical psychology training intake over the past two years.
Clinical psychologist trainees are able to undertake specialist placements focusing on Tourette’s syndrome, in addition to Tourette’s syndrome featuring as part of the broader neuropsychology curriculum.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help stop disruption of the supply of (a) Ozempic, (b) Trulicity and (c) similar medicines.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
While the position has improved, there continues to be a global supply issue with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RA), including Trulicity (dulaglutide) and Ozempic (semaglutide). We have issued updated guidance to healthcare professionals in the form of a National Patient Safety Alert on the 3 January 2024, on how to manage patients requiring these medicines.
Our guidance is clear that GLP-1 RAs that are solely licensed to treat type 2 diabetes should only be used for that purpose, and should not be routinely prescribed for weight loss. The General Pharmaceutical Council, General Medical Council, Health and Care Professions Council, Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland have also issued a joint statement stressing the importance of health and care professionals meeting regulatory standards in relation to these medicines.
We know how distressing and frustrating medicine supply issues can be, and the Department will continue to help in ensuring that these critical medicines reach diabetes patients. If any patient is concerned about their treatment, they should discuss this with their clinician at the earliest opportunity.