Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of public pension rules on early retirement rates of health professionals from the NHS.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department announced in 'Our plan for patients' intentions to implement new retirement flexibilities to support our most experienced doctors and nurses to stay in the workforce longer and change pension scheme rules to make it easier and more attractive for retired staff to return to service. A consultation on detailed proposals has been published on the 5th of December. This is expected to propose a new partial retirement flexibility and allowing retired staff to build up more pension when returning to service. It will also propose the permanent removal of the 16-hour rule that limited the amount of work retired staff could do in the first month upon returning to service.
In addition, the Department has extended until 31 March 2025 the suspension of pension abatement for nurses and other staff who claimed their pension early using special class retirement rights. This means they can contribute additional hours without affecting their pension. We are also working with NHS England to encourage NHS Trusts to explore local solutions for senior clinicians affected by pension tax charges, including the option of employer pension contribution recycling.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve dementia care in rural areas.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision of dementia care services. NHS England expects ICBs to commission services based on local population needs.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
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 improve dementia care in the NHS in the next 10 years.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
In 2021/22, £17 million was made available to clinical commissioning groups to address dementia waiting lists and increase the number of diagnoses. Work to improve dementia diagnosis rates will continue in 2022/23.
We will also double funding for dementia research to £160 million a year by 2024/25. This will include research into its causes, prevention, treatment and care.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that the removal of specific pain medicines under NICE guidelines does not negatively impact people living with chronic pain.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guideline recommends that people with chronic primary pain should not initially receive commonly used drugs including paracetamol, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, benzodiazepines or opioids. NICE has determined there is little or no evidence that these treatment options have an impact on quality of life, pain or psychological distress and can cause harm, including possible addiction.
While NICE guidelines are not mandatory, we expect that patients presenting with symptoms consistent with chronic long term pain conditions should be managed according to clinical need and all current guidance. NICE continues to work with system partners to support the implementation of its updated guidelines. However, NICE has stated that medicines should not be withdrawn from patients when shown to be safe and effective for the individual and recommends that clinicians should discuss the risks and benefits of medication with the patient.