Asked by: Allison Gardner (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
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 through the implementation of an alcohol strategy to tackle problem drinking.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
Under our Health Mission, the Government is committed to prioritising preventative public health measures to support people to live longer, healthier lives. The Department will continue to work across Government to better understand how we can best reduce alcohol-related harms.
Asked by: Allison Gardner (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's press release entitled New reforms and independent commission to transform social care, published on 3 January 2025, how these reforms will improve service provision in Stoke-on-Trent South constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In January 2025, we announced that we will be taking forward a range of initiatives, including funding more home adaptations, promoting better use of care technologies, and further professionalising the adult social care workforce.
On top of the Budget making £3.7 billion of additional funding available to social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes an £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant, this announcement included an immediate £86 million uplift to the Disabled Facilities Grant. Local authority funding allocations will be announced shortly.
We also announced that in April 2025 we will be launching an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. This will start a national conversation about what care and support working age adults, older people, and their families expect. The commission will identify the biggest challenges in adult social care and recommend practical changes to best meet the current and future needs of the population across England.
Asked by: Allison Gardner (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to improve access to adrenaline pens (a) for first aid organisations and (b) in schools.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
Since October 2017, the Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2017 have allowed all schools to buy adrenaline auto-injector (AAI) devices without a prescription, for emergency use. The Department has published non-statutory guidance to accompany this legislative change, with the guidance being available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/using-emergency-adrenaline-auto-injectors-in-schools
This guidance advises schools on the recognition and management of an allergic reaction and anaphylaxis, and outlines when and how an AAI should be administered for pupils. The guidance makes clear that any AAIs held by a school should be considered a spare device and not a replacement for a pupil’s own AAIs. It also states that children at risk of anaphylaxis should have their own prescribed AAIs at school for use in an emergency, and that they should always carry two devices.
In November 2021, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Commission on Human Medicine’s Adrenaline Auto-injector Expert Working Group, with wide-ranging input from patient groups, leading allergy experts and healthcare professionals, published a report which outlined recommendations for the safe and effective use of AAIs, including quicker treatment, to help save lives. The MHRA has worked alongside the Department and wider health system to take forward these recommendations, some of which are already in place.
In June 2023, the MHRA, with the support of allergy awareness advocates, launched a safety campaign to raise awareness of anaphylaxis and provide advice on the use of AAIs.
The MHRA produced a toolkit of resources for health and social care professionals to support the safe and effective use of AAIs. Alongside this, the MHRA produced guidance, which states that prescribers should prescribe two AAIs to make sure patients always have the second dose and that those who are prescribed AAIs should always carry two of them.
A public consultation will be needed before a decision can be made on the wider availability of AAIs in public places, including with first aid organisations, together with legislative change.
The Community First Responder (CFR) programme enables volunteers trained by the ambulance service to attend certain types of emergency calls in the area where they live or work. CFRs have had first aid training but are not medically trained. CFRs are trained in the administration of a patient’s own AAI, which would ensure the correct medication and dose for that patient. In general, CFRs do not carry medication.
Asked by: Allison Gardner (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on the creation of a National Care Service.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to building consensus on the long-term reform needed to create a National Care Service, including by engaging cross-party and with people who draw on care and support.
Alongside our plan for health, we will create a 10-year plan for social care which recognises the importance of social care in its own right, as well as its role in the success of the National Health Service. On 10 October, we took a critical step by introducing legislation to establish the first ever Fair Pay Agreement for care professionals to ensure care workers are recognised and fairly rewarded for the important work they do.
To stabilise the system in the short term, we are providing at least £600 million of new grant funding for social care to support local authorities. This is part of a broader real-terms uplift to core local government spending power of approximately 3.2%.
Asked by: Allison Gardner (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
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 increase the provision of ADHD services across North Staffordshire.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is currently considering next steps to improve access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services. It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including ADHD care pathways, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
We are supporting a taskforce that NHS England is establishing to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the National Health Service, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, and to help provide a joined-up approach in response to concerns around rising demand.
The Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB advises that it has commissioned a new adult ADHD diagnostic and treatment pathway which began in July 2023. The ICB is working closely with its provider trusts to implement the new pathway.
Asked by: Allison Gardner (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on reviewing the funding of research to improve (a) treatment and (b) outcomes for people diagnosed with lobular breast cancer.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The Department spends £1.5 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), with cancer being the largest area of spend at over £121.8 million in 2022/23. The NIHR spends more on cancer than any other disease group, reflecting its high priority. Our investments in cancer, including lobular breast cancer, are pivotal to informing efforts to improve cancer prevention, treatment, and outcomes.
We are proud to have invested £29 million into the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden NIHR Biological Research Centre in 2022, supporting their efforts to strengthen research into cancer, including lobular breast cancer. This is complemented by wider investments into breast cancer research including, for example, a £1.3 million project to determine whether an abbreviated form of breast magnetic resonance imaging can detect breast cancers missed by screening through mammography, again including lobular breast cancer.
The NIHR continues to encourage and welcome applications for research into any aspect of human health, including lobular breast cancer. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.
Asked by: Allison Gardner (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to widen bariatric patient access to (a) Wegovy, (b) Mounjaro and (c) other weight management drugs.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Obesity medicines can be effective for some patients living with obesity when prescribed alongside diet, physical activity, and behavioural support. Exactly what is most appropriate for an individual is down to health care professionals to advise, in discussion with patients, and considering relevant clinical guidance.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources, and for providing guidance for the health and care system on best practice.
The NICE has recommended orlistat, liraglutide (Saxenda), and semaglutide (Wegovy) as clinically and cost-effective drugs for weight management in adults in the NHS in England. NICE guidance includes eligibility criteria and, for some products like Saxenda and Wegovy, a restriction that these treatments should be used within specialist weight management services. The NICE is in the process of finalising its guidance on tirzepatide, also known as Mounjaro, and recently consulted on its draft recommendations.
Integrated care boards are responsible for arranging the provision of health services within their area in line with local priorities, considering population need and relevant guidance. This includes the commissioning of NHS specialist weight management services.