Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has had recent discussions with (a) the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and (b) clinical commissioning groups on the rollout of Libre Two sensors to manage diabetes.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
There have been no recent discussions. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence updated its guidance on real-time and intermittently scanned continuous glucose monitoring, such as FreeStyle Libre 2 sensors for eligible patients. The newly established integrated care boards will take this guidance into account in commissioning services for local populations.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had recent discussions with industry groups on the sustainability of community pharmacies.
Answered by Will Quince
The Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework five-year deal commits £2.592 billion in each financial year between 2019 and 2024 for community pharmacy. On 22 September 2022, following discussions between the Department, NHS England and the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, which represents pharmacy contractors in England, we announced an agreement for the remaining years of the Framework.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much her Department has spent commissioning research into problem gambling in each of the last five years; and whether it is her policy that gambling harms are a public health issue.
Answered by Caroline Johnson - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
We are committed to tackling gambling-related harms through a public health approach, recognising the potential impacts on individuals, their families, close associates and society. The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The following table shows the funding allocated for research into problem gambling through the NIHR’s research programmes in each of the last five years.
2017/18 | £0.00 |
2018/19 | £0.00 |
2019/20 | £97,535.81 |
2020/21 | £121,439.68 |
2021/22 | £695,254.73 |
In 2019, the former Public Health England conducted an evidence review of gambling-related harms. The cost of research commissioned through this review was £8,000.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the benefits of green spaces and gardening to mental and physical health and what policies the Government is pursuing to ensure those benefits can be realised by people without access to green spaces.
Answered by Maggie Throup
An evidence review of the health effects of access to greenspace, including gardening was published by Public Health England in 2020. It found evidence that exposure to greenspaces can promote and protect good health and aid in recovery from illness and help with managing poor mental and physical health. The evidence review is available at the following link:
The Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan includes specific measures such a cross-Government project on tackling mental ill-health through green social prescribing and a national framework of green infrastructure standards to ensure new developments include accessible green spaces and areas with little or no green space can be improved for the benefit of the community. The Plan is available at the following link:
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
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 implications for his policies and those of NHS England of the gastroenterology Getting It Right First Time Programme National Specialty Report: Proposed Recommendations; and what steps (a) his Department and (b) NHS England plan to take in response to those recommendations in helping to ensure that people living with inflammatory bowel disease receive consistent care across the country.
Answered by Edward Argar
The Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) national specialty report on gastroenterology was published in September 2021. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is one of the conditions covered under gastroenterological services in the report. The report sets out actions and recommendations to improve patient care in gastroenterology. The aim is to reduce unwarranted variation in treatments and services in, which will ensure consistent care is provided to IBD patients across the country.
The GIRFT programme is now embedded within NHS England and NHS Improvement’s programmes to improve quality and productivity, so that best practice is adopted throughout the NHS. NHS England and NHS Improvement are encouraging individual sites to evaluate how best to take forward these recommendations. The recommendation on IBD is estimated to reduce emergency admissions by 6,600 per year. The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement expect National Health Service trusts and clinical teams to consider how best they can implement these recommendations for individuals to ensure the consistent and high quality care for IBD and other gastroenterological conditions.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps (a) his Department and (b) NHS England are taking to ensure that best practice set out by the Getting It Right First Time programme in areas including inflammatory bowel disease are adopted throughout the NHS.
Answered by Edward Argar
The Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) national specialty report on gastroenterology was published in September 2021. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is one of the conditions covered under gastroenterological services in the report. The report sets out actions and recommendations to improve patient care in gastroenterology. The aim is to reduce unwarranted variation in treatments and services in, which will ensure consistent care is provided to IBD patients across the country.
The GIRFT programme is now embedded within NHS England and NHS Improvement’s programmes to improve quality and productivity, so that best practice is adopted throughout the NHS. NHS England and NHS Improvement are encouraging individual sites to evaluate how best to take forward these recommendations. The recommendation on IBD is estimated to reduce emergency admissions by 6,600 per year. The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement expect National Health Service trusts and clinical teams to consider how best they can implement these recommendations for individuals to ensure the consistent and high quality care for IBD and other gastroenterological conditions.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment (a) his Department and (b) NHS England have made of the impact of the findings contained within the recent Getting it Right First Time national report on gastroenterology and on inflammatory bowel disease patients.
Answered by Edward Argar
The Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) national specialty report on gastroenterology was published in September 2021. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is one of the conditions covered under gastroenterological services in the report. The report sets out actions and recommendations to improve patient care in gastroenterology. The aim is to reduce unwarranted variation in treatments and services in, which will ensure consistent care is provided to IBD patients across the country.
The GIRFT programme is now embedded within NHS England and NHS Improvement’s programmes to improve quality and productivity, so that best practice is adopted throughout the NHS. NHS England and NHS Improvement are encouraging individual sites to evaluate how best to take forward these recommendations. The recommendation on IBD is estimated to reduce emergency admissions by 6,600 per year. The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement expect National Health Service trusts and clinical teams to consider how best they can implement these recommendations for individuals to ensure the consistent and high quality care for IBD and other gastroenterological conditions.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
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 of the need to increase funding for Inflammatory Bowel Disease services in line with recent prevalence figures.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The majority of services for people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are commissioned locally by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), who are allocated funding from NHS England and NHS Improvement using the CCG funding allocation formula. This formula takes into consideration attributes of local populations to assess the level of need.
NHS England and NHS Improvement commission some specialist services for patients with complex IBD. Funding decisions for these are made in line with local priorities and in the context of the interim funding regime in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
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 develop a long-term strategy to improve services and care for adults and children with inflammatory bowel disease.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
We have no specific plans to do so. However, NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with front-line clinical experts, patient representative groups and leading charities, including Crohn’s and Colitis UK, to improve diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This includes a new IBD RightCare scenario, which will set out high-quality joined-up care at every point of the patient journey, as well as data packs for local commissioners.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what criteria is being used to prioritise clinically vulnerable, moderate risk, people with inflammatory bowel disease for the covid-19 vaccine; and which healthcare professionals are responsible for identifying those patients and adding them to the appropriate vaccination list.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation current view is that inflammatory bowel disease is not in itself an indicator of increased risk of serious outcomes from COVID-19. However where an individual is, as a result of disease or treatment, immunosuppressed they may be either defined as clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) and therefore are prioritised in priority group 4 in Phase 1 of the vaccine programme or if the immunosuppression is less severe will have been included in priority group 6. Clinicians responsible for individuals’ care, whether in hospital or in primary care, are primarily responsible for ensuring they are in the appropriate priority group. Anyone who is concerned that they have not been yet offered vaccination but believe they do meet the criteria for either group 4 or 6 may wish to discuss with their general practitioner or hospital clinician.