Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of attacks on ambulance workers in (a) England, (b) the North West and (c) Lancashire.
Answered by Philip Dunne
National Health Service staff work very hard in a high pressure environment. Any abuse of staff is unacceptable and should not be tolerated. Employers in the NHS are responsible for assessing risks to staff and addressing those risks.
Any abuse against members of NHS staff should be reported and trusts should have no hesitation in involving the police. Detailed guidance is available to NHS employers to assist them in assessing and managing the risks accordingly. Guidance includes advice on joint working between the NHS, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service on responses to incidents of abuse or violence when these occur and on taking forward appropriate cases for prosecution.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate has been made of the number of public-access defibrillators in (a) Pendle, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West.
Answered by David Mowat
The Department does not hold figures on this. However, the British Heart Foundation was awarded £1 million by the Department in both 2015/16 and 2016/17 to invest in public access defibrillators.
NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention is supporting the British Heart Foundation in its work to identify the location of public access defibrillators. The aim is to establish a national database and to make this available to ambulance services.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of availability of naloxone to treat drug-related disorders in (a) England, (b) the North West and (c) Lancashire.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Local authorities are responsible for assessing local need and commissioning substance misuse services, to meet that need. Naloxone provision is commissioned by local authority public health commissioners, working in partnership with local health commissioners. Public Health England (PHE) supports local authorities in this work and has provided advice on naloxone provision to commissioners.
Following the report of the PHE inquiry into drug-related deaths in 2016
http://www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/phe-understanding-preventing-drds.pdf
work has continued on a programme of activity to map the provision of naloxone in England and support greater consistency in its provision and funding.
PHE North West Centre is supporting this work including consultations with drug treatment service commissioners and providers in the North West, including Lancashire, to identify how naloxone is being provided and how we might improve its availability.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received on trends in the number of deaths from illegal drug use; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
A small number of written representations have been received on trends in the number of deaths from illegal drug use.
The Government is concerned at the rises in drug-related deaths and is taking action to prevent avoidable deaths. Public Health England (PHE) supports effective drug treatment in the community and in custody, which is known to reduce drug deaths. The Government has changed legislation to enable the easier distribution of naloxone, which is a safe, efficacious drug for reversing the effects of opioid overdoses. The Department has introduced a new Public Health Outcomes Framework indicator on drug-related deaths to enable local areas to benchmark their performance against others.
Following the report of the PHE supported inquiry into drug-related deaths in 2016, PHE and the Department are helping local authorities improve their drug-related death review processes, supporting an update to the United Kingdom-wide clinical guidelines for drug treatment, improving the sharing of intelligence on the adverse health effects of drugs, especially novel psychoactive substances, and working with treatment providers to develop guidance on how they manage risk factors associated with drug-related deaths.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of deaths from illegal drug use.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
A small number of written representations have been received on trends in the number of deaths from illegal drug use.
The Government is concerned at the rises in drug-related deaths and is taking action to prevent avoidable deaths. Public Health England (PHE) supports effective drug treatment in the community and in custody, which is known to reduce drug deaths. The Government has changed legislation to enable the easier distribution of naloxone, which is a safe, efficacious drug for reversing the effects of opioid overdoses. The Department has introduced a new Public Health Outcomes Framework indicator on drug-related deaths to enable local areas to benchmark their performance against others.
Following the report of the PHE supported inquiry into drug-related deaths in 2016, PHE and the Department are helping local authorities improve their drug-related death review processes, supporting an update to the United Kingdom-wide clinical guidelines for drug treatment, improving the sharing of intelligence on the adverse health effects of drugs, especially novel psychoactive substances, and working with treatment providers to develop guidance on how they manage risk factors associated with drug-related deaths.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether any NHS bodies offer advice to parents that electrical safety socket covers or inserts should be installed in the home.
Answered by Philip Dunne
On 30 June 2016 the Department issued an Estates and Facilities Alert (EFA) 2016/002 advising that electrical socket inserts should be removed from all premises where National Health Service care is delivered. The alert also advises NHS organisations against providing electrical socket inserts for use in the home. The safety Alert can be found at the following link:
https://www.cas.dh.gov.uk/ViewandAcknowledgment/ViewAlert.aspx?AlertID=102494