Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support he is providing to arthritis patients in Huddersfield constituency awaiting orthopaedic surgery.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust is contacting all patients on waiting lists to determine what support they need whilst waiting for treatment.
Ongoing clinical support services can be accessed via a patient’s general practitioner or First Contact Practitioner for reassessment and medication review for pain control, and through a specialist community musculoskeletal service. Further support is available to patients on the National Health Service website, which provides advice on living with arthritis and links to national and local charities. This information is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/arthritis/
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people with arthritis in Huddersfield constituency have been waiting for orthopaedic surgery for (a) 12, (b) 18 and (c) 24 months.
Answered by Will Quince
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the economic impacts of delays in orthopaedic surgery and the impact of those delays on people living with arthritis.
Answered by Will Quince
No assessment has been made.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps raise awareness of the potential health benefits of vitamin D in local communities.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
Government advice on vitamin D is publicised via the NHS.uk website and the social marketing campaigns Start4Life, Better Health and Healthier Families. This includes messaging specifically aimed at people from ethnic minority groups with dark skin.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) has a guideline which focuses on increasing vitamin D supplement use to prevent deficiency among specific population groups. This includes recommendations for local authorities, NHS trusts, and voluntary and community organisations, as well as healthcare professionals.
The Government’s Healthy Start scheme provides an opportunity for health professionals and others working with pregnant women and families to offer advice on issues such as healthy eating, breastfeeding, and vitamins. As part of the scheme, pregnant women, new mothers, and children can receive a supplement which contains vitamin D.
Local areas may look to raise awareness amongst population groups in their communities, but Government does not collect information on these initiatives.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
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 potential impact of increasing access to primary services at community pharmacies on public health.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
The Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) 2019-24 five-year deal outlines a joint vision for how community pharmacy will be more integrated into the NHS, deliver more clinical services and become the first port of call for minor illnesses, helping to reduce pressure on other parts of the NHS. Through the deal pharmacies have already introduced several new services, such as the New Medicines Service, enabling community pharmacies to provide extra support to patients newly prescribed certain medicines, and the Discharge Medicines Service, enabling hospitals to refer recently discharged patients to a community pharmacy for support with new medication. NHS111 and GPs can refer patients to a community pharmacist for a minor illness consultation and most pharmacies now also offer blood pressure checks.
On 22 September last year, we announced the agreement for the remainder of the five-year deal, which includes a further one-off investment in the sector of £100 million. This agreement continues the expansion of the services offered by community pharmacies, by enabling community pharmacists to manage and initiate contraception, provide extra support for patients newly prescribed antidepressants and, enabling urgent and emergency care settings to refer patients to a community pharmacist for a minor illness consultation or for an urgent medicine supply.
The number of trainee pharmacists is uncapped and driven by market forces. Since 2017, trainee numbers have averaged 2,500 a year. This has resulted in a year-on-year growth in the number of pharmacists on the professional register, which as of November 2022 (latest data), stands at 52,885 pharmacists in England across all settings. Health Education England is also working with Higher Education Institutions to implement reforms to pharmacists’ initial education and training, so they can play a greater role in providing clinical care to patients and the public, including prescribing medicines.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to support the training of more pharmacists.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
The Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) 2019-24 five-year deal outlines a joint vision for how community pharmacy will be more integrated into the NHS, deliver more clinical services and become the first port of call for minor illnesses, helping to reduce pressure on other parts of the NHS. Through the deal pharmacies have already introduced several new services, such as the New Medicines Service, enabling community pharmacies to provide extra support to patients newly prescribed certain medicines, and the Discharge Medicines Service, enabling hospitals to refer recently discharged patients to a community pharmacy for support with new medication. NHS111 and GPs can refer patients to a community pharmacist for a minor illness consultation and most pharmacies now also offer blood pressure checks.
On 22 September last year, we announced the agreement for the remainder of the five-year deal, which includes a further one-off investment in the sector of £100 million. This agreement continues the expansion of the services offered by community pharmacies, by enabling community pharmacists to manage and initiate contraception, provide extra support for patients newly prescribed antidepressants and, enabling urgent and emergency care settings to refer patients to a community pharmacist for a minor illness consultation or for an urgent medicine supply.
The number of trainee pharmacists is uncapped and driven by market forces. Since 2017, trainee numbers have averaged 2,500 a year. This has resulted in a year-on-year growth in the number of pharmacists on the professional register, which as of November 2022 (latest data), stands at 52,885 pharmacists in England across all settings. Health Education England is also working with Higher Education Institutions to implement reforms to pharmacists’ initial education and training, so they can play a greater role in providing clinical care to patients and the public, including prescribing medicines.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps with the Intractable Epilepsy charity to arrange a roundtable meeting to help secure collaborative trials in epilepsy medicines for children.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department does not believe a roundtable discussion would be beneficial to securing collaborative trials at this time. Manufacturers are responsible for generating evidence to support the use of their products, and the Government encourages any researcher aiming to set up collaborative trials to contact the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) for scientific and research advice. The NIHR remains open to receiving good quality proposals for research in this area as a priority and stands ready to support researchers to develop applications.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department provided for services that support children with terminal life-shortening conditions in each of the last three years.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Funding for children’s and young people’s palliative and end of life care is made available locally through integrated care boards, who are responsible for commissioning services in response to the needs of their local population.
At a national level, NHS England supports palliative and end of life care for children and young people through the Children and Young People’s hospice grant, providing approximately £15 million in 2020/21, £17 million in 2021/22, £21 million in 2022/23, rising to £25 million in 2023/24. Furthermore, as part of the NHS Long Term Plan, up to £2 million in 2020/21, up to £3 million in 2021/22 and up to £5 million in 2022/23 of match funding has been made available to commissioners who increase their overall level of investment in local children’s palliative and end of life care services, rising to up to £7 million in 2023/24.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has taken steps to support research into sudden unexplained death in childhood since December 2019.
Answered by Will Quince
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC). It is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being 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: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is he taking to increase research into sudden unexplained death in childhood.
Answered by Will Quince
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC). It is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.