Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to improve research into acute myeloid leukaemia.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is proud to invest £1.3 billion per year in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was over £121.8 million for 2022/23, and more is spent on cancer than any other disease group.
The Government, through the NIHR, is committed to improving research into the cancers with the poorest survival rates, such as acute myeloid leukaemia, by funding high quality, timely research that leads to improved outcomes for patients and the public, and makes the health and social care system more efficient, effective, and safe. Research evidence is vital for improving treatments and outcomes for people, including those with pancreatic cancer, and other less survivable cancers. The following table shows NIHR research spend on diagnosis, treatment, and diagnosis and treatment of blood cancers, which includes leukaemia, since 2018:
Number of projects | Total awards value | |
Blood cancer diagnosis | 11 | £11,900,000 |
Blood cancer treatment | 14 | £14,700,000 |
Blood cancer diagnosis and treatment | 4 | £7,700,000 |
In 2023, the Government awarded £2 million to new interdisciplinary research teams tackling hard to treat cancers, via the Medical Research Council’s two-day cancer sandpit strategic funding opportunity, focused on technological innovation for understanding cancers with the poorest survival rates.
The NIHR continues to encourage and welcome applications for research into any aspect of human health, including acute myeloid leukaemia. All applications are assessed for funding by peer review committees. The level of research spend in a particular area is driven by factors including the quality of the proposals, and their scientific potential. All applications for research into pancreatic cancer and other less survivable cancers, made through open competition, have been funded.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the GP to patient ratio in Wyre.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In March 2024, the median general practice patient ratio in Wyre was 5.1 full time equivalent doctors in general practice per 10,000 registered patients.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure hospitals develop treatment pathways for Myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome patients at risk of starvation.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the duty of clinicians to keep themselves appraised of best practice, in particular guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). The Department is working with NHS England to develop an e-learning course on myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, for healthcare professionals, with the aim of supporting staff in providing better care and improving patient outcomes. This has involved feedback and input from the ME Research Collaborative Patient Advisory Group. The Medical Schools Council will promote the NHS England e-learning package on ME to all United Kingdom medical schools, and encourage medical schools to provide undergraduates with direct patient experience of ME. The NICE’s guidance NG206 states that people with ME should undertake a dietetic assessment by a dietitian with a special interest in ME, if they are losing weight and at risk of malnutrition.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure hospitals follow the NICE guidelines on Myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the duty of clinicians to keep themselves appraised of best practice, in particular guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). The Department is working with NHS England to develop an e-learning course on myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, for healthcare professionals, with the aim of supporting staff in providing better care and improving patient outcomes. This has involved feedback and input from the ME Research Collaborative Patient Advisory Group. The Medical Schools Council will promote the NHS England e-learning package on ME to all United Kingdom medical schools, and encourage medical schools to provide undergraduates with direct patient experience of ME. The NICE’s guidance NG206 states that people with ME should undertake a dietetic assessment by a dietitian with a special interest in ME, if they are losing weight and at risk of malnutrition.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the mental health and wellbeing of student nurses in England.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The health and wellbeing of all National Health Service staff is taken seriously, and there is a wide range of support in place to aid the health and wellbeing of NHS staff. This includes a Health and Wellbeing Guardian role to ensure board level scrutiny, and that there are tools and resources to support line managers in holding meaningful conversations with staff to discuss their emotional and psychological health and wellbeing. The support package also includes access to regional mental health and wellbeing hubs.
In 2023, NHS England published a strategy to grow occupational health and wellbeing, setting out a roadmap for the NHS and partner organisations to work together to develop and invest in occupational health and wellbeing services for staff over the next five years. To ensure there is a long term sustainable approach to supporting staff, the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan has tasked integrated care boards with developing and implementing plans to invest in occupational health and wellbeing services.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to The Hughes Report, published on 7 February 2024, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing interim payments to victims of sodium valproate.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government commissioned the Patient Safety Commissioner (PSC) to produce a report on redress for those affected by sodium valproate and pelvic mesh. We are grateful to the PSC and her team for completing this report and our sympathies remain with those affected by sodium valproate and pelvic mesh. The Government is now carefully considering the PSC’s recommendations and will respond substantively in due course.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average (a) daily cost per adult held in the emergency department and (b) length of stay was in that department in the latest period for which data is available in each acute trust within the Lancashire and South Cumbria integrated care system boundary.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information is not available in the format requested. NHS England published the general and acute length of bed stay data for 2022/23, with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The length of stay in an adult intensive care unit hospital bed and an elderly care hospital bed is not collected centrally by the Department, or published by NHS England. NHS England publishes the median total time spent in accident and emergency, from arrival to admission, transfer, or discharge, and again with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The information requested on average daily costs by acute trust and integrated care system is not collected centrally by the Department.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average (a) daily cost is per adult elderly care hospital bed and (b) length of stay was in those beds in the latest period for which data is available in each acute trust within the Lancashire and South Cumbria integrated care system boundary.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information is not available in the format requested. NHS England published the general and acute length of bed stay data for 2022/23, with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The length of stay in an adult intensive care unit hospital bed and an elderly care hospital bed is not collected centrally by the Department, or published by NHS England. NHS England publishes the median total time spent in accident and emergency, from arrival to admission, transfer, or discharge, and again with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The information requested on average daily costs by acute trust and integrated care system is not collected centrally by the Department.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average (a) daily cost is for an adult intensive care unit hospital bed and (b) length of stay was in those beds in the latest period for which data is available in each acute trust within the Lancashire and South Cumbria integrated care system boundary.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information is not available in the format requested. NHS England published the general and acute length of bed stay data for 2022/23, with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The length of stay in an adult intensive care unit hospital bed and an elderly care hospital bed is not collected centrally by the Department, or published by NHS England. NHS England publishes the median total time spent in accident and emergency, from arrival to admission, transfer, or discharge, and again with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The information requested on average daily costs by acute trust and integrated care system is not collected centrally by the Department.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average (a) cost per adult and (b) length of stay was for an acute hospital bed day in each acute trust within the Lancashire and South Cumbria integrated care system in the 2022-2023 financial year.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information is not available in the format requested. NHS England published the general and acute length of bed stay data for 2022/23, with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The length of stay in an adult intensive care unit hospital bed and an elderly care hospital bed is not collected centrally by the Department, or published by NHS England. NHS England publishes the median total time spent in accident and emergency, from arrival to admission, transfer, or discharge, and again with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The information requested on average daily costs by acute trust and integrated care system is not collected centrally by the Department.