Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department (a) is taking and (b) plans to take steps to ensure that children with severe epilepsy are able to access cannabis-based medications through the NHS.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Licensed cannabis-based medicines, that have been proved effective in clinical trials and judged cost-effective by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), are routinely available on the National Health Service, including for certain types of epilepsy. However, clinical guidelines from NICE demonstrate a clear need for more evidence to support routine prescribing and funding decisions for unlicensed cannabis-based medicines.
We continue to call on manufacturers to conduct research to prove if their products are safe and effective and we are working with regulatory, research and NHS partners to establish clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of these products.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
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 help reduce the number of young people who are vaping.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is concerned about the rise in vaping among children - youth vaping has tripled in the last three years. Vaping is never recommended for children and carries significant risk. The active ingredient in most vapes is nicotine which, when inhaled, is a highly addictive drug. Evidence suggests that in adolescence, the brain is more sensitive to the effects of nicotine, so there could be additional risks for young people.
The Government is fully committed to bringing forward legislative proposals to tackle youth vaping as part of the Tobacco and Vapes bill which was announced in the King’s Speech on 7 November. The Bill will restrict the sale and marketing of vapes to children – and we have consulted UK-wide on regulating vape flavours, packaging and shop displays. We have also consulted on restricting the sale and supply of disposable vapes.
The Government will respond to the consultation on these policies shortly.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her planned timeframe is for a decision on whether there will be a public inquiry relating to the Edenfield Centre.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In November 2022, NHS England announced an independent review into the unacceptable incidents which took place at the Edenfield Centre at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust last year. The independent review team has met with over 400 people and has submitted its draft report to NHS England, the trust, and other relevant parties. Publication of the investigation’s final report is expected in early January 2024. We will carefully consider the report’s findings before deciding what, if any, next steps may be needed.
More widely, we are working with the newly established Health Services Safety Investigations Body to prepare for the launch of a series of investigations into mental health inpatient care settings in England to identify where improvements can be made, increase the quality of care and reduce the risk to patient safety.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
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 help reduce childhood obesity.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Regulations on out of home calorie labelling for food sold in large businesses, including restaurants, cafes, and takeaways, came into force in April 2022. Restrictions on the placement of products high in fat, sugar or salt in key selling locations, came into force on 1 October 2022. We will be implementing restrictions on the sale of less healthy products by volume price such as ‘buy one get one free’ or ‘3 for 2’ and will introduce restrictions on the advertising of less healthy products before 9pm on TV and paid for less healthy product advertising online. We are also working with the food industry to ensure it is easier for the public to make healthier choices and make further progress on reformulation.
In addition, we are supporting more than three million children through the Healthy Foods Schemes and helping schools boost physical activity to help children maintain a healthy weight and good overall health through the Primary School PE and Sport Premium and the School Games Organiser Network.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
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 increase access to mental health services.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We remain committed to the aims of the NHS Long Term Plan, investing at least £2.3 billion of extra funding a year by March 2024 to expand and transform mental health services in England. This extra funding will enable an extra two million people to be treated by mental health services in the National Health Service by March 2024.
We expect integrated care boards to continue to meet the Mental Health Investment Standard by increasing their investment in mental health services in line with their overall increase in funding for the year.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people died whilst waiting for an operation in (a) Bury South constituency, (b) Greater Manchester and (c) England since 24 October 2022.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The data requested is not held.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it is his policy to support mandatory reformulation of foods high in saturated fat, salt and sugar to improve their nutritional profile by reducing those elements.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Government is delivering mandatory policies which support the reformulation of foods high in saturated fat, salt or sugar. These include the soft drinks industry levy and restrictions on the placement of less healthy products in key selling locations in-store and online. The Government also has a voluntary programme on reduction and reformulation to encourage the food industry to gradually and incrementally lower the levels of sugar, salt and calories in everyday foods and to stimulate the production of healthier products without consumers having to make changes.
In addition, we will be implementing restrictions on the sale of less healthy products by volume price from 1 October 2023, and restrictions on the advertising of less healthy products before 9pm on television and paid-for advertising of less healthy products online from 1 October 2025, restrictions which are also expected to support the reformulation of foods high in saturated fat, salt or sugar.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury 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 to help reduce childhood obesity.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish on 20 January 2023 to Question 119899.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) financial and (b) other steps her Department is taking to help tackle NHS workforce shortages in Bury South constituency.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department has commissioned NHS England to develop a long-term workforce plan. The plan will consider the number of staff and the roles required and will set out the actions and reforms needed to improve workforce supply and retention, including in Bury South.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
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 adequacy of social care capacity in Bury South constituency.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made. Local authorities have a responsibility under the Care Act 2014 to ensure that the care needs of the local population are met.