Asked by: Clive Efford (Labour - Eltham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support ex-service personnel who require (a) specialised wheelchairs or (b) other mobility aids but are not supplied or supported by statutory means.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The National Health Service in England has a statutory responsibility to provide care and treatment for veterans’ mobility requirements. A range of equipment is available, following an assessment of clinical need. Bespoke NHS support for veterans is also available, such as personal wheelchair budgets. In addition, the Health Innovation Fund was launched in July 2022 to support organisations to research and trial technology which could assist veterans with complex healthcare needs.
Asked by: Clive Efford (Labour - Eltham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the closure of the Veterans Hearing Fund on (a) veterans and (b) veterans’ charities.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No specific assessment has been made. However, we are working with NHS England to ensure that provision and support remains for previous users of the Fund. Veterans can be referred to National Health Service audiologists to access any clinically required equipment.
Asked by: Clive Efford (Labour - Eltham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel have been medically discharged from the armed forces due to permanent hearing loss or damage following following involvement in (a) the Afghanistan War from 2001 and (b) Iraq War from 2003.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Between 1 January 2001 and 30 September 2022, a total of 2,170 UK Regular Armed Forces personnel were medically discharged with a principal or contributory cause of hearing loss/damage, of which 1,455 had been previously deployed to either Afghanistan and/or Iraq. The breakdown of the figure is provided below:
1,119 had been deployed to Afghanistan.
839 had been deployed to Iraq.
Personnel may have deployed to both Afghanistan and Iraq therefore the breakdown cannot be summed. The medical discharges included in this response cannot be attributed to deployment to Afghanistan or Iraq. This means that the hearing loss/damage may not have been sustained when on deployment and the subsequent medical discharge may have occurred a number of years after deployment.
Asked by: Clive Efford (Labour - Eltham)
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 that surgeries in Eltham constituency can fill GP vacancies.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We are working with NHS England, Health Education England and the profession to increase the general practice workforce in England, including in Eltham. This includes measures to improve recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession and encourage them to return to practice.
The updated GP Contract Framework announced a number of new schemes, alongside continued support for existing recruitment and retention schemes for the general practice workforce. This includes the GP Retention Scheme, the GP Retention Fund, the National GP Induction and Refresher, the Locum Support Scheme, the New to Partnership Payment and the Supporting Mentors Scheme. We made £520 million available to improve access and expand general practice capacity during the pandemic. This is in addition to at least £1.5 billion to create an additional 50 million general practice appointments by 2024 by increasing and diversifying the workforce.
Asked by: Clive Efford (Labour - Eltham)
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 support young people with eating disorders in Eltham constituency.
Answered by Caroline Johnson
In September we announced ‘Our Plan for Patients’, which outlines how we will increase access to National Health Service mental health and eating disorder services, including in Eltham. Making it easier to access general practice through our ABCD priorities will expand this route as a gateway to mental health care.
Through the NHS Long Term Plan, we are investing an additional £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24 to expand these services for adults, children and young people in England, including in Eltham.
We will invest approximately £1 billion in community mental health care for adults with severe mental illness, including eating disorders, by 2023/24 and an additional £53 million per year in children and young people's community eating disorder services to increase capacity in the 70 community eating disorder teams.
Asked by: Clive Efford (Labour - Eltham)
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 improve access to mental health services in Eltham constituency.
Answered by Caroline Johnson
In September we announced ‘Our Plan for Patients’, which outlines how we will increase access to National Health Service mental health and eating disorder services, including in Eltham. Making it easier to access general practice through our ABCD priorities will expand this route as a gateway to mental health care.
Through the NHS Long Term Plan, we are investing an additional £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24 to expand these services for adults, children and young people in England, including in Eltham.
We will invest approximately £1 billion in community mental health care for adults with severe mental illness, including eating disorders, by 2023/24 and an additional £53 million per year in children and young people's community eating disorder services to increase capacity in the 70 community eating disorder teams.
Asked by: Clive Efford (Labour - Eltham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support her Department has provided to GP surgeries in Eltham constituency to help tackle increased workloads.
Answered by Will Quince
We made £520 million available to expand general practice capacity during the pandemic. This was in addition to at least £1.5 billion announced in 2020 by 2024 which includes supporting increased workloads in general practitioner (GP) surgeries, including in Eltham. In September 2022, ‘Our plan for patients’ announced measures to support GP practices increase access and manage workloads, such as the provision of 31,000 phone lines and funding to expand the staff roles working in general practice, including in Eltham.
Asked by: Clive Efford (Labour - Eltham)
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 tackle NHS workforce shortages in healthcare trusts in southeast London.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
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 south east London.
Asked by: Clive Efford (Labour - Eltham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 October 2022 to Question 59411 on Southeastern Trains: Railway Stations and Timetables, how much extra capacity will be created by removing first class seats from London-bound trains that stop between 7.00am and 9.30am at (a) Eltham and (b) New Eltham station.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Currently on a typical weekday between 07:00 and 09:30 Eltham has nine direct services to London Charing Cross, six direct services to London Cannon Street and five direct services to London Victoria.
From the 11 December on a typical weekday between 07:00 and 09:30 Eltham will have five direct services to London Charing Cross, seven direct services to London Cannon Street and five direct services to London Victoria. All train times have been uploaded to National Rail Journey Planner and can be found here: https://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/planjourney/search
First Class is not available on services calling at Eltham or New Eltham. First Class is being removed from Southeastern’s mainline services to create a modern, inclusive railway with more seats available to mainline customers. Removing First Class will provide access to an average of 60 more seats on a 12-car train.
Asked by: Clive Efford (Labour - Eltham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 October 2022 to Question 59411 on Southeastern Trains: Railway Stations and Timetables, how many first class seats are available on London-bound trains that stop between 7.00am and 9.30am at (a) Eltham and (b) New Eltham station.
Answered by Kevin Foster
Currently on a typical weekday between 07:00 and 09:30 Eltham has nine direct services to London Charing Cross, six direct services to London Cannon Street and five direct services to London Victoria.
From the 11 December on a typical weekday between 07:00 and 09:30 Eltham will have five direct services to London Charing Cross, seven direct services to London Cannon Street and five direct services to London Victoria. All train times have been uploaded to National Rail Journey Planner and can be found here: https://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/planjourney/search
First Class is not available on services calling at Eltham or New Eltham. First Class is being removed from Southeastern’s mainline services to create a modern, inclusive railway with more seats available to mainline customers. Removing First Class will provide access to an average of 60 more seats on a 12-car train.