Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress her Department has made on reducing waiting lists for planned care in the North West.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Cutting waiting lists for elective care is one of this Prime Minister’s top priorities. The Delivery Plan for Tackling the COVID-19 Backlog of Elective Care outlines how the National Health Service will bring down waiting times across all elective services. To support this plan and tackle waiting lists the Government plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to drive up and protect elective activity. We are making good progress on tackling the longest waits, to ensure patients get the care they need when they need it.
In July 2022, the NHS successfully met the first target in our plan to virtually eliminate waits of over two years, excluding patients waiting by choice or due to complex specialties. The NHS then worked hard to deliver the next ambition to eliminate waits of 18 months or more. Thanks to the incredible work of NHS staff, NHS England's official statistics show that as of March 2024, we have virtually eliminated waits of over 18 months.
Referral to Treatment (RTT) waiting times data is published monthly by NHS England:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/rtt-waiting-times/
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress she has made on increasing access to cancer screening in the North West.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England North West has carried out significant work to improve access to cancer screening in the area, including: insight work into cervical screening, which has highlighted some issues, resulting in the piloting of potential solutions; a breast mobile site review being carried out, with findings and recommendations to be shared with trusts to act upon; five bowel and seven breast providers have been trained to use data to develop a Health Equity Audit, which will be submitted at the end of June 2024, with funding being offered to providers to design, develop, implement, and evaluate an intervention to reduce inequalities and barriers experienced by a population group they have identified in their Health Equity Audit; and funding being provided for Improving Uptake in Screening Officers, working to support non responders to take up the offer of breast screening.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information her Department holds on the number of people who (a) were under the age of 18 and (b) from Southport constituency who attended (i) Alder Hey Children's Hospital Trust and (ii) Ormskirk District General Hospital Children's Accident and Emergency Departments in each year from 2002-2023.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Whilst the information is not available in the format requested, NHS England publishes information on accident and emergency attendance, which is available at the following link:
Accident and emergency attendance data is available for Adler Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust and Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust from 2008/09. The following tables respectively show the accident and emergency attendance for patients between zero and 17 years old in each of the last three years, and the accident and emergency attendance for patients between zero and 19 years old each year from 2008/09, at Adler Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust and Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust:
Year | Alder Hey Children's Hospital Trust | Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust |
2022/23 | 67,985 | 34,615 |
2021/22 | 69,220 | 31,850 |
2020/21 | 42,155 | 16,100 |
Year | Alder Hey Children's Hospital Trust | Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust |
2019/20 | 60,590 | 32,395 |
2018/19 | 61,190 | 32,095 |
2017/18 | 59,815 | 31,610 |
2016/17 | 58,157 | 44,104 |
2015/16 | 58,537 | 40,388 |
2014/15 | 55,817 | 36,339 |
2013/14 | 56,212 | 35,059 |
2012/13 | 57,388 | 34,218 |
2011/12 | 56,728 | 35,027 |
2010/11 | 58,842 | 28,428 |
2009/10 | 57,873 | 27,225 |
2008/09 | 59,290 | 27,088 |
Notes:
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of issuing free parking passes to NHS community staff who are required to use their own vehicles for home visits.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have delivered on our commitment to provide free hospital car parking for in-need groups. All hospitals that charge for car parking have implemented this policy. Councils are responsible for setting their own local policy, and those interested in local parking concessions can check their local councils’ website for further details of any local schemes.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the average time it takes for a child under the age of 18 diagnosed with cancer to start treatment.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have not made a specific assessment; the Department is taking steps to reduce cancer treatment waiting times across England, including the time between an urgent general practitioner referral and the commencement of treatment. Increasing the diagnosis and treatment referrals for cancers in young people, whilst reducing waiting times, is a priority for the Government. Although survival has more than doubled since the 1970s in the United Kingdom, there is more to be done to improve childhood cancer outcomes, including reducing waiting times between diagnosis and treatment.
The Government is working jointly with NHS England on implementing the delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlogs in elective care and plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help drive up and protect elective activity, including cancer diagnosis and treatment activity.
In the 2023/24 Operational Planning Guidance, NHS England announced it is providing over £390 million in cancer service development funding to Cancer Alliances in each of the next two years to support delivery of the strategy and the operational priorities for cancer which includes increasing and prioritising diagnostic and treatment capacity for cancer.
In addition, the National Health Service now offers all children and young people with cancer whole genome sequencing to enable more comprehensive and precise diagnosis, and access to more personalised treatments.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
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 process for assessing the eligibility of dementia patients for continuing healthcare funding.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Eligibility for National Health Service Continuing Healthcare (CHC) is not determined by age, diagnosis or condition, or financial means; it is assessed on a case-by-case basis considering the totality of an individual’s needs. This ensures a person-centred approach to CHC, whereby the individual is placed at the centre of the assessment and care-planning process. We continue to work with our partners, including NHS England who are responsible for oversight of CHC delivery, external organisations, and people with lived experience, to seek feedback on CHC policy and implementation.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department plans to take steps to implement AI technology that predicts heart attacks years in advance.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Many of the artificial intelligence (AI) technologies that are looking at heart attack prediction are still in research and development. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) carried out an Early Value Assessment (EVA) on Cari-Heart in March 2023. Cari-Heart is a medical device that uses AI to analyse heart computerised tomography (CT) scans, to give clinicians a patient’s personalised risk of heart attack. NICE’s EVA does not recommend Cari-Heart for use in the National Health Service and that it should only be used for research to generate more evidence of its effectiveness at this stage.
Further pilot testing of Cari-Heart in five NHS trusts has started. This will evaluate the effectiveness of the tool as it analyses chest CT scans to help clinicians assess patients’ risk of heart attack.
The Department is funding the AI in Health and Care Award. This has provided £123 million to 86 AI technologies to test and evaluate some of the most promising AI technologies likely to meet the aims set out in the NHS Long Term Plan. A number of these trials include AI technologies that could assist clinicians to treat heart disease. These could generate more evidence of these technologies' effectiveness, which could lead to their rapid adoption in the NHS.
Another trial, which has received a £1.2 million award from the National Institute for Health Research, will test an AI-enabled smart stethoscope in 200 general practices (GPs) across London and Wales. The TRICORDER programme will assess if by providing the tool to GPs this can increase early detection of heart failure and reduce diagnosis through emergency hospital admission.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department provides for research into motor neurone disease.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Government responsibility for delivering motor neurone disease (MND) research is shared between the Department of Health and Social Care, with research delivered by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
The Government has committed to make at least £50 million available for MND research over the next five years, ending in March 2027. Around three-quarters of the £50 million pledged funding (£36.9 million) has now been allocated to cutting edge researchers by DHSC and DSIT, less than two years since the announcement. For the remainder of the £50 million, we continue to support researchers to apply for funding via the Medical Research Council and NIHR MND highlight notice.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the report on Understanding the experiences of unpaid carers of people living with Motor Neurone Disease, published by the Motor Neurone Disease Association in November 2022.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made on the policy implications following the publication of the report.
Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are required to undertake a Carer’s Assessment for any unpaid carer who appears to have a need for support and to meet their eligible needs on request from the carer.
In 2023/24, £327 million of Better Care funding has been earmarked to provide short breaks and respite services for carers. This also funds additional advice and support to carers and a small number of additional local authority duties.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
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 ensure that alternatives to elvanse and guanfacine are available for people with ADHD.
Answered by Will Quince
We are aware of disruptions to the supply of medicines used for the management of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), including elvanse and guanfacine. Some issues have now been resolved. However, we know that there are currently disruptions to the supply of some other medicines, primarily driven by issues which have resulted in capacity constraints at key manufacturing sites. These issues are expected to resolve by the end of December 2023.
We understand how frustrating and distressing medicine shortages can be and we want to assure patients that we are working intensively with the respective manufacturers to resolve the issues as soon as possible and to ensure patients have continuous access to ADHD medicines in the United Kingdom, in the short and long term.
We have issued communications to the National Health Service to advise healthcare professionals on management of patients whilst there continue to be disruptions to supplies. Patients are advised to speak to their clinician regarding any concerns they have and to discuss the suitability of treatment with alternative medicines.