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 discussions his Department has had with relevant groups on allowing individuals dissatisfied with the care they receive from a GP to move to another practice in the same local area and overriding any block on intra-area transfers.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Department has not had a specific discussion on this topic, however, patients have the legal right to choose a general practitioner (GP) practice that best suits their needs and can change their GP surgery should they be dissatisfied with their care. When moving practices, a patient has to formally register with the new practice by submitting a registration form to them, available at the practice or from GOV.UK. This is provided they are operating an open list and taking new patients.
If a practice does refuse registration, they must explain to the patient the reason for doing so. A GP practice cannot refuse registering a patient based on the race, gender, social class, age, religion, sexual orientation, appearance, disability, or medical conditions of the patient.
If this process has not been followed, patients should raise this with their practice who will provide details of the complaints process. If a patient is not comfortable raising a complaint directly or do not feel they have had a satisfactory response, they can raise their concern with their integrated care systems, with NHS England by emailing england.contactus@nhs.net or with Healthwatch England.
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 plans his Department has to (a) monitor and (b) publish waiting times for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy with Exposure Response Prevention for the treatment of OCD within secondary care.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The NHS Long Term Plan commits an additional £2.3 billion a year for the expansion and transformation of mental health services in England by March 2024 so that an additional two million people, including people with Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), can get the National Health Service funded mental health support that they need.
We expect services for people with OCD to be commissioned in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence‘s clinical guideline on OCD and body dysmorphic disorder: treatment [CG31]. The guidance includes advice on recognising, assessing, diagnosing and treating obsessive-compulsive disorder. It also aims to improve the diagnosis and treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
People with obsessive compulsive disorder may also be referred to NHS Talking Therapies services or a specialist mental health service for treatment. We are expanding access to NHS Talking Therapies.
Data on waiting times for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy with Exposure Response Prevention for the treatment of OCD within secondary care are not available.
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 help ensure high quality treatment for people with OCD (a) in secondary care and (b) in other care settings.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The NHS Long Term Plan commits an additional £2.3 billion a year for the expansion and transformation of mental health services in England by March 2024 so that an additional two million people, including people with Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), can get the National Health Service funded mental health support that they need.
We expect services for people with OCD to be commissioned in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence‘s clinical guideline on OCD and body dysmorphic disorder: treatment [CG31]. The guidance includes advice on recognising, assessing, diagnosing and treating obsessive-compulsive disorder. It also aims to improve the diagnosis and treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
People with obsessive compulsive disorder may also be referred to NHS Talking Therapies services or a specialist mental health service for treatment. We are expanding access to NHS Talking Therapies.
Data on waiting times for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy with Exposure Response Prevention for the treatment of OCD within secondary care are not available.
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 his Department has made of the potential merits of reintroducing permanent and specialised convalescent homes, or similar institutions, in the context of levels of availability of hospital beds.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made. Convalescent homes are an early example of a facility providing intermediate care. NHS England’s Delivery Plan for Recovering Urgent and Emergency Care Services sets out scaling up intermediate care as one of three priorities to improve discharge and therefore free up hospital beds, alongside improving joint discharge processes and scaling up social care services.
NHS England has begun a programme of work to develop and pilot a new approach to intermediate care, working with local authorities and voluntary and community partners.
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 improve retention of the NHS workforce.
Answered by Will Quince
Retention within the National Health Service is a complex issue and decisions to leave are taken for a multitude of reasons. The NHS People Plan and the People Promise focus on improving the retention of NHS staff by prioritising staff health and wellbeing. We have set out a comprehensive range of actions to improve staff retention which focus on creating a more modern, compassionate and inclusive NHS culture by strengthening health and wellbeing, equality and diversity, culture and leadership and flexible working.
Building on this work, the NHS Retention Programme seeks to understand why staff leave, resulting in targeted interventions to support staff to stay whilst keeping them well. To bolster current support, each NHS organisation is prioritising the delivery of five high impact actions that will impact on early-career, experienced and late-career staff, improving the experience and retention of nursing and midwifery staff.
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 his department will make an assessment of the potential merits of a major information campaign advising the public how to self manage minor illnesses.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Information campaigns in this area will be explored following publication of the Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care, as part of a wider assessment of the role of communications in supporting the plan.
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 reduce bureaucracy affecting the work of GPs.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
As part of the 2020/21 GP contract, to help maximise the time available for clinical tasks, the Government committed to a thorough review of levels of bureaucracy in general practice. As part of this work, in August 2022, a cross-Government concordat was published agreeing to seven co-designed principles to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy in general practice. Additionally, the Government has also worked to reduce administrative burdens on general practitioners by reforming who can provide medical evidence and certificates such as fit notes and Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency medical checks, freeing up time for more appointments. The Department is continuing to work across Government and with the National Health Service to implement the solutions that emerge.
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 is providing to patients affected by closures of local dental practices; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that those patients have adequate access to dental care.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
NHS England, regional teams and integrated care boards across England are working together to ensure that patients continue to have access to National Health Service dental care. This includes an assessment to identify potential gaps in NHS dental service provision and to consider what actions may be required.
NHS dentists are required to keep their NHS.UK profiles up to date so that patients can find a dentist more easily. This includes information on whether they are accepting new patients.
We are taking measures to increase access to NHS dentistry. We are working with Health Education England and NHS England to understand how Centres for Dental Development could be delivered to improve access in areas where there is currently a shortage in provision.
In September 2022, we announced ‘Our plan for patients’ which sets out how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to NHS dental care, including in the North West and Southport, whilst making the NHS dental contract more attractive to dental practices. These changes were an important first step, but we know we need to do more. We are working on further changes which will be announced later this year. NHS England is responsible for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population. Many of the dentistry commissioning functions undertaken by NHS England will transfer to integrated care boards from April 2023, supported by an Assurance Framework to provide assurances on commissioning.
The Government is also committed to publishing a long-term workforce plan shortly which will cover dentists and other dental healthcare professionals.
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 tackle reported shortages of NHS dentists in (a) Southport, (b) the North West and (c) the rest of England.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
NHS England, regional teams and integrated care boards across England are working together to ensure that patients continue to have access to National Health Service dental care. This includes an assessment to identify potential gaps in NHS dental service provision and to consider what actions may be required.
NHS dentists are required to keep their NHS.UK profiles up to date so that patients can find a dentist more easily. This includes information on whether they are accepting new patients.
We are taking measures to increase access to NHS dentistry. We are working with Health Education England and NHS England to understand how Centres for Dental Development could be delivered to improve access in areas where there is currently a shortage in provision.
In September 2022, we announced ‘Our plan for patients’ which sets out how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to NHS dental care, including in the North West and Southport, whilst making the NHS dental contract more attractive to dental practices. These changes were an important first step, but we know we need to do more. We are working on further changes which will be announced later this year. NHS England is responsible for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population. Many of the dentistry commissioning functions undertaken by NHS England will transfer to integrated care boards from April 2023, supported by an Assurance Framework to provide assurances on commissioning.
The Government is also committed to publishing a long-term workforce plan shortly which will cover dentists and other dental healthcare professionals.
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 his Department plans to offer incentives to dental professionals to work in areas experiencing a shortage of dentists; and what steps he is planning to take to ensure adequate dental practice provision in those areas in each of the next five years.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Department is exploring incentives for dental professionals to work in areas experiencing a shortage of dentists.
NHS England, regional teams and integrated care boards across England are working together to ensure that patients continue to have access to National Health Service dental care. This includes an assessment to identify potential gaps in NHS dental service provision and to consider what actions may be required.
In September 2022, we announced ‘Our plan for patients’ which sets out how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to NHS dental care, whilst making the NHS dental contract more attractive to dental practices. These changes are an important first step in improving the system. We know we need to do more and will announce further changes later this year.