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Written Question
Dental Services
Wednesday 24th January 2024

Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)

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 estimate of the number and proportion of dentists that advertise NHS services but are not able to provide them due to (a) levels of staffing and (b) financial reasons.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England and integrated care boards review data each month on the number of practices open and accepting new patients. There is no data held centrally relating to the reasons why practices are not able to provide services within the National Health Service.

The Department announced a package of improvements to the NHS dental system in July 2022 and detailed in Our plan for patients. These changes now make it a contractual requirement for dentists to update their information on the NHS website at least every 90 days to improve information available to patients. This will make it easier for patients to find a dentist who can deliver the care they need and for the system to refer patients to practices with available capacity.


Written Question
Dementia: Continuing Care
Friday 19th January 2024

Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if her Department will take steps to help support people with dementia to complete the NHS continuing healthcare application.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

People who may be eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) should be referred for a screening and assessment process as appropriate by a health or social care professional. The process is undertaken by the integrated care board and should follow a person-centred approach, placing the individual at the centre of the assessment and care-planning process. Someone with specialist knowledge of their condition should also be involved in the assessment process. Eligibility for CHC is not determined by age, diagnosis or condition, or financial means.

Individuals who are being considered for CHC should be provided with a copy of the public information leaflet along with relevant contact details and information about local processes. NHS England has also commissioned Beacon to provide independent and high-quality support for individuals and their families. A copy of the leaflet is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-continuing-healthcare-and-nhs-funded-nursing-care-public-information-leaflet/public-information-leaflet-nhs-continuing-healthcare-and-nhs-funded-nursing-care--2


Written Question
Hospitals: Admissions
Thursday 7th September 2023

Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of patients not being hospitalised at the nearest hospital on the (a) well-being and (b) finances of their families; and whether his Department plans to localise specialist services.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has not made a specific assessment on the impact on patients of where they are hospitalised. There are well documented benefits for patients of being treated in specialist centres of excellence, for instance, for stroke care.

NHS England and integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning and ensuring healthcare needs of local communities are met.

If a patient is referred to hospital or other National Health Service premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostic tests, eligible patients can claim a refund of reasonable travel costs under the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS).


Written Question
Hospitals: Admissions
Thursday 7th September 2023

Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of patients not being hospitalised at the nearest hospital on their (a) well-being and (b) recovery.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has not made a specific assessment on the impact on patients of where they are hospitalised. There are well documented benefits for patients of being treated in specialist centres of excellence, for instance, for stroke care.

NHS England and integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning and ensuring healthcare needs of local communities are met.

If a patient is referred to hospital or other National Health Service premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostic tests, eligible patients can claim a refund of reasonable travel costs under the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS).


Written Question
Psychology: Family Courts
Tuesday 11th July 2023

Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Health and Care Professions Council on reviewing their definition of psychologists to encompass experts used in the family courts.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

No discussions with the Health and Care Professions Council have taken place about reviewing their definition of psychologists to encompass experts used in the family courts. The criteria for determining which professionals are able to act as experts in family courts is a matter for the Ministry of Justice and the HM Courts and Tribunals Service.


Written Question
Psychology: Family Courts
Tuesday 11th July 2023

Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)

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 with the Secretary of State for Justice to ensure effective regulation of psychological experts providing evidence in the family courts.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The Ministry of Justice and the HM Courts and Tribunals Service set any criteria that a professional must satisfy in order to be a psychological expert providing evidence in a family court setting. The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) is the independent regulator responsible for regulating practitioner psychologists. HCPC does not regulate practitioner psychologists according to job role, however its legislation protects nine designated psychologist professional titles in law.


Written Question
Travel: Vaccination
Monday 26th June 2023

Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)

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 increase the availability of NHS travel vaccinations in Barnsley Central constituency.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The National Health Service provides polio, typhoid, hepatitis A and cholera travel vaccines free of charge, and these are available from general practitioner (GP) surgeries. GPs can also offer appropriate routine immunisation catch-ups ahead of travelling if any have been missed.

There are record numbers of GPs in training and we are investing at least £1.5 billion to create 50 million more general practice appointments a year by 2024. The Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care, published on 9 May, supports practices to address access challenges. Our Modern General Practice Access approach, backed by £240 million of retargeted funding, will simplify online requests, improve digital telephony, strengthen care navigation and continuity, and improve assessment and response times.


Written Question
Skin Moles
Wednesday 7th June 2023

Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of widening the criteria for mole removal in the National Health Service.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has made no assessment on the potential merits of widening the criteria for mole removal on the National Health Service. People are advised to visit their general practitioner (GP) with new or existing moles that have changed in shape or colour. If the GP suspects a mole is cancerous, a two week suspected cancer referral will be made. Depending on the outcome, the mole may be surgically removed. The NHS does not routinely provide mole removal for cosmetic reasons.


Written Question
Prosthetics: Children and Young People
Monday 3rd April 2023

Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether funding is available to enable children and young people to access bionic prosthetics as of 27 March 2023.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

In October 2022, NHS England published a clinical commissioning policy for multi-grip upper limbs, which can be found at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/clinical-commissioning-policy-multi-grip-prosthetic-hand-all-ages/

This supports the provision of multi-grip upper limbs for both adults and children, where clinically appropriate. Microprocessor lower limbs are not routinely available for children and young people due to the length of the residual limb and their ability to tolerate the weight of a microprocessor-controlled knee.


Written Question
Antibiotics: Shortages
Thursday 16th March 2023

Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of the local shortages of some antibiotics experienced in winter 2022 on the operation of the National Health Service in affected areas.

Answered by Will Quince

No assessment has been made. The increased demand for the antibiotics prescribed to treat Strep A in Winter 2022 meant that some pharmacists were unable to supply the medicine shown on the prescription. To make things easier for patients, pharmacists, and general practitoners, we issued serious shortage protocols (SSPs) for penicillin medicines, which allowed pharmacists to supply an alternative medicine without the need for the patient to return to their prescriber.

At the request of the Pharmaceutical Service Negotiating Committee, we have granted a number of concessionary prices for antibiotics where pharmacies have not been able to purchase products at or below the Drug Tariff NHS reimbursement price. This has helped to ensure overall pharmacy contractors are paid enough for the medicines they dispense.

We have provided advice to primary and secondary care on the management of supply issues affecting antibiotics for the treatment of Strep A, including direction to supply alternatives, as set out in the SSPs, if necessary.

We are continuing to work with the UK Health Security Agency and NHS England to coordinate any further communications to healthcare professionals advising on availability of antibiotics, if needed.