Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made a comparative assessment of regional differences in accessing dementia care.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No formal assessment has been made. The Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to deliver a wide range of sustainable high-quality care and support services which meet the needs of the local population, including those living with dementia.
Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department will take to support NHS GP surgeries with the extra workload associated with the forthcoming rollout of expanded patient access to medical records.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Since 2019, it has been a contractual requirement for general practitioner (GP) practices to offer all patients access to their record. Following recommendations published by the Royal College of General Practitioners, NHS England provided GP practices with a four-month notice period prior to the planned deployment of automatic online access to prospective records for patients registered with practices using TPP and EMIS information technology systems.
NHS England has hosted webinars for practice staff to prepare for this change, published guidance and a checklist detailing policies and processes which require updating.
Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the NHS dentistry provision in Somerton and Frome constituency.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
No specific assessment has been made. However, NHS England asked dental practices to return to full delivery of contracted activity from July 2022 including in Somerton and Frome constituency. In September, we announced ‘Our plan for patients’, which outlines how we will meet National Health Service (NHS) dental needs and increase access to dental services, including in Somerton and Frome constituency.
The plan includes improvements to ensure dentists are renumerated fairly for more complex work, allowing greater flexibility to reallocate resources and to utilise dentists with greater capacity to deliver National Health Service treatment, whilst enabling full use of the dental team. The plan also includes streamlining processes for overseas dentists and holding the local NHS to account for dentistry provision. In addition, Health Education England is also reforming dental education to improve the recruitment and retention of dental professionals.
Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)
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 (a) recruitment, (b) training and (c) retention of NHS dentists in Somerset.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Government continues to monitor the number of dental school places in England to ensure that the NHS has the necessary dental workforce to meet future demand.
The Department worked with NHSE and negotiated with the BDA on a package of improvements to the NHS dental systems which was announced on 19 July 2022. These improvements, which are supported by the sector will mean dentists are more fairly rewarded for the NHS care that they deliver, making NHS dentistry a more attractive place for dentists and their teams to work. The Department is now working with NHS England and the sector on longer-term improvements to NHS dentistry.
Health Education England (HEE) have undertaken a three-year Advancing Dental Care Review of education and training which they are now implementing through their Dental Education Reform Programme to improve recruitment and retention including in Somerset constituency.
Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to increase funding for motor neurone disease research and treatment.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government is strongly committed to supporting research into dementia and neurodegeneration, including motor neurone disease (MND).
In November 2021, the government committed to invest at least £50 million in MND research over the next five years and this commitment was reaffirmed in September of this year.
As part of this investment, the government has collaborated with charity funders to deliver a new £4.25 million partnership, bringing together the MND research community to boost research and speed up the delivery of new treatments. The Department of Health and Social Care funded National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) welcomes research applications from MND researchers and has recently signalled that MND research is a priority area by launching a Highlight Notice on MND, which invites ambitious MND research proposals.
Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)
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 for young people to mental health services in Somerton and Frome constituency.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In September we announced ‘Our plan for patients’, which outlines how we will increase access to National Health Service mental health services, including in Somerton and Frome. Through the NHS Long Term Plan, we are investing an additional £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24 to expand NHS mental health for adults, children and young people in England, including in Somerton and Frome.
Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)
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 NHS England patients who have previously lived in and received covid-19 vaccinations in the devolved nations can use the National Booking Service for booster vaccinations.
Answered by Caroline Johnson
Data sharing agreements between England and devolved administrations allow COVID-19 vaccination records to be transferred and updated when required and subject to an individual’s consent. Once an vaccination record for patients within NHS England is updated to reflect COVID-19 vaccinations in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales, individuals can use the National Booking Service or 119 to arrange further doses in England. This is subject to the individual's eligibility for an additional dose or doses.
A service is available for individuals to correct their COVID-19 vaccination record where they have received COVID 19 vaccination outside of England and where data has not been transferred.
Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)
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 improve access to NHS dentistry in (a) Somerton and Frome constituency and (b) Somerset.
Answered by Will Quince
In September, we announced ‘Our plan for patients’, which outlines how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to dental care, including in Somerton and Frome and in Somerset.
The plan includes improvements to ensure dentists are renumerated fairly for more complex work, allowing greater flexibility to reallocate resources and to utilise dentists with greater capacity to deliver National Health Service treatment, whilst enabling full use of the dental team. The plan also includes streamlining processes for overseas dentists and holding the local NHS to account for dentistry provision. In addition, Health Education England is also reforming dental education to improve the recruitment and retention of dental professionals.
Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)
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 effectiveness of surgical hubs in aiding the recovery of elective services following the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
NHS England is currently assessing the impact of surgical hubs, including with evidence published in the Getting it Right First Time guidance on elective hubs in April 2022.
Asked by: David Warburton (Independent - Somerton and Frome)
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 waiting times for NHS ambulances in the South West.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) have introduced measures to ensure that ambulance crews can respond to incoming calls. This includes a remote clinical triage team, the direct referral of patients to same day emergency care departments and the placement of Hospital Ambulance Liaison Officers to improve the flow of patients and reduce handover delays. SWASFT is also undertaking recruitment activity to ensure sufficient resources are available to meet demand.