Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
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 ensure adequate support for people with physical disabilities that live independently.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is determined to stabilise the adult social care system and enable health and social care services to work together better to provide joined-up care for people with complex health and care needs, such as people with a physical or learning disability.
To best support those drawing on care, the Government recognises the importance of holistic, joined-up services. The Department of Health and Social Care is working with partners across the Government, including the Department of Work and Pensions, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and the Department for Education, to build the right support across a range of public services including the social care, housing, and benefits systems.
Under the Care Act, local authorities are responsible for shaping their care market to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes commissioning a diverse range of care and support services that enable people with either physical or learning disabilities, or both, to access quality care and, if they choose, live independently.
Section 2 in the Care Act places a duty on local authorities to provide or arrange services, facilities, or other resources to prevent or delay the development of care and support needs for adults, with the aim of keeping people independent. This occurs in the context of local populations and the services available.
Currently, adults who are receiving local authority support with their social care costs can choose to receive their personal budget, the amount of money they are assessed to require to meet their eligible needs under the Care Act 2014, as a direct payment. This allows the person, or their nominated representative, to commission their own care, providing them with greater independence, choice, and control in meeting their eligible personal care and support needs.
In England, we continue to fund the locally administered Disabled Facilities Grant which helps eligible disabled people on low incomes to adapt their homes, through practical changes like installing stair lifts or level access showers, to make them safe and suitable for their needs.
We also incentivise the supply of supported housing for adults with a physical or learning disability, autistic people, or adults with mental ill-health. These interventions seek to enable disabled adults to live more independent and healthy lives in their own home, for as long as possible.
The extra costs disability benefits are not means–tested and are non-contributory and thus paid regardless of any income or savings. They are also tax-free and worth up to £184.30 a week, or over £9,580 a year. These benefits were not subject to the benefits freeze, having most recently been uprated by 6.7% from 8 April 2024, and were qualifying benefits for the Disability Cost of Living Payments paid in 2022 and 2023.
The extra costs disability benefits can be paid in addition to other financial and practical support that those with a health condition or disability may be eligible for, such as other social security benefits or access to the Blue Badge scheme.
Adult social care is not just a service for older adults, as it supports approximately 300,000 disabled people aged 18 to 64 years old to live independent and dignified lives. The Government wants to better support working age disabled people to participate in society and access employment.
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
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 ensure adequate provision of early support for people with learning disabilities that live independently.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is determined to stabilise the adult social care system and enable health and social care services to work together better to provide joined-up care for people with complex health and care needs, such as people with a physical or learning disability.
To best support those drawing on care, the Government recognises the importance of holistic, joined-up services. The Department of Health and Social Care is working with partners across the Government, including the Department of Work and Pensions, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and the Department for Education, to build the right support across a range of public services including the social care, housing, and benefits systems.
Under the Care Act, local authorities are responsible for shaping their care market to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes commissioning a diverse range of care and support services that enable people with either physical or learning disabilities, or both, to access quality care and, if they choose, live independently.
Section 2 in the Care Act places a duty on local authorities to provide or arrange services, facilities, or other resources to prevent or delay the development of care and support needs for adults, with the aim of keeping people independent. This occurs in the context of local populations and the services available.
Currently, adults who are receiving local authority support with their social care costs can choose to receive their personal budget, the amount of money they are assessed to require to meet their eligible needs under the Care Act 2014, as a direct payment. This allows the person, or their nominated representative, to commission their own care, providing them with greater independence, choice, and control in meeting their eligible personal care and support needs.
In England, we continue to fund the locally administered Disabled Facilities Grant which helps eligible disabled people on low incomes to adapt their homes, through practical changes like installing stair lifts or level access showers, to make them safe and suitable for their needs.
We also incentivise the supply of supported housing for adults with a physical or learning disability, autistic people, or adults with mental ill-health. These interventions seek to enable disabled adults to live more independent and healthy lives in their own home, for as long as possible.
The extra costs disability benefits are not means–tested and are non-contributory and thus paid regardless of any income or savings. They are also tax-free and worth up to £184.30 a week, or over £9,580 a year. These benefits were not subject to the benefits freeze, having most recently been uprated by 6.7% from 8 April 2024, and were qualifying benefits for the Disability Cost of Living Payments paid in 2022 and 2023.
The extra costs disability benefits can be paid in addition to other financial and practical support that those with a health condition or disability may be eligible for, such as other social security benefits or access to the Blue Badge scheme.
Adult social care is not just a service for older adults, as it supports approximately 300,000 disabled people aged 18 to 64 years old to live independent and dignified lives. The Government wants to better support working age disabled people to participate in society and access employment.
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
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 ensure adequate provision of early support for people with poor mental health that live independently.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know prevention is better than a cure, and early intervention is vital. Part of successful early intervention is ensuring that people, including those that live independently, have access to the mental health support that they need. As part of our mission to build a National Health Service fit for the future, we will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to child and adult services to reduce delays, bring waiting times down, and intervene earlier.
Our early commitment to roll out Young Futures hubs is also key to this and will offer open-access mental health support for young people in every community. In addition, there are currently approximately 65 locally funded early support hubs in England open to those aged 25 years old and under. During 2024/25, the Department is running a Shared Outcomes Fund project, backed by £8 million, to boost and evaluate the impact of 24 of these existing early support hubs.
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
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 adequacy of the training provided to adult social care workers that undertake tasks delegated to them by NHS staff.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Employers in the health system are responsible for ensuring that their staff are trained to the required standards to deliver appropriate treatment to patients, which includes the provision of appropriate training for adult social care workers undertaking delegated healthcare activities. The regulated healthcare professional remains accountable for the appropriateness of the activity being delegated and is responsible for working with the adult social care employer to ensure staff are sufficiently trained and competent to carry out delegated healthcare activity.
The Department published national, voluntary guiding principles to support effective, safe, and person-centred delegated healthcare in May 2023. We work with Skills for Care, NHS England, and stakeholders to promote and embed the guiding principles and supporting resources, to ensure care providers and their staff receive the right training and support to carry out delegated healthcare activities.
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to reduce the number of people waiting for an adult social care assessment.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise there are challenges in adult social care, with some people waiting too long for a care assessment. There are long-term reforms needed in social care and we will work with the sector to build consensus for the reforms needed to create a sustainable care system. We are committed to building a National Care Service based on consistent national standards to support people in living independent and dignified lives.
In the interim, Care Quality Commission (CQC) local authority assessments consider the performance of the delivery of Care Act duties, including the timeliness of assessing care needs. Local authorities are required to submit their waiting list size, median, and maximum waiting times as part of this process. If the CQC identifies that a local authority has failed or is failing its functions to an acceptable standard, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has powers to intervene. The CQC has published its first nine local authority ratings and reports.
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
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 improve coordination between health services and homelessness support organisations to tackle the healthcare needs of rough sleepers with (a) substance misuse and (b) mental health challenges.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The Department is funding the Rough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol Treatment Grant (RSDATG) in 83 local authorities, of which Ealing is one. This programme funds targeted services to improve drug and alcohol treatment and support to people who sleep rough, or who are at risk of sleeping rough, and who have substance misuse needs. These services work closely with local homelessness organisations to ensure that coordinated support is provided, as well as providing support around people’s co-occurring substance misuse and mental health needs.
In addition to the RSDATG, the Department is working to expand mental health outreach services to improve co-ordinated care for homeless individuals with co-occurring mental health needs. Since 2019/20 there has been a £30 million investment to meet the health needs of people sleeping rough, allowing for the establishment of 37 sites with new mental health provision for rough sleepers. Beyond 2023/24, NHS England will provide recurrent annual funding of £9 million to support the specialist services that have been established as part of the NHS Long Term Plan programme.
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
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 improve access to podiatry services for rough sleepers that are not eligible for full public funding due to their immigration status.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
Integrated care boards are responsible for ensuring that the services they commission meet the needs of their local population with the resources they are allocated, including in respect of podiatry services. This starts with general practice (GP) registration, and everyone is entitled to register with a GP regardless of residential or immigration status.
The Department recognises the importance of reducing barriers to services for those experiencing homelessness and rough sleeping. This is why we supported the development and implementation of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidance, which provides recommendations on ways to improve access to, and engagement with, health and social care services for people experiencing homelessness. This guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng214
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
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 on patient safety of adult social care workers (a) administering vaccines and (b) undertaking other NHS delegated tasks.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
Employers in the health and care system are responsible for ensuring that adult social care workers are competent to undertake the healthcare activity delegated to them, with sufficient training, development, and support to the required standard.
The adult social care provider is also responsible for ensuring and demonstrating the delegation arrangements are being provided safely and effectively and the care workers have appropriate supervision and support.
We published national guidance and resources on the Skills for Care website in May 2023, setting out voluntary guiding principles for the safe, effective, and person-centred delegation of healthcare activities. We will also consider whether further support or regulation is needed.
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
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 mental health services in Ealing Southall constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
People with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they deserve, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure that mental health is given the same attention and focus as physical health, so that people can be confident in accessing high quality mental health support when they need it including in Ealing Southall. We will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to reduce delays and provide faster treatment, which will also help ease pressure on hospitals. By cutting mental health waiting lists and intervening earlier with more timely mental health support, we can get this country back to health.
Asked by: Deirdre Costigan (Labour - Ealing Southall)
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 gynaecology waiting lists.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission and a top priority for the Government, as we get the National Health Service back on its feet. Equality of both access to care and outcomes will be at the heart of building an NHS that is fit for the future. This includes ensuring that women’s health is not neglected.
We have committed to achieving the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment by the end of this Parliament, which includes those waiting for gynaecology treatment. To achieve this, we will start by delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week across the country, and will increase the number of computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and other tests, that are needed to reduce elective and cancer waits. This urgent work will help the nearly 600,000 women stuck on gynaecology waiting lists get the medical care they need.