Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
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 reduce health disparities amongst ethnic minority communities in the treatment of (a) arthritis and (b) musculoskeletal conditions.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Race Equality Foundation’s report, Musculoskeletal conditions and Black, Asian and minority ethnic people: addressing health inequalities, commissioned by what was then Public Health England, identified that some Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups in the United Kingdom are disproportionately represented due to the risk factors for musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions. MSK pain is more widespread among people in minority ethnic groups that may reflect social, cultural and psychological differences. The report is available at the following link:
We have set a Health Mission with the aim of tackling the social determinants of health such as those described in the report, focusing on prevention, and ensuring that everyone lives longer, healthier lives. We have also committed to delivering a 10-Year Health Plan, which will set out a bold agenda to deliver on the three big shifts needed, to move healthcare from the hospital to the community, from analogue to digital, and from treatment to prevention. Addressing healthcare inequity is a core focus of the 10-Year Health Plan, including for people from minority ethnic groups.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services that meet the needs of their local population, including for MSK conditions such as arthritis. Under the Health and Care Act 2022, ICBs have a duty to consider reducing inequalities with respect to people’s ability to access services within the National Health Service and the outcomes achieved for them by the provision of those health services, including for people from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the document by NHS England entitled 2025/26 priorities and operational planning guidance, published on 30 January 2025, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the removal of the NHS target for completion of annual health checks for people with a learning disability on health inequalities for people with learning disabilities in Herefordshire.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Priorities and Operational Planning Guidance for 2025-26 addresses the urgent challenges facing the NHS, as highlighted by the Darzi investigation. My Rt. Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, recently announced a series of reforms to the NHS operating model to move power from the centre to local leaders. In keeping with these reforms, we are giving systems greater control and flexibility over how funding is deployed to best meet the needs of their local population.
NHS England recognises the importance of the learning disability annual health check. The NHS Operational Planning Guidance for 2025/26 still requires integrated care boards to report on the number of people on the quality outcome framework learning disability register aged 14 years old or over who receive an annual health check during the quarter. The planning guidance is not a catalogue of everything the NHS does, nor is it the sole evidence of our priorities. It remains important that people with a learning disability and autistic people have the right, tailored support in place.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the next iteration of the (a) NHS Long Term Workforce Plan and (b) 10-year Health Plan will include targets for increasing medical specialty training places in (i) anaesthetics and (ii) other medical specialties.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to training the staff we need, including anaesthetists and all other medical specialities, to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it. We have launched the 10-Year Health Plan which will set out a bold agenda to reform and repair the National Health Service. Ensuring we have the right people, in the right places, with the right skills will be central to this vision. NHS England has funded 70 additional training posts in anaesthesia in 2022, 2023, and 2024. Further expansion will be determined by the upcoming Spending Review and the planned refresh of the Long Term Workforce Plan. The content of the plan will be confirmed at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether funding for additional higher anaesthetic training places will continue in 2025-26.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to training the staff we need, including anaesthetists and all other medical specialities, to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it. We have launched the 10-Year Health Plan which will set out a bold agenda to reform and repair the National Health Service. Ensuring we have the right people, in the right places, with the right skills will be central to this vision. NHS England has funded 70 additional training posts in anaesthesia in 2022, 2023, and 2024. Further expansion will be determined by the upcoming Spending Review and the planned refresh of the Long Term Workforce Plan. The content of the plan will be confirmed at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to reduce the gender pain gap for women.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Through the call for evidence for the Women’s Health Strategy, women told us that they had not always been listened to by healthcare professionals and that more needs to be done to improve research, evidence, and data on women’s health. It is unacceptable that women’s pain is dismissed, as this can lead to unnecessary suffering or a delayed diagnosis.
The Women’s Health Strategy for England sets out ambitions to boost the participation of women in all types of research, and for more research into women’s experiences. The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has funded a range of research into women’s experiences. This includes a qualitative study into patient and healthcare professionals' experiences of the management, diagnosis, and treatment of endometriosis, which is available at the following link:
https://www.fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR156216
It also includes a study to develop a patient-reported outcome measure for prolapse, incontinence, and mesh complication surgery, which is available at the following link:
https://www.fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR152187
The NIHR expects to implement its sex and gender policy in spring 2025. This will ensure that research considers sex and gender across every stage of the research cycle, facilitating both an assessment of funding into topics that impact men and women and, crucially, a greater understanding of how women might be impacted differently.
Work continues to implement the Women's Health Strategy. In the longer term, our priorities for delivering the strategy will be aligned with the 10 Year Plan and the Government's missions. The 10 Year Plan will set out how we tackle the inequities that lead to poor health, including for women.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to publish a plan for improving outcomes for people living with musculoskeletal conditions.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Over 17 million people in England live with a musculoskeletal (MSK) condition, and improving their health and work outcomes will help deliver the Government's missions to build a National Health Service fit for the future and kickstart economic growth.
The Get Britain Working white paper sets out the Government’s plans to reform employment, health, and skills support to tackle rising economic inactivity levels. MSK conditions are one of the leading conditions reported by people who are economically inactive due to long-term sickness in the United Kingdom, and in the white paper, the Government announced that we are delivering the joint Department for Work and Pensions, Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England Getting It Right First Time MSK Community Delivery Programme, which will work directly with integrated care boards to further reduce MSK community waiting times.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
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 women that are more likely to live with a musculoskeletal condition.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health, and women’s equality will be at the heart of our missions. Women’s health hubs have a key role in shifting care out of hospitals and reducing gynaecology waiting lists. As of December 2024, 39 out of the 42 integrated care boards reported that they had a women’s health hub. Reporting from integrated care boards to NHS England shows that the pilot funding has been used to open or expand a total of 88 hubs.
The Government recognises that musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions disproportionately impact women, and we are working jointly with NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time team to deliver our MSK Community Delivery Programme to further reduce MSK community waiting times.
We also know that more than one in three women, compared to one in five men, will sustain one or more osteoporotic fractures in their lifetime. On 6 January 2025, NHS England published the new Elective Reform Plan. This set out funding to boost bone density scanning (DEXA) capacity, to support improvements in early diagnosis and bone health. This is expected to provide an estimated 29,000 extra scans per year once all are fully operational. DEXA scans are a vital component of the early diagnosis of osteoporosis.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
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 BBC Board on the broadcasting of public information films to promote public health.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers engage regularly with a variety of stakeholders to discuss a range of topics, including but not limited to the promotion of public health. A partnership between the Department and the BBC promotes physical activity through the Couch to 5K app. Since its launch in 2016, it has been downloaded over 7 million times, with over 9 million runs completed last year alone.
The Department promotes public health through the Better Health range of websites, apps and support tools which were visited over 20 million times in the last year.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
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 reasons for health professionals leaving the NHS, to the lowest available data level; and what steps his Department is taking to promote improved staff retention.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England publishes quarterly data on the broad reasons for staff leaving and staff movements in National Health Service trusts and other core organisations, support organisations, and central bodies in England. This is published as part of the NHS Workforce Statistics publication, which is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics
In addition, the latest timeseries data, which runs to September 2024, is available at the following link:
The Government is committed to making the NHS the best place to work, to ensure the retention of our hardworking and dedicated staff. NHS England is leading the National Retention Programme to drive a consistent, system-wide approach to staff retention across NHS trusts.
Retention efforts are aligned with the NHS People Promise, which was co-developed with staff to reflect what matters to them. This ensures that trusts have access to proven retention strategies and data-driven monitoring, and can foster a more stable, engaged, productive, and supported workforce.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
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 Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on introducing auto-enrolment for Healthy Start vouchers.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The Healthy Start scheme is kept under review. There have been no discussions with my Rt Hon. Friend, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on introducing auto-enrolment for Healthy Start.
The Healthy Start scheme was introduced in 2006 to encourage a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies, and young children under four years old, from very low-income households. It can be used to buy, or put towards the cost of, fruit, vegetables, pulses, milk, and infant formula. Healthy Start beneficiaries have access to free Healthy Start Vitamins for pregnant women and children aged under four years old. Healthy Start now supports over 355,000 beneficiaries. This figure is higher than the previous paper voucher scheme.
The NHS Business Services Authority operates the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. All applicants to the Healthy Start scheme, where they meet the eligibility criteria, must accept the terms and conditions of the prepaid card at the point of application. As the prepaid card is a financial product and cannot be issued without the applicant accepting these terms, the NHS Business Services Authority is not able to automatically provide eligible families with a prepaid card. However, we remain open to all viable routes to improve uptake.