Asked by: Flick Drummond (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in England aged over 60 had a free eye sight test in each of the last three years; and what proportion that was of the total number of people eligible for such tests.
Answered by David Mowat
The table below, taken from the General Ophthalmic Services Activity Statistics for England, published by NHS Digital, shows the number of National Health Service sight tests provided to people aged 60 and over in England, between 2013/14 and 2015/16.
Year | Total NHS sight test for people aged 60 and over | % of total NHS sight tests |
2013/14 | 5,576,957 | 43.6% |
2014/15 | 5,507,932 | 43.2% |
2015/16 | 5,651,025 | 43.5% |
It is not possible to estimate what proportion of people eligible for free NHS sight tests used their entitlement during the reported years.
Notes:
Asked by: Flick Drummond (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that access to a timely autism diagnosis is included in the next Clinical Commissioning Group Investment and Assessment Framework.
Answered by David Mowat
To support local areas in addressing long waits, NHS England, supported by the Department and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, initiated a series of visits to clinical commissioning groups and local authorities. These visits aimed to develop a better idea of the challenges in securing timely autism diagnosis across all ages, looking at the variability in diagnosis times and sharing good practice to help areas to improve their service. NHS England submitted a report on the visits to the 16 June meeting of the Cross Government Autism Programme Board, which includes representatives of autism third sector organisations and people who have autism. NHS England will have further discussions with relevant organisations over the summer about actions in their report, including on the Clinical Commissioning Group Improvement and Assessment Framework, before reporting back to the Autism Programme Board.
In parallel, as recommended by the independent Mental Health Taskforce, the Department is undertaking a five year plan for the development of mental health data to be published by the end of the year. The plan will set out future requirements and timings for developing data to inform pathways of care, which will include requirements for autism in the Health and Social Care Information Centre Mental Health Services Data Set. Data on referrals or appointments for an autism diagnostic assessment are not currently captured in published mental health data.
Asked by: Flick Drummond (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of changes to funding levels on the provision of breastfeeding services.
Answered by Ben Gummer
There has been no assessment made on the effect of changes to funding levels on the provision of breastfeeding services. However, the Department is working with Public Health England and other stakeholders to develop a method and sources of information to monitor the impact of its policy on infant feeding.
Asked by: Flick Drummond (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to support breastfeeding services; and what assessment he has made of the importance of breastfeeding to national health policy.
Answered by Ben Gummer
Support and information about breastfeeding is currently available to health professionals and parents through: the NHS Choices website under the Start4Life banner; the National Breastfeeding Helpline; UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative; and local peer support programmes.
Parents-to-be and new mums and dads can also sign up to the Start4life Information Service for Parents. Subscribers receive regular free emails, videos and SMS messages offering high quality advice and information, based on the stage of pregnancy and the age of the child, including breastfeeding support. The service also signposts parents to other quality assured information about parenting, relationship support and benefits advice.
Breastfeeding delivers significant health benefits both for the mother and her baby and is more cost effective for mothers than other methods of infant feeding. A mother’s milk provides a perfect balance of nutrients and vitamins, so exclusive breastfeeding is all a baby needs for around the first six months. This is why the Department in line with the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence guidelines encourages exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life.