Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to take steps to make mental health support part of the service specification for the treatment of young people with HIV.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Government is committed to improving the quality of life of people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) including young people. Children and young people living with HIV receive care from paediatric services commissioned in line with the Paediatric HIV service specification which includes access to mental health support. We are also in the process of establishing a workforce task and finish group which will explore innovative ways for the workforce to provide better support to people of all ages in care, including mental health support.
As set out in the NHS England roadmap, specialised HIV inpatient and outpatient services have been identified as key areas for greater integrated care systems leadership by NHS England and integrated care boards. This will allow local systems to simplify and strengthen HIV care pathways with other services through effective local partnerships, including psychosocial support and mental health services, for a more holistic approach to care.
As part of the Government’s HIV Action Plan, NHS England are also currently reviewing the national Service Specification for Adult HIV services (2013), which sets out the standards of care that HIV providers are expected to meet, including availability of community, psychological and psychosocial support for patients.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to introduce a voluntary exit programme for civil servants in his Department.
Answered by Will Quince
There are no active voluntary exit schemes in the Department. Voluntary exit schemes are a commonly used workforce management process available to Departments based on specific workforce needs.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
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 ensure there are enough genitourinary doctors and nurses.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We are considering actions to ensure that the sexual health workforce has the capacity required to meet the sexual and reproductive health needs of the population in multiple settings. Further information will be available in due course.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what payments were made to civil servants in her Department for relocation costs to government offices outside London in 2021.
Answered by Will Quince
No such payments were made.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
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 help increase the number of women accessing PrEP.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Through the implementation of the HIV Action Plan, we are considering how access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) can be improved, including the use of alternative settings to address access for specific groups, such as women. We have invested £33 million to deploy PrEP in sexual health services in the last two years and it is commissioned as a routine service through the Public Health Grant.
Local authorities are responsible for commissioning comprehensive sexual health services to meet the needs of the local population, including the provision of PrEP and for monitoring and taking action, if required, to reduce waiting times. The UK Health Security Agency collects data on access to sexual health services, including access to PrEP, which is available to local authorities to inform service commissioning and improvements.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has taken recent steps to help reduce the waiting time for an appointment to access PrEP.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Through the implementation of the HIV Action Plan, we are considering how access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) can be improved, including the use of alternative settings to address access for specific groups, such as women. We have invested £33 million to deploy PrEP in sexual health services in the last two years and it is commissioned as a routine service through the Public Health Grant.
Local authorities are responsible for commissioning comprehensive sexual health services to meet the needs of the local population, including the provision of PrEP and for monitoring and taking action, if required, to reduce waiting times. The UK Health Security Agency collects data on access to sexual health services, including access to PrEP, which is available to local authorities to inform service commissioning and improvements.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has taken recent steps to help increase the number of appointments available at clinics for people wanting to access PrEP.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Through the implementation of the HIV Action Plan, we are considering how access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) can be improved, including the use of alternative settings to address access for specific groups, such as women. We have invested £33 million to deploy PrEP in sexual health services in the last two years and it is commissioned as a routine service through the Public Health Grant.
Local authorities are responsible for commissioning comprehensive sexual health services to meet the needs of the local population, including the provision of PrEP and for monitoring and taking action, if required, to reduce waiting times. The UK Health Security Agency collects data on access to sexual health services, including access to PrEP, which is available to local authorities to inform service commissioning and improvements.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
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 recruit sexual health doctors and nurses.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We are considering actions to ensure that the sexual health workforce has the capacity required to meet the sexual and reproductive health needs of the population in multiple settings. Further information will be available in due course.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to provide free formula feed to mothers living with HIV who have been advised not to breastfeed.
Answered by Caroline Johnson
General practitioners (GPs) can prescribe any product considered necessary for the treatment of their patients, unless it appears on a list of specific exclusions published under the NHS (General Medical Services Contracts) (Prescription of Drugs etc.) Regulations 2004. Prescriptions dispensed to children under 16 years old are free of charge.
GPs and other prescribers are responsible for their prescribing decisions. Where doctors prescribe products which are available over the counter, we expect this to happen for good clinical reasons and represent value for money for the National Health Service.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall)
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 people who were born with HIV to transfer from paediatric care to adult clinics; and what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that those adult clinics are able to meet the needs of young adults.
Answered by Caroline Johnson
Children and young people living with HIV receive care from paediatric services commissioned according to the paediatric HIV service specification. This includes specific reference to supporting the transition to adult services. Children and young people are supported through the individual options discussed with their health professional on the transition process. The delivery of the clinical care is supported through the data recorded by the Children’s HIV and Aids Reporting System (CHARS) database. All children and young people living with HIV in England seen for paediatric HIV care are monitored by CHARS until the transition to adult services. This enables the clinical teams to record treatment and prescribing information and supports the continuity of care.