Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress the Government has made on implementing the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act 1983.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
We will publish a White Paper by the end of the year, which will set out the Government’s response, in full, to the independent review of the mental health act, and pave the way for new legislation.
We remain committed to reforming mental health law and will develop and bring forward legislation when Parliamentary time allows.
On the day of publication, we accepted two important recommendations that will give people more choice and control, and in June we accepted further recommendations made by the review, to tackle the disproportionate number of people from black, Asian and minority ethnic groups who are detained under the Act, including a serious of culturally appropriate advocacy pilots, and further steps to end the use of police stations as a place of safety once and for all.
The NHS Long Term Plan has already set out action to improve crisis care and community mental health services, in line with the review’s recommendations to improve community provision of people with serious mental illness.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring all primary schools and maintained nurseries in England to provide dental packs and teeth cleaning lessons to children.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many parents have been assessed as having been overpaid in Healthy Start vouchers as a result of ceasing to be eligible for universal credit payments in the last 12 months for which information is available.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the Government's policy is on funding for research into Parkinson’s disease and mental health.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including Parkinson’s disease and mental health. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. Information on individual projects funded by the NIHR can be found at the following link:
https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/programmes/
NIHR support for research into Parkinson’s was nearly £15 million since 2015. This includes studies looking specifically at Parkinson’s and mental health such as the ‘Antidepressants Trial in Parkinson’s Disease (ADepT-PD)’ and the ‘Personalised Care for People with Parkinson’s Disease: PD Care’ study. NIHR infrastructure has supported 169 studies into Parkinson’s disease since 2015.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing staff and volunteers from (a) schools, (b) libraries and (c) community organisations to distribute and sign parents' application forms for healthy start vouchers to increase the take-up of those vouchers.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
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 ensure that an adequate supply of insulin is available in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
As part of a responsible Government, the Department is doing everything appropriate to prepare for European Union exit. We want to reassure patients that we should be fully prepared for leaving on 31 October, and that our plans should ensure the supply of medicines and medical products remains uninterrupted when we leave the EU on 31 October.
The Department, in consultation with the devolved administrations, has been working with trade bodies, product suppliers, and the health and care system in England to make detailed plans that should ensure continuation of the supply of medicines and medical products, including insulin, to the whole of the United Kingdom and its Crown Dependencies.
On 26 June, we wrote to suppliers of medicines to the UK from or via the EU or European Economic Area setting out our continuing multi-layered approach to support continuity of supply of medicines and medical products from 31 October.
Further details can be found at the following link:
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government taking to expedite the availability of medicinal cannabis for soldiers suffering from PTSD.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
The law was changed on 1 November 2018 to allow clinicians on the General Medical Council’s Specialist Register to prescribe cannabis-based products for medicinal use (CBPM), where it is clinically appropriate and in the best interest of patients. Whilst the law does not restrict the conditions for which these products may be prescribed, interim guidance has been issued by the Royal College of Physicians, British Paediatric Neurology Association and Association of British Neurologists. The use of medicinal cannabis to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is not considered, as the interim guidance focuses only on areas where the evidence base is most developed.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has been commissioned to develop updated clinical guidelines on the prescribing of CBPM, the scope of which is limited to the management of chronic pain, intractable nausea and vomiting, spasticity and severe treatment-resistant epilepsy, areas where the evidence base is most developed. The guidelines will be published by October 2019. It will be based on the best available international evidence and will have been produced using NICE’s world-renowned process for identifying and assessing relevant studies and delivering such guidance. NICE is expected to consult on the draft guidance between 23 July – 20 August 2019. This guidance will be routinely updated to take account of emerging evidence.
An initial impact assessment ‘Rescheduling of cannabis-based products for medicinal use under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001’ was published alongside The Misuse of Drugs (Amendments) (Cannabis and Licence Fees) (England, Wales and Scotland) Regulations 2018. A copy of this impact assessment is available at the following link:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/1055/impacts
This set out the approach that the Government proposed to take in assessing the costs and benefits of the change in the law at a population level, with regard to the rescheduling of CBPM. The analysis is limited to the five medical conditions where there is most evidence. These five conditions are multiple sclerosis – pain or muscle spasticity; chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting; severe treatment-resistant epilepsy in children - specifically Dravet Syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome only; chronic pain in adults and appetite and weight loss associated with HIV/AIDS.
To further the evidence-base, the National Institute for Health Research has issued two calls for research in this area and is working with the industry and researchers to ensure that the evidence is developed in a way that will inform decisions on public funding. This research will be open to all good quality proposals covering any indication and disorders unresponsive to existing treatments.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will bring forward legislative proposals on a regulatory category medicinal cannabis.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
Legislation on cannabis for medicinal use has already been passed. The law was changed on 1 November 2018 to allow clinicians on the General Medical Council’s Specialist Register to prescribe unlicensed cannabis-based products for medicinal use, where it is clinically appropriate and in the best interest of patients.
The regulations use the existing regulatory frameworks for medicines and the misuse of drugs, an approach which the Government believes is proportionate and evidence-based, ensuring that clinicians can access these products whilst minimising the risk of misuse, harm and diversion.
Applications can also continue to be made to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency by any company wishing to market their product as a licensed medicine.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the level of availability of (a) places on UK Foundation Programme F1 and F2 courses and (b) work within the NHS for course graduates.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The UK Foundation Programme can be under- or over-subscribed as it is subject to variation for a number of reasons. In 2018 there was a fill rate of 98.6%1, however in 2019 there were initially more eligible applicants than available places. Additional places have now been provided, meaning all eligible graduates have been allocated a Foundation Programme post to start from August 2019.
For specialty training programmes, the current overall fill rate is slightly higher than in 2018, with 83.8% of training posts currently accepted for programmes beginning in 2019, compared to 81.9% at the same stage last year2. Some specialties will continue to recruit through further rounds, and therefore the number of trainees is likely to rise.
Notes:
1http://www.foundationprogramme.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/2018-09/2018%20Recruitment%20Summary%20Report.pdf
2https://www.hee.nhs.uk/our-work/medical-recruitment/specialty-recruitment-round-1-acceptance-fill-rate
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
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 the (a) rates of diagnosis and (b) management of genetic haemochromatosis.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
The Government is committed to making the United Kingdom a leader in embedding genomics in healthcare and offer a consistent, world class approach to the genetic identification of rare diseases, including genetic hemochromatosis. The Genomics Medicine Service was announced in October 2018, supported by the National Genomic Test Directory which specifies which genomic tests are commissioned by the National Health Service in England, the technology by which they are available, and the patients who will be eligible to access a test. Genetic haemochromatosis is included in the National Genomic Test Directory.
Services for patients with genetic haemochromatosis are commissioned locally through clinical commissioning groups with sustainability and transformation partnerships (STPs) enabling service coordination across wider footprints. The NHS Long Term Plan set out the ambition for all STPs to evolve into Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) by April 2021. ICSs are an ‘evolved’ form of an STP, making faster progress in integrating care across their area, bringing together organisations to provide more seamless care for patients.