Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
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 potential impact of the cost of living crisis on the nation's health.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
No specific assessment has been made. However, this winter we are spending £55 billion to help households and businesses with their energy bills, amongst the largest support plans in Europe. A typical household will save around £900 this winter through the price guarantee in addition to the £400 Energy Bill Support Scheme.
We are also spending £9.3 billion over the next five years on energy efficiency and clean heat, making homes easier and cheaper to heat. We will spend £26 billion in total on cost of living support next year, including the £900 cost of living payment for eight million poorer households.
We have also put in place the largest ever increase to the National Living Wage, for two million workers, taking it up to £10.42, which is worth over £1,600 a year to a full-time worker aged 23 and over.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
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 with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of encouraging (a) elderly and (b) vulnerable people to find a warm space when unable to travel due to weather conditions.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
The Government published The Cold Weather Plan for England Protecting health and reducing harm from cold weather advising on steps individuals, including pensioners and other vulnerable populations, can take to stay safe and well during cold weather. Decisions on provision of warm spaces are taken at a local level. The local government financial settlement in England for 2022/2023 invested £3.7 billion to councils in England, the majority of which allowing councils to determine local priorities.
There is also guidance to help people make decisions on and plan for travel during bad weather published by the Meteorological Office.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to (a) develop test infrastructure and (b) recruit testing staff to test patients for Alzheimer's disease to allow early diagnosis and treatment with Lecanemab.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources.
NICE has been asked by the Department to conduct an appraisal of lecanemab for treating early Alzheimer’s disease. The appraisal is anticipated to begin in late August 2023.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
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 Dementia Research Institute on the potential roll-out of Lecanemab to the NHS.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
I have held no discussions.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources.
NICE has been asked by the Department to conduct an appraisal of lecanemab for treating early Alzheimer’s disease. The appraisal is anticipated to begin in late August 2023.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide funding for the creation of tier four young peoples' hospitals outside of the South of England.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
We have confirmed funding to build 40 new hospitals, including two in Dorset which will deliver mental health services. We also launched a competition for a further eight hospitals, a proportion of which will be mental health hospitals. However, there are no plans for new hospitals specifically to deliver tier four children and adolescent mental health services.
NHS England commissions tier four children and adolescent mental health services from over 50 mental health providers, which operate within National Health Service and independent hospitals in England. There are no current plans to expand the provision of such services.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
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 trends in the level of diagnosis of personality disorders in (a) adults and (b) adolescents in the last five years.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
No specific assessment has been made. The ‘Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey: Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, England, 2014’ records the prevalence of and trends in personality disorders in those aged 18 to 64 years old. The Survey is available at the following link:
The next Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey is expected to commence in 2022, with the final report to be published in 2024.
The ‘Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2017’ survey provides estimates of the prevalence of specific disorders, including behavioural disorders for children and young people. These disorders are generally only diagnosed in children and young people and the presence in childhood is required for certain adult psychiatric diagnoses, such as antisocial personality disorder. The survey is available at the following link:
Mental Health of Children and Young People in England, 2017 [PAS] - NHS Digital
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is providing financial support for psychological and emotional treatment for Ukrainian refugees.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Leeds North West (Alex Sobel MP) on 9 June 2022 to Question 11851.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to increase support for emotional and mental health and wellbeing in primary schools.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
In 2021/22, we provided an additional £79 million to increase children’s mental health services, including expanding the availability of mental health support teams in schools and colleges. These teams now provide support in approximately 25% of the country and we aim for this to increase to more than 500 teams or 35% of pupils by 2023/24.
Mental health support teams integrate with existing measures, such as counselling, educational psychologists, school nurses, pastoral care, educational welfare officers, local authority provision and National Health Service children and young people’s mental health services. The Department for Education also provided more than £17 million in 2021/22 to increase existing mental health support in education settings. This includes £9.5 million to enable up to a third of schools and colleges to train a senior mental health lead, through the Government’s commitment to fund training for leads in all schools and colleges by 2025.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans to increase (a) research into and (b) treatment of personality disorders.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
Through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) we have funded or supported studies into the causes and treatments of personality disorder. This includes a study to evaluate dialectical behavioural therapy skills for employment for individuals with a personality disorder and a randomised controlled trial of structured psychological support for people with a personality disorder. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including personality disorder. The NIHR’s funding is available through open competition and we encourage researchers to submit applications in this area.
We will invest an additional £1 billion in community mental health care for adults with severe mental illness by 2023/24. This will allow a further 370,000 adults and older adults with severe mental illnesses, including personality disorders, greater choice and control over their care and to live well in their communities.