Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
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 that hospitals provide (a) (i) access to specialist support and (ii) appropriate medication management for people with Parkinson's disease and (c) staff training in Parkinson’s-specific needs.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has established a Neurology Transformation Programme, a multi-year, clinically led programme, which has developed a new model of integrated care to support integrated care boards (ICBs) to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients, including those with Parkinson’s. This focuses on providing access equitably across the country, care as close to home as possible, and early intervention to prevent illness and deterioration in patients with long-term neurological conditions. A toolkit is being developed to support ICBs to understand and implement this new model, which will include components on delivering acute neurology services, improving health equity in neurology, and improving community neurology services.
Hospital providers are responsible for ensuring that patients within hospital settings, including those with Parkinson’s, receive the appropriate medication on time, and that there are a variety of different mechanisms that can be used to support timely administration. These include:
Furthermore, NHS England is leading the Medicines Safety Improvement Programme, as part of the wider NHS Patient Safety Strategy. A focus on time critical medicines has been agreed as a priority for this programme and work is underway involving 80 NHS trusts, with 48 of them receiving active support for innovation and improvement.
The Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan which will ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it, including for patients with Parkinson’s.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
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 tackle the challenges that medical graduates face in securing positions within medical specialty training programmes.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to training the staff we need to ensure that patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it.
We will ensure that the number of medical specialty training places meets the demands of the National Health Service in the future. NHS England will work with stakeholders to ensure that any growth is sustainable and focused in the service areas where need is greatest.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
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 merits of mandating the installation of defibrillators in all (a) visitor attractions and (b) entertainment venues in the UK that accommodate over a specified number of visitors annually.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made and there are no plans to mandate the installation of defibrillators at such locations, in light of the rapid expansion of automated external defibrillators across the United Kingdom.
There are now over 100,000 defibrillators in the UK registered on The Circuit, which represents an increase of 30,000 since September 2023. 58.6% of the over 100,000 defibrillators are accessible on a 24/7 basis.
The Circuit is operated independently by the British Heart Foundation, in partnership with the Resuscitation Council UK, the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, and the National Health Service.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to ensure that thalidomide survivors have effective representation in negotiations with Diageo on long-term (a) assistance and (b) compensation.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is a Deed of Covenant agreed between Diageo plc and the Thalidomide Trust, which is subject to periodic review by both parties, with beneficiary representatives involved in the process. The Department has no role in these periodic reviews.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support he provides for the (a) health and (b) wellbeing needs of thalidomide survivors.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Thalidomide Health Grant is awarded to meet the health and wellbeing needs, present and future, of thalidomide survivors living in England.
In 2023, the Department put in place a new four-year grant agreement with the Thalidomide Trust, to administer the grant of approximately £40 million. The grant was made in recognition of the complex and highly specialised needs of people affected by thalidomide in England, particularly as they approach old age. The funding helps beneficiaries of the Thalidomide Trust to maintain control over their own health, enabling them to personalise the way their health and care needs are met, maintain independence, and minimise any further deterioration in their health.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many dentists have been recruited under the Dental recruitment incentive scheme in (a) Suffolk Coastal constituency, (b) Suffolk and (c) the East of England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Within the Suffolk and Northeast Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB), three dentists have been recruited, although none of these are within the Suffolk coastal constituency. In the East of England in total, 11 dentists have been recruited under the dental recruitment scheme. The ICBs continue to work with practices in their area to support recruitment to these posts.
This recruitment incentive will see up to 240 dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most, for three years.
Asked by: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Labour - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to improve (a) the support, (b) provision of services and (c) health care plans for people with dementia in the next five years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Diagnosis is vital in getting people the support they need. To support recovery of the dementia diagnosis rates and implementation of the Dementia Care Pathway, NHS England has funded an evidence-based improvement project for two trusts in each region, 14 sites in total, to pilot tools to improve the diagnosis of dementia and the provision of support in care homes.
The provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). NHS England would expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidelines, and to work closely with the third sector in their geographical area to offer appropriate services.
To improve care for patients with dementia, NHS England's RightCare team is refreshing the RightCare Dementia Scenario and developing a dementia model pathway to provide a high-level view of what dementia care activity looks like for local areas. This will aid targeted support where appropriate.