Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether they can publish the (a) members list and (b) terms of reference for the nine regional statutory joint committees responsible for commissioning specialised services that cover (i) North East, (ii) West Midlands, (iii) East Midlands, (iv) South West, (v) East, (vi) London, (vii) North West, (viii) Yorkshire and The Humber, and (ix) South East.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In December 2023, the NHS England Board approved plans to delegate the commissioning of the same 59 specialised services to integrated care boards (ICBs), rather than joint committees, in the East, the Midlands, and the North West regions of England, from April 2024. Any relevant joint committees will have delegated responsibility for commissioning specialised services up until this point. More information about the plans is available at the following link:
NHS England also approved plans for joint committees to commission appropriate specialised services in the South West, South East, London and the North East and Yorkshire regions of England for 2024/25. This will help support a smooth transition of commissioning responsibility by April 2025.
The committees are in various stages of development, with some winding up for April 2024 and others becoming established to commission specialised services from April 2025. The Department does not currently plan to publish terms of reference for these committees. The attached document shows a list of joint committees and members, for the commissioning of delegated services.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to improve the mental health and wellbeing of people working in the construction industry.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Through the NHS Long Term Plan, the Government is providing record levels of investment, and increasing the mental health workforce, to expand and transform the mental health services provided by the National Health Service. Between 2018/19 and 2023/24, NHS spending on mental health is forecast to have increased by £4.6 billion, compared to the target of £3.4 billion, as set out at the time of the Long Term Plan’s publishing.
Additionally, as announced at the Autumn Statement, we are investing £795 million of additional funding, which will increase the number of sessions per course of Talking Therapies treatment and broaden access, leading to an expected additional 384,000 people completing a course of treatment by 2028/29. It will also fund an additional 100,000 Individual Placement and Support places over five years, which will help people with severe mental illness gain and retain paid employment.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she is taking steps to help reduce the number of suicides of construction workers.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Suicide Prevention Strategy for England, published September 2023, sets out over 100 actions that will reduce the suicide rate within two and a half years. It is a multi-sector and cross-Government suicide strategy, with actions from a wide range of organisations that will be delivered over the next few years. It seeks to address common risk factors linked to suicide at a population level, some of which will be factors relevant to construction workers, to provide early intervention and tailored support.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many multiple myeloma patients have been treated with isatuximab in combination with pomalidomide and dexamethasone under the Cancer Drugs Fund; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of loss of access to this therapy on patients.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Isatuximab, in combination with pomalidomide and dexamethasone, has been available via the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) since October 2020. To date, 1,703 patients have been registered to start treatment.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently updating its guidance on the use of isatuximab, taking into account evidence generated on its use through the CDF. The NICE has not yet published final guidance.
NHS England has been working closely with the manufacturer Sanofi to reach an agreement that will enable access to isatuximab for future patients, in combination with pomalidomide and dexamethasone, for relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma. Access to treatment for existing patients who will have already started treatment will not be affected by the outcome of the NICE’s appraisal.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to tackle levels of PTSD among veterans.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Health is a devolved matter across the United Kingdom, and it is for the devolved administrations to determine what support is made available in their respective jurisdictions.
NHS England have commissioned Op COURAGE, which is the veterans’ mental health and wellbeing service providing a comprehensive mental health treatment pathway to respond to veterans’ needs. The Government has increased investment in this area with a planned spend of £23.5 million in 2023/24. Access to Op COURAGE is via referral or by direct contact from veterans. A campaign to raise awareness of Op COURAGE launched on 9 January 2024.
In the Autumn Statement in 2023, the Government announced an additional £10 million to support the Veterans’ Places, People and Pathways Programme to increase support to a significant community of vulnerable veterans throughout the UK, and enable it to become self-sustaining.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle male suicide.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Suicide Prevention Strategy for England, published on 11 September 2023, is a cross-Government strategy with over 100 actions that we believe will reduce the suicide rate within five years, with initial reductions observed within two and a half years. We have identified middle-aged men as a priority group within the strategy, and many of the actions will support suicide prevention in men by addressing the common risk factors for this group, such as a history of drug or alcohol misuse, family or relationships problems, and social isolation and loneliness. We have worked across departments to develop this strategy and will continue to do so, in order to deliver the actions within it.
In addition, on 23 August 2023 we launched a £10 million Suicide Prevention Grant Fund to support voluntary community and social enterprise organisations in England in meeting the demand for their services to support people experiencing suicidal thoughts, or approaching a mental health crisis. Applications were encouraged from charities to support middle-aged men and other groups of concern. The fund will run to March 2025, and we expect to start making this funding available to successful applicants very soon.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of trends in the number of incidences of sepsis in the last five years.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department and NHS England do not hold information centrally on the incidences of sepsis, and have made no assessment of the trends. There is a lack of reliable estimates of the incidence and prevalence of sepsis due to a lack of consistency in the definitions used to describe sepsis, and differences in coding between professionals and organisations. Despite this, the focus on sepsis in recent years means there is now much better awareness and improved clinical recognition of sepsis symptoms.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) does publish data on the number of death registrations where sepsis is mentioned anywhere on the death certificate in England and Wales between 2001 and 2022, as the data for 2023 has yet to be published. The following table shows the number of deaths registered where sepsis was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate in England and Wales in each of the last five years:
Year | Number of Deaths |
2018 | 23,185 |
2019 | 21,458 |
2020 | 19,324 |
2021 | 21,947 |
2022 | 25,542 |
The Department works with NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency to monitor sepsis death data. It is difficult to attribute the increase in the number of deaths registered where sepsis was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate from 2020 to 2022 to a single cause, as the incidences of infection and reasons for acute deterioration are complex and multifactorial. It is also possible that the increase reflects a greater awareness of sepsis and improved coding and recording of deaths due to sepsis.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle (a) health inequalities and (b) social deprivation for people with (i) asthma and (ii) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is undertaking several actions related to the causes of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and to tackle health inequalities and social deprivation faced by people with those conditions.
Firstly, the Government is undertaking a comprehensive review of how we communicate air quality information to ensure members of the public, and vulnerable groups in particular, have the information they need to protect themselves and understand their impact on air quality. This review is being undertaken by the Air Quality Information Systems steering group, with the group’s recommendations being published in summer of 2024.
Furthermore, the Government is committed to reducing air pollution from all forms of transport, including PM2.5, the most harmful pollutant to human health. The Environmental Improvement Plan sets out transport measures that will help reduce emissions of air pollutants as we approach a decarbonised transport system. Our transport decarbonisation plan will deliver improved air quality from reduced tailpipe emissions as we move towards a fully electrified vehicle fleet. Alongside this, we are investing in cutting-edge research to understand how to better measure and control brake and tyre emissions, including from zero tailpipe emission vehicles.
The Government also has a wide range of initiatives to support disabled people and people with health conditions to start, stay and succeed in work. These include work to further join up employment and health systems, including rolling out Employment Advice in NHS Talking Therapies, expanding the Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care initiative, and reforming Occupational Health provision.
Finally, the NHS England’s Core20Plus5 approach has been developed to support integrated care systems to reduce inequalities. The approach focuses on improving cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory, maternity and mental health outcomes in the poorest 20% of the population, along with ethnic minorities and inclusion health groups.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of people diagnosed with Alzheimer's in the last 10 years.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Whilst no formal assessment has been made, we know that the number of people with dementia has increased. The latest dementia diagnosis rate reported by NHS England for the end of January 2024 was 64.4%.
A table showing the number of people with a primary diagnosis of Alzheimer’s each year from 2016 to 2023, as data is not available before 2016, broken down by the type and stage of the diagnosis is attached.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people aged under 18 have been prescribed medicinal cannabis as of 19 February 2024.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold details relating to the age of people prescribed medicinal cannabis.