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 her timetable is for the rollout of Endo Barriers on the NHS.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The implantation of a duodenal–jejunal bypass liner, also known as an endo barrier, for managing type 2 diabetes, is not recommended by the NICE, and therefore not available on the National Health Service. Current evidence on the safety and efficacy of the device for managing type 2 diabetes is limited in quality and quantity. For this reason, the NICE recommends that the procedure should only be done as part of a research study. Further information on the NICE guidelines is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ipg518/chapter/1-Recommendations
The NICE may update the guidance, upon publication of further evidence. The NICE recommends that people with type 2 diabetes receive eight care processes at least annually, to support them to achieve three treatment targets to prevent diabetes related complications. The care processes include checks on blood glucose and body mass index, to support weight management. Delivery of all eight care processes is associated with reduced emergency admissions, amputations, and retinopathy. NHS England commissions two national lifestyle services to support adults with type 2 diabetes to manage their weight and improve their health and wellbeing. These are the NHS Digital Weight Management Programme and the NHS Type 2 Diabetes Path to Remission Programme. The NICE guidance for the care and management for adults with type 2 diabetes is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng28
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the border between the UK and Republic of Ireland is secure against the passage malign foreign actors.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
We continue a high level of cooperation on border security with Ireland; working closely together to identify and tackle those who seek to abuse arrangements from entering the Common Travel Area.
Schedule 3 to the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019 allows a Counter-Terrorism Police Officer to stop, question and, when necessary, detain and search, individuals and goods travelling through UK ports and the “border area” for the purpose of determining whether the person (or the goods) appears to be someone who is, or has been, engaged in hostile activity.
In Northern Ireland, a place is within the “border area” if it is no more than one mile from the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland or it is the first place at which a train travelling from the Republic of Ireland stops to let passengers off.
Individuals who seek to abuse the Common Travel Area arrangements are liable to be detained, and if unlawfully entering the UK, removed.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had recent discussions with his Azerbaijani counterpart on (a) the preservation of Christian religious sites in Nagorno-Karabakh, (b) regulations on religious practice and (c) other protections for Christians from repression and intimidation in that country.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
We are clear that the preservation of religious and cultural sites in the region is an important issue and we take seriously reports of the destruction of churches and other sites of religious significance in both Armenia and Azerbaijan as a result of their long-running conflict. The UK is committed to standing up for Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) globally. British Embassies in Yerevan and Baku have raised the need to protect such sites with the Armenian and Azerbaijani Governments consistently and at the most senior levels.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Bank of England on bank rates.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Monetary policy is the responsibility of the independent Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England. This includes decisions on the Bank Rate.
The Treasury meet with the Bank of England regularly to discuss their assessment of the economy and financial services. This includes regular meetings between the Chancellor and the Governor of the Bank of England.
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 increase public awareness of links between heart disease in women and alcohol consumption.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Health Check is England’s cardiovascular disease prevention programme. It aims to prevent heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and kidney disease, and some cases of dementia among adults aged 40 to 74 years old. Each year the programme engages over one million people, including women, and prevents approximately 400 heart attacks or strokes. The provision of an alcohol risk assessment, and brief advice about alcohol harm, is a requirement in the NHS Health Check. The guidance to practitioners sets out that people identified as drinking at higher-risk levels should be referred for a liver check, as recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. In addition, the United Kingdom’s Chief Medical Officer’s Low risk drinking guidelines and National Health Service guidance highlight that alcohol use is a risk factor for heart disease.
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 increase public awareness of the potential merits of regular exercise in reducing the effects of insomnia.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Being active can help prevent and manage chronic conditions and diseases, including coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, obesity, cancer, depression, and musculoskeletal conditions. It is also important for a range of other things, including energy balance, to maintain a healthy body weight, cognitive functioning, and sleep.
Our current focus is supporting people who are the most inactive to become more active, as this is where the greatest health gains can be achieved. This includes promoting easy and fun ways to get active through the Better Health social marketing campaign, including Couch to 5k, and Active 10 apps.
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 her Department is taking to help reduce waiting times for an ADHD diagnosis on the NHS for children.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. NICE guidelines for ADHD diagnosis and management aim to improve the diagnosis of ADHD, and the quality of care and support people receive. The NICE guidelines do not recommend a maximum waiting time standard for ADHD diagnosis, either from referral for an assessment to receiving an assessment, a diagnosis, or a first contact appointment.
We know that children and young people often seek an ADHD diagnosis through Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. Through the NHS Long Term plan, the Government is investing record amounts into children and young people’s mental health services.
There is, at present, no single, established dataset that can be used to monitor waiting times for assessment or treatment for ADHD nationally. The Department is exploring options to improve data collection and reporting on ADHD assessment waiting times, to help improve access to ADHD assessments in a timely way, and in line with the NICE guideline. In support of this, the National Institute for Health and Care Research Policy Research Programme has commissioned a research project to provide insights into local ADHD diagnosis waiting time data collection.
NHS England is establishing a new ADHD taskforce alongside the Government, to improve care for people living with the condition. The new taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the National Health Service, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, and help provide a joined-up approach in response to concerns around rising demand for assessments and support.
Alongside the work of the taskforce, NHS England has announced that it will continue to work with stakeholders to develop a national ADHD data improvement plan, carry out more detailed work to understand the provider and commissioning landscape, and capture examples from local health systems who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services to ensure best practice is captured and shared across the system.
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 her Department (a) has taken and (b) plans to take steps to (a) monitor the incidence of depression among stroke survivors and (b) improve interventions to enhance (i) aftercare and (ii) quality of life for those people.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Depression affects approximately one third of people with stroke, and stroke services in the National Health Service are very aware of the impact this can have on the quality of life and level of independence of people who experienced a stroke, and the importance of understanding through measurement which people are affected, to support appropriate management.
The National Clinical Guideline for Stroke 2023 recommends that people with stroke should be routinely screened for anxiety and depression using standardised tools, the results of which should be used alongside other sources of information to inform clinical formulation of treatment and support needs.
The latest published Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme (SSNAP) data, from October to December 2023, showed that 92.4% of stroke patients were screened for mood disturbances, including depression, in hospital. 75% of stroke patients who were followed up at six months post stroke also had a mood screen, with 53% of patients receiving the psychological support needed.
NHS England is driving implementation of the National Service Model for an Integrated Community Stroke Service (ICSS) with a number of specific projects aimed at improving delivery of psychological rehabilitation. The ICSS model is vital to support psychological recovery, return to work, and improved quality of life. From July 2024, the SSNAP will record the amount of psychological rehabilitation provided to patients, and measure changes in quality of life over time.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of secondary school trainee teachers of (a) physics, (b) chemistry, (c) foreign languages, (d) religious education, (e) mathematics and (f) computing have been recruited to begin training in Autumn 2024.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Departmental targets for 2024/25 postgraduate initial teacher training (PGITT) were calculated by the Teacher Workforce Model (TWM) and include recruitment to High Potential ITT (HPITT) which is a two year employment-based ITT programme attracting high performing graduates and career changers who are unlikely to have otherwise joined the profession. The targets are calculated to replace all teachers expected to leave the workforce in 2025/26, and the working hours lost from teachers that will reduce their teaching hours between years. PGITT is only one of many routes into the teacher workforce, all of which are considered when calculating targets. Other routes include undergraduate university courses, Assessment Only (AO), the upcoming teacher degree apprenticeship, returners, new to the state-funded sector entrants, and newly qualified entrants that defer entry into the profession (deferrers).
Further information may be found in the following publication: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/postgraduate-initial-teacher-training-targets.
Departmental targets are for 23,955 secondary teacher trainees to start their initial teacher training (ITT) in autumn 2024, including HPITT trainees. As of last month, there have been 7,618 acceptances to postgraduate secondary courses in England (excluding HPITT acceptances).
Acceptance figures exclude HPITT acceptances as this data is not published. It is expected that more candidates will be recruited in the final four months of the cycle. Therefore, although acceptance figures provide a better indication of the number of teacher trainees starting training in Autumn 2024, they are not directly comparable to TWM trainee targets.
The physics TWM trainee target is 2,250 (incl. HPITT) and currently there have been 554 acceptances (excl. HPITT).
The chemistry TWM trainee target is 1,220 (incl. HPITT) and currently there have been 314 acceptances (excl. HPITT).
The modern foreign languages TWM trainee target is 2,540 (incl. HPITT) and currently there have been 622 acceptances (excl. HPITT).
The religious education TWM trainee target is 580 (incl. HPITT) and currently there have been 198 acceptances (excl. HPITT).
The mathematics TWM trainee target is 3,065 (incl. HPITT) and currently there have been 1,001 acceptances (excl. HPITT).
The computing TWM trainee target is 1,330 (incl. HPITT) and currently there have been 202 acceptances (excl. HPITT).
One of the department’s top priorities is to ensure that it continues to attract and retain high-quality teachers. The department is investing in attracting the best teachers where they are needed the most, through its teaching marketing campaign, support services for prospective trainees, and financial incentives package including bursaries worth up to £28,000 and scholarships worth up to £30,000. The department’s in-house teacher recruitment journey and associated digital services are generating new real-time data and insight to drive innovation. For example, the department has now rolled out an ITT course specifically designed to support more engineers to teach physics.
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 discussions she has had with her counterparts in the devolved administrations on ensuring (a) a consistent approach and (b) the applicability of the NHS National Review to ADHD services.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has regular discussions on a wide range of matters, with a wide range of people. NHS England is establishing a new attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) taskforce alongside the Government, to improve care for people living with the condition. The new taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the National Health Service, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, and help provide a joined-up approach in response to concerns around rising demand for assessments and support. NHS England will continue to engage widely throughout the process, and will engage with the devolved administrations as appropriate.