Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 28 March 2022 to Question 125391 on Bunzl Healthcare: Protective clothing, how much his Department spent on its legal costs for the judicial review in relation to the contract awarded by his Department to Bunzl Healthcare in April 2020.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In total, as of the end of October 2023, the Department has spent £915,071, excluding VAT, in relation to the judicial review regarding the contract awarded by the department to Bunzl Healthcare in April 2020.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people are employed in equality, diversity and inclusion roles by NHS England.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England, Health Education England, and NHS Digital have legally merged into the new NHS England. NHS England is still in the process of completing the merger. As part of the merger, NHS England has cut the number of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) posts by more than a third. The remaining posts help the National Health Service meet its legal duties set out for public bodies in the Equality Act 2010, through the public sector equality duty and the principles that guide the NHS Constitution. Areas include discrimination against disabled staff and sexual safety of staff.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department is taking steps to work with Dementia UK to increase the number of Admiral nurses.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local Integrated Care Boards (ICBs). NHS England would expect ICBs to commission services, which may include Admiral Nurses, based on local population needs. “The Dementia Care Pathway: Full implementation guidance”, was commissioned by NHS England. This document urges commissioners to engage in local system leadership and develop an improvement agenda jointly with key partners including health and social care providers, local government and the voluntary sector with the aim of improving the health and wellbeing of the whole population. The Department is not taking any specific steps to increase the number of Admiral Nurses, who are developed and supported by Dementia UK as an independent charitable organisation.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 support people with dementia in rural areas.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision of dementia care services. NHS England expects ICBs to commission services based on local population needs.
NHS England has commissioned the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities Dementia Intelligence Network to investigate the underlying variation in dementia diagnosis rates. This includes the assessment of underlying population characteristics such as rurality and socio-economic deprivation. The aim of this work is to provide context for variation and enable targeted investigation and provision of support at a local level to enhance diagnosis rates.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 help support the (a) mental health and (b) well-being of veterans' families.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
All members of the Armed Forces Community, including veterans’ families, can access mainstream mental health support services in the National Health Service. The Government is investing at least an additional £2.3 billion a year, as part of the NHS Long Term Plan, in expanding and transforming NHS mental health services by 2023/24. This will allow an extra two million people to get the NHS-funded mental health support they need.
In addition, NHS England has commissioned eight Op COMMUNITY pilots within NHS integrated care systems to provide a single point of contact based in local integrated care systems for Armed Forces community families and help support those who have recently moved into the area and need to transfer their care. This includes support to access mental health services.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 provide proactive mental health support to veterans.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
NHS England has several bespoke services and initiatives to meet the needs of our Armed Forces community including Op COURAGE, the Veterans Mental Health, and Wellbeing Service, which provides a comprehensive mental health care pathway for veterans.
NHS England commissioned Op COURAGE in April 2023 which is the integrated veterans’ mental health and wellbeing service, replacing the previously three separate services of Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service, the Complex Treatment Service, and the High Intensity Service. Access to Op COURAGE is via referral or by direct contact from veterans. The integrated Op COURAGE service has received over 3,500 referrals since it started in April 2023.
The Government is providing 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 United Kingdom and enable it to become self-sustaining.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps NHS England is taking to increase availability of palliative care services.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning palliative and end of life services that meet the needs of their population according to local prioritisation and funding. As part of the Health and Care Act 2022, palliative care services were specifically added to the list of services an ICB must commission. This will ensure a more consistent national approach and support commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care.
NHS England has published statutory guidance for ICBs to support their commissioning of high-quality, accessible palliative and end of life care for all. The guidance addresses health inequalities in palliative and end of life care by improving equity of access and reducing inequity in outcomes and experience. This includes the completion of an Equalities and Health Inequalities Impact Assessment and action plan.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 financially support children's hospices.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the commissioning of end of life and palliative care services, including for children and young people, to meet the reasonable needs of their local populations. As part of the Health and Care Act 2022, palliative care services were specifically added to the list of services that an ICB must commission. Hospices are largely independent charitable organisations which may receive some funding from ICBs for delivering services in the National Health Service.
In June 2023, NHS England confirmed that it would be renewing the Children and Young People’s Hospice Grant for 2024/25, once again allocating £25 million grant funding for children’s hospices in England. NHS England will communicate further details regarding the process for the grant allocations later this year.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make a comparative estimate of breast cancer survival rates in (a) the UK and (b) other comparable nations in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no such plans to make a comparative assessment. Cancer survival is measured in cohorts, so the 2010 comparison point uses the 2006-10 cohort, compared to the latest available data which reflects the 2016-20 cohort. In England, breast cancer net survival rate for the 2016-20 cohort one year after diagnosis was 96.1% compared to 94.4% for the 2006-10 cohort. The five-year survival rate was 85.9% for the 2016-20 cohort compared to 83.2% for the 2006-10 cohort.
The Department has undertaken analyses previously, especially of comparative cancer survival rates and contributors to variations between different countries. However, the different factors and methods used in such analyses are very complex and subject to interpretation of issues such as public health, risk factors, and patient pathways.
An example of this can be seen in the Department’s evidence to the Health and Social Care Select Committee Inquiry into cancer services, submitted and published in September 2021. More information is available at the following link:
https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/39021/pdf/
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to publish a long-term cancer strategy for England.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 24 January 2023, the Government announced that it will publish a Major Conditions Strategy, spanning six major conditions including cancer. This will focus on delivering better, joined-up and holistic care to address the needs of patients, rather than focusing on one illness at a time.