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 recent discussions her Department has had with relevant stakeholders on the proposed generational ban on tobacco products.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Smoking is responsible for around 80,000 deaths a year in the United Kingdom and causes around one in four cancer deaths in the UK. It also costs our country £17 billion a year and puts a huge burden on the National Health Service.
This is why the Government is planning to create a smokefree generation by bringing forward legislation so that children turning 14 years old this year or younger will never be legally sold tobacco products.
In development of this policy, we have, and will continue to, speak to a broad range of local and regional stakeholders. In line with the UK’s obligations under the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, we will not engage with stakeholders who have links to the tobacco industry when developing this policy.
A public consultation on the Smokefree Generation policies closed on 6 December and received contributions from a broad range of stakeholders. The Department of Health and Social Care will respond to the consultation in the coming weeks.
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 improve survival rates for people with pancreatic cancer.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is already delivering a range of interventions that are expected to increase early diagnosis and improve outcomes for those with pancreatic cancer, therefore no additional steps are being taken by the Department. NHS England’s work includes providing a route into pancreatic cancer surveillance for those at inherited high-risk to identify lesions before they develop into cancer and diagnose cancers sooner. This creates new pathways to support faster referral routes for people with non-specific symptoms that could be linked to a range of cancer types, and increasing general practitioner direct access to diagnostic tests. NHS England have formed an expert group to consider a pathway for Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary cancers, including pancreatic cancer.
NHS England is also funding a new audit into pancreatic cancer to provide regular and timely evidence to cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, to increase the consistency of access to treatments and to stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients. In addition to this, the Getting it Right First-Time team in NHS England is undertaking a deep dive into pancreatic cancer, which will highlight actions NHS providers need to take to improve services, as well as gathering examples of good practice to share.
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 encourage early screening for kidney disease.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is no national population screening programme for kidney disease. The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has previously examined the evidence on this condition, but did not recommend it, due to limited evidence.
However, the committee is always keen to see any high-quality new research. Suggestions for new topics for the UK NSC to look at as part of its annual call can be made from July 2024. More information is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-nsc-annual-call-submitting-a-screening-proposal
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.