Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of maternity staff have completed cultural competence training in each NHS trust.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
This information is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her planned timescale is for rolling out the maternal morbidity indicator.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Department recognises the importance of monitoring near-misses and severe maternal morbidity, and continues to consider how a maternal morbidity indicator can be implemented. No timescales for a national rollout of the indicator have been set.
NHS England has developed 14 Maternal Medicine Networks (MMN) across England to ensure that all women with chronic and acute medical problems around pregnancy, for instance diabetes or heart disease, have access to specialist management and care from physicians and obstetrics, tackling the biggest contributors to maternal mortality. The Department is in the process of commissioning the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Policy Research Unit for Maternal and Neonatal Health, to undertake research into developing an MMN-specific maternal morbidity outcome indicator, and provide the prevalence of current morbidity as a baseline for ongoing monitoring.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
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 assess the effectiveness of the Maternity Disparities Taskforce.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Maternity Disparities Taskforce brings together experts from across the health system, the Government, and the voluntary sector to explore and consider evidence-based interventions to tackle disparities in maternity outcomes and experience.
The taskforce is currently focused on developing a targeted pre-pregnancy toolkit which will encourage healthy behaviours and planning for pregnancy, by supporting women to make informed choices about their health and wellbeing. Once rolled out, the toolkit will be assessed for effectiveness against its aims.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 12 of the Fifth Special Report of Session 2022–23 of the Women and Equalities Committee entitled Black maternal health: Government Response to the Committee’s Third Report, published on 30 June 2023, HC 1611, what the outcome was of the scoping exercise undertaking by NHS England on (a) the implications of co-ordinating the Maternal Health Disparities review and (b) assessing how to bring relevant stakeholders together.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The scoping work, to fully understand the implications of co-ordinating this review and determining the best way to bring the relevant stakeholders together, has not yet started.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the average length of time it takes for a person with Dementia to receive a completed care and support plan.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Information on the average length of time it takes for a person with dementia to receive a completed care and support plan is not collected centrally.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of funding for Admiral Nurses.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
No specific assessment has been made of the adequacy of funding for Admiral Nurses, who are developed and supported by Dementia UK as an independent charitable organisation. Provision of dementia health 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.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
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 relevant stakeholders on tackling shortages of Tegretol 100mg tablets.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
We were aware of a shortage of Tegretol (carbamazepine) 100mg tablets which has now been resolved. We issued communications to the National Health Service advising on use of alternative Tegretol preparations. We worked closely with the manufacturer to resolve the issue.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with (a) the Home Office and (b) relevant stakeholders on the supply of Zapain.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
We are aware of a supply disruption affecting Zapain. The Department is working with the manufacturer to resolve this issue as soon as possible.
The Department works closely with the Home Office and relevant authorities on supply issues concerning drugs controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. We, however, cannot comment on discussions relating to individual licence holders or prospective licensees about applications that may have been made to the Home Office.
We have well-established processes for managing and mitigating medicine supply issues, which involve working with the pharmaceutical industry, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, NHS England, the devolved governments and others operating in the supply chain to help ensure patients have access to the treatments they need.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of increases in service charges on care home residents, in the context of increases in the cost of energy.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
We recognise the pressures faced by the adult social care sector, including inflation and energy costs, and have made available up to £8.1 billion in additional funding over this year and next to support adult social care and discharge.
There continues to be specific energy support for those on non-domestic contracts, including businesses, charities and public sector organisations such as care homes. Through the Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) eligible non-domestic consumers will receive a per-unit discount to their energy bills from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, subject to a maximum discount.
The Government has not assessed the potential impact of increases in service charges on care home residents. Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the care needs of their populations.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Bromborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost of contracting NHS neurodevelopmental assessments to private providers; and whether he has had discussions with the NHS on the potential merits of conducting such tests via the NHS.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
NHS England does not collect cost information for neurodevelopmental assessments in its ledgers or system reporting.
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 neurodevelopmental assessments.
The NHS Constitution already gives patients the legal right to choose the provider and team who will provide their elective care. These rights extend to any provider in England who holds a contract with an ICB, or NHS England, for the service(s) the patient. This includes independent sector providers. Mental health, learning disability and autism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder services are already in scope of this legislation.