Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
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 increase the amount of used medical equipment that is recycled.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
As set out in the Delivering a ‘Net Zero’ National Health Service report, published in October 2020, the NHS is committed to reducing its environmental impact, including by cutting its carbon emissions and increasing the reuse and recycling of medical equipment. This commitment is then applied locally, considering local priorities, through local Green Plans. NHS England also collaborates with NHS Supply Chain to increase availability of reusable products and supports local NHS organisations through the publication of guidance and resources to help with implementing changes.
As an example, the NHS has set out ambitions to expand existing walking aid refurbishment schemes. Arrangements for the return and reuse of walking aids are managed locally, to be adapted to the local context, and several NHS trusts already have local return and reuse schemes with over 200 return sites now featured on the Recycle Now website.
NHS England is supporting local NHS organisations to increase walking aid return rates, with initiatives including running a national walking aid return campaign as part of recycling week between 16 and 22 October 2023; providing guidance to trusts on setting up or enhancing reuse schemes and planning communication activities; providing visual material to help communicate locally about the schemes in a consistent way; and directly supporting trusts with their pilot schemes.
Regarding further equipment types, improving resource efficiency forms a key part of the Government’s Medical Technology Strategy, published in February 2023, where we are working with industry, the health and care sector, and academic partners to improve the extent to which we reuse, remanufacture, and recycle many different medical equipment types.
Currently, the Department do not hold centralised data on the proportion of all used medical equipment that is recycled.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of used medical equipment was recycled in each of the last three years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
As set out in the Delivering a ‘Net Zero’ National Health Service report, published in October 2020, the NHS is committed to reducing its environmental impact, including by cutting its carbon emissions and increasing the reuse and recycling of medical equipment. This commitment is then applied locally, considering local priorities, through local Green Plans. NHS England also collaborates with NHS Supply Chain to increase availability of reusable products and supports local NHS organisations through the publication of guidance and resources to help with implementing changes.
As an example, the NHS has set out ambitions to expand existing walking aid refurbishment schemes. Arrangements for the return and reuse of walking aids are managed locally, to be adapted to the local context, and several NHS trusts already have local return and reuse schemes with over 200 return sites now featured on the Recycle Now website.
NHS England is supporting local NHS organisations to increase walking aid return rates, with initiatives including running a national walking aid return campaign as part of recycling week between 16 and 22 October 2023; providing guidance to trusts on setting up or enhancing reuse schemes and planning communication activities; providing visual material to help communicate locally about the schemes in a consistent way; and directly supporting trusts with their pilot schemes.
Regarding further equipment types, improving resource efficiency forms a key part of the Government’s Medical Technology Strategy, published in February 2023, where we are working with industry, the health and care sector, and academic partners to improve the extent to which we reuse, remanufacture, and recycle many different medical equipment types.
Currently, the Department do not hold centralised data on the proportion of all used medical equipment that is recycled.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
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 reduce waiting times for (a) diagnosis of and (b) care for people with endometriosis.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
We are investing £25 million in women’s health hubs, so that women can get better access to care for menstrual problems, including for women with suspected or diagnosed endometriosis. Women’s health hubs will play a key role in improving care for common gynaecological and urogynaecological conditions, with care for endometriosis outlined as a core service within the women’s health hubs.
Community diagnostic centres (CDCs) also play an important part in tackling the backlogs of people waiting for diagnostic tests, which includes checks, tests, and scans for patients on gynaecological pathways, including those with endometriosis. As of October 2023, there are 135 CDCs currently operational which have delivered over five million additional tests since July 2021.
The elective recovery plan set clear ambitions to eliminate long waits for planned National Health Service treatment. The overall vision is to eradicate waits of longer than a year for elective care by March 2025. We are making good progress on tackling the longest waits; in July 2022 the NHS virtually eliminated waits of over two years and have since worked hard to reduce the number of patients waiting more than 18 months by over 90%, since the September 2021 peak.
The NHS will triage patients waiting for elective care, including surgeries, through three key stages. Firstly, through clinical prioritisation, ensuring the order in which patients are seen reflects clinical judgement on need. Secondly, by targeting those waiting the longest, and thirdly by increasing the number of cancer referrals, ensuring those patients who have not yet presented to services are included.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
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 an assessment of the level of awareness of endometriosis among doctors.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Women’s Health Strategy sets out our ambitions for all healthcare professionals to be well informed about women’s health, and supported to provide women with the best care possible.
Women’s health is a core competency for general practitioners (GPs) and is included in the Royal College of General Practitioners’ (RCGP) curriculum for trainee GPs. The RCGP has developed a ‘Women’s Health Library’, which brings together educational resources and guidelines on women’s health topics including on endometriosis.
The General Medical Council will introduce the Medical Licensing Assessment from the academic year 2024/2025. This includes women’s health topics such as endometriosis, encouraging a better understanding of endometriosis for doctors starting their careers.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
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 the adequacy of mental health support for people with endometriosis.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
We are investing at least £2.3 billion of additional funding a year by March 2024 compared to 2018/19 to expand and transform mental health services in England so that two million more people including those with endometriosis can get the mental health support that they need.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline on endometriosis recognises that endometriosis can have a significant physical, sexual, psychological, and social impact and that people with endometriosis may have complex needs and require long-term support. NICE currently recommends assessment of the individual support needs of people with suspected of confirmed endometriosis, considering their circumstances, symptoms, priorities, desire for fertility, aspects of daily living, work and study, cultural background, and their physical, psychosexual and emotional needs.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
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 the impact of the number of anaesthesia associates on the quality of care.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP), which was published on 30 June 2023, sets out an expansion of new and extended roles to increase the breadth of skills within multidisciplinary teams, better meet the needs of patients, their families and unpaid carers, and enable more care to be delivered in primary and community settings. The National Health Service is determined to continue to invest in training opportunities and the development of career paths for the whole workforce. The LTWP set out that training places for anaesthesia associates (AAs) will increase to 250 by 2028/29. This will support our ambition to increase places to 280 a year by 2031/32.
We strongly recommend that employers only consider recruiting AAs who are on the AA Managed Voluntary Register (MVR) which is currently held by the Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCoA). It enables supervisors and employers to check whether an individual is qualified and safe to work in the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of mental health support provision inside Pentonville Prison.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Mental health services at HMP Pentonville are continuously assessed through peer review, quality visits by the healthcare provider Practice Plus Group in conjunction with NHS England (London Region) and internal auditing procedures. Quarterly assurance meetings take place between NHS England and Practice Plus Group.
Mental health services at the prison were revised as part of New Models of Care in 2022, a pan London remodelling of prison healthcare services with the aim of improving patient safety, enhancing responsiveness to patient need and ensuring that services available met the needs of patients in prison. The New Models of Care have been fully embedded into the new healthcare contract at HMP Pentonville, which commenced in May 2023.
In addition, the prison had a full HM Inspectorate of Prisons and Care Quality Commission inspection in July 2022 which made one recommendation in respect of mental health waiting times for initial assessment. A subsequent Independent Review of Progress visit in March 2023 found that reasonable progress had been made against this recommendation.
The healthcare team at HMP Pentonville has a dedicated patient engagement lead who conducts regular patient focus groups to gain an understanding of the views of the patient group, in respect to quality and availability of services. In addition, User Voice were commissioned by NHS England in August 2023, to undertake a patient focus group specifically around mental health services in HMP Pentonville, to enhance the current understanding of the experiences of people using mental health services in the prison and to identify areas where further improvement could be made.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase awareness of maternity exemption certificates amongst (a) NHS staff and (b) pregnant women.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
We promote maternity exemption certificates to professionals and patients to ensure both groups are aware of the entitlement. Healthcare professionals, such as midwives and general practitioners (GPs), apply for maternity exemption certificates on behalf of the patient and ensure that individuals are aware of the entitlement. We are working with NHS Business Services Authority on communications to ensure that midwives, GPs and other Health Care Partitioners are aware of their obligation and information is provided to expectant mothers. The certificates are also promoted through social media, online resources, media releases and through healthcare bulletins.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it remains his policy to publish the 10-year plan for dementia before the end of the calendar year.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
We are reviewing plans for dementia in England and further information will be available in due course.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Women’s Health Ambassador has accountability for the delivery of the commitments outlined in the Women’s Health Strategy.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Women’s Health Ambassador for England is an independent advisor and does not have accountability for the delivery of the commitments in the Women’s Health Strategy. The Ambassador’s role is to raise the profile of women’s health, addressing stigmas which surround specific women’s health topics and collaborating with stakeholders to support implementation of the Strategy.