Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the total annual cost to public health expenditure of current air pollution levels in (a) England and (b) the UK.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The UK Health Security Agency estimates that between 2017 and 2025, the total cost to the National Health Service and social care from air pollution in England will be £1.60 billion for fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide combined. No recent estimate of the annual cost to public health expenditure of current air pollution levels in the United Kingdom has been made.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department is providing to suicide prevention organisations.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
In the last financial year, we provided £5.4 million to 113 voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations which offer help to people struggling with their mental health or thoughts of suicide.
We also provided £510,000 towards the Samaritans’ helpline for people experiencing distress.
This is in addition to the over £10 million we provided to voluntary and charitable mental health organisations in 2020/21.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
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 improve dementia diagnosis rates in England.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
In 2021/22 we allocated £17 million to specifically address dementia waiting lists and increase the number of diagnoses. This funding was made available to clinical commissioning groups in June 2021. In 2022/23, NHS England will provide funding to support general practitioners to pilot diagnostic approaches to increase the number of diagnoses. We will set out plans for dementia in England for the next 10 years later this year, which will include a focus on dementia diagnosis.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the trends in dementia diagnosis rates among (a) ethnic minority communities and (b) other groups; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
No formal assessment has been made. NHS England and NHS Improvement have commissioned the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ Dementia Intelligence Network to investigate the underlying variation in dementia diagnosis rates in specific areas in England. This investigation will include a focus on social and economic deprivation; rurality; demographic characteristics including age, ethnicity and educational attainment; and general health and life expectancy.
We will set out plans for dementia in England for the next 10 years later this year, which will include a focus on dementia diagnosis.