Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Section 180 of the Health & Care Act 2022, when he plans to introduce a licensing regime for aesthetic and cosmetic procedures.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Government is committed to improving the safety of cosmetic procedures by ensuring that the regulatory framework allows consumers to make informed and safe choices. As part of this work, officials have been considering how a future licensing scheme for non-surgical cosmetic procedures in England might be implemented.
Any future licensing requirements would be subject to both stakeholder engagement and public consultation and we plan to publish a first consultation on the scope of the treatments to be included within the scheme later this year. No timetable has yet been set for implementation.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans for the National Screening Committee to review their decision on screening for Sudden Cardiac Arrest; and what discussions he has had that Committee on a cardiac screening test for children and young people.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) is due to review the evidence to screen for conditions associated with sudden cardiac death (SCD) in the young in 2023/24. In March this year Ministers discussed the next review on SCD with UK NSC Chair and secretariat, what evidence gaps still remain and how these might be addressed. Researchers and stakeholders are encouraged to have their work in SCD peer reviewed and published in order for the UK NSC to consider its findings.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
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 potential merits delivered by the Special School Eye Care Service; whether that scheme will be rolled out beyond the pilot scheme; how many (a) schools and (b) children participated in the pilot; what the total cost of the pilot scheme was; and whether he is taking steps to help ensure that schools which participated in the scheme will be provided with support and advice following the end of the pilot scheme.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
NHS England’s proof-of-concept programme has been conducted in 83 special schools since May 2021. The number of pupils having sight tests increases as clinics continue to be held. To date, over 9000 sight tests have been delivered to at least 7098 pupils. The total cost of the pilot scheme is estimated to be £3.1 million.
The NHS England proof-of-concept programme is currently being evaluated. All contracts operating under this programme have been extended until 31 July 2023. This will provide continuity of care until the end of the academic year. The evaluation of the programme will inform decisions about the scope, funding and delivery of any future sight testing model.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his plans are for the operation of the new New Mental Health Support Teams; and whether he has set a provisional date for (a) all pupils having access to those teams at their school, (b) publication of an independent evaluation of the effectiveness of those teams and (c) those teams being put on a statutory footing.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
We have no current plans to put mental health support teams on a statutory footing, and we have not set a date for all pupils across England to have access to mental health support teams. While funding beyond 2024/25 is subject to future spending reviews, we will consider options for the scale and speed out of options beyond that point.
We met our commitment to deploy mental health support teams to 20 to 25% of the country by 2022/23 a year early, with 287 teams in operation covering 26% of the country as of spring 2022. This will increase to 399 teams, covering around 35% of pupils, by April 2023 with over 500 planned to be up and running by 2024. Details of the mental health support team site selection process and rollout is available at the following link:
www.england.nhs.uk/mental-health/cyp/trailblazers
An independent early evaluation of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Trailblazer programme was published in January and is available at the following link:
The evaluation examines the development, implementation, and early progress of the first wave of mental health support teams in the first 25 “trailblazer” areas participating in the programme, which became operational from January 2020.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason the Government is not proceeding with a dedicated cross-government plan for mental health.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Increasing multimorbidity and complexity of conditions means it is important to ensure strategies are joined up, with care and support centred around people. A joined up Major Conditions Strategy instead of a standalone mental health strategy will ensure that mental ill-health is also considered alongside other physical health conditions, meaning the interactions between them are reflected in the resulting plans.
Preventing mental ill-health, and better supporting those with it, will be part of the Strategy, as well as our separate standalone Suicide Prevention Strategy. We know that many of the risk factors that contribute to mental ill-health are cross-society in nature, and we will therefore be working closely with Departments across Government.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to reduce the potential impact of publishing calorific content on menus on people with eating disorders.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Coventry South on 25 October 2022 to Question 64353.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the commitments to deliver equitable IVF access set out in the Women's Health Strategy include (a) trans men and (b) non-binary people assigned female at birth.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
We expect fertility services to be commissioned in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines, ensuring equal access to fertility treatment and preservation across England. Partners who are transgender men, or non-binary people assigned female at birth, fall within the NICE definition of same-sex couples, as they require Intrauterine Insemination as a first line of treatment. The Women’s Health Strategy has ambitions to improve variations in access to National Health Service funded fertility services. Commitments in the Strategy in respect of same sex couples include these groups.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to (a) update the policy paper entitled Alcohol Strategy, published on 23 March 2012, CM 8336 and (b) commission a new alcohol strategy; and what recent assessment he has made into the potential merits of implementing minimum unit pricing.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
There are no current plans to introduce a standalone alcohol strategy. We have an existing agenda on tackling harms from alcohol, including an ambitious programme to establish specialist Alcohol Care Teams in hospitals.
The Government published ‘From harm to hope: A 10-year drugs plan to cut crime and save lives’ on 6 December 2021. While the focus of the Strategy is drugs, commissioning and delivery of drug and alcohol treatment services are integrated in England. This means that implementation of the Strategy will also benefit people seeking alcohol treatment, through mechanisms such as new commissioning standards, plans to build back the workforce and new investment to rebuild local authority commissioned substance misuse treatment services in England.
We look forward to seeing the findings from the evaluations of impact of minimum unit pricing in Scotland and Wales. We will consider those findings in detail once available.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will issue guidance to midwifes, GPs and health visitors on the timeframe in which a Matex certificate should be applied for after a woman becomes pregnant.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
The are no plans to do so. The NHS Business Services Authority’s existing guidance states that midwives, doctors or health visitors can complete the maternity exemption certificate application for pregnant women as soon as pregnancy is confirmed.