Asked by: Kwasi Kwarteng (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to update public information leaflets on febrile seizures.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
NHS England are in the process of reviewing content drafted by patient groups and confirming processes for updating the NHS.UK website to include relevant information on Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC), with a view to have updates published in the coming months. This includes exploring the most helpful options for updating information relating to febrile seizures.
NHS England intend to update the ‘When A Child Dies’ leaflet over the next year in collaboration with affected families, parents and carers, as well as National Child Mortality Database colleagues and SUDC charities, including SUDC UK and relevant professional groups.
Asked by: Kwasi Kwarteng (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to provide additional funding to support a review of the care provided to families affected by sudden, unexpected child death.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Losing a child is one of the most difficult things a family can go through. Listening to bereaved families, ensuring clear communication and establishing support is a top priority following the death of a child. We are holding a roundtable later this year which will likely focus on professional awareness and training opportunities, seeking to improve confidence in understanding and responding to Sudden Unexplained Death in Child. The work in progress on this issue is being met within existing budgets.
Asked by: Kwasi Kwarteng (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide funding to help improve the professional joint agency response to sudden and unexpected child death. .
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Losing a child is one of the most difficult things a family can go through. Listening to bereaved families, ensuring clear communication and establishing support is a top priority following the death of a child. We are holding a roundtable later this year which will likely focus on professional awareness and training opportunities, seeking to improve confidence in understanding and responding to Sudden Unexplained Death in Child. The work in progress on this issue is being met within existing budgets.
Asked by: Kwasi Kwarteng (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to update the NHS website with information about Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood; and if he will make this updating a priority.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
NHS England are in the process of reviewing content drafted by patient groups and confirming processes for updating the NHS.UK website to include relevant information on Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC), with a view to have updates published in the coming months. This includes exploring the most helpful options for updating information relating to febrile seizures.
NHS England intend to update the ‘When A Child Dies’ leaflet over the next year in collaboration with affected families, parents and carers, as well as National Child Mortality Database colleagues and SUDC charities, including SUDC UK and relevant professional groups.
Asked by: Kwasi Kwarteng (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to include training on Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood in medical professional training at all levels.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The standard of training for doctors is set by the General Medical Council (GMC) and training programmes must meet these standards. The GMC also approve higher education institutions to develop and teach the curricula content which is designed to enable students to meet the desired standards. The curricula for postgraduate specialty training are set by individual royal colleges and faculties, and the GMC approves curricula and assessment systems for each training programme. Whilst not all curricula may necessarily highlight a specific condition, they all emphasise the skills and approaches a doctor must develop in order to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients.
The Government has no plans to provide additional funding for this specific purpose, funding for medical education and training is included within NHS England’s budget and it will be a decision for them on how they prioritise their resources.
Asked by: Kwasi Kwarteng (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide funding to help (a) develop and (b) run national medical education on sudden unexpected death in childhood.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The standard of training for doctors is set by the General Medical Council (GMC) and training programmes must meet these standards. The GMC also approve higher education institutions to develop and teach the curricula content which is designed to enable students to meet the desired standards. The curricula for postgraduate specialty training are set by individual royal colleges and faculties, and the GMC approves curricula and assessment systems for each training programme. Whilst not all curricula may necessarily highlight a specific condition, they all emphasise the skills and approaches a doctor must develop in order to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients.
The Government has no plans to provide additional funding for this specific purpose, funding for medical education and training is included within NHS England’s budget and it will be a decision for them on how they prioritise their resources.
Asked by: Kwasi Kwarteng (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support is available to social care providers to implement the change in guidance on the national minimum wage and national living wage for sleep-in shifts for care workers.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Through the National Living Wage, the Government is making sure that pay is fair in all sectors, including social care.
The Government has already invested an additional £2 billion to put social care on a more stable footing and alleviate short-term pressures across the health and care system.
The Government is committed to working with local government and the provider sector to ensure that local authorities understand the costs associated with the National Living Wage when negotiating fee rates.
Asked by: Kwasi Kwarteng (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish all responses received by the current inquiry into infected blood.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The Government has committed to providing a further update to the House after the consultation closes on 18 October. This update will include a summary of responses to the consultation received. All consultation responses will be passed on to the independent inquiry once established.
Asked by: Kwasi Kwarteng (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funding the Government plans to provide for research on diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma brain tumours.
Answered by George Freeman
The usual practice of the Department's National Institute for Health Research and of the Medical Research Council is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics: research proposals in all areas compete for the funding available. Both funders welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma and other brain tumours. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition.
Asked by: Kwasi Kwarteng (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on securing funding for patients infected with contaminated blood and for their families.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Department is considering wider reform of financial assistance and other support for those affected with HIV and/or hepatitis C by infected NHS-supplied blood or blood products. We are doing this within the context of the spending review and in a way that is sustainable for the future. We plan to consult on a way forward before the end of the year.
Before the election, the Prime Minister announced an additional one-off £25 million to ease transition to a reformed system of payments for affected individuals. The Department is currently considering how that money will be used.