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Written Question
Mental Health Services
Thursday 29th February 2024

Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)

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 help improve the support provided to people with Complex Trauma Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

Integrated Care Boards have a statutory responsibility to commission healthcare and develop strategic clinical plans, covering a wide range of health care services, based on the needs of their local population.

Nationally, we are investing to increase access and improve the quality of mental health services. Thanks to this investment, since 2018/19 there has been an 11% increase in the number of adults accessing NHS Talking Therapies. We are set to reach nearly £1 billon of investment by 2023/2024, to transform community mental health services, the largest area of investment within the Long Term Plan for mental health, so that more people can be supported with the care that is most appropriate for their needs and that is integrated between primary and community mental health services.

This includes new integrated community models, offering improved access to NHS Talking Therapies, improved physical health care, employment support, personalised and trauma informed care, medicines management and support for self-harm.


Written Question
Mental Health: Diagnosis
Thursday 29th February 2024

Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)

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 diagnosis times of Complex Trauma Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

Integrated Care Boards have a statutory responsibility to commission healthcare and develop strategic clinical plans, covering a wide range of health care services, based on the needs of their local population.

Nationally, we are investing to increase access and improve the quality of mental health services. Thanks to this investment, since 2018/19 there has been an 11% increase in the number of adults accessing NHS Talking Therapies. We are set to reach nearly £1 billon of investment by 2023/2024, to transform community mental health services, the largest area of investment within the Long Term Plan for mental health, so that more people can be supported with the care that is most appropriate for their needs and that is integrated between primary and community mental health services.

This includes new integrated community models, offering improved access to NHS Talking Therapies, improved physical health care, employment support, personalised and trauma informed care, medicines management and support for self-harm.


Written Question
Medical Equipment: Recycling
Monday 5th February 2024

Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she is taking steps to ensure that NHS equipment which is in good condition is recycled for use by other patients.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

As set out in the Delivering a ‘Net Zero’ National Health Service report, published in October 2020, the National Health Service is committed to reducing its environmental impact, including by increasing the reuse and recycling of medical equipment. This commitment is then applied locally, taking into account 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 a number of NHS trusts already have local return and reuse schemes with over 200 return sites now featured on the Recycle Now website, and is available at the following link:

https://www.recyclenow.com/recycle-an-item/walking-aids

NHS England is supporting local NHS organisations to increase walking aid return rates. This includes: 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.


Written Question
Midwives: Recruitment
Monday 5th February 2024

Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to recruit more midwives into the NHS.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

As of November 2023, there are 23,396 full-time equivalent midwives working in National Health Service trusts and other core NHS organisations in England. This is 3,647, or 18.5%, more than in 2010.

The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, sets out the steps the NHS and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. The plan sets out the expectation that we will increase midwifery training places by 13% to 4,269 places a year for students starting this academic year. We expect that 5% of midwifery placements will be delivered through apprenticeships by 2028.

Additionally, in March 2023 NHS England published its three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services. The plan sets out a target for trusts to have in place the appropriate number of posts required and to fill those roles by 2027/28. To support this, the Government has invested an additional £165 million a year to improve maternity and neonatal care, which will rise to £186 million a year this year.


Written Question
General Practitioners
Monday 5th February 2024

Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions she has had with representatives of GP practices on the level of workload of GP surgeries.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Department Ministers regularly meet with general practice (GP) stakeholders to discuss a broad range of topics. The Delivery plan for recovering access to primary care, published by NHS England in May 2023, set out actions on how bureaucracy and workload can be cut by improving the interface between primary and secondary care. This includes cutting unnecessary burdens on GPs through the Bureaucracy Busting Concordat, published in August 2022, and streamlining the Investment and Impact Fund from 36 to five indicators from 2023/24.  The expanded primary care teams funded through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme add extra clinical capacity, helping to reduce the burden on GPs.


Written Question
Glioblastoma
Friday 15th December 2023

Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she (a) is and (b) plans to take steps to help increase the median survival rate for people with glioblastoma.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to improving the survival rates for all cancers. The Department and NHS England are working on implementing interventions to diagnose cancer early, when often there are more curative treatment options, is associated with better survival.

To find and diagnosed all cancers earlier, NHS England is streamlining cancer pathways to support diagnosis within 28 days by implementing non-symptom specific pathways for patients who present with non-specific symptoms that can indicate several cancers, as well as implementing timed cancer pathways.

Since 2019, cancer alliances have been developing new dedicated urgent diagnostic pathways for these patients so that every cancer patient with concerning, but non-specific symptoms, gets the right tests at the right time in as few visits as possible.

In May 2018, the Government announced £40 million for brain tumour research as part of the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). This includes research into glioblastoma. NIHR has funded four projects into glioblastoma research since financial year 2018, with a combined total funding value of £2.7 million.


Written Question
Autism: Children
Monday 11th December 2023

Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)

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 number of school-age children who have been waiting for an autism diagnosis for longer than six months; and if she will make an assessment with the Secretary of State for Education of the potential impact of delays in autism diagnoses on secondary school examinations.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

Data on the number of school-age children who have been waiting for an autism diagnosis for longer than six months is not held centrally. The autism assessment waiting times data published on 14 September 2023 showed that the number of people aged between zero and 17 years old with an open referral for suspected autism was 84,054 in June 2023. The data also showed that, in June 2023, 6.7% of patients, or 4,581, aged between zero and 17 years old with an open suspected autism referral in the month, that has been open for at least 13 weeks, received a first appointment in 13 weeks or less. Data on the number of children and young people in this dataset is expected to be an underestimate. The subsequent waiting times publication is 14 December 2023.

Whilst we have no plans to make an assessment on the potential impact of delays in autism diagnoses on examinations in secondary schools, we recognise the importance of early identification of neurodiverse conditions, such as autism, so that an individual’s needs can be identified sooner, and support put in place earlier in life, including the support that autistic children should receive.

The Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with the Department for Education to ensure that children and young people with special educational needs and disability (SEND), including autistic children, receive the right support, in the right place, at the right time. We are doing this through working together to implement the SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan, which was published on 2 March 2023.

On 22 November 2023, we announced the Partnerships for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools programme. This new programme, backed by £13 million of investment, is a partnership between the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Education and NHS England, and will bring together integrated care boards (ICBs), local authorities, and schools, working in partnership with parents and carers to support schools to better meet the needs of neurodiverse children, including autistic children and those who are undiagnosed or awaiting an assessment.

In relation to examinations, access arrangements can be agreed with exam boards for candidates with specific needs, including special educational needs and disabilities, to help them access assessments to show what they know and can do without affecting the integrity of the assessment.


Written Question
Brain: Tumours
Tuesday 5th December 2023

Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that NICE clinical guidelines on Brain tumours (primary) and brain metastases in over 16s reflects the latest data from clinical trials on (a) diagnosis and (b) management of patients.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based guidelines for the National Health Service on best practice based on an assessment of clinical and cost effectiveness. NICE keeps its guidelines under review and uses the best available evidence to develop its recommendations. Its surveillance programme proactively explores whether there is any new evidence to contradict, reinforce or clarify its guideline recommendations.

NICE’s guideline on brain tumours and brain metastases in people aged 16 years old or over was most recently updated in 2021 and makes recommendations on the management of grade IV gliomas. The NHS is expected to take NICE guidelines fully into account in ensuring that services meet the needs of their local populations.

In May 2018, the Government announced £40 million for brain tumour research as part of the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research. This includes funding for glioblastoma research.


Written Question
Glioblastoma
Tuesday 5th December 2023

Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of (a) clinical trials and (b) other treatment options for glioblastoma.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based guidelines for the National Health Service on best practice based on an assessment of clinical and cost effectiveness. NICE keeps its guidelines under review and uses the best available evidence to develop its recommendations. Its surveillance programme proactively explores whether there is any new evidence to contradict, reinforce or clarify its guideline recommendations.

NICE’s guideline on brain tumours and brain metastases in people aged 16 years old or over was most recently updated in 2021 and makes recommendations on the management of grade IV gliomas. The NHS is expected to take NICE guidelines fully into account in ensuring that services meet the needs of their local populations.

In May 2018, the Government announced £40 million for brain tumour research as part of the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research. This includes funding for glioblastoma research.


Written Question
Brain: Tumours
Tuesday 5th December 2023

Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help ensure that brain tumour patients have access to whole genome sequencing; and what estimate she has made of the proportion of patients who are diagnosed each year having the whole genome of their tumours sequenced.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Genomic testing for patients with a suspected brain tumour, including glioblastoma, is included in the National Genomic Test Directory. This testing can be delivered using a range of technologies, including whole genome sequencing (WGS) or Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology (large cancer gene panels) to ensure that a patient receives the most appropriate genomic testing depending on their individual circumstances. Anyone who meets the eligibility criteria outlined in the National Genomic Test Directory will be able to access this genomic testing offer.

Patients with a suspected brain tumour, including glioblastoma, receive standard of care testing via an NGS cancer panel for this clinical indication. In total, between April 2021 and September 2023, over 179,500 NGS panel tests have been performed, for all cancer clinical indications.

Since the WGS service was launched for paediatric patients in November 2020 and adult patients in April 2022, in addition to standard of care testing, as of 1 December 2023, 533 patients have received WGS because of a suspected brain tumour.