Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of trends in the retention of ambulance workers aged fifty and over in the last ten years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to tackling the workforce crisis across the National Health Service. This will be achieved through better workforce planning, which will address the recruitment and retention challenges facing the NHS.
Valuing and supporting our NHS workforce will be essential in delivering our mission to build an NHS fit for the future and the pay uplifts announced on 29 July 2024 will mean paramedics will see their pay increase by 5.5%, backdated to April 2024.
In the meantime, NHS England continues to lead on a range of initiatives to boost retention, with a strong focus on improving organisational culture, supporting staff wellbeing, and promoting flexible working opportunities. It is continually reviewing the effectiveness of these and their impact on the workforce.
New retirement flexibilities were introduced in the legacy NHS Pension Scheme last year. These measures are designed to allow older staff to choose to work for longer in a more flexible way, thereby helping to boost capacity, supporting patient care.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many referrals have been accepted by Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Birmingham in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of referrals to Birmingham mental health services for those aged 17 years old and under, those referrals who received first contact, and those referrals who received first contact within six months of the referral date, over each of the last five years:
Year | Referrals | Referrals who received first contact | Referrals who received first contact within six months of the same year |
2019/20 | 22,265 | 8,946 | 1,607 |
2020/21 | 19,936 | 7,880 | 1,444 |
2021/22 | 27,435 | 10,594 | 1,681 |
2022/23 | 25,252 | 7,831 | 1,403 |
2023/24 | 34,879 | 7,500 | 385 |
Source: data taken from the Mental Health Services Dataset, published by NHS England.
Notes:
Finally, as of March 2024 the number of referrals still waiting for first contact, having waited at least six months and regardless of when the referral started, is 15,181.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been waiting over six months to access CAMHS support in Birmingham.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of referrals to Birmingham mental health services for those aged 17 years old and under, those referrals who received first contact, and those referrals who received first contact within six months of the referral date, over each of the last five years:
Year | Referrals | Referrals who received first contact | Referrals who received first contact within six months of the same year |
2019/20 | 22,265 | 8,946 | 1,607 |
2020/21 | 19,936 | 7,880 | 1,444 |
2021/22 | 27,435 | 10,594 | 1,681 |
2022/23 | 25,252 | 7,831 | 1,403 |
2023/24 | 34,879 | 7,500 | 385 |
Source: data taken from the Mental Health Services Dataset, published by NHS England.
Notes:
Finally, as of March 2024 the number of referrals still waiting for first contact, having waited at least six months and regardless of when the referral started, is 15,181.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to (a) reinstate the Children's Hospice Grant for 2025-26 and (b) up-rate that funding in line with inflation.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2024/25, NHS England provided £25 million in funding for children and young people’s hospices. This was distributed via integrated care boards, in line with National Health Service devolution. We are currently considering the future of this important funding stream beyond 2024/25.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many speech and language therapists there were in (a) Birmingham and (b) the West Midlands in each of the last five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The table below shows the number of full-time equivalent speech and language therapists working in National Health Service trusts and other core organisations, in the Birmingham and Solihull integrated care system and the West Midlands as a whole, in March of each of the last six years:
Year | Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care System | West Midlands |
2019 | 200 | 642 |
2020 | 217 | 666 |
2021 | 224 | 699 |
2022 | 243 | 734 |
2023 | 246 | 740 |
2024 | 284 | 800 |
Source: the Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics for England, published by NHS England on a monthly basis.
These staff provide services in a range of settings, including in education. However, therapists will also be directly employed by other providers, including schools, independent provision, and third sector and charitable organisations, for which data is not held centrally.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of open GP practices (a) on the most recent date for which figures are held and (b) in 2010 in Birmingham Northfield constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data provided by NHS England Digital shows that in May 2014, the earliest year from which data is available, there were 18 open general practices (GPs) in the Birmingham Northfield constituency, and as of May 2024 there are 15 open GPs in the constituency. The data only includes main practices, and does not include branch practices.
GPs close for a variety of reasons, including mergers or retirement, so this does not necessarily indicate a reduction in the quality of care. When a GP does close, patients are informed of the closure and advised to register at another local practice of their choice, within their area.
Asked by: Laurence Turner (Labour - Birmingham Northfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS sites have closed in Birmingham since May 2010; and what the (a) name and (b) postcode was of each site.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not collect data on the closure of National Health Service sites. The NHS, however, publishes the annual Estates Returns Information Collection, which is a mandatory collection for all NHS trusts and includes detailed information on all operational or temporarily unoccupied sites larger than 500m2 or with 10 or more inpatient beds, including site name and postcode. The collection is available at the following link: