Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that mental health providers in Newbury have the resources they need to support people diagnosed with a serious life-threatening illness.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West NHS Integrated Care Board is responsible for commissioning services to meet the mental health needs of people in Newbury.
Nationally, the Government is investing an extra £688 million in 2025/26 to transform mental health services by hiring more staff and delivering more talking therapies. Almost 7,000 extra mental health workers have been recruited since July 2024, against our target of 8,500 by the end of this Parliament. We are expanding NHS Talking Therapies so that 915,000 people complete a course of treatment by March 2029, with improved effectiveness and quality of services.
We recognise that some people with a serious life-threatening illness may need emotional and psychological support. The team responsible for a patient’s health care should discuss and review their emotional and psychological status regularly and support them with access to information and services for their mental health if needed.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
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 of integrating AI into audiology care and diagnoses.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department recognises the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve patient care across a range of clinical areas, including audiology. While there is currently no dedicated programme focused solely on AI in audiology, the Government’s wider strategy for AI in health and care sets out how emerging technologies will be evaluated and adopted where they demonstrate clear benefits for patients and clinicians.
Under the AI in Health and Care Award, the Department and NHS England have invested over £100 million to support real-world testing of AI technologies in high-impact areas such as diagnostics and screening. Lessons from these programmes, such as the need for robust clinical validation, regulatory compliance, and integration into National Health Service workflows will inform future consideration of AI applications in audiology.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
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 impact of trends in levels of waiting times for vision rehabilitation services on patients in Newbury constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities in England have a legal duty to support people with sight loss to develop practical skills and strategies to maintain independence.
Although the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is not currently required to assess vision rehabilitation services as regulated activities under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, sensory services, including vision rehabilitation, do form part of the CQC’s overall assessment of local authorities’ delivery of adult social care.
The CQC assessments identify local authorities’ strengths and areas for development, in their delivery of their duties under part 1 of the Care Act. This facilitates the sharing of good practice and helps us to target support where it is most needed. It may be helpful to know that the CQC will report on sensory services when there is something important to highlight, for example, something being done well, innovative practice, or an area for improvement.
West Berkshire Council was rated ‘Good’ by the CQC. Its assessment was published on 17 May 2024, and the report is available at the following link:
https://www.cqc.org.uk/care-services/local-authority-assessment-reports/WBerkshire-0524
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
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 help tackle potential gaps in specialist vision rehabilitation monitoring.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities in England have a legal duty to support people with sight loss to develop practical skills and strategies to maintain independence.
Although the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is not currently required to assess vision rehabilitation services as regulated activities under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, sensory services, including vision rehabilitation, do form part of the CQC’s overall assessment of local authorities’ delivery of adult social care.
The CQC assessments identify local authorities’ strengths and areas for development, in their delivery of their duties under part 1 of the Care Act. This facilitates the sharing of good practice and helps us to target support where it is most needed. It may be helpful to know that the CQC will report on sensory services when there is something important to highlight, for example, something being done well, innovative practice, or an area for improvement.
West Berkshire Council was rated ‘Good’ by the CQC. Its assessment was published on 17 May 2024, and the report is available at the following link:
https://www.cqc.org.uk/care-services/local-authority-assessment-reports/WBerkshire-0524
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
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 community-based glaucoma care services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards are responsible for assessing the health needs of their local population and for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet them. This can include the commissioning of enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices, such as glaucoma referral refinement services and glaucoma monitoring.
The Getting It Right First Time programme is currently developing best practice guidance for glaucoma services to support the adoption of high standards across the pathway, from detection onwards.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Newbury constituency will receive one of the 100 neighbourhood health centres due to be set up by 2030.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
At the Autumn Budget, we announced our commitment to deliver 250 Neighbourhood Health Centres (NHCs) through the NHS Neighbourhood Rebuild Programme. This will deliver NHCs through a mixture of refurbishments to expand and improve sites over the next three years and new-build sites opening in the medium term. The first 120 NHCs are due to be operational by 2030 and will be delivered through public private partnerships and public capital.
Nationwide coverage will take time, but we will start in the areas of greatest need where healthy life expectancy is lowest, including rural towns and communities with higher deprivation levels, targeting places where healthy life expectancy is lowest and delivering healthcare closer to home for those that need it the most.
Integrated care boards and local health systems will be responsible for determining the most appropriate locations for NHCs.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans to increase GP dispensing fees to bring them in line with community pharmacies.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
General practices (GPs) are valued independent contractors who provide over £13 billion worth of National Health Services. Every year we consult with the sector both about what services they provide, and the money providers are entitled to in return under their contract, taking into account the cost of delivering services.
The Department and NHS England will begin consultation with stakeholders on the 2026/27 GP Contract shortly. Further information will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Government will publish its guidance to local authorities on Neighbourhood Health Plans.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Neighbourhood health will move care out of hospitals and into communities, with more personalised, proactive, and integrated services starting from where and how people live their lives. This will involve building stronger links to wider local government services such as housing, family hubs, and programmes such as Pride in Place, as well as links with wider civil society including the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector.
The Planning Framework for the NHS in England, published on 8 September, reiterates the commitment in the 10-Year Health Plan, that place partners develop a local neighbourhood plan, which integrated care boards will bring together into a population health improvement plan. These local plans will be drawn up by local government, the National Health Service, and its partners at single or upper tier local authority level under the leadership of the Health and Wellbeing Boards (HWBs).
We will be publishing further guidance to support local areas to develop neighbourhood health plans in due course. This will set out how the NHS, local authorities, and partners should work together under the leadership of HWBs to develop and implement plans.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
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 access to ear wax removal services for patients in Newbury constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has made no specific assessment of services in Newbury because it is for integrated care boards to commission cost-effective healthcare to meet the needs of their local populations. Guidance for patients on ear wax build-up, including when to seek advice from a pharmacist or general practitioner, is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/earwax-build-up/
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
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 adequacy of late-night pharmacy provision in Newbury constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authority health and wellbeing boards have a statutory responsibility to assess if local provision, including pharmacies’ opening hours, is adequate to meet local needs for pharmaceutical services and to publish their assessments every three years.