Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to implement section 95 of the Health and Care Act 2022.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department plans to implement Section 95 later this year. This will be subject to Parliament’s approval of the regulations setting out the procedure for preparing and publishing mandatory information standards, on which the Department has recently consulted.
Once Section 95 is in force and compliance with information standards becomes mandatory, the Department will use section 251ZA, where appropriate, to monitor compliance with information standards, including by requiring National Health Service providers and others to whom information standards apply, to provide information for this purpose.
NHS England is responsible for the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), and plans to update the AIS to take account of the statutory approach to information standards in due course. NHS England has also completed a review of the AIS to help ensure that the communication needs of people with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss are met in health and care provision. One of the aims of the review was to strengthen assurance of implementation of the AIS, and a self-assessment framework has been developed to support providers of NHS and social care services to measure their performance against the AIS, and develop improvement action plans to address gaps in implementation.
NHS England will publish a revised AIS in due course. Following publication, NHS England will continue work to support its implementation with awareness raising, communication and engagement, and updated e-learning modules on the AIS, to ensure NHS staff are better aware of the standard, and their roles and responsibilities in implementing it.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how her Department plans to use Section 95 (3) 251ZA Information Standards (Compliance) of the Health and Care Act 2022 to ensure that NHS providers meet the communication needs of patients set out in the Accessible Information Standard.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department plans to implement Section 95 later this year. This will be subject to Parliament’s approval of the regulations setting out the procedure for preparing and publishing mandatory information standards, on which the Department has recently consulted.
Once Section 95 is in force and compliance with information standards becomes mandatory, the Department will use section 251ZA, where appropriate, to monitor compliance with information standards, including by requiring National Health Service providers and others to whom information standards apply, to provide information for this purpose.
NHS England is responsible for the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), and plans to update the AIS to take account of the statutory approach to information standards in due course. NHS England has also completed a review of the AIS to help ensure that the communication needs of people with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss are met in health and care provision. One of the aims of the review was to strengthen assurance of implementation of the AIS, and a self-assessment framework has been developed to support providers of NHS and social care services to measure their performance against the AIS, and develop improvement action plans to address gaps in implementation.
NHS England will publish a revised AIS in due course. Following publication, NHS England will continue work to support its implementation with awareness raising, communication and engagement, and updated e-learning modules on the AIS, to ensure NHS staff are better aware of the standard, and their roles and responsibilities in implementing it.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Care Quality Commission in enforcement of the Accessible Information Standard across the NHS.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Compliance with the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) is not directly assured by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). However, the performance of organisations in meeting people’s needs is considered in CQC assessment and ratings. Where the CQC has information through NHS England’s AIS self-assessment framework, or other sources, that an organisation is not meeting accessible communication needs, it can use its regulatory powers.
NHS England has completed a review of the AIS to help ensure that everyone’s communications needs are met in health and care provision. An AIS self-assessment framework has been developed to support providers of National Health Service and social care services, to measure their performance against the AIS and develop improvement action plans to address gaps in implementation. The AIS self-assessment framework is designed to enable enhancements around assurance and allows organisations, commissioners, and the CQC to judge performance and compliance.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Government plans to publish its response to its consultation entitled Coronial investigations of stillbirths, which closed on 18 June 2019.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We remain fully committed to responding to the coronial investigations of stillbirths consultation and setting out the Government’s position. Earlier this month, we published the factual summary of responses to the consultation.
The Department is working closely with the Ministry of Justice to give full consideration to next steps in this area and how Government will respond. We will update the House in due course.
We are clear that we must get this right, given the emotional impact that losing a baby has on families and others involved.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department taking to reduce waiting times for (a) GP and (b) hospital appointment waiting times for women with endometriosis.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Patients with symptoms of endometriosis will be prioritised based on clinical need. The National Health Service led Provider Collaborative has identified endometriosis as a priority area and recently established a group to develop further initiatives to reduce waiting times for endometriosis patients.
The Government published its Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care on 9 May. This aims to reduce the number of people struggling to contact their general practice, and make sure that arrangements are made for patients’ care the first time they contact their General Practitioner (GP). It will achieve this by moving towards a new Modern General Practice Access model, building capacity to deliver more appointments, and cutting bureaucracy for GPs. This will help ensure that patients who need an appointment with their GP practice, including women with endometriosis, can get one within two weeks.
To support elective recovery, including for hospital appointments and gynaecology and endometriosis related surgery, the Government plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25. This funding is in addition to the £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund and £700 million Targeted Investment Fund already made available to systems last year to help drive up and protect elective activity. As part of the Autumn Statement 2022, the Government is investing an additional £3.3 billion for 2023/24 and 2024/25 to support the NHS in England, enabling rapid action to improve emergency, elective and primary care performance towards pre-pandemic levels.
Taken together, this funding could deliver the equivalent of nine million more checks, scans and procedures and will mean the NHS in England can aim to deliver around 30% more elective activity by 2024/25 than it was before the pandemic.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of 24/7 palliative care telephone advice lines for people with a terminal illness and their carers.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made. NHS England has published statutory guidance on palliative and end of life care to support commissioners with implementation of the Health and Care Act 2022. The guidance makes specific reference to commissioners defining how their services will meet population needs 24 hours a day, seven days a week (24/7). Furthermore, between December 2021 and March 2022, NHS England provided circa £4 million to support 24/7 and single point of contact specialist palliative care support and advice services in local areas.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
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 support ICBs to deliver upon the new legal requirement to commission palliative care services which meet the need of their local populations.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has actively increased its support to local commissioners to improve the accessibility, quality and sustainability of palliative and end of life care for all. This has included the publication of statutory guidance and service specifications, with further resources available on the FutureNHS Collaboration Platform. In addition, NHS England has funded the establishment of a Palliative and End of Life Care Strategic Clinical Network in every NHS England region, which work closely with local commissioners regarding the development of accessible, high quality and sustainable services.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of auditory verbal therapy for deaf children.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No assessment has been made. In 2019 NHS England, with input from the National Deaf Children’s Society, produced a guide for commissioners and health and local authority providers who support children and young people with hearing loss. The guide provides practical advice to organisations, commissioners and providers on how they can ensure children with hearing loss receive the support they need throughout the system, so that they can lead successful, fulfilling and independent lives. The guide is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/what-works-chswg-guide.pdf
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the accessibility of auditory verbal therapy for deaf children in the NHS.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No assessment has been made. In 2019 NHS England, with input from the National Deaf Children’s Society, produced a guide for commissioners and health and local authority providers who support children and young people with hearing loss. The guide provides practical advice to organisations, commissioners and providers on how they can ensure children with hearing loss receive the support they need throughout the system, so that they can lead successful, fulfilling and independent lives. The guide is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/what-works-chswg-guide.pdf
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
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 support deaf children.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department is taking a number of steps to support deaf children. The Action Plan on Hearing Loss (2015) sets out key objectives on hearing loss including: prevention, early diagnosis, maximising independence, and enabling people, including children to take part in every-day activities. NHS England has produced a series of guides to help deliver the recommendations of the Action Plan available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/what-works-guides-action-plan-on-hearing-loss/
Commissioning of hearing services takes place at a local level based on the needs of the local population. In 2019 NHS England, with input from the National Deaf Children’s Society, published a guide for commissioners and health and local authority providers who support children and young people with hearing loss available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/what-works-chswg-guide.pdf
The guide provides practical advice to organisations, commissioners and providers on how they can ensure children with hearing loss receive the support they need throughout the system, so that they can lead successful, fulfilling and independent lives.