Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 support services for eating disorders; and what steps his Department is taking to help prevent eating disorder deaths.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that the earlier that treatment is provided, the better the chance of short-term recovery.
As part of our mission to build a National Health Service fit for the future, there is a critical need to shift treatment of eating disorders from hospital to the community. Improved care in the community will give young people early access to evidence-based treatment involving families and carers, improving outcomes and preventing relapse.
NHS England have established 15 Provider Collaboratives focusing on adult eating disorders. These collaboratives are working to redesign care pathways and focus resources on community services. By providing treatment earlier and closer to home, we will see better outcomes for adults with eating disorders and their families.
The Department is committed to learning from deaths in order to prevent future tragedies and improve quality of care. The Department receives and responds to prevention of future death reports relating to eating disorders and uses this work to inform practice. For example, the Medical Emergencies in Eating Disorders guidance was created following a coroner’s report and has since been rolled out nationwide.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 challenges faced by not-for-profit care homes.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Spending Review allows for an increase of over £4 billion of funding available for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26, to support the sector in tackling any challenges they face.
Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities have the duty to shape their care market and commission a range of high-quality, sustainable, and person-centred care and support services to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes building close working relationships with care providers to achieve a sustainable balance of quality, effectiveness, and value for money.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 potential impact of increases in employers' National Insurance contributions on trends in levels of fees for care homes.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government took the cost pressures facing adult social care, including changes to employer National Insurance contributions and increases to the National Living Wage, into account as part of the wider consideration of local government spending within the 2024 Autumn Budget process.
To enable local authorities to deliver key services such as adult social care, the Government has made available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26.
In addition, the 2025 Spending Review allows for an increase of over £4 billion of funding available for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26.
We recognise the importance of fee rates, which meet the costs of delivering care and which enable providers to recruit and retain staff, which is why we have also provided the Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund to local authorities since 2023/24, with one of the three target areas local authorities can spend their allocations on being to improve fee rates to providers.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take legislative steps to remove the consideration of Armed Forces compensation from means testing for the Disabled Facilities Grant.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In England, we continue to fund the locally administered Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) which helps eligible older and disabled people on low incomes to adapt their homes. We have provided an additional £172 million across this and the last financial year to uplift the DFG, which could provide approximately 15,600 home adaptations to give older and disabled people more independence in their homes. This brings the total funding for the DFG to £711 million in 2024/25 and 2025/26.
To ensure the DFG is as effective as possible, we will continue to keep different aspects of the grant, including the means test, under consideration.
The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme is independently reviewed every five years to ensure it remains fit for purpose, providing appropriate financial support to those members of the Armed Forces who are injured, become ill, or die as a result of service, and identifying opportunities for policy improvement.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to review protocols around medical consent.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Consent to care and treatment is a regulated activity in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2009, which set out that the registered person must have suitable arrangements in place for obtaining, and acting in accordance with, the consent of service users in relation to the care and treatment provided for them.
Protocols around obtaining medical consent are set out in professional guidance from the General Medical Council, Decision making and consent. This includes advice on what professionals should tell patients and what they should record. The guidance came into effect in 2020 and was updated in 2024. The guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.gmc-uk.org/professional-standards/the-professional-standards/decision-making-and-consent
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 improve coordination between children’s and adult mental health services to support young people transitioning between them.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
A key priority for children and young people’s (CYP) mental health services is ensuring continuity of care and a smooth transition for patients moving to adult services.
NHS England released funding in 2022/23 to improve, transform and focus improvement on the young adult mental health pathway. As of 2024/25, the majority of integrated care boards report that they have improved the way that they manage transitions to adult services, including removing rigid age-based thresholds for transition and ensuring that there are strong working relationships and embedded shared responsibility between CYP and adults’ mental health services.
NHS England is developing a personalised care framework which sets out the core principles of care that people should expect when accessing mental health services. This will be applicable across CYP and adults’ services to ensure that transitions are smooth and care is consistent across settings.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
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 ensure the proactive management of Mounjaro shortages for patients with Type 2 diabetes.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are not currently aware of any supply issues with Mounjaro preparations. We have a range of well-established processes and tools to manage supply issues if and when they arise and to mitigate risks to patients.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of making all asthma-related medication free on prescription for adults.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made of the potential merits of making all asthma-related medication free on prescription for adults.
While there are no plans to amend the criteria for eligibility for free prescriptions, approximately 89% of prescription items are dispensed free of charge in the community in England, and there are a wide range of exemptions from prescription charges already in place for which those with asthma may be eligible.
Eligibility depends on the patient’s age, whether they are in qualifying full-time education, whether they are pregnant or have recently given birth, whether they have another qualifying medical condition, or whether they are in receipt of certain benefits or a war pension.
People on low incomes can apply for help with their health costs through the National Health Service Low Income Scheme, which provides help based on a comparison between a person’s income and requirements. Prescription prepayment certificates (PPCs) are also available. PPCs allow people to claim as many prescriptions as they need for a set cost, with 3-month and 12-month certificates available. 12-month PPCs can be paid for in ten monthly instalments, allowing the holder to get all the prescriptions they need for just over £2 per week.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish statistics for the time for blood cancer to be diagnosed.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has recently started publishing information on Faster Diagnosis Standard Activity and Performance by End Reason and Suspected Tumour. This data includes suspected haematological malignancies excluding acute leukaemia. A table showing the percentage of suspected haematological malignancies excluding acute leukaemia that are either diagnosed or that have cancer ruled out within the standard diagnosis time is attached.
Asked by: Liz Jarvis (Liberal Democrat - Eastleigh)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing routine (a) blood glucose and (b) ketone testing for children presenting with symptoms consistent with Type 1 diabetes; and what steps he is taking to help improve early diagnosis and prevent deaths from diabetic ketoacidosis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for providing guidance and quality standards on the treatment and care of diabetes in England. NICE NG18 guideline for type 1 and 2 diabetes provides clinical guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment and care of children and young people. Children with suspected type 1 diabetes should receive a blood test that checks blood glucose (sugar) levels.
NG18 recommends that children and young people with suspected type 1 diabetes are referred immediately (on the same day) to a multidisciplinary paediatric diabetes team with the competencies needed to confirm diagnosis and provide immediate care. Where diabetic ketoacidosis is suspected, NG18 recommends that children and young people should be immediately transferred to a hospital with acute paediatric facilities.