Children’s and Young People’s Mental Health Services
Lord Patel of Bradford Excerpts(3 weeks, 5 days ago)
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Baroness Merron (Lab)
The mental health of children and young people is completely fundamental to the new strategy, which will cover all ages and be published later this year. But what really needs to be done, as I know the noble Baroness is aware, is to transform mental health care in this country, because the system currently responds too late, is not reducing waiting times and is allowing distress to escalate before intervention. The strategy will work to turn all that around, because we need that system-wide change.
Lord Patel of Bradford (Non-Afl)
My Lords, the Children’s Commissioner’s report is a timely reminder that we continue often to respond to crisis rather than preventing it. Twenty years ago, during the passage of the Mental Health Act, Parliament strengthened the safeguards around the admission of children into adult psychiatric wards. That should happen only in exceptional circumstances and only with specialist assessments. At that time, more than 350 children had been admitted, some as young as 11, into adult psychiatric wards. Ten years later, the figure was exactly the same. Can the Minister tell the House what the position is today? Also, what further action is being taken by education and community services to prevent that crisis in the first place?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
I do not have the figures the noble Lord very fairly asks for, but I will certainly ensure that they are provided. He will be aware that Parliament recently passed the Mental Health Act, which updated the Mental Health Act to which he referred. The real issue here is about a move to prevention rather than waiting for crisis. That is our whole direction of change.
Prostate Cancer Screening: AI
Lord Patel of Bradford Excerpts(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Baroness Merron (Lab)
I wish the noble Lord well as he deals with the diagnosis. I am sure that many would associate with his kind comments about the NHS care he has received.
I very much agree that early diagnosis is key. That is why we have introduced the first targeted prostate cancer screening programme. It will roll out next year and will focus on those at the highest risk. To the noble Lord’s question on AI, there is a whole range of ways in which we will gather the information necessary—for example, developing a new National Institute for Health and Care Excellence clinical knowledge summary. That will support discussions for those men who are not eligible for this programme. Also, through the cancer programme innovation open call, we will pilot the use of AI to assist radiologists using MRI to detect clinically significant prostate cancer. There is much scope in this area, and indeed our 10-year plan confirms that.
Lord Patel of Bradford (Non-Afl)
My Lords, while artificial intelligence may improve the interpretation of diagnostic tests and support earlier identification of prostate cancer, does the Minister agree that technology alone will not reduce late diagnosis unless it is embedded within a wider prevention and early detection strategy? What steps have been taken to ensure that AI tools are integrated into primary care pathways, with targeted outreach to high-risk groups, particularly Black men, and equitable access to different communities?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
Yes, I agree with the noble Lord. While we are ambitious about the benefits of AI and wish to embrace them, we are equally clear that safety, fairness and public trust have to come first. That means that the National Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare, which was established by the MHRA, will review the current regulations and provide the recommendations for a new regulatory framework. I assure your Lordships’ House that AI always will support professionals, not replace accountability.
Integrated Care Boards: Budgets
Lord Patel of Bradford Excerpts(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)
We will hear from the Lib Dem Benches.
Baroness Merron (Lab)
In February 2025 we published an overview of core community health services, Standardising Community Health Services, in order that ICBs should not just bear it in mind but act on it when planning for their local populations. I know that noble Lords are aware of this, but I often remind myself that ICBs are the best place to ensure that local health services meet the needs of local people. To assist the noble Baroness, we have also set very clear ambitions in our medium-term planning framework that mean that, by 2028-29, at least 80% of community health service activity should take place within 18 weeks, which would bring it in line with targets for elective care.
Lord Patel of Bradford (Non-Afl)
My Lords, Sir Chris Whitty produced a report on coastal health that exposed deep and persistent health inequalities in many of our coastal communities. Coastal communities, about 55 towns, make up nearly 20% of the UK population. Five years later, can the Minister tell the House what has changed as a result of that report? How will integrated care boards be encouraged to invest in prevention and community-based services in those areas? They are big enough to have problems but not big enough to have the infrastructure surrounding them.
Baroness Merron (Lab)
I take the noble Lord’s point, but allocations take account of factors such as rurality and the different costs of providing care. For example, the formula says that reflecting longer travel times in sparsely populated areas for emergency ambulances, which would make the costs higher, is permitted; travel time for community services also reflects that additional time. The financial allocations are far more sensitive to the needs of local areas than they have been.
Drug-related Deaths in England and Wales
Lord Patel of Bradford Excerpts(1 year, 8 months ago)
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Baroness Merron (Lab)
As always, I pay close attention to the contributions of my noble friend, who makes helpful observations. We do indeed need to continue our work in this area. It is quite important to look back at the history that Dame Carol Black reported on. She talked about one of the difficulties being that funding for community drug and alcohol services was subsumed into the public health grant in 2013, which meant that by 2019-20 funding for those services had been reduced by over a third. That is a £212 million disinvestment. The result of all this is that drug use has increased, with all the major indicators of its harm. This is something we need to turn around.
Lord Patel of Bradford (Non-Afl)
My Lords, I echo what the Minister has just said. The last Labour Administration set up the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse and ring-fenced £800 million to provide treatment when drug users needed it. It reduced drug-related crime, drug use plateaued, and drug-related deaths were at an all-time low. Sadly, this funding was pulled suddenly, which resulted in the highest level of drug-related deaths ever, with drug use on the increase and drug-related crime going up. Can we go back to some of the sensible ideas we had about providing treatment for drug users?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
My ministerial colleague Andrew Gwynne will be looking at how we improve drug and alcohol addiction services. In the light of recent Office for National Statistics data, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities has an action plan to reduce drug and alcohol-related deaths. Because of this recent data showing major increases, it will review the plan to make sure it is properly grounded and effective.