Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help support the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of mental health specialists in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport constituency.
Answered by Caroline Johnson
The NHS Long Term Plan stated the aim of increasing the mental health workforce in England by an additional 27,000 professionals by 2023/24. NHS England and Health Education England are working with local integrated care systems, including One Devon Integrated Care System, to confirm plans for service models, supply, retention and recruitment until 2024.
NHS England continues to support local systems, including One Devon Integrated Care System, to develop tailored health and wellbeing offers to meet the needs of the local mental health workforce. This includes mental health hubs in each integrated care system and occupational health services which are being supported through the Growing Occupational Health and Wellbeing national programme.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help improve access to mental health services in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport constituency.
Answered by Caroline Johnson
In September we announced ‘Our Plan for Patients’, which outlines how we will increase access to National Health Service mental health and eating disorder services, including in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport. Making it easier to access general practice through our ABCD priorities will expand this route as a gateway to mental health care.
Through the NHS Long Term Plan, we are investing an additional £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24 to expand these services for adults, children and young people in England, including in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport.
We will invest approximately £1 billion in community mental health care for adults with severe mental illness, including eating disorders, by 2023/24 and an additional £53 million per year in children and young people's community eating disorder services to increase capacity in the 70 community eating disorder teams.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help support the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of midwives in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport constituency.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
NHS England retains oversight of local workforce plans and is updated on vacancy rates. However,while recruitment and retention is undertaken at individual trust level.
In 2022, an additional £127 million has been invested in the National Health Service maternity workforce and improving neonatal care, including in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport. This is in addition to the £95 million invested in 2021 to fund a further 1,200 midwives and 100 consultant obstetricians. The NHS People Plan focuses on improving the retention of NHS staff by prioritising staff health and wellbeing.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of trends in the level of healthy life expectancy in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport constituency.
Answered by Caroline Johnson
No specific assessment has been made. ‘Our plan for patients’, published on 22 September, sets out the immediate priorities to support individuals to live healthier lives, including improving access to health and care services in all areas and preventing ill-health. Further information on measures to address health disparities will be available in due course.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of trends in the level of life expectancy in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport constituency.
Answered by Caroline Johnson
No specific assessment has been made. ‘Our plan for patients’, published on 22 September, sets out the immediate priorities to support individuals to live healthier lives, including improving access to health and care services in all areas and preventing ill-health. Further information on measures to address health disparities will be available in due course.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of residential care homes that have closed in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport constituency since 2010.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Since 2010, seven nursing homes and 30 residential homes in Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport have been ‘deactivated’. The Care Quality Commission records care homes which have closed as ‘deactivated’. The ‘deactivated’ locations exclude care homes where the provider continues to operate under a new, separate registration. This could be due to a legal entity change or a change in the provider.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to increase the number of dentistry schools in (a) Devon and (b) Cornwall.
Answered by Will Quince
There are no current plans to increase the number of dental schools in Devon or Cornwall.
The Department is working with Health Education England (HEE) and NHS England to consider options to increase training capacity in areas of need, such as the centres for dental development as proposed in HEE’s ‘Advancing Dental Care Review’.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of trends in rates of perinatal mortality in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport constituency.
Answered by Caroline Johnson
No specific assessment has been made. The Government’s national maternity safety ambition aims to halve the 2010 rates of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and brain injuries in babies occurring during or soon after birth, by 2025. Since 2010, the rate of stillbirths has reduced by 19.3%, the rate of neonatal mortality for babies born over 24 weeks gestational age of viability has reduced by 36% and maternal mortality has reduced by 17%.
We have introduced targeted interventions to accelerate progress, such as the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle and the Brain Injury Reduction Programme. NHS England has also invested £127 million in National Health Service maternity workforce and improving neonatal care. This is in addition to the £95 million investment made in 2021 to fund the establishment of a further 1,200 midwifery and 100 consultant obstetrician posts. NHS England is offering funding and support to trusts to recruit an additional 300 to 500 overseas midwives in the next 12 months.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many dentists left NHS dental practices in the South West; and what proportion of those vacancies were filled through recruitment of new staff in each years since 2010.
Answered by Will Quince
Data on vacancies filled through recruitment is not held centrally, as practices manage staffing requirements to meet National Health Service dental contracts. This may include moving dentists between NHS and other work throughout and between years.
Data on dentists who commenced and ceased delivering NHS provision in the South West from 2010/11 to 2011/12 and 2012/13 to 2021/22 is shown in the attached tables.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) dentists left NHS dental practices in the South West and (b) how many of those vacancies were filled through recruitment of new staff in each year since 2010.
Answered by Will Quince
Data on vacancies filled through recruitment is not held centrally, as practices manage staffing requirements to meet National Health Service dental contracts. This may include moving dentists between NHS and other work throughout and between years.
Data on dentists who commenced and ceased delivering NHS provision in the South West from 2010/11 to 2011/12 and 2012/13 to 2021/22 is shown in the attached tables.