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Written Question
Barts Health NHS Trust: Fire Prevention
Tuesday 6th February 2024

Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the capital funding provided to Barts Health NHS Trust for fire safety works at (a) Newham Hospital Gateway Surgical Centre, (b) other areas of Newham Hospital and (c) other facilities within that Trust.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not actively assess local infrastructure projects such as fire safety works; this falls under the responsibility of individual trusts. The Department provides operational capital to address these needs, allowing National Health Service providers to prioritise works at the local level.

As such, North East London Integrated Care Board, of which Barts Health NHS Trust is a partner member, was allocated £83 million in operational capital in 2023/24, which can be used for capital projects, including fire safety works. Previously, the trust received £4.6 million in 2020/21 from national programmes to fund works relating to fire safety.


Written Question
Thromboembolism
Thursday 13th July 2023

Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to restore mandatory reporting of venous thromboembolism risk assessment rates for all patients being admitted to hospital; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the ending of such mandatory reporting on (a) rates of death from hospital-acquired thrombosis and (b) individual trust compliance with NHS England standards on thrombosis prevention.

Answered by Will Quince

NHS England are actively reviewing how best to monitor and support venous thromboembolism prevention practices at a national level, working with key stakeholders including Thrombosis UK. This includes considering whether to implement a new data collection related to venous thromboembolism risk assessment and prevention.


Written Question
Thromboembolism
Tuesday 11th July 2023

Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to help increase awareness among health professionals of the common signs and symptoms of blood clots.

Answered by Will Quince

NHS England has information on the signs and symptoms of a blood clot on its website.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published in March 2020 guidance that covers diagnosing and effective treatment for people who develop deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism.


Written Question
Thromboembolism
Tuesday 11th July 2023

Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Figure 3 in the publication entitled, Venous thromboembolism, published by NHS Resolution on 29 March 2023, what steps he is taking to support hospital staff in preventing common errors in venous thromboembolism management.

Answered by Will Quince

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published in March 2020 guidance for hospital staff and other professionals that covers diagnosing and effective treatment for people who develop deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism. NHS England are actively reviewing how best to monitor venous thromboembolism prevention practices at a national level, working with key stakeholders including Thrombosis UK.


Written Question
Thromboembolism: Compensation
Tuesday 11th July 2023

Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the publication entitled, Venous thromboembolism, published by NHS Resolution on 29 March 2023, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of NHS settlements relating to venous thromboembolism injuries.

Answered by Will Quince

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published in March 2020 guidance for hospital staff and other professionals that covers diagnosing and effective treatment for people who develop deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism. NHS England are actively reviewing how best to monitor venous thromboembolism prevention practices at a national level, working with key stakeholders including Thrombosis UK.


Written Question
Podiatry: Waiting Lists
Tuesday 4th July 2023

Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)

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 waiting times for podiatry appointments on (a) levels of obesity, (b) levels of diabetes, (c) levels of cardiovascular disease, (d) the number of preventable limb amputations, (e) levels of musculoskeletal conditions and (d) NHS budgets.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

No assessment has been made.


Written Question
Musculoskeletal Disorders: Podiatry
Tuesday 4th July 2023

Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)

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 estimate of the average waiting time for new patients for a musculoskeletal podiatry clinic appointment in Newham; and what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of waiting times for musculoskeletal podiatry clinic appointments in Newham.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Data is not held on average waiting times for new patients for musculoskeletal podiatry appointments in Newham. The musculoskeletal service in Newham saw over 1,200 patients in the month of May 2023. It is currently meeting targets for seeing at least 90% of urgent referrals within 10 working days.


Written Question
Electronic Cigarettes: Children
Tuesday 13th June 2023

Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)

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 reduce the use of vapes by children in and around schools.

Answered by Neil O'Brien

Given the recent increase in children vaping, the Government launched a call for evidence to identify opportunities to reduce the number of children accessing and using vaping products. The call for evidence has now closed and we are currently analysing the responses including for the theme ‘Effective educational approaches to prevent child use of vapes’. Following this, the Government will consider a range of options based on the evidence provided, including potential changes to vaping policy and regulation.

The Prime Minister also recently announced several measures to address youth vaping, including closing a loophole that allows industry from giving out free samples to people of any age. As part of the wider review of relationships, sex and health education, we will update the health education curriculum to teach children about the harmful effects of vaping. The Government will also write to police forces to ensure dedicated school liaison officers across the country are aware of the Government's work on vaping and can make use of new resources to raise awareness of harms and the law, as well as supporting enforcement of school bans.

To make young people aware of the risks of using vapes, in October 2022 we published new vaping content on the Talk to Frank and Better Health websites and developed a suite of resources for schools to use, including the recently published year nine lesson plan published by the PSHE Association. These can be found at the following link:

https://pshe-association.org.uk/resource/vaping?hsLang=en


Written Question
Electronic Cigarettes: Children
Tuesday 13th June 2023

Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)

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 tackle (a) underage vaping of illegal substances and (b) the sale and purchase of vape products by children.

Answered by Neil O'Brien

The Government is concerned about the recent rises in youth vaping, particularly because of the unknown long-term harms. We have recently outlined bold action to crack down on youth vaping. In April, we announced £3 million of funding for a new illicit vaping enforcement squad to tackle illicit and underage vape sales. At the end of May, the Prime Minister announced further action, including closing a loophole that allows the vape industry to give free samples of vapes to children, further education measures in schools, and a commitment to review the rules on selling nicotine-free vapes to under 18 year olds and in issuing on-the-spot fines.

The Government also recently ran a call for evidence on youth vaping to identify steps to go further. This closed on the 6 June 2023 and we will respond later this year.


Written Question
Hospices: Energy
Wednesday 29th March 2023

Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the impact that increased energy and other costs are having on hospices and end of life care provision; and what plans he has to support hospices beyond the end of the Government’s Energy Bill Discount Scheme.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Although no assessment has been made specifically in regard to hospices, following a Treasury-led review, the new Energy Bill Discount Scheme, which will run from April 2023 until March 2024, will continue to provide a discount to eligible non-domestic customers, including the health and care sector.

At a national level, NHS England has released £1.5 billion in additional funding to integrated care boards (ICBs) to provide support for inflation, with ICBs deciding how best to distribute this funding within their system, including to palliative and end of life care providers such as hospices.

Palliative and end of life care, including hospice care, is commissioned locally by ICBs in response to the needs of their local population. Any assessment would therefore be made at a local level.