Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
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 support people with dementia (a) at home and (b) in residential care who are experiencing limited contact with friends and family as a result of covid-19 restrictions.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We appreciate the particular challenges visiting restrictions pose for people with dementia and for their loved ones.
Under national lockdown, people living in their own home are able to meet one other person outside for exercise, although not in a private garden, and, where applicable, meet inside with people within their support bubble. This applies to people with dementia.
Visits to care homes can continue to take place with arrangements such as outdoor visiting, substantial screens, visiting pods, or behind windows. Close-contact indoor visits are not currently allowed. In the event of an outbreak in a care home, the home should immediately stop visiting (except in exceptional circumstances such as end of life) to protect vulnerable residents, staff and visitors.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what additional support is being made available to help the (a) elderly and (b) people deemed clinically vulnerable who may opt to voluntarily self-shield following Lancashire's move into Tier 3 covid local alert level.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
National restrictions began in England from 5 November, which superseded additional guidance linked to the local COVID alert levels. Everyone in England, including those who are clinically extremely vulnerable, is required to follow the national restrictions, which have been set out by the Government and apply to the whole population.
The new information includes additional guidance for clinically extremely vulnerable people, to help protect them from COVID-19. We will also write to individuals with a version of this guidance. These new shielding measures will apply nationally for four weeks up to 2 December. At the end of the period, we will look to return to a regional approach and will issue further guidance at the time.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to (a) help reduce the mortality figures in care homes and (b) ensure that residents receive appropriate treatment and palliative care during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are working closely with local authorities, the care sector and NHS England to understand the impact of COVID-19 on care homes and ensure everyone has access to the right care, in the most appropriate setting for their needs. We have provided extensive support and guidance to care homes throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Every death from this virus is a tragedy and we are working around the clock to give the social care sector the equipment and support they need to tackle this outbreak. The safety of residents and staff is always a priority. On 15 May 2020 we published a care home support package which outlines the next phase of our response for care homes, using the latest domestic and international evidence brought together by Public Health England, and drawing on the insights of care providers. To support this, on 13 May we announced an additional £600 million to support providers through a new Adult Social Care Infection Control Fund.
The adult social care action plan states that end of life care must continue to be planned in a holistic way involving social care, community nursing, general practice, occupational therapy. Provision of end of life care should reflect the individual patient’s needs and preferences, and where and how these can best be met. The Government, with the NHS, has published a new Standard Operating Procedure for the re-use of medicines in care homes and hospices. This will enable easier access to critical the end of life medication in these settings.
This is an unprecedented global pandemic and we will continue to review our guidance and national support in line with the latest scientific advice.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
What steps he is taking to improve NHS facilities.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Government is committed to improving the quality of National Health Service premises including hospitals, primary and community estate and facilities. That is why we have announced the Health Infrastructure Plan – a new, long-term programme of investment in NHS buildings, estates and equipment.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans in the 2019 spending review to allocate funding to provide for the work required on NHS critical infrastructure; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The Spending Review, which is expected to be later this year, will set future years capital budgets. This will consider the case and options for capital investment in the National Health Service, including in supporting and maintaining critical infrastructure in the NHS.
The majority of NHS capital assets are owned by individual NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts, who in aggregate make capital investments of around £3 billion annually. NHS planning guidance for 2019-20 has been clear that local organisations should set out how their proposed capital investments are consistent with their clinical strategies and how they demonstrate the delivery of safe, productive services that are affordable to the organisation.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what type of NHS positions were vacant in Lancashire as of 31 March 2019.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The data is not available in the format requested.
The number of National Health Service vacancies in England as at 31 March 2019 will become available on 30 May 2019, when NHS Improvement and NHS Digital are due to produce a joint vacancy statistics report.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what major hospital redevelopments are planned in the next 24 months; and whether those redevelopments include the centralisation of acute hospital sites.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The following table shows a list of major hospital redevelopments that have confirmed capital funding from the sustainability and transformation partnership programme and other funding sources.
Lead Organisation | Scheme | Total Scheme Value £ million |
Under Construction | ||
Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust | 3Ts Scheme - three-phase building works to deliver a Regional Centre for Teaching, Trauma and Tertiary Care. | 484 |
Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust | A new hospital development to deliver more care outside hospital, whilst ensuring a world class facility for urgent and specialist treatment. | 450 |
Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust | Midland Metropolitan Hospital - new acute hospital at Grove Lane, Smethwick site and community facilities. | 340 |
Subject to business case approval | ||
Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust | Sustainable Services Project. | 312 |
Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | One Acute Network – Acute Reconfiguration in Dorset | 147 |
MSB Hospital Group | Reconfiguration of hospital services at the Mid-and-South Essex Acute Hospitals | 118 |
Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | Project Oriel - a new eye care, research and education facility | 344 |
Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust | Reconfiguration of hospital services | 196.5 |
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Cambridge Children’s Hospital | Up to £100 million |
With regard to the centralisation of acute hospital sites, NHS England guidance on service change is clear that schemes should not progress to consultation without explicit support from NHS Improvement and NHS England.
This evidence is available at the following link:
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to support the parents of children with mental illness in order that they are still able to work.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The Government recognises the challenges of combining work and care. In June 2018 we published an action plan setting out a cross-Government programme of targeted work to support carers over the next two years. That includes action to support employers to improve working practices and to help carers to stay in work and return to work, as well as improving advice on financial support.
Employees already have the right to request flexible working, to take a reasonable amount of time off from work to deal with an emergency involving a child or dependant and to take unpaid parental leave. We are also considering creating a duty for employers to determine whether a job can be done flexibly, and make that clear when advertising.
Through the NHS Long Term Plan, we continue to prioritise mental health in the National Health Service and are investing in improving early intervention and access to services. We are also implementing new mental health services in schools and colleges as announced in the Green Paper on Children and Young People’s Mental Health.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to support NHS trusts in areas with high volumes of tourists areas to help ensure the quality of treatment offered to residents.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) provide a wide range of health care services based on their local population needs using their knowledge and links to the community in which they work, and will use these plans to decide how to best use their budgets to make sure they are delivering high quality care to their patients.
While general practitioner practices do not receive any extra funding for patients that register temporarily with them, the costs are factored into practices baseline funding through a temporary patient adjustment. Where a practice has faced a significant increase or decrease in the numbers of temporary patients requiring treatment from it, NHS England may review the amount used for the temporary patient adjustment.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to support the Alzheimer’s Society’s Dementia-friendly communities programme.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Dementia remains a key priority for the Government. We will implement the Government’s Challenge on Dementia 2020, published in February 2015, in full to make sure the lives of those with dementia are transformed by 2020. Working with our partners, we continue to make progress against the ambitions set out in the March 2016 Implementation Plan which details how the commitments in the Challenge, across the four core themes of risk reduction, health and care, awareness and social action, and research will be met.
The Challenge committed to over half of the population of people in England living in areas that have been recognised as dementia friendly communities in line with the guidance developed by Alzheimer’s Society. Working with our partners, we are making great strides in establishing dementia friendly communities. So far 346 areas in England have signed up to become dementia friendly communities.