Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
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 merits of collecting data on the number of attempted suicides attended by ambulance staff.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has made no such assessment and there are currently no plans to collect this data centrally.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to support newborn screening laboratories to commence screening for spinal muscular atrophy once an interim decision is published.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
On all aspects of population and targeted screening, Ministers are advised by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC). A recommendation by the UK NSC on newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is expected following the conclusion of an in-service evaluation (ISE), which is needed to answer several outstanding questions related to the implementation of a screening programme for SMA.
The UK NSC recommended an ISE of newborn blood spot screening for SMA in National Health Services in 2023. Since then, SMA Newborn Screening ISE Partnership Board was set up to plan and develop work to shape the ISE. This includes planning for newborn laboratories to be able to screen blood spot samples for SMA.
The National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Health Technology Assessment Programme is running a tender process to appoint researchers for the ISE which is a necessary step before the ISE can be rolled out.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
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 ensure that newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy is commenced immediately.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
On all aspects of population and targeted screening, Ministers are advised by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC). A recommendation by the UK NSC on newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is expected following the conclusion of an in-service evaluation (ISE), which is needed to answer several outstanding questions related to the implementation of a screening programme for SMA.
The UK NSC recommended an ISE of newborn blood spot screening for SMA in National Health Services in 2023. Since then, SMA Newborn Screening ISE Partnership Board was set up to plan and develop work to shape the ISE. This includes planning for newborn laboratories to be able to screen blood spot samples for SMA.
The National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Health Technology Assessment Programme is running a tender process to appoint researchers for the ISE which is a necessary step before the ISE can be rolled out.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on improving the (a) access, (b) quality and (c) sustainability of palliative and end of life care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications. The statutory guidance states that ICBs, including the Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB, the Surrey Heartlands ICB, and the Frimley ICB, must work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of care services to meet the needs of their local populations.
NHS England has also developed a palliative care and end of life care dashboard. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative care and end of life care needs of their local population, including the ability to filter the available information, such as by deprivation or ethnicity, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities, and ensure that funding is distributed fairly, based on prevalence.
The Department and NHS England are currently working at pace to develop plans on how best to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10-Year Health Plan.
Additionally, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Department has invested £3 million in a Policy Research Unit in Palliative and End of Life Care. This unit is building the evidence base on palliative care and end of life care, with a specific focus on inequalities.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to strengthen statutory guidance on the legal duty to commission palliative care services in the Health and Care Act 2022.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative care and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.
The statutory guidance states that ICBs must work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of care services to meet the needs of their local populations, which can include hospice services, available within the ICB catchment. There are no current plans to update the statutory guidance.
The ICBs are expected to follow the statutory guidance in exercising their functions and must pay due regard to it in the planning, commissioning, and delivery of palliative care and end of life care services.
Additionally, NHS England has a legal duty to annually assess the performance of each ICB in respect of each financial year and to publish a summary of its findings. This assessment must assess how well the ICB has discharged its functions.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of collecting data on the number of callouts police attend to (a) attempted suicides and (b) suicides in progress.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not collect data from police on calls about suicidal ideation or where an apparent suicide is in progress and has no current plans to do so.
The College of Policing sets the professional standards for police in England and Wales. The College’s core guidance includes the initial training for officers under the Policing Education Qualifications Framework which incorporates autism, learning disabilities, mental health and vulnerabilities. Through this, officers are taught to assess vulnerability and amend their approaches as required.
The College further promotes the need for frameworks to assess vulnerability, to aid in consistent identification, support decision making, and to trigger appropriate safeguarding action. Such principles and practices are set out in a number of college products, including the Detention and Custody Authorised Professional Practice (APP) and the Mental Health APP which has guidance on suicide prevention and bereavement response.
Policing is operationally independent, and it is a matter for the chief constables of each force to decide which additional training their officers should undertake.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of support available to police who attend callouts to attempted suicides.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has been clear that the health and wellbeing of our police is a priority and that those who have faced suicide-related incidents in the line of duty receive the support they need to recover and continue serving.
We continue to fund the National Police Wellbeing Service, which has developed an evidenced-based trauma support model which is now available to forces. The Service has also introduced a Trauma Tracker tool to help forces better understand exposure to traumatic incidents and ensure timely support for officers and staff.
Chief Constables have a responsibility to manage their workforce effectively and this includes ensuring appropriate training provision for all officers and staff and ensuring their wellbeing.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the suicide prevention training provided to police staff.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not collect data from police on calls about suicidal ideation or where an apparent suicide is in progress and has no current plans to do so.
The College of Policing sets the professional standards for police in England and Wales. The College’s core guidance includes the initial training for officers under the Policing Education Qualifications Framework which incorporates autism, learning disabilities, mental health and vulnerabilities. Through this, officers are taught to assess vulnerability and amend their approaches as required.
The College further promotes the need for frameworks to assess vulnerability, to aid in consistent identification, support decision making, and to trigger appropriate safeguarding action. Such principles and practices are set out in a number of college products, including the Detention and Custody Authorised Professional Practice (APP) and the Mental Health APP which has guidance on suicide prevention and bereavement response.
Policing is operationally independent, and it is a matter for the chief constables of each force to decide which additional training their officers should undertake.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
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 the support available to ambulance staff who attend traumatic callouts.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The mental health of all National Health Service staff is a high priority, including ambulance staff as responders to emergency incidents. At a national level ambulance staff have access to the SHOUT helpline for crisis support alongside the Practitioner Health service for more complex mental health wellbeing support, including trauma and addiction. Additionally, ambulance trusts and the Association of Ambulance Trust Chief Executives have worked closely with NHS England to develop an ambulance sector specific suicide prevention pathway to provide immediate, 24/7 support for staff experiencing suicidal ideation.
Significant work is also underway to strengthen the quality and consistency of suicide training across the health system. NHS England published Staying Safe from Suicide: Best Practice Guidance for Safety Assessment, Formulation and Management, to support the Government’s work to reduce suicide and improve mental health services. Further information on this guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/staying-safe-from-suicide/
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Brigg and Immingham)
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 the suicide prevention training provided to ambulance staff.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The mental health of all National Health Service staff is a high priority, including ambulance staff as responders to emergency incidents. At a national level ambulance staff have access to the SHOUT helpline for crisis support alongside the Practitioner Health service for more complex mental health wellbeing support, including trauma and addiction. Additionally, ambulance trusts and the Association of Ambulance Trust Chief Executives have worked closely with NHS England to develop an ambulance sector specific suicide prevention pathway to provide immediate, 24/7 support for staff experiencing suicidal ideation.
Significant work is also underway to strengthen the quality and consistency of suicide training across the health system. NHS England published Staying Safe from Suicide: Best Practice Guidance for Safety Assessment, Formulation and Management, to support the Government’s work to reduce suicide and improve mental health services. Further information on this guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/staying-safe-from-suicide/