Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
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 role of safe spaces for play in the healthy development of children; and if she will have discussions with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on steps his Department is taking to help ensure that children have access to such spaces.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In January 2024, the Department published the guidance Improving the mental health of babies, children and young people. This recognises that outdoor learning can provide the building blocks for successful learning and attainment of engagement, enjoyment, social skills and self-regulated behaviour, experiencing success, and wellbeing and confidence.
The Government has put policies in place to require local authorities to provide access to open spaces for sport and physical activity, which is important for the health and well-being of communities. Officials in the Department are engaging across the Government on this, and a wide range of issues, to promote healthier places.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will (a) make it her policy to introduce mandatory dental checks for children under 11 in educational settings and (b) make an estimate of the cost of such checks.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service dental treatment for children is free if you are under 18. Dental access for children has increased since the end of the pandemic. 6.4 million children were seen by an NHS dentist in the 12 months up to 30 June 2023 which compares to 3.6 million children seen during the 12 months up to 31 December 2020. No assessments have been made on the cost of mandatory dental checks for children under 11 in educational settings.
NHS England is leading on the next stage of dental contract reform to address the challenges facing the delivery of NHS dentistry and to improve oral health outcomes. The changes announced by NHS England on 19 July 2022 include improving care to high needs patients, supporting practices to deliver more NHS care, and improving information for patients. The next steps in reform will consider what more can be done to move to a preventative approach and an overall improvement of the nation’s oral health.
The Department has published a toolkit to support the commissioning of supervised tooth brushing programmes in early years settings and schools with several local authorities already having schemes in place, funded via the Public Health Grant.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make (a) an assessment of the potential merits of ring-fencing NHS dentistry funding and (b) an estimate of the potential impact of such ringfencing on the NHS budget.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service dentistry receives £3 billion of funding each year. We want to protect dental resources for dental care and prioritise access for patients, and have taken action, starting with our contract changes announced in July 2022 to ensure that the full dental budget made available each year is spent on delivering dental care.
From 1 April 2023, the responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs) across England, along with the transfer of all funding. ICBs are responsible for having local processes in place to involve patient groups, and for undertaking oral health needs assessments, to identify areas of need and determine the priorities for investment.
NHS England provided guidance for the ICBs that requires dental allocations to be ringfenced in 2023/24, with any unused resources being re-directed to improve NHS dental access in the first instance, rather than being spent on other services. In November 2023, NHS England confirmed that where ICBs had not spent all of their allocation on improving access to dentistry, they would be able to retain any underspend and use this to balance their bottom line and any other pressures. ICBs will decide how to use any forecast underspend in line with this guidance. We are currently considering arrangements for 2024/25.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing the Adams Bend test in schools.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2015, the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) considered the Adams Bend test and concluded it has a high false positive rate and a low positive predictive value for identifying cases that are likely to progress and require treatment, therefore the use of this screening test would lead to unnecessary and potentially harmful exposure to X-rays. The UK NSC reconsidered the evidence in 2021 and does not currently recommend the introduction of a screening programme for scoliosis using the Adams Bend test.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is her Department is taking to reduce ambulance waiting times in (a) Weaver Vale constituency and (b) the UK.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our Delivery plan for recovering urgent and emergency care services aims to reduce Category 2 response times to 30 minutes on average this year. The plan sets out a range of measures to improve urgent and emergency care performance across the patient pathway. To increase capacity and improve ambulance response times, ambulance services are receiving £200 million of additional funding this year. We have already seen significant improvements in ambulance performance this year. Nationally, average Category 2 response times were more than 45 minutes faster in December than the same month last year, despite increases in demand. The North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust, which serves the Weaver Vale constituency, was almost 34 minutes faster this December.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she plans to take to increase the number of NHS dentists in Weaver Vale constituency.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In July 2022 we announced a package of reforms to improve access to National Health Service dentistry, which outlined the steps we are taking to meet oral health needs and increase access to dental care, including in Weaver Vale. The changes that have been implemented include improvements to ensure dentists are remunerated more fairly for more complex work and the introduction of a minimum Units of Dental Activity value.
From 1 April 2023, responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. ICBs are responsible for having local processes in place to identify areas of need and determine the priorities for investment.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published on 30 June 2023, sets out the steps the NHS and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. These include a 40% increase to dentistry undergraduate training places by 2031/32.
But we know we need to do more, and that there are some areas where access is particularly problematic. We are working on our Dentistry Recovery Plan which will address how we continue to improve access, particularly for new patients, and how we make NHS work more attractive to ensure NHS dentists are incentivised to deliver more NHS care.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
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 accuracy of allegations of impropriety in the investigation into medical malpractice at Salford Royal Hospital in 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Northern Care Alliance commissioned the Spinal Patient Safety Look Back review in 2021. A report detailing the findings was published in July 2023. Following this, the Northern Care Alliance additionally commissioned an independent barrister to review the Trust’s historic management of concerns raised regarding a particular surgeon. The findings of this review are being finalised and will be shared in due course. No assessment has been made by the Department as to the accuracy of the allegations.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has he made of the potential merits of utilising medicinal cannabis to treat children with intractable epilepsy.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The licensed cannabis-based medicine Epidyolex is prescribed and routinely funded by the National Health Service for the treatment of people aged two years old and over with Dravet syndrome, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Tuberous Sclerosis Complex. This follows approval by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and assessment by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
Clinical guidelines from NICE state that there is insufficient evidence of safety and efficacy to support a population-wide practice recommendation for the use of unlicensed cannabis-based products, for the treatment of adults and children with severe treatment-resistant epilepsy. NICE also made recommendations for further research to inform future commissioning decisions.
The Government encourages manufacturers to invest in research and clinical trials, and offers scientific and research advice from the MHRA and the National Institute for Health and Care Research.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish guidance on the Down Syndrome Act 2022.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We are using the data from Down Syndrome Act call for evidence to develop the guidance, required under the Down Syndrome Act 2022, for relevant authorities on how they should meet the needs of people with Down syndrome.
We will be publishing a report on the call for evidence findings shortly. This report will include a detailed breakdown of respondents and information about what capacity individuals or organisations were responding in, and the area they work in, such as healthcare, social care, or local government.
We expect to issue the draft Down Syndrome Act guidance for consultation as soon as possible in the new year, and the guidance will be published at the earliest opportunity following the public consultation.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support the Government is providing to veterans who developed chronic illnesses after serving in the Gulf.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Veterans who served in the Gulf War and are suffering with adverse health conditions, whether physical or mental, should contact their general practitioner (GP) in the first instance to seek appropriate treatment for their symptoms. GPs can refer them for further support as required to meet their clinical needs.
In England, the National Health Service has set up several veteran specific services including Op RESTORE and Op COURAGE. Where injuries and ongoing medical problems are a result of service in the armed forces, GPs should refer individuals directly into the Op RESTORE service. Op RESTORE can also assist in providing wrap-around support while waiting for clinical interventions to take place. Op COURAGE provides a complete mental health care pathway for veterans and can be accessed directly or following a referral by their GP.