Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what step he plans to take to increase access to rehabilitation health services in the (a) community and (b) acute health sectors.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government understands the importance of having effective rehabilitation services available to help people recover from an injury or illness and regain the skills and confidence they need to live independently.
Improvements in intermediate care and reablement support services will be part of a wider approach to transforming community-based services and will link to the Government’s vision of building an integrated neighbourhood health service.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 potential merits of a national screening programme for prostate cancer.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
Screening for prostate cancer is currently not recommended in the United Kingdom, due to the inaccuracy of the current best test Prostate Specific Antigen.
A UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) review looking at whether to offer screening for prostate cancer is currently underway. This evidence review will cover modelling the clinical effectiveness and cost of several approaches to prostate cancer screening. This will include different potential ways of screening the whole population and targeted screening aimed at groups of people identified as being at higher-than-average risk, such as Black men or men with a family history of cancer.
Once the modelling and evidence review is complete, it will be considered by the UK NSC. Subject to no further revisions being required, the UK NSC plans to look at the findings towards the end of 2025.
Further details of the UK NSC’s evidence review process are available at the following link:
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 prioritise screening for brain tumours.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
In the United Kingdom, national screening programmes are introduced based on the recommendations of the UK National Screening Committee, an independent scientific advisory committee which advises Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries on all aspects of population and targeted screening and supports implementation.
The UK National Screening Committee has not been asked to look at screening for brain tumours. The Committee welcomes any new published peer reviewed evidence which suggests the case for a new or modified screening programme via its annual call, which is available at the following link:
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 help reduce NHS waiting lists in Runcorn and Helsby constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission and a top priority for this government. On 6 January 2025, NHS England published the new Elective Reform Plan, part of the Government’s Plan for Change, which sets out a whole system approach to hitting the 18-week referral to treatment target by the end of this Parliament. The plan sets out the reform and productivity efforts needed to ensure that patients are seen on time and have the best possible experience during their care, including those using the National Health Service in Runcorn and Helsby. The plan is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/reforming-elective-care-for-patients.pdf
We have set an ambition to make progress on the 18-week standard in 2025/26, to 65% nationally and for all trusts to deliver a minimum five percentage point improvement by March 2026. At the end of November 2024, the rate in Warrington and Halton Hospital NHS Trust was 59.5%, and the rate at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust was 49.6%.
At the 2024 Autumn Budget, the Chancellor announced £1.5 billion of capital funding for new surgical hubs and diagnostic scanners. This will build capacity for over 30,000 additional procedures and over 1.25 million diagnostic tests, as well as new beds which will create more treatment space in emergency departments, reduce waiting times, and help shift more care into the community.
Dedicated and protected surgical hubs are transforming the way the NHS provides elective care by focusing on high volume low complexity surgeries. There is one operational surgical hub serving patients in the Runcorn and Helsby constituency at Halton General Hospital - Mid Mersey Elective Hub (Captain Sir Tom Moore).
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 (a) the average wages paid to social care sector workers and (b) the current number of vacancies in the sector.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Skills for Care reports that most care workers as the entry-level occupation are paid on or just above National Living Wage. Average or mean hourly pay for all workers in the sector was £12.36 in March 2024. Skills for Care also reported that the overall vacancy rate in adult social care (ASC) decreased to 8.3% in 2023/24, or 131,000 vacant posts, from 9.9% or 153,000 vacant posts in 2022/23. Monthly estimates by Skills for Care suggest that the vacancy rate amongst independent social care providers fell further between March and November 2024. Vacancies reflect roles advertised by independent providers and therefore market conditions.
To improve retention and recognition in the ASC sector, the Government is currently introducing legislation to pave the way for the first ever Fair Pay Agreement so that care professionals are recognised and rewarded for the important work that they do.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 adequacy of the local disabled facilities grants.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are giving older and disabled people more independence in their own homes through an immediate in-year uplift to the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) of £86 million in 2024/25. This increase will provide approximately 7,800 additional home adaptations. This is on top of the £625 million paid to local authorities in May 2024. The Government also announced an £86 million additional investment in the DFG for 2025/26 at the Budget, bringing total funding for 2025/26 to £711 million also.
To ensure the DFG is as effective as possible, we will continue to keep different aspects of the grant under consideration. As part of this, we are reviewing the suitability of the current upper limit and will set out further detail in due course.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take additional steps to support (a) Halton Haven and (b) Good Shepard Hospice in Runcorn and Helsby constituency.
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), such as the Cheshire and Merseyside ICB, which covers the Runcorn and Helsby constituency, must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.
Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices like Halton Haven and the Good Shepard Hospice, also play in providing support to people at end of life and their loved ones.
On 19 December 2024, the Government announced the biggest investment in a generation for hospices in England, supporting the sector with a £100 million boost for adult and children’s hospices to ensure they have the best physical environment for care, and £26 million revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices. We will set out the details of the funding allocation and dissemination in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 help prevent social isolation of carers.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We want to ensure that people who care for family and friends are better able to look after their own health and wellbeing.
Local authorities have duties to support people caring for their family and friends. The Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to deliver a wide range of sustainable, high-quality care and support services, including support for carers. Additionally, the Better Care Fund includes funding that can be used for unpaid carer support, including short breaks and respite services for carers.
Social prescribing can also work well for those who are socially isolated or whose wellbeing is being impacted by non-medical issues, and routinely present to primary or secondary care as a result.
The Department worked with NHS England and the Carers Partnership to produce a social prescribing summary document that was disseminated to local carer organisations in March 2023. This aimed to help upskill staff at carer organisations on social prescribing as an intervention for loneliness, and to increase unpaid carer health and wellbeing.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 reduce waiting times for (a) autistic and (b) ADHD diagnostic assessments in the Cheshire and Merseyside area.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people, and adults referred to an autism assessment service. In 2024/25, £4.3 million is available nationally to improve services for autistic children and young people, including autism assessment services.
We are also supporting a cross-sector taskforce that NHS England has established to look at ADHD service provision and support across sectors, and their impact on patient experience. The taskforce is bringing together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, including timely access to services and support.
The Cheshire and Merseyside ICB advises that it is working with a range of partners to implement standardised pathways or models of care for neurodiversity, primarily ADHD and autism, for both children and young people, and adults. The ambition for both pathways is to enable early help, and the ability to access support without the need for diagnosis. This will ensure people’s needs are met in a more timely way, and enable assessment capacity to focus on those with the greatest need, also enabling waiting times for assessments to be reduced.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
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 level of capital investment required for Warrington and Halton hospital campus sites.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that delivering high quality National Health Service healthcare services requires the right facilities and support systems in the right places, and we understand that strategic, value for money investments in capital projects, whether through allocations prioritised locally or through national programmes, is important in achieving this.
Managing the local capital budget for its area and allocating funds according to local priorities, including investment in healthcare facilities, are matters for the local integrated care board (ICB), the Cheshire and Merseyside ICB. The ICB should have considered the investment needed for the Warrington and Halton hospital campus sites as part of their 10-year infrastructure strategy, in collaboration with the relevant trusts.