Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support her Department is providing to children experiencing addiction issues.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Alcohol or drug dependence is rare in children and young people under the age of 18 years old, although they may be drinking problematically. Children may also experience second-hand harms of parental alcohol or drug dependence. The most effective and sustainable approach to reducing alcohol and drug harms in children is by giving them the best start in life, the best education possible, and keeping them safe, well, and happy.
Statutory guidance on relationships, sex, and health education requires all primary and secondary school pupils to be taught the key facts and risks of alcohol and drug use, as well as how to manage influences and pressure, and keep themselves healthy and safe. The Department has worked with the PSHE Association to develop the lesson plans on alcohol and is currently commissioning an update of the resources to be published later this year. Current resources are available at the following link:
https://pshe-association.org.uk/drugeducation
Through the cross-Government Drug Strategy, the Department has allocated £532 million of additional funding through to 2024/25, to support improvements in alcohol and drug treatment, including facilitating 5,000 more young people into age-appropriate treatment by 2024/25. Local authorities can also invest their allocation in options from a menu of interventions, some of which include strengthening the services available to children and families.
The Government also has an information and advice service called Talk to FRANK, which aims to reduce alcohol and drug use and its harms, by providing awareness to young people, parents, and concerned others. Further information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 potential impact of transitioning from CAMHS to adult mental health services on the support provided to young people.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Under the NHS Long Term Plan, local health systems have been tasked with delivering a comprehensive offer for zero to 25 year-olds to ensure young adults receive appropriate mental health support, regardless of their age or diagnostic profile.
Between the ages of 16 to 18 years old, young people are more susceptible to mental illness, undergoing physiological change and making important transitions in their lives. The structure of the National Health Service’s mental health services often creates gaps for young people undergoing the transition from children and young people’s mental health services to appropriate support, including adult mental health services. The new approach to young adult mental health services for people aged 18 to 25 years old will better support the transition to adulthood.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to protect children from unhealthy food and drink marketing.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to working with businesses to ensure that we create the conditions for a healthier nation, and we are implementing an ambitious programme of measures to tackle childhood obesity. On 1 October 2022, the Government introduced legislation to restrict the location of foods high in fat, salt, or sugar in shops and online.
On 1 October 2025, the volume price promotion restrictions will come into force, restricting volume price promotions such as three for two offers on less healthy products. The Government will simultaneously introduce a United Kingdom-wide 9:00pm television watershed for products high in fat, salt, or sugar, and a restriction of paid-for advertising of these products online, also on 1 October 2025. We continue to work with industry on the Food Data Transparency Partnership, to co-develop voluntary reporting requirements for food business to demonstrate the healthiness of their sales.
The Government, through its focus on prevention, is committed to improving the oral health of our young children through the Smile for Life programme, so that they have good habits by the time they start primary school.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support her Department is providing to families of children with poor mental health.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Every Mind Matters website and the National Health Service website both contain helpful advice for parents and carers of a child or young person with poor mental health. This includes signposting to a number of voluntary organisations offering support and information.
Family members of children with poor mental health, who feel they themselves need psychological support, should speak to their general practitioner, or can self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies online. Details are available on the NHS website.
In addition, NHS England is developing a new waiting time measure for children and their families and carers to start receiving community-based mental health care within four weeks of referral. NHS England began publishing this new data in 2023, to improve transparency and drive local accountability.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether additional funding will be provided to local Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services for ongoing support beyond initial assessment for young people who are currently on the waiting list for gender services.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
NHS England has committed £17.1 million to the two new hubs for children and young people’s gender services in 2024/25. Additional funding will be made available for children and young people’s gender services as new providers are established, from 2024/25. NHS England is also making additional investment in front line mental health services in 2024/25, to support an assessment of need for all children and young people who are on the waiting list for gender services, or who have recently been transferred to one of the new providers of these services following the closure of the Tavistock Clinic gender service in March 2024.
Mental health is a key priority for the Government and NHS England. We are committed to continuing to increase access to mental health support for children and young people, supported by an additional £70 million of Service Development Funding for children and young people’s mental health services.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help support 17-year-olds on the waiting list for gender identity services who have had their appointments with adult services cancelled and are not eligible for young people’s services.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
NHS England has asked adult gender clinics to delay offering first appointments to young people until they have reached their 18th birthday, in response to the findings of the Cass Review, and advised that clinicians should exercise extreme caution before initiating medical interventions for young people below the age of 18 years old.
The number of individuals affected is likely to be very small, and Gender Dysphoria Clinics are commissioned to provide support to individuals while they are on the waiting list, for example through the use of outreach support staff. NHS England also announced that it is bringing forward its review of the adult service specifications.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) children and young people and (b) adults whose care has moved to adult gender services will be able to opt out of research into those who attended the Gender Identity Development Services at Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Dr Cass’ critical report underlined the lack of robust research available in this space, therefore we will strive to embed evidence gathering within the delivery of gender services moving forward. Regarding the data linkage study established by the Cass review and led by the University of York, we can confirm that the study received full approval from the Health Research Authority. Like all National Health Service research, the study is subject to strict ethical and legal controls, with an opt out option available for individuals who do not wish to have their data used as part of the study.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
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 potential impact of variations in access to appropriate social care provision to enable independent living on the (a) availability and (b) capacity of supported accommodation.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our white paper People at the Heart of Care sets out our ambition to ensure people have the choice and control to remain independent in the community. We recognise that supported housing can be the best model of care for some people, leading to better health, greater independence, and closer connection with the community.
The forthcoming provisions of the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 will strengthen the data on the availability and capacity of supported accommodation. The act places a new duty on local housing authorities to review the supported housing in each district, and to forecast future need. The Government will consult on the implementation of the new duties and other supported housing reforms in due course.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to reduce the time taken for children to receive (a) SEN assessments and (b) mental health treatment.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with the Department for Education to ensure that children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support, in the right place, at the right time. We are doing this through working together to implement the SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan, which was published on 2 March 2023. This sets out the Government’s mission to establish a single national system that delivers for every child and young person with SEND and in alternative provision, so that they enjoy their childhood, achieve good outcomes, and are well prepared for adulthood and employment.
The Department of Health and Social Care is also investing at least an additional £2.3 billion a year in expanding National Health Service mental health services by March 2024, compared to 2018/19, and have set out our aim in the NHS Long Term Plan for an additional 345,000 children and young people to be able to get the mental health support they need. NHS England is also developing a new waiting time standard for children and their families to start receiving community-based mental health care within four weeks of referral.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to reduce waiting times for (a) treatment for and (b) diagnosis of (i) endometriosis, (ii) polycystic ovary syndrome and (iii) other women's health concerns; and what steps she is taking to help ensure young women seeking treatment for these conditions have their concerns taken seriously.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Women’s Health Strategy sets out the government’s plans for boosting the health and wellbeing of women and girls and ensuring they feel listened to and have their concerns taken seriously. We are investing £25 million in women’s health hubs which will play a key role in improving access to care. Menstrual problems assessment and treatment for conditions such as endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are core services in women’s health hubs.
Community diagnostic centres (CDCs) are playing an important part in tackling the backlogs of people waiting for diagnostic tests, which includes checks, tests and scans for patients on gynaecological pathways, including those with endometriosis and PCOS. As of December 2023, there are 140 CDCs operational which have delivered over six million additional tests since July 2021.
Additionally, gynaecology is one of six specialties being prioritised through surgical hubs for planned procedures. Surgical hubs focus on providing high-volume low-complexity surgery, such as hysteroscopies for women not suitable for outpatient clinic procedures and laparoscopies for suspected endometriosis. There are currently 94 surgical hubs operational across the National Health Service in England, with 45 of these conducting gynaecological procedures.