Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will provide a timeline for the Pregnancy Loss Review; whether he expects the review to reflect the recommendations from Miscarriage Matters, The Lancet Journals series published in April 2021; and whether he expects the review to recommend that (a) every miscarriage should be acknowledged and recorded and the figures published and (b) consistent miscarriage care should be available 24 hours a day in every area of the country.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Pregnancy Loss Review: Care and Support when Baby Loss Occurs Before 24 Weeks Gestation was commissioned to consider the registration and certification of pregnancy loss occurring before 24 weeks gestation and on the quality of National Health Service care. The Review will make recommendations on improving the care and support women and families receive when experiencing a pre-24-week gestation baby loss. We know that the Review has been delayed and part of this delay is due to the coronavirus pandemic. We are working with the independent review leads to get it published as soon as possible.
There are currently no official statistics reported for miscarriages. It is hard to accurately report miscarriage figures in England due to a significant number of miscarriages not being reported to a healthcare provider, especially those that take place at an early gestation. However, while this is complex this is an area that the Government is considering more closely. The Government is committed to considering the Lancet Series’ recommendation to record every miscarriage.
We cannot commit to the recommendation of miscarriage support 24 hours a day in every area of the country at this stage, but we remain committed to providing all women with safe care and we encourage services to provide care in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence clinical guideline on Ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage, published April 2019.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she expects NHS England will publish the annual data report for the new-born hearing screening programme for 2018-19; and for what reason that report has not yet been published.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
NHS England are expecting to publish annual data reports for the periods of 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21 in January 2023. The reasons for the delay are due to disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the transition of Public Health England to the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities and NHS England.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when was the last NHS England annual data report for the new-born hearing screening programme published.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
The last data report for the newborn hearing programme was for 2017/18 and is available at the following link:
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure that there are an adequate number of mental health specialists within the NHS to meet the needs of patients.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The NHS Long Term Plan stated the aim of increasing the mental health workforce in England by an additional 27,000 professionals by 2023/24. NHS England and Health Education England are working with local integrated care systems to confirm plans for service models, supply, retention and recruitment until 2024.
NHS England continues to support local systems to develop tailored health and wellbeing offers to meet the needs of the local mental health workforce. This includes mental health hubs in each integrated care system and occupational health services which are being supported through the Growing Occupational Health and Wellbeing national programme.
The Department has commissioned NHS England to develop a long-term workforce plan. The plan will consider the number of staff and the roles required and will set out the actions and reforms needed to improve workforce supply and retention.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the date by which the number of assessments carried out by Memory Assessment Services in England will return to pre-pandemic levels.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
No specific estimate has been made, as the number of assessments is collected locally by integrated care boards.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans she has to record and publish data on dementia sub-type prevalence in England.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
As there are over 200 subtypes of dementia, NHS England does not provide pathway guidance by subtype for dementia and has no plans to extract data in this format.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Women's Health Strategy will include The Lancet series recommendations from Miscarriage Matters, published April 2021, that (a) every miscarriage should be acknowledged and recorded, and the figures should be published and (b) there should be consistent miscarriage care available 24 hours a day in every area of the country.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
We will consider the Lancet Series’ recommendations on miscarriage during the development of the Women’s Health Strategy. Fertility, pregnancy, pregnancy loss and post-natal support will be included in the forthcoming Women’s Health Strategy for England, which will be published later this year.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the scope of the Pregnancy Loss Review is; and how that review will relate to the Women's Health Strategy.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Pregnancy Loss Review was commissioned to consider the registration and certification of pregnancy loss occurring before 24 weeks gestation and on the quality of National Health Service care. The Review will make recommendations on improving the care and support women and families receive when experiencing a pre-24 week gestation baby loss. The Review’s terms of reference are available at the following link:
The Pregnancy Loss Review will be published in due course. The forthcoming Women’s Health Strategy will also consider pregnancy loss.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to accelerate the procurement of new Phillips CPAP machines, for the home treatment of sleep apnoea, in response to the worldwide field safety notice in place relating to certain Philips machines.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
The most recent data available from Philips shows that as of 23 May 2022, 7% of the Philips continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines for the home treatment of sleep apnoea registered as being in use by National Health Service patients have been replaced with new devices as part of the Philips ongoing remediation programme, with 93% of affected devices still in use. The Philips remediation programme aims to replace or repair all affected Philips CPAP machines affected by the field safety notice and registered as being in use within the next 12 months, with the proportions projected to be 50% replacement and 50% repair.
NHS England and NHS Improvement’s clinical respiratory networks will assist with the coordination of the repair and replace programme at regional level with Philips and local providers. The decision to apply filters is subject to clinical review with each patient. Data on the number of filters provided for use with affected Philips CPAP devices is not collected centrally. New Philips CPAP machines for the home treatment of sleep apnoea will be unavailable for purchase in the United Kingdom until Philips has completed the remediation programme. CPAP machines from alternative suppliers have been procured and are being supplied to NHS sleep services.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many sleep apnoea patients using Phillips CPAP machines that are affected by the worldwide field safety notice relating to Philips machines are being provided with in line filters to mitigate the potential risks of degraded foam producing carcinogenic particles.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
The most recent data available from Philips shows that as of 23 May 2022, 7% of the Philips continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines for the home treatment of sleep apnoea registered as being in use by National Health Service patients have been replaced with new devices as part of the Philips ongoing remediation programme, with 93% of affected devices still in use. The Philips remediation programme aims to replace or repair all affected Philips CPAP machines affected by the field safety notice and registered as being in use within the next 12 months, with the proportions projected to be 50% replacement and 50% repair.
NHS England and NHS Improvement’s clinical respiratory networks will assist with the coordination of the repair and replace programme at regional level with Philips and local providers. The decision to apply filters is subject to clinical review with each patient. Data on the number of filters provided for use with affected Philips CPAP devices is not collected centrally. New Philips CPAP machines for the home treatment of sleep apnoea will be unavailable for purchase in the United Kingdom until Philips has completed the remediation programme. CPAP machines from alternative suppliers have been procured and are being supplied to NHS sleep services.