Asked by: Olly Glover (Liberal Democrat - Didcot and Wantage)
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 impact of recent trends in the level of funding for elective services on ADHD right to choose assessments.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Elective funding covers a range of planned health services, including elective ordinary and day cases, outpatient appointments, and diagnostics tests, although this does not include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services. ADHD patients continue to benefit from the right to choose their provider at the point of referral.
It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICBs) in England to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including assessments for ADHD, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
NHS England has established a taskforce which is working to bring together those with lived experience, and experts from the National Health Service, education, charity, and justice sectors. The taskforce is working to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including timely and equitable access to services and support, and is expecting to report in the summer of 2025.
In conjunction with the taskforce, NHS England has carried out detailed work to develop an ADHD data improvement plan to inform future service planning. NHS England has also conducted detailed work to understand the provider and commissioning landscape, capturing examples from ICBs who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services. NHS England is using this information to support systems to tackle ADHD waiting lists and provide support to address people’s needs.
Asked by: Olly Glover (Liberal Democrat - Didcot and Wantage)
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 midwife training with respect to (a) pay and (b) conditions and (i) the impact to the profession and (ii) the care that expectant parents receive.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In addition to the student loans system, there is supplementary financial support available from the Department to midwifery students through the NHS Learning Support Fund (LSF). The LSF provides eligible midwifery students with a non-repayable training grant of £5,000 per academic year, with further financial support depending on personal circumstances. The Government keeps the funding arrangements for all healthcare students under close review to strike a balance between ensuring that students are financially supported during their studies and delivering maximum value for money for the taxpayer. Apprenticeship opportunities are also available for those for whom a full-time university course is not practical or preferred, as well as postgraduate conversions and return to midwifery programmes.
Approved Education Institutions and practice partners are responsible for developing the content and design of academic and practice-based learning programmes in line with the standards of proficiency, conduct, and performance of midwives, as set out by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). The NMC approves these programmes and ensures the quality of practice placements for students. It would not be appropriate for the Government to intervene in this process, and we respect the independence and expertise of universities and regulators in designing standards that ensure public safety, including the safety of expectant parents.
Asked by: Olly Glover (Liberal Democrat - Didcot and Wantage)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that disabled children from all socio-economic backgrounds receive appropriate therapy.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to championing the rights of disabled people, and will break down the barriers to opportunity and ensure that every child has the best start in life. This includes all children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
Across England, community health services, including therapies, are locally commissioned to enable systems to best meet the needs of their communities. We are working closely with NHS England to improve access to community health services and on actions to reduce long waits.
The Children and Families Act 2014 requires that education, health, and social care services work together to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND. In May 2023, NHS England issued statutory guidance setting out the requirement for integrated care boards (ICBs) to have an executive lead for SEND, who will lead on supporting the Chief Executive and the board to ensure the ICB performs its functions effectively in the interests of children and young people with SEND.
Asked by: Olly Glover (Liberal Democrat - Didcot and Wantage)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to conduct a review of the medicines supply chain to ensure that the causes of ongoing shortages of medicines for (a) epilepsy, (b) Parkinson’s and (c) ADHD are (i) understood and (ii) addressed.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The resilience of United Kingdom’s supply chains is a key priority, and the Department and NHS England are committed to helping to build long term supply chain resilience for medicines. The Department, working closely with NHS England, is taking forward a range of actions to improve our ability to mitigate and manage shortages and strengthen our resilience.
The Department is working hard with industry to help resolve intermittent supply issues with some epilepsy medications. As a result of ongoing activity and intensive work, including directing suppliers to expedite deliveries, some issues, including with some carbamazepine, lamotrigine, and oxcarbazepine presentations, have been resolved.
We are aware of an ongoing supply issue with all strengths of topiramate tablets, with the resupply date to be confirmed. Other manufacturers of topiramate tablets can meet the increased demand during this time.
The Department is aware of supply constraints with one supplier of amantadine 100miligram capsules used in the management of Parkinson’s Disease, however stocks remain available from alternative suppliers to cover demand. The Department has also been notified of a discontinuation of apomorphine (APO-go PFS) 50 milligram/10mililitre pre-filled syringes from April 2025. Alternative formulations of apomorphine remain available for patients and management guidance has been issued to the National Health Service.
The Department has also been working hard with industry and NHS England to help resolve the supply issues with some attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medicines, which are affecting the United Kingdom and other countries around the world. As a result of intensive work, some issues have been resolved, and all strengths of lisdexamfetamine, atomoxetine capsules, and guanfacine prolonged-release tablets are now available.
We are intensively working to resolve issues with methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets by collaborating with current and new suppliers, expanding the UK supplier base, and partnering with NHS England to improve demand forecasting for ADHD medicines.