Asked by: Paul Williams (Labour - Stockton South)
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 minimise disruption to (a) patients, (b) health workers and (c) health services in Northern Ireland in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a withdrawal agreement.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
To minimise disruption to patients, the Department, in consultation with the devolved administrations, has been working with trade bodies, product suppliers, and the health and care system in England to make detailed plans that should ensure continuation of the supply of medical products to the whole of the United Kingdom and its Crown Dependencies in the event of leaving the European Union without a deal.
The Department continues to implement a multi-layered approach to minimise supply disruption. These plans echo and enhance the plans that were in place ahead of March/April.
Asked by: Paul Williams (Labour - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether doctors and healthcare workers in Northern Ireland will be permitted in the course of their employment to be in possession of medication in the Republic of Ireland in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Health and care professionals possessing dual registration in Ireland and Northern Ireland will continue to be able to work across the border should we leave the European Union without a deal. Those who are currently able to write prescriptions for both Ireland and Northern Ireland will still be able to do so.
Asked by: Paul Williams (Labour - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with North Tees and Hartlepool Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The Department is working with its partners across Government, arms length bodies, local authorities, industry and the wider health and care system to ensure that all relevant parties are prepared for exiting the European Union. The quality and safety of patient care is paramount in our preparedness plans.
In August 2019, the Department published up-to-date guidance on GOV.UK on what local authorities can do to prepare for EU Exit. This covers a range of issues including workforce, business continuity planning, data sharing, and the continuity of supply of medicines, medical devices and clinical consumables, and of non-clinical goods and services. It also provides key contact information and signposts where local authorities and providers can go for further support. We continue to work closely with the health and social care sector to ensure that this guidance is accurate, practical and up-to-date.
The Department, in consultation with the Devolved Administrations (DAs), has been working with trade bodies, product suppliers, and the health and care system in England to make detailed plans that should help ensure continuation of the supply of medical products to the whole of the United Kingdom and its Crown Dependencies following the UK’s departure from the EU
The Department, alongside NHS England and Improvement, are ensuring that there is regular communication with frontline National Health Service organisations and stakeholders in the Health and Social Care sector regarding EU Exit preparations. NHS England will be holding EU Exit Roadshow’s in the lead up to the 31 October building on the regular communication that the Department and NHS England has with the frontline on the Health and Social Care sector.
Asked by: Paul Williams (Labour - Stockton South)
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 work with NHS England to establish autism diagnosis waiting times standards for each (a) sustainability and transformation partnership and (b) integrated care system.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
No one should have to face long waits for an autism assessment. We expect services to adhere to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) quality standard which recommends that the length between referral and a first appointment to start an assessment should be no more than three months.
We are determined to drive up performance nationally. We will use data on autism diagnosis waiting times, available for the first time later this year, to hold local areas to account and act where waiting times exceed the NICE standard.
Whilst a diagnosis of autism should happen as soon as possible, it is important to recognise that a diagnosis is often complex and can involve different professionals and agencies. We are following the prevailing clinical guidance set out by NICE.
NHS England and NHS Improvement encourage local areas to follow existing NICE guidelines and quality standards when commissioning and delivering diagnosis services for both children and adults.
Asked by: Paul Williams (Labour - Stockton South)
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 reduce waiting times for autism assessments for adults.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
No one should have to face long waits for an autism assessment. We expect services to adhere to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) quality standard which recommends that the length between referral and a first appointment to start an assessment should be no more than three months.
We are determined to drive up performance nationally. We will use data on autism diagnosis waiting times, available for the first time later this year, to hold local areas to account and act where waiting times exceed the NICE standard.
Whilst a diagnosis of autism should happen as soon as possible, it is important to recognise that a diagnosis is often complex and can involve different professionals and agencies. We are following the prevailing clinical guidance set out by NICE.
NHS England and NHS Improvement encourage local areas to follow existing NICE guidelines and quality standards when commissioning and delivering diagnosis services for both children and adults.
Asked by: Paul Williams (Labour - Stockton South)
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 with NHS England to implement a waiting time standard for autism diagnosis in the CCG Improvement and Assessment Framework in order to tackle regional differences.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
No one should have to face long waits for an autism assessment. We expect services to adhere to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) quality standard which recommends that the length between referral and a first appointment to start an assessment should be no more than three months.
We are determined to drive up performance nationally. We will use data on autism diagnosis waiting times, available for the first time later this year, to hold local areas to account and act where waiting times exceed the NICE standard.
Whilst a diagnosis of autism should happen as soon as possible, it is important to recognise that a diagnosis is often complex and can involve different professionals and agencies. We are following the prevailing clinical guidance set out by NICE.
NHS England and NHS Improvement encourage local areas to follow existing NICE guidelines and quality standards when commissioning and delivering diagnosis services for both children and adults.
Asked by: Paul Williams (Labour - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Department of Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings in The evaluation of Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) for alcohol report, published by NHS Scotland in June 2019, that alcohol sales in Scotland have dropped during the last year, while they have risen in England and Wales.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
The Government takes the harms associated with alcohol abuse very seriously and overall consumption of alcohol in England and Wales is on the decline.
There are currently no plans to implement minimum unit pricing in England. However, we will keep this under review as evidence emerges from Scotland.
Asked by: Paul Williams (Labour - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Department of Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 3 September 2018 to Question 169474 on Alcoholic Drinks: minimum unit pricing, when Public Health England’s review into the impact of minimum unit pricing of alcohol will be published.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
The Government takes the harms associated with alcohol abuse very seriously and overall consumption of alcohol in England and Wales is on the decline.
There are currently no plans to implement minimum unit pricing in England. However, we will keep this under review as evidence emerges from Scotland.
Asked by: Paul Williams (Labour - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the correlation between reductions in public health funding and increases in rates of (a) syphilis and (b) gonorrhoea.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
Increases in rates of syphilis, gonorrhoea and chlamydia are likely to be due to a number of factors. These include increases in both the number of people attending sexual health services and the number of tests for sexually transmitted infections. Other factors include, better detection of infection and behavioural changes such as an increase in partner numbers and condomless anal intercourse, as well as, for some men who have sex with men, ‘chemsex’ and group sex facilitated by geosocial networking applications.
Local authorities will receive £3.1 billion in 2019/20, ring-fenced exclusively for use on public health, including sexual health. We are investing over £16 billion in local authority public health services over the five years of the 2015 Spending Review until 2020/21. It is for individual local authorities to decide their spending priorities based on an assessment of local need, including the need for sexual health services taking account of their statutory duties.
My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had numerous discussions with cabinet ministers to discuss a range of topics in advance of the Spending Review. Public health funding for 2020 onwards, including for sexual health services, will be considered carefully in the next Spending Review, in the light of the available evidence.
Local authorities are required by regulations to provide comprehensive open access sexual health services, including provision for sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment and contraception.
The latest statistics show that more people are now accessing sexual health services. Attendances have increased by 7% between 2017 and 2018 (from 3,337,677 to 3,561,548). This continues the trend of increases in attendances seen over the past five years. To help manage the overall increase in demand, local authorities are increasingly commissioning online services to manage lower risk and asymptomatic patients. These services have the potential to reach groups not currently engaged with clinic services.