Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
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 ensure that the recommendations of the Ockenden Report are implemented in all hospitals where there is a maternity unit.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Ockenden Report outlined 15 immediate and essential actions to improve care and safety in maternity services in England. NHS England has written to all trusts with maternity services to request that maternity providers assess services against these 15 actions and ensure that services meet the standards expected.
We have also committed to the creation of a new working group to guide the Maternity Transformation Programme on the implementation of the recommendations in the report. NHS England has also announced a £127 million investment in the National Health Service maternity workforce and to improve neonatal care.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
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 deaths in NHS maternity units.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Maternity Safety Strategy has funded initiatives such as the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle, Maternal Medicine Networks and Maternal Mental Health Hubs to halve the number of stillbirths, maternal and neonatal deaths by 2025. Since 2010, these initiatives have contributed to a 25% reduction in the stillbirth rate, a 36% reduction in the neonatal mortality rate for babies born over the 24-week gestational age of viability, and a 17% reduction in maternal mortality.
NHS England are investing £127 million into the maternity system to ensure safe staffing levels in maternity and neonatal care. This is in addition to £95 million to support the recruitment of 1,200 more midwives and 100 more consultant obstetricians. A further £6.8 million is being provided to support Local Maternity Systems to implement equity and equality action plans and implement enhanced Continuity of Carer to improve safe outcomes for mothers and babies from black, Asian and mixed ethnic groups and those living in the most deprived areas.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department collects information when staff leave the midwifery profession on their reasons for leaving.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The National Health Service Electronic Staff Record (ESR) collects information through a ‘reason for leaving’ data field linked to staff recorded as leaving active service.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that maternity staff do not undertake training on their own.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Individual National Health Service trusts are responsible for investing in post-registration training, ensuring that staff are trained and competent to carry out their role and are adequately supported throughout their training. All training undertaken by post-registration qualified staff should be in line with national and local guidelines covering the training being undertaken.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
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 increase the neuroscience workforce in England.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
No specific assessment has been made. However, from August 2022 we are expanding the number of postgraduate neurology training posts in England. As of January 2022, there are 1,638 full time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the specialty of neurology, an increase of 4.9% since January 2021. There were also 951 FTE doctors working in the specialty of neurosurgery in January 2022, including 375 consultants - an increase of 5.6% since January 2021.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
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 adequacy of the neuroscience workforce in England.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
No specific assessment has been made. However, from August 2022 we are expanding the number of postgraduate neurology training posts in England. As of January 2022, there are 1,638 full time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the specialty of neurology, an increase of 4.9% since January 2021. There were also 951 FTE doctors working in the specialty of neurosurgery in January 2022, including 375 consultants - an increase of 5.6% since January 2021.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
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 promote preventative-focused, patient-centred dental care.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department will work with the British Dental Association and NHS England and NHS Improvement to design proposals that address the key challenges facing the delivery of National Health Service dentistry and encourage a more preventative approach to dentistry.
In addition, Public Health England has published an evidence-based toolkit, ‘Delivering Better Oral Health’ for dental teams to provide preventive advice and treatment for their patients. Work is underway to review the toolkit and an updated version will be published in the autumn. The toolkit is available at the following link:
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Steele review on NHS Dentistry, what steps he is taking to implement the Dental Transformation Strategy 2020-22.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department will work with the British Dental Association and NHS England and NHS Improvement to design proposals that address the key challenges facing the delivery of National Health Service dentistry and encourage a more preventative approach to dentistry.
In addition, Public Health England has published an evidence-based toolkit, ‘Delivering Better Oral Health’ for dental teams to provide preventive advice and treatment for their patients. Work is underway to review the toolkit and an updated version will be published in the autumn. The toolkit is available at the following link:
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
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 dental health inequalities within and between regions of the UK.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
National Health Service dentists throughout the country have been asked to maximise safe throughput to meet as many prioritised needs as possible, focussing first on urgent care and vulnerable groups followed by overdue appointments. In addition, NHS England and NHS Improvement have provided a toolkit to local commissioners to help focus the available capacity on those that need it most and to reduce oral health inequalities.
We are committed to consulting on rolling out a supervised toothbrushing scheme in more pre-school and primary school settings in England. We are also taking steps through the Health and Care Bill to make it easier to expand water fluoridation schemes so that more of the population can benefit from this clinically and cost-effective intervention. The Government’s sugar reduction programme will also have a positive effect on improving oral health and reducing health in equalities.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
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 merits of removing the 45 per cent target on dental practices for units of dental activity.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made of removing the 45% target.
However, an assessment has been made of the attainment of the 45% activity thresholds. These lower levels of activity support continued payment of full contractual value to National Health Service providers during the pandemic period, when infection control requirements necessarily restrict the numbers of patients that can be seen.
This assessment supported the recent increase in thresholds from 45% to 60%. Arrangements will continue to be monitored, with reduced clawback of contract payments between attainment levels of 36% to 60% and flexibility for NHS commissioners to make exceptions, for instance in cases where a dental practice has been impacted by staff being required to self-isolate.