Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
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 collect data on people admitted to hospital for palliative care in order to understand the (a) demand and (b) needs for palliative care.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England collects data on the number of people admitted to hospital with a palliative care diagnosis. However, this does not clearly indicate the reason for admission. The following table shows the numbers of patients identified as being admitted to hospital and having a palliative care diagnosis, for each of the past five years:
Year | Palliative care diagnosis |
2018/19 | 94,000 |
2019/20 | 98,052 |
2020/21 | 98,736 |
2021/22 | 102,032 |
2022/23 | 102,795 |
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
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 ensure that PrEP is available in all parts of the UK.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We remain committed to achieving equitable provision of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) irrespective of gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, geographic area of residence, or socio-economic background. The HIV Action Plan Implementation Steering Group (ISG) published a roadmap in February 2024 to help guide efforts to improve access, uptake, and use of PrEP amongst key population groups at significant risk of HIV in England. An implementation working group of key delivery partners is being set up, which will monitor progress on actions and report back to the ISG.
Devolved administrations are responsible for developing and implementing their own public health strategies. Colleagues in England meet regularly with their counterparts in the devolved administrations, to share information and best practice on our response to HIV, including provision of PrEP.
Our commitment to PrEP as part of a combination approach is emphasised by our investment in the successful rollout of PrEP across England, where PrEP is routinely available in specialist sexual health services since March 2020, and we invested more than £34 million in PrEP in 2020/21 and 2021/22. PrEP funding has now been included within the Public Health Grant (PHG) since 2022/23, and funds appointments and testing in sexual health services, whilst NHS England covers the costs of the drug itself. The PHG is funded at £3.6 billion for 2024/25.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
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 current levels of syphilis recorded; and what steps she is taking to tackle it.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Both gonorrhoea and syphilis have returned to, and exceeded, the high levels reported in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Between 2021 and 2022, gonorrhoea increased in all age-groups, with the largest rise among young people aged 15 to 24 years old. Over the same period, infectious syphilis increased among gay, bisexual, or other men who have sex with men, and heterosexuals.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) conducts comprehensive surveillance of sexually transmitted infections and supports local authorities and sexual health services in using this data to inform sexual health service delivery. The UKHSA is undertaking work with partner organisations to identify the best use of existing and emerging preventative interventions, to address the increase in gonorrhoea and syphilis.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
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 levels of Gonorrhea recorded; and what steps she is taking to reduce it.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Both gonorrhoea and syphilis have returned to, and exceeded, the high levels reported in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Between 2021 and 2022, gonorrhoea increased in all age-groups, with the largest rise among young people aged 15 to 24 years old. Over the same period, infectious syphilis increased among gay, bisexual, or other men who have sex with men, and heterosexuals.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) conducts comprehensive surveillance of sexually transmitted infections and supports local authorities and sexual health services in using this data to inform sexual health service delivery. The UKHSA is undertaking work with partner organisations to identify the best use of existing and emerging preventative interventions, to address the increase in gonorrhoea and syphilis.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department is taking steps to identify people that have been diagnosed with HIV but are not accessing treatment.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of the HIV Action Plan, we are committed to ensuring adequate support for those diagnosed and living with HIV. The most recent monitoring and evaluation report of the HIV Action Plan, published by the UK Health Security Agency, shows that in 2022, 76% of adults first diagnosed with HIV in England were linked to HIV care within two weeks, 87% within one month, and 93% within three months. This is an improvement compared to 2019.
NHS England’s specification for adult HIV services states that these services must have a policy describing how they aim to ensure retention in care, and re-engage those lost to care. A subgroup, Retention and Re-engagement in Care Task and Finish Group, of the HIV Action Plan Implementation Steering Group (ISG) is providing advice on increasing the number of people retained and re-engaged in care and receiving effective medical care, which will be considered by the ISG in due course.
As part of the HIV Action Plan, the NHS England HIV opt-out testing programme in emergency departments has identified 384 people previously diagnosed with HIV but who disengaged from care in the first 21 months, providing opportunities to re-engage those individuals in care. Given its success, the Department has recently committed an additional £20 million for new research, which will involve an expansion and evaluation of the programme in 47 additional emergency departments in local areas with high HIV prevalence, across England.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients were admitted to hospital for palliative care in each of the last five years.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The requested data is not available.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
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 levels of liver disease in Darlington constituency.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Through the 2021 Drugs Strategy we are making the largest ever single increase in drug and alcohol treatment and recovery funding, with £780 million of additional investment. Of this, £532 million is being invested to rebuild local authority commissioned substance misuse treatment services in England. As alcohol and drug services are commissioned together, this will benefit people seeking treatment for alcohol use.
In the financial years 2022/23 to 2024/25, Darlington has been allocated just over £1.9 million through the Supplementary Substance Misuse Treatment and Recovery Grant and Inpatient Detoxification Grant, to increase the number of people benefiting from alcohol and drug treatment and recovery services, and the outcomes they achieve. This is additional to the amounts invested through the Public Health Grant.
Work in the National Health Service, specifically piloting early diagnosis and prevention through 19 community diagnostic hubs, is identifying undiagnosed liver disease. The North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board is enrolled in a Community Liver Health Check pilot in Newcastle, being delivered by the system’s Hepatitis C Operational Delivery Networks. This will provide FibroScans in one-stop community clinics, where patients also have other investigations, as required. The pilot has expanded into North Tyneside, and when resources allow, they intend to develop clinics elsewhere.
Beyond treatment, we are committed to tackling alcohol harms including reducing consumption levels, and in 2023 the Government introduced reforms to alcohol duty, meaning products are taxed directly in proportion to their alcohol content.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of average weekly expenditure on the NHS in real terms in each year since 2016.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The below table shows the average weekly and yearly expenditure on the National Health Service in real terms and nominally, each year since 2016, including spending against the Revenue Departmental Expenditure Limit (RDEL) by NHS England, the integrated care boards, and providers:
Year | RDEL spend per year in nominal terms | RDEL spend per year in real terms | RDEL spend per week in real terms |
2016/17 | £105,735,000,000 | £125,293,000,000 | £2,409,000,000 |
2017/18 | £109,605,000,000 | £127,879,000,000 | £2,459,000,000 |
2018/19 | £114,331,000,000 | £130,634,000,000 | £2,512,000,000 |
2019/20 | £123,750,000,000 | £138,145,000,000 | £2,657,000,000 |
2020/21 | £143,367,000,000 | £151,775,000,000 | £2,919,000,000 |
2021/22 | £149,322,000,000 | £159,379,000,000 | £3,065,000,000 |
2022/23 | £158,347,000,000 | £158,347,000,000 | £3,045,000,000 |
Source: table 66 of the Department of Health and Social Care’s annual report.
Note: figures have been adjusted for inflation using HM Treasury’s gross domestic product deflators, as of April 2024.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing lymphaticovenous anastomosis surgery on the NHS.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No formal assessment has been made of the potential merits of providing lymphaticovenous anastomosis surgery on the National Health Service. On 16 April 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published interventional procedures guidance that states that lymphovenous anastomosis during axillary dissection for preventing secondary lymphoedema in adults with breast cancer, can be used in the NHS while more evidence is generated, and that it can only be used with special arrangements for clinical governance, consent and audit, or research. The NICE’s interventional procedures guidance makes recommendations for the NHS on whether procedures are sufficiently safe and efficacious for use in routine clinical practice.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if a Minister from her Department will visit Darlington to hold discussions with (a) the Police and (b) Trading Standards on the joint steps they are taking to help tackle the sale of illegal vapes and illicit tobacco.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers in the department are always happy to consider meetings and visits to understand the impact of their policy areas, and we recommend reaching out to Ministers’ offices directly.
A strong approach to enforcement is vital if the smokefree generation policy is to have real impact. My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care recently visited a cargo warehouse at Heathrow Airport with Hillingdon Trading Standards to see first-hand the work they are doing to seize illicit vapes at the border, and prevent these products from being sold in the United Kingdom.
Underage and illicit sales of tobacco products, and more recently vaping products, is undermining the work the Government is doing to regulate the industry and protect public health. It also deprives the UK of vital money that could be used to fund essential public services, instead, putting it in the hands of criminals.
This is why alongside the measures in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, we are supporting enforcement agencies with up to £30 million a year, to scale up their existing activities. This increased investment will help to stamp out criminal activity by boosting enforcement capacity, and help local trading standards tackle underage sales at a local level. Of this funding, over £100 million over five years will support HM Revenue and Custom’s and Border Force’s new illicit tobacco strategy. As is the case with existing age of sale legislation, breaches of the new law will primarily be dealt with by local authority trading standards, rather than by local police forces.