Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals on fortification of a range of staple foods and grains to help ensure that women of childbearing age are able to benefit regardless of cultural dietary traditions or preferences.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Department’s decision to legislate for the fortification of non-wholewheat flour with folic acid was informed by the evidence and consultation responses. Bread is consumed by over 99% of British households and over a quarter of all groceries in the four biggest supermarkets contain flour, therefore it is an ideal vehicle for fortification.
Non-wholewheat flour is an already established vehicle for fortification and has been subject to mandatory fortification with calcium, iron, niacin and thiamin during milling for decades. The decision to fortify non-wholewheat flour with folic acid will minimise the burden on industry as it will avoid subjecting other types of flour to the existing mandatory fortification requirements.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the Government's timetable is for proceeding with folic acid fortification of staple foods to prevent neural tube defects.
Answered by Maggie Throup
As part of the Bread and Flour Regulations review, we will consult on updated regulations and an impact assessment once the Northern Ireland Assembly Elections have concluded.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
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 provision of psychological support for people living with MS and other neurological conditions.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The NHS RightCare progressive neurological conditions toolkit states that patients with a neurological condition will be offered a regular review of their emotional and psychological status and supported to access information and mental health services when needed. Support may include counselling, cognitive behavioural therapy, written advice or a neuro-psychological specialist if required. In addition, people living with multiple sclerosis and other neurological conditions may be referred to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies service.
We are investing an additional £2.3 billion a year for mental health services by 2023/24. The Mental Health Recovery Action Plan also provided £500 million of targeted investment in 2021/22. This will enable an extra two million people in England to access National Health Service-funded mental health support, with an additional 27,000 mental health professions recruited to support this expansion.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
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 impact of the level of covid-19 hospitalisations on NHS transplant services as of 26 January 2022.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
NHS England and Improvement and NHS Blood and Transplant regularly assess the impact of COVID-19 hospitalisations on NHS transplant services and are working with transplant units to restore transplantation services to pre-pandemic levels.
Whilst specific data for 26 January 2022 is not available, as of 23 January 2022, deceased donation represents 86% of pre-pandemic levels and living donation has since resumed to delivering quarterly matching runs through the UK Living Kidney Sharing Scheme. NHS Blood and Transplant and NHS England and NHS Improvement continue to work with transplant units to optimise the uptake of every organ that becomes available.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
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 access to new medicines among people living with progressive forms of MS.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) appraises all new medicines, including for multiple sclerosis, and is committed where possible, to publishing draft guidance at the time of licensing with final guidance published within three months. NICE has published guidance recommending a number of medicines for multiple sclerosis for routine use in the National Health Service. The NHS in England is legally required to fund medicines recommended by NICE.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
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 accessibility of the Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines on consumption of alcohol by children and young people.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines do not include specific guidelines on consumption of alcohol by children and young people. However, advice on alcohol consumption is available at NHS.UK, the Talk to FRANK online resource, and GOV.UK.
The National Health Service provides advice that alcohol use in teenage years is related to a range of health and social problems and recommends that children and young people do not drink alcohol before the age of 18 years old. This guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/childrens-health/should-my-child-drink-alcohol/
Education on alcohol use is also a statutory component of relationships education, relationships and sex education and health education in England.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
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 help ensure that parents and children are aware of the Chief Medical Officer’s guidance on underage drinking.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines do not include specific guidelines on consumption of alcohol by children and young people. However, advice on alcohol consumption is available at NHS.UK, the Talk to FRANK online resource, and GOV.UK.
The National Health Service provides advice that alcohol use in teenage years is related to a range of health and social problems and recommends that children and young people do not drink alcohol before the age of 18 years old. This guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/childrens-health/should-my-child-drink-alcohol/
Education on alcohol use is also a statutory component of relationships education, relationships and sex education and health education in England.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to (a) attract and (b) retain more neurology specialists.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Neurology is a popular specialty and generally achieves a 100% fill rate for training places, with no significant attrition issues. A new curriculum is being introduced with increased emphasis on working and training in internal medicine and stroke as well as neurology, which will increase the number of trainees in the acute areas of neurology.
To improve the retention of all National Health Service staff, the NHS People Plan focuses on actions for organisations to build a more compassionate and inclusive culture. This includes a focus on staff health and wellbeing, support for flexible working and a renewed commitment to tackling inequality. The NHS Retention Programme is seeking to understand why staff leave, resulting in targeted interventions to support staff to stay whilst keeping them well.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
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 impact of the covid-19 pandemic on alcohol consumption by children and young people.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
No assessment has yet been made as data on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on alcohol consumption by children and young people is not currently available. NHS Digital’s Smoking, Drinking and Drugs among Young People Survey provides information on drinking behaviours and attitudes among children aged 11 to 15 years old. The last survey was carried out in 2018. Field work for the 2021 survey began in autumn 2021.