Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 25 July 2018 to Question 165670 on Speech and Language Disorders: Children, what steps Public Health England plans to take to draw on expertise from a speech, language and communications expert to inform its work on mental ill health prevention.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
Public Health England (PHE) is working in partnership with the Department for Education as part of the Social Mobility Action Plan for Education, to improve early language acquisition and reduce the ‘word gap’.
To support this work an Expert Advisory Group has been established. This group helps to shape and develop the work, providing insights and advice on latest research, policy imperatives and priority issues. This group comprises experts from a range of disciplines with expertise in speech and language. These experts can also inform the work on mental health prevention.
PHE has established a Special Interest Group which aims to deliver the best applied evidence to public mental health improvement and reduction of inequalities in children and young people in England.
The group has representation from research and academia, Government Departments, arm’s length bodies, local commissioners, public health professionals and young people.
Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the 2018 report by ICAN, Bercow: Ten Years On, what plans he has to make sure that the special interest group convened by Public Health England to identify key mental health prevention evidence and its relevance to practice and to highlight gaps and make recommendations for these to be addressed through further research includes an expert in speech, language and communication and the links with mental health.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
Public Health England (PHE) welcomes the Bercow Ten Years On Report and is working towards the recommendations for PHE.
The Special Interest Group will meet for the first time on 25 July with representation from research/ academia, Government Departments, arm’s length bodies, local commissioners, public health professionals and young people. The aim of the Special Interest Group will be to identify the best evidence for improving public mental health and reducing inequalities in children and young people in England.
The terms of reference and membership will be discussed at the first meeting and PHE will draw on expertise from a speech, language and communications expert to inform this work.
Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to implement the recommendations of the I CAN and Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists’ report of 20 March 2018, Bercow: Ten Years On, as part of the Government's long-term settlement for the NHS; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Department will consider the implications of this independent report with all the relevant organisations for which there are recommendations, and respond in due course.
Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with (a) NHS England, (b) NHS Improvement, (c) Health Education England and (d) the Care Quality Commission on the recommendations of I CAN and the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists’ report, Bercow: Ten Years On, published on 20 March 2018.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Officials from NHS England, the Department for Education and the Department for Health and Social Care, who are in regular contact on policy to support children with speech, language and communication needs, have been in discussion as to how best to respond to the recommendations of ‘Bercow: Ten Years On’, and will be engaging with all relevant organisations to develop a response.
Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the implications for his policies on the identification and management of people with Lynch syndrome are of the findings of Bowel Cancer UK's report, entitled Lynch syndrome: Who's responsible, published in February 2017.
Answered by David Mowat
In current NHS England commissioning practice, testing for Lynch syndrome in people with colorectal cancer is targeted using criteria based on family history and age of cancer onset to determine people at high risk.
New National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance recommends extending this offer to all people with colorectal cancer when they are first diagnosed. Offering tests to all people with colorectal cancer will need to be considered by NHS England as part of its policy development process. Each year, a number of new drugs, medical devices, tests and treatments in specialised services are put forward to NHS England. The promising proposals are considered by experts in the field, including doctors, public health experts and lay people. These groups, established by NHS England, are known as Clinical Reference Groups (CRGs). The CRGs make detailed assessments of the new treatments, tests and devices through Policy Working Groups.
The NICE guidance has been sent to the Genetic Medicine CRG and they have been asked to submit a Preliminary Policy Proposal and to identify a Clinical Lead for progressing the proposal.
The commissioning of services for people already diagnosed with Lynch Syndrome, including surveillance, generally sits with clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). CCGs are best placed to commission services to meet the needs of local populations, taking into account the best available evidence.
Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the report of Bowel cancer UK on Lynch syndrome, published in February 2017, what steps have been taken to (a) identify people who have Lynch syndrome and (b) manage the risk to those people once they come under surveillance.
Answered by David Mowat
In current NHS England commissioning practice, testing for Lynch syndrome in people with colorectal cancer is targeted using criteria based on family history and age of cancer onset to determine people at high risk.
New National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance recommends extending this offer to all people with colorectal cancer when they are first diagnosed. Offering tests to all people with colorectal cancer will need to be considered by NHS England as part of its policy development process. Each year, a number of new drugs, medical devices, tests and treatments in specialised services are put forward to NHS England. The promising proposals are considered by experts in the field, including doctors, public health experts and lay people. These groups, established by NHS England, are known as Clinical Reference Groups (CRGs). The CRGs make detailed assessments of the new treatments, tests and devices through Policy Working Groups.
The NICE guidance has been sent to the Genetic Medicine CRG and they have been asked to submit a Preliminary Policy Proposal and to identify a Clinical Lead for progressing the proposal.
The commissioning of services for people already diagnosed with Lynch Syndrome, including surveillance, generally sits with clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). CCGs are best placed to commission services to meet the needs of local populations, taking into account the best available evidence.
Asked by: Rebecca Pow (Conservative - Taunton Deane)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve diabetes (a) care and (b) prevention; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Preventing diabetes and promoting the best possible care for people with diabetes is a key priority for this Government. The NHS Five Year Forward View set out a commitment to implement a National NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme. This will provide lifestyle interventions for people at increased risk of type 2 diabetes to reduce their possibility of developing this condition. We are building on this programme to improve the outcomes of people with and at risk of diabetes.
For those who already have diabetes, delivery of the care processes continues to be incentivised through the Quality Outcomes Framework. It is up to individual general practitioner (GP) practices, working with their local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), to assess their own performance and take action where necessary.
We have increased transparency through the creation of an online tool which highlights variation in the prevalence and treatment of diabetes. The link can be found below:
http://healthierlives.phe.org.uk/
In addition, the CCG outcomes indicator set provides clear, comparative information for CCGs, Health and Wellbeing Boards, local authorities, patients and the public about the quality of health services commissioned by CCGs and the associated health outcomes. Through publicly sharing this information, CCGs and GP practices can see how they compare with their peers and take action where they need to improve.