Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of (a) the delivery of NHS Talking Therapies in British Sign Language and (b) the (i) promotion and (ii) utilisation of these services by healthcare professionals.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No specific assessment has been made. Commissioning of interpretation services, including British Sign Language (BSL), in the delivery of services from the National Health Service such as talking therapies, is the responsibility of individual providers.
The Accessible Information Standard published by NHS England in 2016 sets out a specific, consistent approach to identifying, recording, flagging, sharing and meeting the information and communication support needs of patients, service users, carers and parents with a disability, impairment or sensory loss. NHS England is currently reviewing the Accessible Information Standard and will publish the updated Standard in Summer 2023.
In 2021, NHS England commissioned the North of England Commissioning Support Unit to carry out an independent rapid review of commissioning arrangements for BSL interpreting services in the NHS. NHS England continues to work with relevant stakeholders to implement the recommendations made in the report, which is available at the following link:
As part of this, NHS England will be publishing a ‘Best Practice Guide’ setting out the issues faced by BSL users, highlighting services that are working well and providing information to support local systems to improve their provision of BSL interpreting services.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
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 potential merits of extending full independent prescribing responsibilities to clinical dietitians.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We have no current plans to make an assessment. Dietitians can already supply and administer medicines under Patient Group Directions and train to use supplementary prescribing.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
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 progress made by local authorities on the provision of public health since 2010.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Since 2013, local authorities have had a statutory duty on improving the health of their local population, along with responsibility for commissioning a range of public health services. Each local authority Director of Public Health must prepare an annual report on the health of the local population.
In addition, the Public Health Outcomes Framework comprises a range of indicators that can be used to assess progress on public health outcomes, including on issues that are specifically impacted by the work of local authorities. A summary assessment of overall performance against the Public Health Outcomes Framework is included in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2021/22.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the New Hospital Programme ensures that rest facilities follow the standards set by the (a) Association of Anaesthetists, (b) Royal College of Anaesthetists and (c) Faculty of Intensive Care Medicines Fight Fatigue Campaign.
Answered by Will Quince
The health and wellbeing needs of staff are central elements of our new hospital designs. A particular focus will be on staff spaces, including rest rooms, wellbeing areas and changing facilities. Our stakeholder engagement ensures that diverse representation from staff groups, Royal Colleges, academies, and associations is included in hospital design workshops. Our continuous interactions with members of the workforce are helping to ensure that designs are fit for purpose now and in the future.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
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 help increase the level of diagnoses of cases of melanoma in Luton North constituency.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to improving early diagnosis for all cancers, including in Luton, with the diagnoses of melanoma at stage 1 and 2 currently at 89.1%. A recent National Health Service ‘Help us help you’ campaigns addresses the barriers to earlier presentation for all cancer types and the underlying challenges to earlier diagnosis. This campaign was active during March and June 2022 and saw 1600% increases in the numbers of visits to the NHS.UK’s cancer symptoms information.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
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 help increase the uptake of breast cancer screening in Luton North constituency.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department is working with NHS England to finalise the delivery of £10 million for breast screening units, including determining which areas will benefit from this investment.
National Health Service breast screening providers are also encouraged to work with Cancer Alliances, Primary Care Networks, NHS regional teams and the voluntary sector to promote the uptake of breast screening and ensure access to services.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the impact of covid-19 on women's (a) reproductive and (b) menstrual health.
Answered by Caroline Johnson
No specific assessment has been made. However, the Women's Health Strategy for England committed to commission a new survey on women's reproductive health experiences every two years, with the first commencing in 2022. The survey will gather data on women's experiences in all areas of reproductive health, including menstrual health, contraception, pregnancy planning and menopause.
The Public Health Policy Research Unit is also undertaking a study to understand the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women’s access and attitudes to contraception in England. This project has not yet completed and is expected to report in April 2023.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made on the potential impact of sunbed use on the development of melanoma.
Answered by Will Quince
The Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE) published advice on the health effects and risks from ultraviolet (UV) sunbeds in 2009, which is available at the following link:
COMARE’s report confirmed that UV radiation from sunbeds was capable of inducing skin cancer, including melanoma and that young people were particularly vulnerable.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
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 improve services for people living with dementia.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Patients diagnosed with dementia should receive information on local services and access to relevant advice and support, set out in the guidance ‘After diagnosis of dementia: what to expect from health and care services’, which is available at the following link:
We will set out plans for dementia in England in the next 10 years later this year, which will focus on the specific health and care needs of people living with dementia and their carers, including diagnosis, risk reduction and prevention and research.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
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 improve services for people living with dementia.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Following a dementia diagnosis, patients should receive information on local services and access to relevant advice and support as set out in the guidance ’After diagnosis of dementia: what to expect from health and care services’, which is available at the following link:
We will set out plans for dementia in England for the next 10 years later this year, which will focus on the health and care needs of people living with dementia and their carers, including diagnosis, risk reduction and prevention and research.