Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will re-establish the Hormone Replacement Therapy Taskforce.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The hormone replacement therapy (HRT) Supply Taskforce was temporarily established from April to August 2022 to explore what could be done to address HRT supply issues in the short and long-term. The Department has no plans to re-establish the Taskforce, however we are taking forward its recommendations. One recommendation was to continue the dialogue with industry and we are doing that through regular meetings with individual suppliers as well as holding quarterly roundtables with manufacturers, wholesalers and community pharmacist representatives to discuss policy developments, identify and help address issues and drive progress towards boosting production, where necessary.
The Taskforce also recommended continuing to use Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs), as appropriate, to help manage shortages pending increased supply. We have issued 22 SSPs for HRT products since April 2022, to limit dispensing to two or three months’ supply and to allow the dispensing of suitable alternatives. Only two SSPs remain in place for HRT medicines as the supply issues with most products have now been resolved.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
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 number of pharmacists working within rheumatology services.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
I refer you to the answer sent to the member for Knowsley on 21 June 2023.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard 2022 data analysis report for NHS trusts, published 22 February 2023, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of that reports findings on racial disparities in the numbers of people entering the formal disciplinary process.
Answered by Will Quince
The NHS Workforce Race Equality Standards report for 2022 showed that ethnic minority staff were 1.14 times more likely to enter the formal disciplinary process compared to white staff. This has significantly improved from 2016 when the likelihood ratio was 1.56.
Although this is moving in the right direction, we cannot be complacent and taking action to continue to reduce this gap will remain a priority through local action plans on the Workforce Race Equality Standard and through the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion improvement plan for the NHS which requires NHS organisations to review disciplinary and employee relations processes and to ensure that all staff who enter into formal processes are treated with compassion, equity and fairness, irrespective of any protected characteristics.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
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 implications for his policies of the British Medical Association's 2022 report entitled Building the future - Brick by brick: The case for urgent investment in safe, modern, and sustainable healthcare estates.
Answered by Will Quince
At the Spending Review 2021, we backed the National Health Service with record levels of funding, allocating £24 billion between 2022/23 to 2024/25 to upgrade and modernise NHS buildings. This will ensure staff have the necessary facilities to provide world-class care.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to increase the number of NHS staff providing rheumatology care in (a) North West London and (b) England.
Answered by Will Quince
We continue to grow the National Health Service workforce and as of March 2023 there are over 12,900 more nurses and over 5,400 more doctors compared with 12 months earlier. We are on target to meet the 50,000 nurses’ commitment, with over 44,000 more nurses in March 2023 than there were in September 2019.
We are working with NHS England to develop workforce plans for our integrated care systems that link to national initiatives, including recruitment programmes for general practitioners, healthcare support workers, nurses and allied health professionals. We have also commissioned NHS England to produce a long term workforce plan, which will be published shortly.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
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 increase the proportion of ethnic minority nurses at band 8a or above.
Answered by Will Quince
The National Health Service is one of the most diverse organisations in this country and we hugely value the contribution that all staff make to delivering care and supporting patients.
On 8 June 2023, NHS England published an Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) improvement plan for the NHS workforce. There has been progress in improving diversity of senior management teams; the total number of ethnic minority staff at very senior manager level has increased by 69.7% since 2018 from 201 to 341.
The EDI plan requires NHS organisations and integrated care boards to create talent management plans to improve diversity of boards and senior roles and to implement plans to widen recruitment opportunities within local communities. This includes a focus on career pathways into the NHS such as apprenticeship programmes and graduate management training schemes.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan will include specific plans to increase the number of (a) paediatric rheumatology consultants (b) paediatric rheumatology clinical nurse specialists.
Answered by Will Quince
We have commissioned NHS England to develop a long term workforce plan for the next 15 years. The plan is for the whole of the National Health Service workforce and will not get into detail for particular specialisations.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan will include specific plans to increase the number of (a) rheumatology consultants (b) rheumatology clinical nurse specialists.
Answered by Will Quince
We have commissioned NHS England to develop a long term workforce plan for the next 15 years. The plan is for the whole of the National Health Service workforce and will not get into detail for particular specialisations.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan will include specific plans to increase the number of rheumatology medical school places.
Answered by Will Quince
We have commissioned NHS England to develop a long term workforce plan for the next 15 years. The plan is for the whole of the National Health Service workforce and will not get into detail for particular specialisations.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
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 rheumatology services’ access to podiatry services.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
There are no specific steps being taken by the Department. Access to services will be determined at local level.