Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
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 reduce ambulance waiting times (a) in the A&E queue and (b) for Torbay and South Devon NHS foundation trust.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ambulance response times and ambulance handover times have been below the high standards that patients should expect in recent years, including at the Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundational Trust.
The Government has committed to supporting the National Health Service to improve performance and achieve the standards set out in the NHS Constitution, including ambulance response times, but we must be clear that there are no quick fixes.
We are determined to turn things around through investment and reform. My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced £25.6 billion of additional healthcare funding over the next two years, and we will set out a 10-Year Health Plan to radically reform the NHS and build a health service that is fit for the future.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time is for (a) ambulances held in queues and (b) people waiting at home for an ambulance.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The national average ambulance handover time was 43 minutes and 32 seconds in December 2024. The following table shows the national ambulance response time, including for people who have called for an ambulance from their home, for Category 1, 2, 3, and 4 incidents, in hours, minutes and seconds:
Category of incident | December 2024 national average | NHS Constitution standard |
Category 1 average response time | 00:08:40 | 00:07:00 |
Category 1 90th centile response time | 00:15:25 | 00:15:00 |
Category 2 average response time | 00:47:26 | 00:18:00 |
Category 2 90th centile response time | 01:41:40 | 00:40:00 |
Category 3 90th centile response time | 07:21:03 | 02:00:00 |
Category 4 90th centile response time | 08:15:44 | 03:00:00 |
Source: NHS England Ambulance Quality Indicators, which is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ambulance-quality-indicators/
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will set targets to reduce memory clinic waiting times in (a) Torbay, (b) Exeter and (c) Barnstaple.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to transforming diagnostic services, including the detection and diagnosis of dementia, and will support the National Health Service to increase capacity to meet the demand for diagnostic services. We are committed to improving dementia diagnosis rates and recovering them to the national ambition for two thirds of people with dementia to have a formal diagnosis.
NHS England has funded an evidence-based improvement project to fund two trusts in each region, making 14 sites in total, to pilot the Diagnosing Advanced Dementia Mandate tool to improve the diagnosis of dementia and provision of support in care homes. All pilots completed at the end of May 2024, and it is anticipated that learning will be shared in early 2025.
To support recovery of the dementia diagnosis rates and implementation of the Dementia Care Pathway, NHS England has developed a dashboard for management information purposes. The aim is to support commissioners and providers of memory services with appropriate data and enable targeted support where needed.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will issue guidance to integrated care boards on representation for NHS Primary Care stakeholders.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Health and Care Act 2022 sets out the legislative minimum integrated care board (ICB) membership requirement, with a mandated partner member nominated for primary medical services, along with nominated partner members from the National Health Service trusts and local authorities to bring knowledge and a perspective from their sectors. ICBs can exceed the legislative minimum requirements for ICB membership to address local needs, which may include additional representation from a diverse range of stakeholders, including primary care. Currently there are no plans to issue any guidance on representation of NHS primary care stakeholders.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing vision rehabilitation services under the same (a) regulatory and (b) monitoring regimes as other adult social care services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Colne Valley on 4 October 2024 to Question 7299.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the provision of vision rehabilitation support in England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not collect or hold this information.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
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 address eye care inequalities for adults with learning disabilities.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Alongside the duty placed upon integrated care boards to reduce inequalities, regulations were laid on 28 November to support the roll out of sight testing services in special educational settings across England, which has the potential to reach approximately 165,000 children and young people with learning disabilities or autism, or both.
We are also working with NHS England to better integrate primary and secondary care services, and improve the referral, triage, and access to appropriate care for all patients. As part of this work, NHS England has conducted research to understand the experience of adults with learning disabilities in accessing eye care services, the intelligence from which will be used to inform future policy design.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that the fee paid to deliver the Special Schools Eye Care Service is not reduced so that (a) children with Special Educational Needs can receive free eye care in schools and (b) eye care professionals can afford to provide the service.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
To address the access challenges that children and young people with learning disabilities or autism, or both, face in accessing high street sight testing services, regulations were laid on 28 November to support the roll out of sight testing in special educational setting across England.
NHS England has committed to invest up to £12.7 million annually from 2024/25 on the provision of sight tests and associated optical vouchers in special educational settings. This represents an approximate 87% increase compared to previous levels of spending. This additional investment has the potential to increase coverage from 4% of special educational settings to 100%.
NHS England has held a number of recent engagement events with potential providers across the country, and there has been healthy interest so far. NHS England will continue to engage with key stakeholders, including the ophthalmic and voluntary sector, and provide support to local integrated care boards, in the roll out of the service.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to make a decision on funding for the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme beyond 31 March 2025.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The Family Hubs and Start for Life programme is central to the Government’s commitments to give every baby the best start in life, and to deliver the healthiest generation of children ever.
The Government recognises the importance of providing local authorities with certainty of future funding across the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme. The Autumn Budget announcement included £69 million to continue delivery of a network of Family Hubs in 2025/26. The Department will confirm Start for Life funding in due course.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make a decision on the funding of Torbay Hospital under the New Hospital Programme before 31 December 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust is currently developing their Strategic Outline Case for the new Torbay Hospital scheme. Following review and agreement of the Strategic Outline Case, the next step would be the development, review, and agreement of the Outline and Full Business Cases. Through this process, the final funding amount is determined, as is usual for large infrastructure projects.
Torbay Hospital is in scope of the review into the New Hospital Programme. My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, will set out further details of the outcome of the review at the earliest opportunity, alongside a new delivery schedule for the programme.