Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
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 public (a) awareness and (b) education on (i) epilepsy and (ii) Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance on epilepsy recommends that clinicians should discuss the risk of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) with patients newly diagnosed with epilepsy, and ensure their understanding of the risk, which will raise awareness of the issue among patients and their families.
Additionally, the Royal College of General Practitioners aims to raise awareness of SUDEP amongst GPs and other primary care professionals, through its e-learning modules on SUDEP and seizure safety, which were developed in collaboration with SUDEP Action and last updated in December 2024.
Health Education England, now part of NHS England, has also developed an Epilepsy Programme in collaboration with SUDEP Action, which is designed to enable healthcare professionals, particularly those who are not specialists in epilepsy, to better understand SUDEP and how the risk of SUDEP can be reduced.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has considered implementing routine screening for Type 1 diabetes in children.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
A National Institute for Healthcare Research funded the EarLy Surveillance for Autoimmune diabetes, or ELSA, study, which is currently underway in England to explore the feasibility and benefits of screening for type 1 diabetes in children aged three to 13 years old.
The UK National Screening Committee, which advises ministers on all aspects of population and targeted screening, is aware of the ELSA study and looks forward to receiving the results of this study when the trial is complete.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
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 ensure that general practitioners receive training on recognising symptoms of Type 1 diabetes in children and young people.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service has publicly accessible information on its website about the signs and symptoms of type 1 diabetes, available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/type-1-diabetes/symptoms/
The DigiBete app, launched in June 2020, provides a wide range of clinically approved, age-appropriate resources to help with the self-management and awareness of type 1 diabetes, with further information available at the following link:
https://www.digibete.org/type-1-awareness/
It is the responsibility of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to provide guidance and quality standards for the treatment and care of diabetes in England. The NICE NG18 guideline for type 1 and 2 diabetes provides clinical guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment, and care of children and young people.
NG18 recommends that children and young people with suspected type 1 diabetes are referred immediately, on the same day, to a multidisciplinary paediatric diabetes team with the competencies needed to confirm diagnosis and provide immediate care.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department issues to GPs on immediate blood glucose testing when symptoms of Type 1 diabetes are reported.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service has publicly accessible information on its website about the signs and symptoms of type 1 diabetes, available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/type-1-diabetes/symptoms/
The DigiBete app, launched in June 2020, provides a wide range of clinically approved, age-appropriate resources to help with the self-management and awareness of type 1 diabetes, with further information available at the following link:
https://www.digibete.org/type-1-awareness/
It is the responsibility of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to provide guidance and quality standards for the treatment and care of diabetes in England. The NICE NG18 guideline for type 1 and 2 diabetes provides clinical guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment, and care of children and young people.
NG18 recommends that children and young people with suspected type 1 diabetes are referred immediately, on the same day, to a multidisciplinary paediatric diabetes team with the competencies needed to confirm diagnosis and provide immediate care.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England plans to introduce standardised national protocols for interpreting oxygen saturation thresholds in children with chronic cardiac conditions.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Paediatric Early Warning System (NPEWS) was launched in England in November 2023. The use of NPEWS allows for a standard approach to recognition and escalation of concern when a child might be deteriorating. NPEWS works by assigning a score to varying levels of physiological values including oxygen saturations, depending on how far from normal those values are.
Recent evaluation by the Liverpool DETECT study group has found that NPEWS predictive performance remained very good within cohorts of children with and without cardiac disease.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
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 training for General Practitioners and junior doctors in recognising and managing cardiac and respiratory vulnerabilities in paediatric patients.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The steps taken include the production of the Paediatric and child health advanced practice area specific capability and curriculum framework, which was co-produced by NHS England and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. The framework is available at the following link:
The framework outlines area specific capabilities and a curriculum addressing the full spectrum of paediatric health needs, including recognising and managing cardiac and respiratory conditions.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps NHS England is taking to ensure continuity of care for children with rare or complex conditions when accessing frontline NHS services.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to supporting children with long term conditions and ensuring they receive the support they need, including referral to specialist services as appropriate. We want a society where every person, including those with a long-term condition, as well as their families and carers receive high-quality, compassionate continuity of care.
Working under the UK Rare Diseases Framework the Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases. The framework’s priorities include better coordination of care and increasing awareness of rare diseases among healthcare professionals, including in primary care. We remain committed to delivering under the framework and published the fourth England action plan on 28 February 2025.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England collects data on outcomes for children with congenital heart conditions who are treated in non-specialist settings.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The specific information requested is not held centrally. Information related to the outcomes for children with congenital heart conditions is available through the National Congenital Heart Disease Audit Annual Summary Report. The report does not disaggregate by non-specialist service.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to formally recognise the contribution of community pharmacies to (a) NHS service delivery and (b) public health outcomes.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This Government has repeatedly publicly recognised the valuable contribution to the National Health Service that community pharmacy makes as an easily accessible ‘front door’ to the NHS, delivering a range of clinical services, providing access to medicine and supporting a range of public health outcomes.
That is why we agreed to increase the community pharmacy contractual framework by £617 million across 2024/25 and 2025/26. This deal represents the largest uplift in funding of any part of the NHS, over 19% across 2024/25 and 2025/26, showing a commitment to rebuilding the sector.
We have further recognised, in our 10-Year Health Plan, that we can better use the skills of community pharmacy teams by expanding the services they offer and ensuring their vital role is recognised as we develop Neighbourhood Health Services helping to deliver the shift of care from hospitals into the community.
Asked by: Suella Braverman (Reform UK - Fareham and Waterlooville)
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 reform the (a) procurement and (b) supply chain of medications to (i) ensure timely availability and (ii) reduce shortages at community pharmacies.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The resilience of UK supply chains is a key priority, and we are continually learning and seeking to improve the way we work to both manage and help prevent supply issues and avoid shortages.
As outlined in our recently published policy paper, ‘Managing a robust and resilient supply of medicines’, the Government is committed to building on the important actions already underway across the system to minimise disruption for patients and enhance resilience in our supply chains. The publication includes a number of actions, including:
We will continue to engage with community pharmacy, industry, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and other colleagues across the supply chain as we progress work to co-design and deliver these actions.