Asked by: Thelma Walker (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the average waiting time for children with mental health issues to receive treatment in Kirklees.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
Information held on the average waiting time for children and young people being treated in National Health Service funded secondary mental health services is published in NHS England’s Five Year Forward View for Mental Health Dashboard tables. Information for quarter 1 2017/18 (April to June 2017), is available at:
Asked by: Thelma Walker (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans the Government has to implement evidence-based initiatives that support breastfeeding across all maternity, health visiting, neonatal and children’s centre services.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The Government is committed to supporting breastfeeding through the Healthy Child Programme, as the health benefits are clear for mothers and their babies. We would still like to see more mothers breastfeeding and doing so for longer and are working with our partners including Public Health England (PHE), NHS England and UNICEF to achieve this goal.
The promotion of breast feeding is one of the six high-impact areas for health visiting, with health visitors supporting parents around infant feeding. PHE is working with local services to create breastfeeding friendly communities, with midwives and health visitors promoting best practice, and through the Start4Life campaigns to provide parents with trusted NHS advice. This includes the Start4Life ‘Breastfeeding Friend’ (an interactive Facebook Messenger ‘ChatBot’), and the Start4Life website. The latter contains a range of leaflets and resources available which professionals can order for free and provides a dedicated breastfeeding helpline.
PHE and UNICEF UK have developed a toolkit to support commissioning of evidence-based interventions to improve breastfeeding rates across England, including provision of effective professional support to mothers and their families through implementation of the Baby Friendly Initiative in every maternity unit. PHE is encouraging Local Maternity Systems across the country to include plans to increase the number of babies breastfed at six months within their transformation plans.
Asked by: Thelma Walker (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to publish a national infant feeding strategy and implementation plan.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
There are currently no plans to develop a national infant feeding strategy board or to publish a national infant feeding strategy and implementation plan.
Asked by: Thelma Walker (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans the Government has to develop a national infant feeding strategy board.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
There are currently no plans to develop a national infant feeding strategy board or to publish a national infant feeding strategy and implementation plan.
Asked by: Thelma Walker (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to raise awareness of fibromyalgia among (a) healthcare professionals and (b) members of the public.
Answered by Steve Brine
A long-term health condition (LTC) can be defined as a condition that cannot be cured but can be managed through the use of medication and/or therapy, and by that definition fibromyalgia is an LTC.
Diagnosing fibromyalgia can be difficult as there is no specific diagnostic test that can be used, and the symptoms can vary from person to person. Diagnosis is usually made by taking a medical history, checking symptoms and carrying out a physical examination. Blood tests, x-rays and other scans may be used to rule out medical conditions with similar symptoms to fibromyalgia.
The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) curriculum includes training in musculoskeletal conditions, and as such, general practitioner (GP) training can include fibromyalgia. A key component of a trainee GP’s final assessment, alongside the Clinical Skills Assessment and Workplace Based Assessment, is the applied knowledge test (AKT). The AKT is a summative assessment of the knowledge base that underpins independent general practice in the United Kingdom within the context of the National Health Service. The content guide for the RCGP, which serves to prepare trainees for the test, includes a specific reference to a required knowledge of fibromyalgia. The AKT content guide can be found at the following link:
www.rcgp.org.uk/training-exams/mrcgp-exams-overview/~/media/D96EB4E0188E4355BCC9221B55859B08.ashx
A range of support exists to help GPs identify the signs and symptoms of fibromyalgia in primary care. This includes the Map of Medicine, an online evidence-based guide and clinical decision support tool for clinicians which has a fibromyalgia and chronic pain pathway to support diagnosis and referral, an e-learning course developed by the Royal College of GPs and Arthritis Research UK on musculoskeletal care, including fibromyalgia, and a medical guide developed by the Fibromyalgia Association UK (FMUK) for health professionals. Information for the public can be found on the NHS Choices website and is also available in a patients information guide produced by FMUK. The medical guide, patient information booklet and NHS choice webpage on fibromyalgia can be found at the following links:
www.fmauk.org/dmdocuments/Medical%20Pack.pdf
www.fmauk.org/information-packs-mainmenu-58/booklet-mainmenu-135/490-patient-booklet
www.nhs.uk/conditions/fibromyalgia/
Asked by: Thelma Walker (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support his Department provides to healthcare professionals for the diagnosis of fibromyalgia.
Answered by Steve Brine
A long-term health condition (LTC) can be defined as a condition that cannot be cured but can be managed through the use of medication and/or therapy, and by that definition fibromyalgia is an LTC.
Diagnosing fibromyalgia can be difficult as there is no specific diagnostic test that can be used, and the symptoms can vary from person to person. Diagnosis is usually made by taking a medical history, checking symptoms and carrying out a physical examination. Blood tests, x-rays and other scans may be used to rule out medical conditions with similar symptoms to fibromyalgia.
The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) curriculum includes training in musculoskeletal conditions, and as such, general practitioner (GP) training can include fibromyalgia. A key component of a trainee GP’s final assessment, alongside the Clinical Skills Assessment and Workplace Based Assessment, is the applied knowledge test (AKT). The AKT is a summative assessment of the knowledge base that underpins independent general practice in the United Kingdom within the context of the National Health Service. The content guide for the RCGP, which serves to prepare trainees for the test, includes a specific reference to a required knowledge of fibromyalgia. The AKT content guide can be found at the following link:
www.rcgp.org.uk/training-exams/mrcgp-exams-overview/~/media/D96EB4E0188E4355BCC9221B55859B08.ashx
A range of support exists to help GPs identify the signs and symptoms of fibromyalgia in primary care. This includes the Map of Medicine, an online evidence-based guide and clinical decision support tool for clinicians which has a fibromyalgia and chronic pain pathway to support diagnosis and referral, an e-learning course developed by the Royal College of GPs and Arthritis Research UK on musculoskeletal care, including fibromyalgia, and a medical guide developed by the Fibromyalgia Association UK (FMUK) for health professionals. Information for the public can be found on the NHS Choices website and is also available in a patients information guide produced by FMUK. The medical guide, patient information booklet and NHS choice webpage on fibromyalgia can be found at the following links:
www.fmauk.org/dmdocuments/Medical%20Pack.pdf
www.fmauk.org/information-packs-mainmenu-58/booklet-mainmenu-135/490-patient-booklet
www.nhs.uk/conditions/fibromyalgia/
Asked by: Thelma Walker (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to classify fibromyalgia as a long-term condition.
Answered by Steve Brine
A long-term health condition (LTC) can be defined as a condition that cannot be cured but can be managed through the use of medication and/or therapy, and by that definition fibromyalgia is an LTC.
Diagnosing fibromyalgia can be difficult as there is no specific diagnostic test that can be used, and the symptoms can vary from person to person. Diagnosis is usually made by taking a medical history, checking symptoms and carrying out a physical examination. Blood tests, x-rays and other scans may be used to rule out medical conditions with similar symptoms to fibromyalgia.
The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) curriculum includes training in musculoskeletal conditions, and as such, general practitioner (GP) training can include fibromyalgia. A key component of a trainee GP’s final assessment, alongside the Clinical Skills Assessment and Workplace Based Assessment, is the applied knowledge test (AKT). The AKT is a summative assessment of the knowledge base that underpins independent general practice in the United Kingdom within the context of the National Health Service. The content guide for the RCGP, which serves to prepare trainees for the test, includes a specific reference to a required knowledge of fibromyalgia. The AKT content guide can be found at the following link:
www.rcgp.org.uk/training-exams/mrcgp-exams-overview/~/media/D96EB4E0188E4355BCC9221B55859B08.ashx
A range of support exists to help GPs identify the signs and symptoms of fibromyalgia in primary care. This includes the Map of Medicine, an online evidence-based guide and clinical decision support tool for clinicians which has a fibromyalgia and chronic pain pathway to support diagnosis and referral, an e-learning course developed by the Royal College of GPs and Arthritis Research UK on musculoskeletal care, including fibromyalgia, and a medical guide developed by the Fibromyalgia Association UK (FMUK) for health professionals. Information for the public can be found on the NHS Choices website and is also available in a patients information guide produced by FMUK. The medical guide, patient information booklet and NHS choice webpage on fibromyalgia can be found at the following links:
www.fmauk.org/dmdocuments/Medical%20Pack.pdf
www.fmauk.org/information-packs-mainmenu-58/booklet-mainmenu-135/490-patient-booklet
www.nhs.uk/conditions/fibromyalgia/
Asked by: Thelma Walker (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of the funding allocated to the NHS has been spent on agency staff in each of the last 7 years.
Answered by Philip Dunne
Total figures for agency expenditure are available for National Health Service secondary care in England for each year from 2013-14 to 2016-17 but not before. We do not hold figures for agency expenditure in primary care.
The following table shows NHS secondary care agency expenditure figures:
Year | NHS England mandate (£ billion) | Total NHS secondary care expenditure on agency staff in England (£ billion) | Agency spend as % of mandate |
2013-14 | 94.731 | 2.589 | 2.73 |
2014-15 | 97.342 | 3.189 | 3.28 |
2015-16 | 100.500 | 3.632 | 3.61 |
2016-17 | 105.962 | 2.935 | 2.77 |
A number of measures have been introduced by the Secretary of State to bring secondary care agency spending under control including price caps, procurement frameworks and expenditure ceilings. These have contributed to the NHS spending around £700 million less on agency in 2016/17 than in the previous financial year.
Asked by: Thelma Walker (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that homeless people can access NHS services.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The Government is committed to ensuring that homeless people can access health services. From April 2018 we will be implementing an ambitious legislative reform, the Homelessness Reduction Act, which received Royal Assent earlier this year. The Act will mean more people getting the help they need earlier, to prevent them from becoming homeless in the first place. The Department is currently considering how best to implement in the healthcare sector the ‘duty to refer’ to housing services that was introduced by this Act.
The homeless healthcare charity, Pathway, has led and developed best practice for health services to help people who are homeless. The Government has supported this project through the Homeless Hospital Discharge Fund. This has supported 52 voluntary sector-led projects to improve discharge arrangements for homeless people, and was positively evaluated by Homeless Link, the national membership charity for organisations working directly with people who become homeless in England.
Public Health England provides a resource, `Homes for Health’, that provides a single point of access for policymakers, commissioners and others to wide-ranging authoritative information on data, evaluation, evidence and research relating to homelessness, including people with multiple complex needs. It contains good practice prompts for commissioning for homeless people with drug or alcohol problems.
Homeless people are encouraged to sign up to a general practitioner (GP) service so they can get the treatment they need. Without an address, a GP can accept them by using the GP practice’s own address or an address of a hostel, where appropriate. Training is also available for receptionists and guidance for GPs to help them deliver essential frontline care to the homeless, thus creating a more joined-up workforce.
Asked by: Thelma Walker (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to support research into fibromyalgia.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including fibromyalgia; it is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. NIHR support for fibromyalgia research over the last five years includes £1.8 million funding for research projects; £0.6 million funding for clinical trials through the NIHR Clinical Research Network; and the NIHR has managed infrastructure supporting fibromyalgia research.
Information on individual projects funded by the NIHR can be found at:
https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/programmes/