Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on implementing the recommendations in the report by Red Quadrant entitled Building the Right Support: An analysis of funding flows, published in July 2022.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
We recognise the need to improve how data is collected and better understand the specific costs related to Building the Right Support. That is why the Building the Right Support Delivery Board set up a Funding Flows task and finish group to look at how to improve national oversight of National Health Service and local authority spend.
The Funding Flows task and finish group has been assessing the feasibility of collating information from existing NHS and Local Government datasets to support this and will make recommendations for next steps to the Building the Right Support Delivery Board in due course.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on delivering the Building the Right Support Action Plan.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Significant progress has been made in implementing the Building the Right Support Action Plan, which contains a mix of short-term and long-term commitments.
Since publication of the Plan in July 2022, the majority of the shorter-term commitments due to complete to date, 19 of 27, have now been delivered, and there are mitigations in place for those that have not.
For the longer-term commitments, some of which have completion dates of 2025 and beyond, the majority are on track to be delivered as expected. Mitigations are in place for the small number of commitments that are currently off track to be delivered by their expected completion date.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department has provided to integrated care systems on delivering his Department's Building the Right Support Action Plan; and what assessment he has made of the progress made by integrated care systems on delivering that Plan.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Building the Right Support Action Plan brings together commitments from across Government and public services, and all of these commitments have clear owners and dates for delivery. It is the responsibility of commitment owners to ensure that their commitments are delivered as set out in the Plan. While the majority of the commitments in the Plan are on a national level, commitment owners will involve local systems where relevant.
In May 2023, NHS England published statutory guidance on Executive Lead roles including the requirement to have a lead for learning disability and autism and a lead for Down syndrome and for special educational needs and disability.
The integrated care board (ICB) executive lead for learning disability and autism will support the chief executive and the board to ensure that the ICB performs its functions effectively in the interests of people with a learning disability and autistic people.
The NHS Long Term Plan 2019 sets out our commitments to reduce reliance on mental health inpatient care for people with a learning disability and autistic people. This commitment was re-confirmed in planning guidance for local systems for 2023/24, which is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/2023-24-priorities-and-operational-planning-guidance/
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to review the operation of the Minimum Income Guarantee.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 June 2023 to Question 188068.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State of Health and Social Care, whether he plans to reform the social care charging system.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 15 June 2023 to Question 188067.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham 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 role of integrated care systems in implementing the Building the Right Support Action Plan.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
No specific assessment has been made. Reducing reliance on mental health inpatient care for people with a learning disability and autistic people remains a key commitment for the National Health Service, re-affirmed in 2023/24 NHS planning guidance for local systems.
Each integrated care board (ICB) produces a five year joint forward plan with partner trusts and foundation trusts. This will include the needs of the entire local population, including people with a learning disability and autistic people.
In May 2023, NHS England published statutory guidance on Executive Lead roles within ICBs including the requirement to have a lead for learning disability and autism. The guidance states that the role of the ICB executive lead for learning disability and autism is to support the Chief Executive and the Board so that the ICB performs its functions effectively in the interests of people with a learning disability and autistic people in the local area.
As committed to in the Building the Right Support Action Plan, NHS England has published refreshed guidance on Dynamic Support Registers and Care (Education) Treatment Reviews which sets out expectations for ICBs on which people with a learning disability and autistic people should be added to the local dynamic support register, and about what actions should follow as a result of a person being on a register.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
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 paediatric rheumatology (a) consultants and (b) clinical nurse specialists.
Answered by Will Quince
To support the workforce as a whole we have commissioned NHS England to develop a Long Term Workforce Plan for the National Health Service workforce for the next 15 years. This plan will help ensure that we have the right numbers of staff, with the right skills to transform and deliver high quality services fit for the future.
We continue to grow the NHS workforce and as of March 2023 there has been an increase of over 12,900 more nurses and over 5,400 more doctors since the previous year. 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.
As of February 2023, there were 695 full-time equivalent consultants working in the rheumatology specialism in NHS trusts and commissioning bodies in England. This is an increase of 20 since last year. We do not hold data for paediatric rheumatology and clinical nurse specialists.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
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) the South East London Integrated Care System and (b) England.
Answered by Will Quince
In January 2023 Health Education England announced that nearly 900 additional medical specialty training posts have been created for this year, including five rheumatology posts. The Government has also funded an additional 1,500 undergraduate medical school places per year for domestic students in England, which is a 25% increase, taking the total number of medical school places in England to 7,500 each year. This expansion was completed in September 2020 and delivered five new medical schools in England. This will help ensure a larger potential pipeline for rheumatology trainees in coming years across England, including in the South East London Integrated Care System.
Specialising in Rheumatology is a post-registration option for nurses and allied health professionals. The Government is on track to ensure there are at least an additional 50,000 nurses in place by 31 March 2024 compared to September 2019, which will increase the pool of nurses who may wish to specialise in rheumatology.
Rheumatology services are generally commissioned locally by integrated care boards which have a statutory responsibility to commission healthcare services that meet the needs of their whole population.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
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 increase the number of allied health professionals working within rheumatology teams.
Answered by Will Quince
The composition of rheumatology teams is for local determination. In 2021/22, the Health Education England (HEE) National AHP Workforce Supply Project (2021/22) delivered recruitment initiatives including improved return to practice pathways, pre-registration apprenticeships and more jobs for new graduates. A HEE national programme started in 2022/23 to support National Health Service trusts with allied health professionals (AHP) international recruitment.
The AHPs Strategy for England ‘AHP’s Deliver 2022-2027’ was published in June 2022, one of the key ambitions is to promote the wellbeing of AHPs. HEE is developing Advanced Practice Credentials for Allied Health Professionals, this supports retention of staff through increased job satisfaction and improved quality of care, by enhancing AHP clinical and leadership skills.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham 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 help increase the number of (a) doctors, (b) nurses and (c) allied health professionals entering specialist rheumatology training.
Answered by Will Quince
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Bootle on 30 May 2023 to Question 185980.