Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has undertaken or commissioned research on the effect on NHS services of immigration (a) in general and (b) from nationals of other EEA countries.
Answered by George Freeman
The Department has not undertaken or commissioned specific research on the overall impact of immigration on the National Health Service.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce variations in mental health spending and services between clinical commissioning groups.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for commissioning non-specialised mental health services to meet the needs of their local communities. NHS England has made the requirement of CCGs through the planning guidance document, Delivering the Forward View: NHS Planning Guidance 2016/17 to 2020/21 (December 2015), that they should increase their spending on mental health each year at least in line with the growth in their overall funding allocation.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the level of provision of eye clinic liaison officers is in eye clinics and hospitals in (a) Greater Manchester and (b) Hazel Grove constituency.
Answered by Alistair Burt
This information is not collected centrally.
Eye clinics and their staffing, including eye clinic liaison officers, are commissioned and funded by individual clinical commissioning groups on the basis of local assessments of need.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to improve support for children and young people with mental health issues.
Answered by Alistair Burt
This Government is committed to improving children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. The Department is working with NHS England and other partners to enhance significantly the support offered to children and young people.
We are already making progress in a number of areas including:
- The extension and expansion of the children and young people’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme.
- Joint training and piloting of staff in schools and local mental health services to strengthen the mental health support and advice available in schools.
The Department is also commissioning the first prevalence survey of child and adolescent mental health in over 10 years. The survey will provide an accurate assessment of how many children and young people are living with mental health issues. Publication is anticipated in 2017.
In addition, NHS England is leading work to develop new access and waiting time standards for eating disorder services.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to rebalance the NHS budget to ensure mental health care receives the level of investment needed.
Answered by Alistair Burt
NHS England is giving greater priority and greater scrutiny to the mental health agenda. In its latest planning guidance, Forward View into action: planning for 2015-16, was the expectation that clinical commissioning croups’ (CCG) spending on mental health services in 2015/16 should increase in real terms, and grow by at least as much as each CCG’s allocation increase to support the ambition of parity between mental and physical health.
At both a national and regional level, work is being done to robustly assure this and ensure there is clear validity for commissioner justification of proposed spend.
NHS England’s Five Year Forward View set out a clear commitment to driving towards a more equal response across mental and physical health and achieving genuine parity of esteem by 2020.
A key element of achieving parity across mental and physical health care is in people having timely access to evidence-based and effective treatment.
In October 2014, NHS England and the Department jointly published “Improving access to mental health services by 2020”. This set out a clear vision to ensure mental and physical health services are given equal priority through:
- targeted investment to help people in crisis to get effective support; and
- the introduction of national waiting time standards to provide better access to mental health services over the next five years, subject to future resourcing decisions following the next Spending Review.
The first set of standards set the expectation that, from 1 April 2016:
- 50% of people experiencing a first episode of psychosis are treated with a NICE-approved package of care within two weeks of referral;
- 75% of adults referred to the national programme for talking therapies will be treated within six weeks, and 95% within 18 weeks; and
- £30 million investment targeted to support effective models of liaison psychiatry in a greater number of acute hospitals.
This is supported by an £80 million funding package for 2015/16 from NHS England’s budgets.
In addition, announcements in the autumn statement and spring budget have allocated additional funding to support transformative work to improve access to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and perinatal mental health services. Part of this funding will be allocated to developing waiting times standards for CAMHS, initially for community based eating disorder services.
A Mental Health Task Force has been constituted to produce a costed five-year plan for the National Health Service to support improvement of mental health services, which is anticipated to report during summer 2015.
NHS England is committed to delivering parity of esteem between mental health and physical health, and recognises that spending is one of the areas which must be addressed. Good progress is already being made:
- Based on CCG and NHS England plans, there was a real terms increase in spending on mental health in 2014/15 compared to 2013/14;
- NHS England required CCGs to increase their spending on mental health by at least as much as the growth in their programme allocations; and
- In 2015/16, there are a range of new investments in mental health services, including:
o £250 million a year to improve services for expectant and new mothers, children and young people;
o £80 million a year from NHS England’s budgets to improve early intervention in psychosis, liaison psychiatry and Talking Therapies services for common mental health conditions, and to deliver new access and waiting time standards; and
o £30 million a year to improve community services for children and people with eating disorders.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress the Government is making on ensuring that parity of esteem between mental and physical health services is fully delivered.
Answered by Alistair Burt
NHS England is giving greater priority and greater scrutiny to the mental health agenda. In its latest planning guidance, Forward View into action: planning for 2015-16, was the expectation that clinical commissioning croups’ (CCG) spending on mental health services in 2015/16 should increase in real terms, and grow by at least as much as each CCG’s allocation increase to support the ambition of parity between mental and physical health.
At both a national and regional level, work is being done to robustly assure this and ensure there is clear validity for commissioner justification of proposed spend.
NHS England’s Five Year Forward View set out a clear commitment to driving towards a more equal response across mental and physical health and achieving genuine parity of esteem by 2020.
A key element of achieving parity across mental and physical health care is in people having timely access to evidence-based and effective treatment.
In October 2014, NHS England and the Department jointly published “Improving access to mental health services by 2020”. This set out a clear vision to ensure mental and physical health services are given equal priority through:
- targeted investment to help people in crisis to get effective support; and
- the introduction of national waiting time standards to provide better access to mental health services over the next five years, subject to future resourcing decisions following the next Spending Review.
The first set of standards set the expectation that, from 1 April 2016:
- 50% of people experiencing a first episode of psychosis are treated with a NICE-approved package of care within two weeks of referral;
- 75% of adults referred to the national programme for talking therapies will be treated within six weeks, and 95% within 18 weeks; and
- £30 million investment targeted to support effective models of liaison psychiatry in a greater number of acute hospitals.
This is supported by an £80 million funding package for 2015/16 from NHS England’s budgets.
In addition, announcements in the autumn statement and spring budget have allocated additional funding to support transformative work to improve access to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and perinatal mental health services. Part of this funding will be allocated to developing waiting times standards for CAMHS, initially for community based eating disorder services.
A Mental Health Task Force has been constituted to produce a costed five-year plan for the National Health Service to support improvement of mental health services, which is anticipated to report during summer 2015.
NHS England is committed to delivering parity of esteem between mental health and physical health, and recognises that spending is one of the areas which must be addressed. Good progress is already being made:
- Based on CCG and NHS England plans, there was a real terms increase in spending on mental health in 2014/15 compared to 2013/14;
- NHS England required CCGs to increase their spending on mental health by at least as much as the growth in their programme allocations; and
- In 2015/16, there are a range of new investments in mental health services, including:
o £250 million a year to improve services for expectant and new mothers, children and young people;
o £80 million a year from NHS England’s budgets to improve early intervention in psychosis, liaison psychiatry and Talking Therapies services for common mental health conditions, and to deliver new access and waiting time standards; and
o £30 million a year to improve community services for children and people with eating disorders.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that clinical commissioning groups take practical steps to give equal value to physical and mental health care.
Answered by Alistair Burt
NHS England is giving greater priority and greater scrutiny to the mental health agenda. In its latest planning guidance, Forward View into action: planning for 2015-16, was the expectation that clinical commissioning croups’ (CCG) spending on mental health services in 2015/16 should increase in real terms, and grow by at least as much as each CCG’s allocation increase to support the ambition of parity between mental and physical health.
At both a national and regional level, work is being done to robustly assure this and ensure there is clear validity for commissioner justification of proposed spend.
NHS England’s Five Year Forward View set out a clear commitment to driving towards a more equal response across mental and physical health and achieving genuine parity of esteem by 2020.
A key element of achieving parity across mental and physical health care is in people having timely access to evidence-based and effective treatment.
In October 2014, NHS England and the Department jointly published “Improving access to mental health services by 2020”. This set out a clear vision to ensure mental and physical health services are given equal priority through:
- targeted investment to help people in crisis to get effective support; and
- the introduction of national waiting time standards to provide better access to mental health services over the next five years, subject to future resourcing decisions following the next Spending Review.
The first set of standards set the expectation that, from 1 April 2016:
- 50% of people experiencing a first episode of psychosis are treated with a NICE-approved package of care within two weeks of referral;
- 75% of adults referred to the national programme for talking therapies will be treated within six weeks, and 95% within 18 weeks; and
- £30 million investment targeted to support effective models of liaison psychiatry in a greater number of acute hospitals.
This is supported by an £80 million funding package for 2015/16 from NHS England’s budgets.
In addition, announcements in the autumn statement and spring budget have allocated additional funding to support transformative work to improve access to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and perinatal mental health services. Part of this funding will be allocated to developing waiting times standards for CAMHS, initially for community based eating disorder services.
A Mental Health Task Force has been constituted to produce a costed five-year plan for the National Health Service to support improvement of mental health services, which is anticipated to report during summer 2015.
NHS England is committed to delivering parity of esteem between mental health and physical health, and recognises that spending is one of the areas which must be addressed. Good progress is already being made:
- Based on CCG and NHS England plans, there was a real terms increase in spending on mental health in 2014/15 compared to 2013/14;
- NHS England required CCGs to increase their spending on mental health by at least as much as the growth in their programme allocations; and
- In 2015/16, there are a range of new investments in mental health services, including:
o £250 million a year to improve services for expectant and new mothers, children and young people;
o £80 million a year from NHS England’s budgets to improve early intervention in psychosis, liaison psychiatry and Talking Therapies services for common mental health conditions, and to deliver new access and waiting time standards; and
o £30 million a year to improve community services for children and people with eating disorders.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how the Government plans to ensure that clinical commissioning groups spend appropriate and proportionate amounts on mental health.
Answered by Alistair Burt
NHS England is giving greater priority and greater scrutiny to the mental health agenda. In its latest planning guidance, Forward View into action: planning for 2015-16, was the expectation that clinical commissioning croups’ (CCG) spending on mental health services in 2015/16 should increase in real terms, and grow by at least as much as each CCG’s allocation increase to support the ambition of parity between mental and physical health.
At both a national and regional level, work is being done to robustly assure this and ensure there is clear validity for commissioner justification of proposed spend.
NHS England’s Five Year Forward View set out a clear commitment to driving towards a more equal response across mental and physical health and achieving genuine parity of esteem by 2020.
A key element of achieving parity across mental and physical health care is in people having timely access to evidence-based and effective treatment.
In October 2014, NHS England and the Department jointly published “Improving access to mental health services by 2020”. This set out a clear vision to ensure mental and physical health services are given equal priority through:
- targeted investment to help people in crisis to get effective support; and
- the introduction of national waiting time standards to provide better access to mental health services over the next five years, subject to future resourcing decisions following the next Spending Review.
The first set of standards set the expectation that, from 1 April 2016:
- 50% of people experiencing a first episode of psychosis are treated with a NICE-approved package of care within two weeks of referral;
- 75% of adults referred to the national programme for talking therapies will be treated within six weeks, and 95% within 18 weeks; and
- £30 million investment targeted to support effective models of liaison psychiatry in a greater number of acute hospitals.
This is supported by an £80 million funding package for 2015/16 from NHS England’s budgets.
In addition, announcements in the autumn statement and spring budget have allocated additional funding to support transformative work to improve access to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and perinatal mental health services. Part of this funding will be allocated to developing waiting times standards for CAMHS, initially for community based eating disorder services.
A Mental Health Task Force has been constituted to produce a costed five-year plan for the National Health Service to support improvement of mental health services, which is anticipated to report during summer 2015.
NHS England is committed to delivering parity of esteem between mental health and physical health, and recognises that spending is one of the areas which must be addressed. Good progress is already being made:
- Based on CCG and NHS England plans, there was a real terms increase in spending on mental health in 2014/15 compared to 2013/14;
- NHS England required CCGs to increase their spending on mental health by at least as much as the growth in their programme allocations; and
- In 2015/16, there are a range of new investments in mental health services, including:
o £250 million a year to improve services for expectant and new mothers, children and young people;
o £80 million a year from NHS England’s budgets to improve early intervention in psychosis, liaison psychiatry and Talking Therapies services for common mental health conditions, and to deliver new access and waiting time standards; and
o £30 million a year to improve community services for children and people with eating disorders.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking in response to the poisonings of patients at Stepping Hill Hospital; and what steps his Department is taking to improve (a) patient safety in hospitals and (b) the verification of qualifications and vetting of nurses recruited to the NHS.
Answered by Ben Gummer
Much is being done to raise standards in patient safety in hosptials. In February, the Department published an assessment of progress in Culture Change in the NHS: Applying the lessons of the Francis Inquiries.
Key areas of progress include:
- a new inspection regime with the Care Quality Commission appointing three powerful Chief Inspectors for hospitals, social care and primary care and a new set of fundamental standards;
- a programme of safety improvement including a three-year safety campaign and network of 15 patient safety collaboratives to drive improvement in areas of safety that can make the biggest impact to patients;
- a drive towards greater transparency in the NHS on measures of patient safety and patient experience, and a new legal duty of candour on all organisations to ensure that when something goes wrong, patients and their relatives are told about it promptly; and
- a national programme led by Health Education England programme to ensure that patient safety is at the heart of the education and training of the health and care workforce.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the independent regulator of nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom and is responsible for nurse registration. We expect the NMC’s registration processes and associated checks to protect patient safety through being appropriate, robust, fit for purpose and effective, and by verifying that a nursing applicant is who they claim to be, is appropriately qualified, is competent and fit-to-practise.
The criminal acts of patient poisonings in 2011 at Stepping Hill, perpetrated by registered nurse Victorino Chua (with a Philipino qualification), have raised concern about the NMC’s registration processes. Since 2011, the NMC has strengthened its process for registering applicants from countries outside the European Economic Area, supported by over £4 million of additional Government funding. Improvements include a clinical test of competence, a more robust system of face-to-face identity checks and advanced passport scanning technology to verify identity documents. Due to concern about untrained overseas nurses working in the Untied Kingdom, the NMC audited some 14,000 nurses, which did not result in any regulatory action.