Oral Evidence Dec. 13 2023
Committee: Health and Social Care Committee (Department: Department of Health and Social Care)Found: , it has potentially serious consequences for patients with conditions like diabetes, epilepsy, Parkinson's
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's consultation entitled Work Capability Assessment: activities and descriptors, published on 5 September 2023, what estimate he has made of how many and what proportion of people who have a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease will no longer be deemed as having Limited Capacity for Work Related Activity under the planned reforms to the Work Capability Assessment.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
On 22 November we published our response to the consultation on changes to the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) criteria, having carefully considered feedback from disabled people and people with health conditions, as well as the organisations that represent and support them.
The OBR have said that they expect the changes we outlined in this response will mean that 371,000 fewer people will be declared as having Limited Capability for Work Related Activity (LCWRA) by 2028/29 than otherwise would be the case. We will publish an Impact Assessment in due course. HMT have also published the impacts in their policy costing note that accompanies the Autumn Statement.
Estimates are not based on specific conditions because the WCA considers the impact that a person’s disability or health condition has on their ability to work, not the condition itself.
There have been significant changes to the world of work since 2011 when the WCA activities and descriptors were last comprehensively reviewed, particularly increased flexibility, and the availability of hybrid and home working jobs. As such, from 2025, we will be making changes to the criteria for Mobilising and Getting About in the WCA, as well as the Substantial Risk rules. In making these changes, we will continue to protect those with the most severe conditions, while ensuring those who can work are supported in doing so. To ensure those with the most significant mobilising limitations are still protected, we will retain the LCWRA Risk regulations for physical health – this means that where work preparation would lead to a deterioration in a claimant’s physical health they would still meet the eligibility for LCWRA.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the role of informal observations made by PIP assessors in mandatory reconsiderations for PIP where the claimant has a diagnosis of Parkinson’s.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Entitlement to PIP is assessed based on the needs arising from a long-term health condition or disability, not the health condition or disability itself. The PIP Assessment Guide, used by health professionals who conduct PIP assessments, sets out how informal observations of functional limitations should be used.
Informal observations can be a way to reveal abilities and limitations not mentioned in the claimant questionnaire, supporting evidence, or history taking during the consultation. However, they are only part of the suite of evidence considered by health professionals during an assessment. They must also consider the invisible nature of some symptoms, such as fatigue and pain which may be less easy to identify through observation.
Informal observations included in a health professional’s advice to DWP are not viewed in isolation; they are considered alongside all other available evidence to determine PIP entitlement.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing each of the recommendations in the report by Parkinson’s UK entitled Every minute counts: Time critical Parkinson’s medication on time, every time, published in September 2023.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Within secondary care, hospital providers are responsible for ensuring that patients within hospital settings, including those with Parkinson’s disease, receive the appropriate medication on time.
NHS England has published a RightCare toolkit which aims to address challenges in providing services for those with progressive neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s disease. The toolkit provides advice on medicine optimisation, highlighting the importance of timely administration of specific drugs, such as Levodopa, in acute and community health settings.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that people with Parkinson’s receive their medication on time in hospitals.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Within secondary care, hospital providers are responsible for ensuring that patients within hospital settings, including those with Parkinson’s disease, receive the appropriate medication on time.
NHS England has published a RightCare toolkit which aims to address challenges in providing services for those with progressive neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s disease. The toolkit provides advice on medicine optimisation, highlighting the importance of timely administration of specific drugs, such as Levodopa, in acute and community health settings.
Nov. 28 2023
Source Page: Clinical Impact Awards 2022: personal statementsFound: incurable disease 4) Clinician Neuroscientist working in longitudinal cohort studies and early Parkinson's
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's consultation entitled Work Capability Assessment: activities and descriptors, published on 5 September 2023, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the consultation on the (a) financial and (b) mental wellbeing of people with Parkinson's disease.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We have published our response to the consultation on changes to the Work Capability Assessment criteria, having carefully considered feedback from disabled people and people with health conditions, as well as the organisations that represent and support them.
From 2025, we will make changes to the WCA that continue to protect those with the most severe conditions, while ensuring those that can work are supported in doing so. Most existing claimants that have already been assessed without work-related requirements, will be able to benefit from our Chance to Work Guarantee. This change will in effect abolish the WCA for the vast majority of this group, and they will be able to move towards work without fear of reassessment.
As part of the Autumn Statement, the Government has also announced an expansion in tailored support for disabled people and people with health conditions, including Universal Support and NHS Talking Therapies.
The OBR have said that they expect these changes to mean that 371,000 fewer people will be declared as having Limited Capability for Work Related Activity by 2028/29 than otherwise would be the case. HMT have published the impacts in their policy costing note that accompanies the Autumn Statement.
Estimates are not based on specific conditions because the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) considers the impact that a person’s disability or health condition has on their ability to work, not the condition itself.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 10 of Parkinson's UK's publication entitled Nowhere near enough, published in April 2023, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his Department’s policies of the finding on the proportion of PIP claims made by people with Parkinson's that were initially assessed incorrectly compared with the general PIP claimant population.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
We are working hard to make the right decision, first time, every time. We continue to review our processes and decision-making and work closely with the assessment providers who carry out the assessments and provide feedback to ensure that they provide decision-makers with the highest quality reports.
Condition Insight Reports are also available to PIP assessors to gain a better understanding of a condition and its impact, including Parkinson’s disease. This insight report highlights the importance of exploration of the fluctuation of the condition and was completed in collaboration with relevant charities.
The Mandatory Reconsideration process is a key element of the department’s decision-making process for all benefits and offers claimants an early opportunity to challenge decisions and get them changed quickly. It offers the department an equally timely remedy for correcting decisions and means that fewer decisions progress to appeal, which is stressful and time consuming for claimants and costly for government. It is worth highlighting that in many cases, decisions can be changed as a result of new evidence or information being made available.
We published Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper on 15 March 2023. Changes set out in the White Paper include those aiming to improve our assessment of fluctuating conditions, such as the way we use medical evidence, and developing the capability of our assessors. We will also explore options for introducing a new way of gathering evidence of fluctuation in a person’s condition before their assessment. The department continues to closely monitor all aspects of the assessment process, including how we assess fluctuating conditions.
Correspondence Nov. 20 2023
Committee: Social Justice and Social Security CommitteeFound: Manganese causes a condition called Parkinsonism, an industrial form of Parkinson's disease.