Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what additional steps they are taking to support the documentation of conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan since the outbreak of hostilities in April.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There has been an escalation of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) against women and girls in Sudan since the start of the conflict on 15 April. The UK is working to ensure gender and inclusion conflict analyses underpin all aspects of the crisis response. The UK continues to provide funds to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Sudan (OHCHR), a UN body that has a crucial role in monitoring and reporting on human rights violations. They are setting up remote monitoring mechanisms. Through the Women's Integrated Sexual Health programme, the UK is also providing integrated sexual and reproductive services, and provisions of family planning and management of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to deploy members of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative team of experts to Sudan or neighbouring countries.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There has been an escalation of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) against women and girls in Sudan since the start of the conflict on 15 April. The UK is working to ensure gender and inclusion conflict analyses underpin all aspects of the crisis response. The UK continues to provide funds to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Sudan (OHCHR), a UN body that has a crucial role in monitoring and reporting on human rights violations. They are setting up remote monitoring mechanisms. Through the Women's Integrated Sexual Health programme, the UK is also providing integrated sexual and reproductive services, and provisions of family planning and management of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Elmet and Rothwell)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce the number of people with endometriosis globally.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK recognizes the significant impact that endometriosis has on women's sexual and reproductive health and quality of life and that strong health systems, with a focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), are essential for tackling this disease. That's why the Women's Health Strategy for England made improving access to services, and prioritising services for women's conditions such as endometriosis, one of the 6 priorities for action.
Globally, the UK is proud to defend and promote universal and comprehensive SRHR. With our partners, we are working towards a world where women, girls and all other marginalised people have access to quality health services. We support health system strengthening through our funding to the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents, and in collaboration with key partners, including the World Health Organization and UNFPA.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assistance they are providing to Sudanese women and girls, if any, amid reports of sexual violence in the conflict in Bahri and Khartoum.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
There has been an escalation of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) against women and girls in Sudan since the start of the conflict on 15 April. Through the Women's Integrated Sexual Health Programme, we are providing integrated sexual and reproductive health services including management of SGBV through support to 324 clinics and 8 mobile health teams. The programme has maintained some access to services in all areas apart from Khartoum and Geneina. UK funding for Sudan, announced by the Minister for Development and Africa on 24 May, also supports survivors and other vulnerable groups. The UK is working with its partners to ensure that gender and inclusion conflict analyses underpin all aspects of the crisis response.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of current NHS wait times for neurodiversity assessments for children; and what steps they are taking to reduce them.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made. NHS England publish quarterly experimental data on how many people, including children, are waiting for an autism assessment. Whilst we recognise that a significant percentage of autism assessments for children are reported through the Community Services Data Set, which is currently not reported on within this publication, the reported data provides useful information to support local areas to assess local demand and adequacy of services.
Additionally, in a Westminster Hall debate, on 1 February 2023, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Mental Health and Women's Health Strategy at the Department of Health and Social Care committed to look at how we can improve data on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessment waiting times, to help improve access to ADHD assessments in a timely way and in line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance for autism assessment services. This guidance, published in an online only format, will help the NHS improve their autism assessment pathways and improve the experience for children and young people referred to an autism assessment service.
This year, 2023/2024, £4.2 million is available to improve services for autistic children and young people, including autism assessment services and pre- and post-diagnostic support, and the continuation of the Autism in Schools programme. We are committed to increasing investment into mental health services by at least £2.3 billion a year by March 2024 and have set out our aim in the NHS Long Term Plan for an additional 345,000 children and young people to be able to get the mental health support they need.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that his Department, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the NHS collaborate to align priorities for women's health.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department works closes with its arm length bodies and its other health system partners to deliver on Government priorities including those in the Women’s Health Strategy for England.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will include birth trauma in the Women's Health Strategy in the future.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Women’s Health Strategy sets out our plans for boosting the health and wellbeing of women and girls, and for improving how the health and care system listens to women. Fertility, pregnancy, pregnancy loss and postnatal support, and mental health and wellbeing, are both priority areas in the strategy.
As set out in the strategy, NHS England is improving perinatal mental health support. Mental health services around England are being expanded to include new mental health “hubs” for new, expectant or bereaved mothers. The 33 new maternal mental health services will provide psychological therapy, maternity services and reproductive health for women with mental health needs following trauma or loss related to their maternity experience. These will be available across England by March 2024.
In addition, specialist Community Perinatal Mental Health Services care will be available from preconception to 24 months after birth by 2023/24, with increased access to evidence-based psychological therapies.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of D150 applications for women's health products that have taken more than 150 days to be assessed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Will Quince
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) offers a 150-day assessment timeline for all high-quality marketing authorisation applications.
A total of 1,016 medicinal products have been waiting for MHRA marketing authorisation approval for more than 150 days. Of these, 36 are for women’s health.
Asked by: Lord Bradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect the report of the National Women’s Prisons Health and Social Care Review to be published.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has advised that they are working with their partners to finalise the review and anticipate publication will be during the Summer of 2023.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much of the £100 million for bespoke parent-infant relationship and perinatal mental health support set out in the Women's Health Strategy has been spent; and if he will publish a breakdown on that expenditure.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Information relating to the funding that has been allocated to local authorities through the Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme will be published in due course.
Through the Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme, £100 million is being invested in improving parent-infant relationships and perinatal mental health support. £92.8 million is being distributed to 75 local authorities in England participating in the Programme over the three years, from 2022/23 to 2024/25. The remaining funding is being held centrally to commission a series of national initiatives which will support local delivery, including training programmes for evidence-based parent-infant relationship interventions and access to high-quality clinical supervision for practitioners.