Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of reinstating the positions of National Clinical Director for (a) gastroenterology and (b) liver disease.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
A National Clinical Director provides clinical advice and leadership on the NHS England Internal Medicine Specialised Services portfolio, which includes specialised gastroenterology and liver disease. A National Speciality Advisor provides clinical advice more specifically to the hepatobiliary and pancreas programme.
The Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme has invested in clinical leadership in gastroenterology, which is one of its priority workstreams. The programme will be establishing a liver disease programme in 2024/25, including recruiting to a clinical lead role.
The National Clinical Director for Cancer is leading work on on-the-spot liver scans, that has already found that around one in ten people in communities visited have advanced liver damage that needs further monitoring or treatment as it could lead to liver cancer.
NHS England is funding preventative interventions that support individuals to reduce the harm caused by alcohol use and obesity. To support this work, NHS England has invested in a National Clinical Director for Diabetes & Obesity and a National Speciality Advisor for alcohol dependence.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospital admissions were due to alcohol consumption in each year since 2019-20; and what steps his Department is taking to help tackle this issue.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The following table shows recorded hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions (conditions solely caused by alcohol) and alcohol-related conditions (conditions partially caused by alcohol):
Year | Number of admissions, England, persons | |
Alcohol-specific conditions | Alcohol-related conditions (broad) | |
2022/23 | To be released February 2024 | |
2021/22 | 342,795 | 948,312 |
2020/21 | 347,761 | 814,595 |
2019/20 | 318,596 | 976,423 |
Source: OHID, Local Alcohol Profiles for England.
We have a strong programme underway to address alcohol-related harm, including investing £27 million of funding to establish alcohol care teams in the 25% of hospitals in England with the greatest need. This is expected to prevent a further 50,000 hospital admissions over five years.
We are also working to reduce excess alcohol consumption and associated harm among people who regularly drink above the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines (over 14 units per week) by facilitating substitution of standard strength alcohol with no and low-alcohol alternatives. On 28 September 2023, we launched a consultation on updating our labelling guidance for no and low-alcohol alternatives, to improve clarity of consumer information, and to support innovation in the sector. This will provide greater choice for consumers to help them moderate excess alcohol consumption. More information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 5 of the British Medical Journal article entitled Impact of Universal Credit in North East England, published in 2019, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of that article's findings on the impact of Universal Credit deductions on (a) incidences of self-harm, (b) suicidal ideation, (c) alcohol and substance-use, (d) debt and (e) use of foodbanks in the North East of England.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
No assessment has been made.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of specialist alcohol teams on levels of alcohol harm.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Initial modelling for the NHS Long Term Plan was based on the case study carried out by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and estimated that Alcohol Care Teams (ACTs) would prevent 50,000 admissions over 5 years. A copy of the case study is available at the following link:
Impact of ACTs will be assessed through proACTIVE, a cost-effectiveness evaluation funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research and led by the research collaborative, which is due to report in 2024. More information about the evaluation is available at the following link:
https://www.hull.ac.uk/work-with-us/research/institutes/health-trials/study/proactive
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
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 ensure specialist alcohol care teams are provided in hospitals which serve the 25% of areas with the highest rates of (a) alcohol harm and (b) socioeconomic deprivation.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We are continuing to invest in the rollout of Alcohol Care Teams to the 25% of eligible hospital sites with the highest rates of deprivation and alcohol-related mortality, as committed to in the NHS Long Term Plan. At the end of March 2023, 31 out of 47 sites reported that they were optimally staffed, in line with the NHS Long Term Plan commitments.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate the Government has made of the financial impact of alcohol harm on each (a) local authority and (b) integrated care board annually; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
No assessment has been made.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what work is being done in prisons to identify victims of Foetal Alcohol Syndrome; and what steps they are taking to introduce appropriate management and treatment regimes for those prisoners identified.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
All people in prison receive an early health assessment through a reception screening process. Every person receives a first and second stage health assessment, which incorporates a mental health screening in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines. This screening includes questions and actions relating to their risk of self-harm and/or suicide, learning disabilities and neurodevelopmental disorders.
For women who are pregnant and in prison, a full health assessment is undertaken. Any risks, such as alcohol dependency which could lead to foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), should be monitored and managed by the healthcare team, including midwife support. Currently there is no specific treatment for FASD, but where a baby is at risk of FASD, this will form part of the birth plan with the hospital.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 develop an alcohol dependency (a) prevention and (b) recovery strategy.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
There are no current plans to develop a standalone alcohol dependency prevention and recovery strategy. The Government has already set out measures to reduce and prevent alcohol harm through the green paper ‘Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s’ and the NHS Long Term Plan.
The Government published its 10-year Drug Strategy in December 2021. While the focus of the strategy is drugs, commissioning and delivery of drug and alcohol treatment services are integrated in England. This means that implementation of the strategy will also benefit people seeking alcohol treatment through mechanisms such as new commissioning standards, and new investment to rebuild local authority commissioned substance misuse treatment services in England.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent progress her Department has made on reducing drug related anti-social behaviour in England.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
On 27 March we published the Anti-social Behaviour (ASB) Action Plan. The ASB Action Plan commits to tackling ASB across five key themes: stronger punishment; making communities safer; building local pride; prevention and early intervention; and improving data, reporting and accountability for action.
This plan is backed by £160m of funding. This includes up to £60m to fund an increased police and other uniformed presence to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, targeting hotspots. Initially we will work with 10 police force areas, but from 2024 we will support a hotspot approach across every police force area in England and Wales.
We are also providing up to £50m to support the provision of Immediate Justice, by issuing out of court disposals with conditions to swiftly repair any damage – the aim being for them to start within 48 hours of the offence. This will start in 10 initial trailblazer police force areas and be rolled out nationally in 2024.
Specifically in relation to drug misuse, an expansion in Drug Testing on Arrest is already underway and the ASB Action Plan commits to going further, including expanding testing to all Class A drugs. In addition, the ASB Action Plan announced our intention to ban nitrous oxide. This builds on the government’s 10-year Drug Strategy ‘From Harm to Hope’. The strategy sets out an ambitious long-term vision for real change and is underpinned by a record investment of £3 billion from 2022-25. Much of this investment is in creating a world-class treatment and recovery system, including a phased expansion to deliver at least 54,500 new high-quality drug and alcohol treatment places. This will help to tackle the cycle of crime and reoffending which drugs fuel.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to establish Alcohol Care Teams in hospitals with the highest rates of alcohol harm and socioeconomic deprivation.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
From March 2020, NHS England has funded a phased roll out of optimally staffed Alcohol Care Teams in 25% of hospital sites located in areas of highest need in England, 47 out of 189 hospitals. All of these services are now in delivery with 22 out of 47 services optimally staffed.