Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the NHS' planned timetable is for a decision on the Start Well public consultation on the future of maternity, neonatal and children’s surgical services in north central London.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Start Well public consultation on proposed changes to maternity, neonatal, and paediatric surgical services in North Central London closed on Sunday 17 March 2024. The responses received will now be analysed by an independent research agency, who will produce a report for the consulting bodies, North Central London Integrated Care Board, on behalf of the local integrated care system, and NHS London Specialised Commissioning. This report will be published and, along with a wide range of evidence and information, will be used to develop a decision-making business case for consideration by the integrated care board.
North Central London Integrated Care Board expect it will take some months to develop the decision-making business case. The meeting will be held in public, with further details published later this year.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to publish all responses made to the Start Well public consultation on proposed changes to maternity, neonatal and children's surgical services in North Central London.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Start Well public consultation on proposed changes to maternity, neonatal, and paediatric surgical services in North Central London closed on Sunday 17 March 2024. The responses received will now be analysed by an independent research agency, who will produce a report for the consulting bodies, North Central London Integrated Care Board, on behalf of the local integrated care system, and NHS London Specialised Commissioning. This report will be published and, along with a wide range of evidence and information, will be used to develop a decision-making business case for consideration by the integrated care board.
North Central London Integrated Care Board expect it will take some months to develop the decision-making business case. The meeting will be held in public, with further details published later this year.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment the Department has made of (a) induction rates and (b) Caesarean rates in the North Central London area in each of the last five years.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Population health trends in North Central London (NCL), including historic birth rates and the future projected population size, have informed proposals to improve maternity and neonatal services included in the NCL Integrated Care System’s (ICS) Start Well programme.
Modelling to inform the proposals included in the NCL Start Well programme has considered changing population demographics. This has included looking at changes to the size and birth rate of the populations living in NCL, as well as the complexity of births, which has included looking at factors such as caesarean rates.
The Department, along with NHS England, recognises that the foundations of lifelong health are built during pregnancy, at birth, and in childhood. This is why the NCL ICS’s Start Well programme has taken a population health approach, looking at data relating to ethnicity and deprivation, and impact on maternity outcomes across all units in NCL, including the Royal Free Hospital.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of birth rates in North Central London in each of the last five years.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Population health trends in North Central London (NCL), including historic birth rates and the future projected population size, have informed proposals to improve maternity and neonatal services included in the NCL Integrated Care System’s (ICS) Start Well programme.
Modelling to inform the proposals included in the NCL Start Well programme has considered changing population demographics. This has included looking at changes to the size and birth rate of the populations living in NCL, as well as the complexity of births, which has included looking at factors such as caesarean rates.
The Department, along with NHS England, recognises that the foundations of lifelong health are built during pregnancy, at birth, and in childhood. This is why the NCL ICS’s Start Well programme has taken a population health approach, looking at data relating to ethnicity and deprivation, and impact on maternity outcomes across all units in NCL, including the Royal Free Hospital.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if her Department will make an estimate of the number of women who have experienced medical complexities associated with pregnancy when accessing maternity care services in (a) north and (b) central London in each of the last five years.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department does not hold this information in the format requested. The North Central London Start Well programme has considered changing population demographics, including the birth rates of the populations living in North Central London and the complexity of births. This information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of indices of deprivation of women who access maternity services at the Royal Free Hospital.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Population health trends in North Central London (NCL), including historic birth rates and the future projected population size, have informed proposals to improve maternity and neonatal services included in the NCL Integrated Care System’s (ICS) Start Well programme.
Modelling to inform the proposals included in the NCL Start Well programme has considered changing population demographics. This has included looking at changes to the size and birth rate of the populations living in NCL, as well as the complexity of births, which has included looking at factors such as caesarean rates.
The Department, along with NHS England, recognises that the foundations of lifelong health are built during pregnancy, at birth, and in childhood. This is why the NCL ICS’s Start Well programme has taken a population health approach, looking at data relating to ethnicity and deprivation, and impact on maternity outcomes across all units in NCL, including the Royal Free Hospital.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department's policies on preventing maternal deaths of MBRRACE-UK's report entitled Saving Lives, Improving Mothers’ Care, published in October 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department is committed to reducing maternal mortality and improving outcomes for mothers and is working to fully understand why a recent increase in the maternal death rate has been reported, including considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Several initiatives have already been introduced across the National Health Service to improve maternity safety as part of NHS England’s Three Year Delivery Plan for maternity and neonatal services, which is backed by £186 million a year from April.
Initiatives include the establishment of 14 maternal medicine networks which provide pregnant women who have medical conditions with specialist advice and support, and the publishing of local Equity and Equality Action Plans, which are tailored to meet the needs of that area. The Department also expects all 42 integrated care systems to have a Maternal Mental Health Service operational by the end of March 2024, which provide psychological therapy for women experiencing mental health difficulties related to their maternity experience.
On top of this, as announced at Spring Budget, the Government and NHS England are investing almost £35 million from 2024/25 to 2026/27 to further improve maternity safety across England, with specialist training for staff, additional numbers of midwives and support to ensure maternity services listen to and act on women’s experiences to improve care.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many staff are employed at the birthing suites at Edgware Birth Centre.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The following table shows the numbers of births delivered at birthing suites at Edgware Birth Centre, in each of the last five years:
Year | Births delivered |
2018/19 | 68 |
2019/20 | 73 |
2020/21 | 18 |
2021/22 | 45 |
2022/23 | 34 |
Edgware Birth Centre is a standalone birth centre which is staffed by midwifery teams employed by the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust who work across a number of locations. Because of this it is difficult to determine the cost for the centre separately. The centre is the base for three teams that work across the maternity services provided by the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. The staff are deployed across a number of birth settings, including home births, Edgware Birth Centre, and Barnet Hospital. Staff working at the centre also deliver antenatal and postnatal clinics.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of funding for the ambitions in the Women's Health Strategy for England, updated on 30 August 2022.
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 engages and listens to all women. The funding confirmed at the last Spending Review was on top of the historic long-term National Health Service settlement announced in 2018. Taken together with funding announced at subsequent fiscal events, it means the NHS resource budget in England will increase in cash terms to £164.9 billion in 2024/25, up from £121.7 billion in 2019/20.
We are also investing in a number of specific programmes within the strategy. For example, we are investing £25 million in the expansion of women’s health hubs over 2023/2024 and 2024/2025, and recently announced a £35 million investment to further improve maternity safety across England over 2024/2025 to 2026/2027.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the annual cost to the public purse is of the birthing suites at Edgware Birth Centre.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The following table shows the numbers of births delivered at birthing suites at Edgware Birth Centre, in each of the last five years:
Year | Births delivered |
2018/19 | 68 |
2019/20 | 73 |
2020/21 | 18 |
2021/22 | 45 |
2022/23 | 34 |
Edgware Birth Centre is a standalone birth centre which is staffed by midwifery teams employed by the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust who work across a number of locations. Because of this it is difficult to determine the cost for the centre separately. The centre is the base for three teams that work across the maternity services provided by the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. The staff are deployed across a number of birth settings, including home births, Edgware Birth Centre, and Barnet Hospital. Staff working at the centre also deliver antenatal and postnatal clinics.