Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
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 support the (a) continuous training and (b) upskilling of healthcare professionals dealing with dementia in Solihull constituency.
Answered by Will Quince
Individual employers are responsible for ensuring their staff are trained and competent to carry out their role, and for investing in the future of their staff through providing continuing professional development (CPD) funding.
To supplement local employer investment for CPD, the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published on 30 June 2023, sets out NHS England’s commitment to continue national CPD funding for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals. The operation of this scheme will be kept under review, to ensure subsequent funding is in line with workforce growth and inflation, well targeted and achieving the desired outcomes.
There are a variety of resources available on the NHS England E-learning for Health platform, including a programme on dementia care designed to enhance the training and education of the health and social care workforce.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government (1) what is their assessment of the effectiveness of their efforts to enhance early motor neurone disease diagnosis, specifically in terms of reducing diagnostic delays, (2) how they are monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of their efforts to enhance motor neurone disease diagnosis, and (3) what metrics they are using to assess progress in this area.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
All health professionals involved in assessing, caring for and treating people with motor neurone disease (MND) should have sufficient and appropriate training and competence. Individual employers are responsible for ensuring their medical and nursing staff are trained and competent to carry out their role and to invest in the future of their staff through providing continuing professional development (CPD) funding.
To supplement local employer investment for CPD, the Government announced in September 2019 a £210 million funding boost to provide every nurse, midwife, and allied health professional (AHP) working in the National Health Service in England with a personal budget of £1,000 over three years to 2022/23.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published on 30 June 2023, sets out NHS England’s commitment to continue national CPD funding for nurses, midwives and AHPs. The operation of this scheme will be kept under review, to ensure subsequent funding is in line with workforce growth and inflation, well-targeted and achieving the desired outcomes.
To support the diagnosis of MND, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published a clinical guideline on the assessment and management of MND (NG42).
NHS England commissions specialised neurology services for the assessment, diagnosis and care of patients with a range of neurological conditions, including MND, as set out in the published service specification. A copy of this specification is attached.
NHS England currently has a National Transformation Programme for Neurosciences, which is undertaking considerable work to review and develop optimal care pathways, including early diagnosis and model of care for patients with a range of neurological conditions, including MND.
Additionally, the National Neurosciences Advisory Group, a collaboration of specialist clinicians, allied health professionals and charity representatives, developed a clinical pathway for MND, published in June 2023. A copy of the pathway is attached.
The pathway is being used to inform the proposed changes to the neurology service model, which will in turn be used to revise the service specification for neurology.
NHS England does not currently monitor or evaluate rates of diagnosis of neurological conditions, including MND, nor does it have metrics in place to assess diagnostic rates.
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, what steps he is taking to reduce backlogs in community child health services.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to reducing community health care waiting lists for children and young people. That is why the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets commitments to grow the community workforce, with increases in training places for district nurses and allied health professionals and a renewed focus on retaining existing staff.
NHS England has asked systems to develop and agree plans to reduce waiting lists for community health services, including considering transforming service pathways and improving effectiveness and productivity. Commissioning community services is the responsibility of local systems.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to increase access to community child health services in Enfield North constituency.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to reducing community health care waiting lists for children and young people. That is why the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets commitments to grow the community workforce, with increases in training places for district nurses and allied health professionals, and a renewed focus on retaining existing staff.
North Central London Integrated Care Board (ICB) and local authority partners are working collaboratively to improve support available to children and young people in North Enfield. In 2021, the local National Health Service carried out a detailed review of NHS community and mental health services for adults and children across North Central London to look at what services were being provided in each of the boroughs and whether they met the health needs of residents. As a result of these service reviews, the ICB has increased investment in children’s services over multiple years and is further boosting funding available to Enfield’s community children’s services in 2023/24. The ICB focus now is on the delivery and implementation of the core offer, ensuring that any additional investment is targeted where need is greatest.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of levels of (a) training and (b) supervision for physician associates in GP practices.
Answered by Will Quince
Both in training, and subsequently qualified practice, physician associates (PAs) must work with a dedicated medical supervisor which will be a consultant, general practitioner, or other senior medical personnel.
PAs undertake two years of postgraduate training which involves supervised practice with real patients in clinical attachments. The dedicated medical supervisor is responsible for the supervision and management of a student’s educational progress throughout the clinical placements of the course. However, any professional in a placement location who is competent to do so may train, supervise, and assess a PA student in a particular skill, procedure, or competence. This includes practising PAs, nurses, and other healthcare professionals.
The Government is progressing the required legislation which will the enable the General Medical Council (GMC) to regulate the PA role. We plan to lay legislation before the House at the end of 2023, which will allow the GMC to commence regulation by the end of 2024. Regulation by the GMC will provide a standardised framework of governance and assurance for the clinical practice and professional conduct of PAs.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to bring forward legislation to regulate physician associates.
Answered by Will Quince
Both in training, and subsequently qualified practice, physician associates (PAs) must work with a dedicated medical supervisor which will be a consultant, general practitioner, or other senior medical personnel.
PAs undertake two years of postgraduate training which involves supervised practice with real patients in clinical attachments. The dedicated medical supervisor is responsible for the supervision and management of a student’s educational progress throughout the clinical placements of the course. However, any professional in a placement location who is competent to do so may train, supervise, and assess a PA student in a particular skill, procedure, or competence. This includes practising PAs, nurses, and other healthcare professionals.
The Government is progressing the required legislation which will the enable the General Medical Council (GMC) to regulate the PA role. We plan to lay legislation before the House at the end of 2023, which will allow the GMC to commence regulation by the end of 2024. Regulation by the GMC will provide a standardised framework of governance and assurance for the clinical practice and professional conduct of PAs.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
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 improve (a) openness, (b) learning and (c) transparency in maternity units.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In March 2023, NHS England published their ‘Three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services’. The plan outlines that trusts are responsible for maintaining an ethos of open and honest reporting and sharing information on the safety, quality, and the experiences of their services.
£2.8 million has been invested into the Perinatal Culture and Leadership Development Programme which will support multi-professional teams, from across maternity and neonatal services, to take time out together. A Maternity Leadership Training fund has been developed to equip maternity and neonatal leaders with a range of skills and knowledge to address poor workplace culture and facilitate collaborative working between nurses, doctors, midwives and obstetricians.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what training the NHS provides to nursing staff on (a) accountability and (b) reporting (i) suspicious activities and (ii) concerns.
Answered by Will Quince
All registered nurses must uphold the Code of Practice set by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). The NMC can act if those on their register fail to uphold the Code.
All National Health Service organisations and others providing NHS healthcare services in primary and secondary care in England are required to adopt the national Freedom to Speak Up policy as a minimum standard to help normalise speaking up for the benefit of patients and workers, including nursing staff. Its aim is to ensure all matters raised are captured and considered appropriately and the policy should be clear and regularly communicated to support learning and improvement. It is the individual employer’s responsibility to ensure that all mandatory training is completed by employees.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that vulnerable children are treated with decency and compassion.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Home Office takes our duty of care towards children extremely seriously and we prioritise the safety of children and any applications from asylum seeking children.
We have robust safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all children in hotels are safe and supported as we seek urgent placements with a local authority. Children are supported by team leaders and support workers who are on site 24 hours a day. Further care is provided in hotels by teams of social workers and nurses. All contingency sites have security staff on site 24/7 and providers liaise closely with local police to ensure the welfare and safety of vulnerable residents
Decision makers who specifically deal with children’s claims complete additional training on Processing Children’s Asylum Claims and have additional periods of mentoring. Additionally, decision makers attend a Safeguarding Awareness training which raises awareness of responsibilities of staff who deal with non-detained individuals and aims to ensure a consistent approach to safeguarding procedures for children.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
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 increase the availability of community child health services in Leicester East constituency.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to reducing community health care waiting lists for children and young people. That is why the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets commitments to expand the community workforce, with increases in training places for district nurses and allied health professionals, as well as a renewed focus on retaining our existing staff.
NHS England has asked systems to develop and agree plans to reduce waiting lists for community health services, including considering transforming service pathways and improving effectiveness and productivity. Commissioning community services is the responsibility of local integrated care systems.