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Departmental Publication (News and Communications)
Department of Health and Social Care

Sep. 18 2024

Source Page: Protection zones around abortion clinics in place by October
Document: Protection zones around abortion clinics in place by October (webpage)
Written Question
Hospitals: Parking
Wednesday 18th September 2024

Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to provide funding for (a) free or (b) subsidised parking for NHS (i) staff and (ii) patients at NHS facilities.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Hospital car parks are the responsibility of individual National Health Service trusts, with no central Government involvement. All revenue that hospitals make from car parking must be put back into front line services. The NHS Car Parking guidance states that where car parking charges exist, they should be reasonable for the area, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles


Written Question
Hospitals: Parking
Wednesday 18th September 2024

Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)

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 support (a) NHS staff and (b) patients with car parking charges at NHS facilities.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Hospital car parks are the responsibility of individual National Health Service trusts, with no central Government involvement. All revenue that hospitals make from car parking must be put back into front line services. The NHS Car Parking guidance states that where car parking charges exist, they should be reasonable for the area, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles


Written Question
HIV Infection
Wednesday 18th September 2024

Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) adults and (b) children are living with HIV in each (i) region, (ii) county and (iii) local authority area.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

While the information is not collected in the format requested, the following table shows the number of children in 2020, and the number of adults in 2022, living with diagnosed HIV infection in England, broken down by region:

Children with HIV in 2020

Adults with HIV in 2022

London

76

37,267

East of England

21

8,076

East Midlands

16

5,777

West Midlands

31

7,887

North East

3

2,151

North West

29

10,200

South East

22

11,680

South West

7

5,413

Yorkshire and Humber

21

5,946

England

226

94,397

Source: statistics are published by the UK Health Security Agency, and are available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hiv-annual-data-tables
Note: children are counted as those under 15 years old and adults are counted as those 15 years old or over.

In addition, the following table shows the number of adults living with diagnosed HIV infection in England, broken down by local authority, in 2022:

Local authority

Adults living with diagnosed HIV

Barking and Dagenham

786

Barnet

856

Barnsley

281

Bath and North East Somerset

151

Bedford

302

Bexley

502

Birmingham

2,262

Blackburn with Darwen

114

Blackpool

449

Bolton

422

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

782

Bracknell Forest

144

Bradford

561

Brent

1,174

Brighton and Hove

1,760

Bristol

928

Bromley

570

Buckinghamshire UA

578

Bury

271

Calderdale

208

Cambridgeshire

711

Camden

1,505

Central Bedfordshire

306

Cheshire East

333

Cheshire West and Chester

334

City of London

87

Cornwall

379

County Durham

329

Coventry

913

Croydon

1,640

Cumberland

129

Darlington

84

Derby

472

Derbyshire

523

Devon

525

Doncaster

321

Dorset

251

Dudley

350

Ealing

970

East Riding of Yorkshire

156

East Sussex

810

Enfield

1,028

Essex

1,457

Gateshead

190

Gloucestershire

535

Greenwich

1,338

Hackney

1,506

Halton

91

Hammersmith and Fulham

1,160

Hampshire

1,175

Haringey

1,426

Harrow

464

Hartlepool

65

Havering

382

Herefordshire

125

Hertfordshire

1,500

Hillingdon

565

Hounslow

818

Isle of Wight

79

Isles of Scilly

Islington

1,379

Kensington and Chelsea

1,149

Kent

1,608

Kingston upon Hull

256

Kingston upon Thames

266

Kirklees

466

Knowsley

135

Lambeth

3,367

Lancashire

872

Leeds

1,544

Leicester

1,011

Leicestershire

542

Lewisham

1,853

Lincolnshire

560

Liverpool

835

Luton

626

Manchester

2,446

Medway

379

Merton

674

Middlesbrough

172

Milton Keynes

667

Newcastle upon Tyne

460

Newham

1,595

Norfolk

835

North East Lincolnshire

96

North Lincolnshire

108

North Northamptonshire

497

North Somerset

159

North Tyneside

163

North Yorkshire UA

362

Northumberland

162

Nottingham

841

Nottinghamshire

624

Oldham

290

Oxfordshire

501

Peterborough

356

Plymouth

313

Portsmouth

376

Reading

400

Redbridge

612

Redcar and Cleveland

64

Richmond upon Thames

315

Rochdale

316

Rotherham

267

Rutland

29

Salford

914

Sandwell

651

Sefton

261

Sheffield

843

Shropshire

212

Slough

356

Solihull

141

Somerset UA

374

South Gloucestershire

249

South Tyneside

85

Southampton

506

Southend-on-Sea

371

Southwark

2,880

St. Helens

148

Staffordshire

602

Stockport

297

Stockton-on-Tees

167

Stoke-on-Trent

411

Suffolk

655

Sunderland

210

Surrey

1,382

Sutton

357

Swindon

280

Tameside

340

Telford and Wrekin

182

Thurrock

290

Torbay

190

Tower Hamlets

1,854

Trafford

331

Wakefield

349

Walsall

454

Waltham Forest

926

Wandsworth

1,426

Warrington

174

Warwickshire

550

West Berkshire

109

West Northamptonshire

678

West Sussex

1,183

Westminster

1,837

Westmorland and Furness

93

Wigan

325

Wiltshire

297

Windsor and Maidenhead

182

Wirral

280

Wokingham

152

Wolverhampton

648

Worcestershire

386

York

128

England

94,397

Source: statistics are published by the UK Health Security Agency, and are available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hiv-annual-data-tables

While the number of adults living with diagnosed HIV infection by local authority is available, the information on children is not held in the format requested. However, the number of children living with diagnosed HIV infection has reduced from 1,489 in 2013, to 225 in 2020. This is due to the success of antenatal screening, which has prevented vertical transmission of HIV, combined with the success of HIV treatment. HIV treatment has enabled those born with HIV to live into adulthood.


Written Question
Children: Mental Health
Wednesday 18th September 2024

Asked by: Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how they are promoting collaboration between the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care on the rising number of mental health cases among children in primary school; and what meetings Health and Education ministers have had on this topic.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Ministers and officials in the Department of Health and Social Care will continue to work closely with colleagues at the Department for Education, as part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future, and that supports the mental health needs of children of primary school age.

We are working with our colleagues at NHS England and the Department for Education to consider options to deliver our commitments to recruit 8,500 additional mental health workers across children and adult mental health services, and to introduce a specialist mental health professional in every school, so that mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression, can be identified early on and prevented from developing into more serious conditions in later life. Ministers have not yet met to discuss this particular topic, but there are plans to do so in the future.


Written Question
Fractures: Health Services
Wednesday 18th September 2024

Asked by: Lord Lexden (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to appoint a national specialty adviser to lead cross-departmental work to improve fracture liaison services.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to expanding Fracture Liaison Services (FLS), supporting ending the postcode lottery. FLS are a globally recognised care model and can reduce the risk of refracture for people at risk of osteoporosis by up to 40%. Officials are working closely with NHS England to consider how best to support systems to ensure better quality and access to these important preventative services.


Written Question
Prescriptions
Wednesday 18th September 2024

Asked by: Josh MacAlister (Labour - Whitehaven and Workington)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress the NHS England and College of Operating Department Practitioners working group has made on prescribing rights.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

In late 2020, NHS England launched a series of public consultations seeking views on proposals to amend the responsibilities for the prescribing, supply, and administration of medicines for the following professionals:

  • dental hygienists and dental therapists;
  • biomedical scientists, clinical scientists, and operating department practitioners;
  • podiatrists and physiotherapists; and
  • paramedics.

This work was undertaken as part of the Chief Professions Officers’ Medicines Mechanisms (CPOMM) programme. The Department is working with NHS England to consider the CPOMM’s consultations and progress the extension of responsibilities to supply, administer, or prescribe medicines under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 (HMRs 2012) to regulated healthcare professionals, where a clear need and benefits have been identified.

For example, the Department recently completed work to amend the HMRs 2012 to allow dental hygienists and dental therapists to supply and administer specified medicines via exemptions, and pharmacy technicians to use Patient Group Directions. This legislation came into force in late June 2024. The Department will review priorities for progressing work in the CPOMM programme.


Written Question
Cervical Cancer: Older People
Wednesday 18th September 2024

Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of recorded cases of cervical cancer in patients over the age of 65 in the last five years.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Disease Registration Service publishes cancer registration statistics annually, as Accredited Official Statistics. The information requested is therefore available at the following link:

https://www.cancerdata.nhs.uk/incidence_and_mortality

The interactive dashboard provides the most recent data available to 2020 which represents completed disease registration. The data is broken down by age and types of cervical cancer.


Written Question
NHS: Employment
Wednesday 18th September 2024

Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking to steps to protect soft facilities management employment in the NHS.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

National Health Service trusts are independent employers who need to determine how best their services are delivered, which includes the provision of soft facilities management.


Written Question
Maternity Services
Wednesday 18th September 2024

Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department issues on questioning patients on (a) pregnancy and (b) risk of pregnancy before (i) scans and (ii) operations.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

National Health Service trusts are directed to follow clinical National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance when ensuring the delivery of safe and effective healthcare and would refer to this prior to an operation.

Questions asked of patients prior to a scan will depend upon the imaging modality, with ultrasound offered routinely as a part of antenatal care. Similarly, low field strength MRI is safe to use in pregnancy.

Imaging using ionising radiation, for instance x-rays or computed tomography scans, should be used with more caution and should prompt questions about whether a woman is pregnant. Clinicians will assess risks of ionising radiation against the benefits for maternal health. The RCE-9 report provides advice on protection of pregnant women during diagnostic medical exposures to ionising radiation. NHS England also provides guidance to support clinical teams in breast screening services, to deliver safe clinical practice in compliance with the Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposures) Regulations.

NHS guidance also advises women to inform their healthcare provider that they are pregnant prior to an x-ray.