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:
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.
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:
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall and Camberwell Green)
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 help ensure HIV health promotion campaigns are (a) culturally appropriate and (b) effective in reaching (i) under-served and (ii) at-risk communities.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to ensuring equality and equity of access to HIV prevention and treatment for all. We have commissioned officials for advice on how to progress the development of a new HIV Action Plan, which we aim to publish by summer 2025. This will include seeking advice from our community and voluntary sector partners on how best to engage and consider the specific needs of under-served and at-risk communities.
HIV Prevention England (HPE) is the national HIV prevention programme for England. It delivers a nationally co-ordinated programme of HIV prevention work for communities at higher risk of transmission such as black African heterosexual communities and gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men. HPE is funded by the Department, who have appointed the Terrence Higgins Trust, a national charity who campaign about, and provide services related to, sexual heath and HIV, to deliver the programme from 2021 to 2025.
The programme has recently hosted their 6th biannual conference, which brought together over 200 representatives from the HIV sector to share ideas, best practice, and research, drawing attention to the need to prioritise impactful and equitable interventions, considering the specific needs of those at greater risk. The presentations, workshops and materials will be made available online at HPE’s website next week.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall and Camberwell 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 implications for his policies of levels of inequality in HIV (a) care access and (b) outcomes.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
HIV is a key priority for the Government, and we have commissioned officials for advice on how to progress the development of a new HIV Action Plan to end new HIV transmissions within England by 2030, with a strong focus on tackling inequalities, HIV care access and outcomes, and preventive HIV care, which we aim to publish by summer 2025.
We will continue working with local government and other partners, together with the UK Health Security Agency and NSH England, to support local planning, commissioning, and delivery of high quality and effective public services over the long term.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall and Camberwell Green)
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 (a) tackle inequalities in access to preventative HIV care and (b) end new HIV transmissions by 2030.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
HIV is a key priority for the Government, and we have commissioned officials for advice on how to progress the development of a new HIV Action Plan to end new HIV transmissions within England by 2030, with a strong focus on tackling inequalities, HIV care access and outcomes, and preventive HIV care, which we aim to publish by summer 2025.
We will continue working with local government and other partners, together with the UK Health Security Agency and NSH England, to support local planning, commissioning, and delivery of high quality and effective public services over the long term.