Asked by: Keir Mather (Labour - Selby and Ainsty)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to reduce A&E waiting times at York Hospital for residents of Selby and Ainsty constituency.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our two-year urgent and emergency care recovery plan, backed by £1 billion of dedicated funding, was published in January 2023, to drive sustained improvements in urgent and emergency care waiting times.
At York Hospital, an expanded and redesigned emergency department was opened in July 2023. This has improved the provision of services, including same day emergency care (SDEC). SDEC supports patients’ access to timely diagnosis and treatment, without the need for admission to hospital.
The latest published data shows that at York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the proportion of patients waiting 12-hours from decision-to-admit to admission has reduced by 6.9% in March 2024 compared to the previous year.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to publish the next action plan for antimicrobial resistance.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In 2019, the Government published the first of four five-year national action plans (NAP), aimed at tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR) within and beyond our own borders. This plan is available at the following link:
We are now in the process of developing the second five-year NAP, which will run from 2024 to 2029. It will be designed to ensure progress is maintained towards delivering our 20-year vision on AMR, in which resistance is effectively contained and controlled by 2040. Further information on the 20-year vision is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-20-year-vision-for-antimicrobial-resistance
The 2024 to 2029 AMR NAP is being co-developed across the Government, its agencies, and the administrations in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, with support from a wide range of external stakeholders, and informed by the responses to the Call for Evidence. The NAP is expected to be published in 2024.
The 2024 to 2029 AMR NAP will build on the achievements of the 2019 to 2024 NAP, whilst recognising where there is more to do, and will be aligned with global plans and frameworks for action.
Asked by: Earl of Caithness (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of the UK Health Security Agency report Health Effects of Climate Change (HECC) in the UK: State of the evidence 2023 in January, what steps they are taking to inform health professionals of the heightened risk to public health of (1) Lyme disease, and (2) emerging tick-borne diseases, including tick-borne encephalitis, from an increase in the UK distribution of tick species as a result of a warming climate; and what advice are they providing to those exposed to this risk through work or leisure.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has an active programme to promote awareness of tick-borne diseases among local authorities, health professionals and the public by 2025 in line with the Third National Adaptation Programme. This includes Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis. UKHSA has worked to develop a toolkit for local authorities and key stakeholders to raise awareness of the potential risks created by ticks and tick-borne disease, a copy of which is attached. UKHSA also publishes Lyme disease data on Fingertips, which is an open access public health data platform which allows the public, health professionals, and local authorities to view trends, compare indicators and understand the incidence of Lyme disease in their area.
Clinicians are also engaged via teaching sessions for General Practitioners, seminars for infection specialists, and briefing notes to notify clinicians of the possibility of tick-borne diseases, with detail of compatible signs and symptoms. Disease messaging is shared through media, social, and stakeholder channels at a national and regional level, such as the #BeTickAware campaign which aims to raise awareness in the population, including those at risk of exposure through work or leisure.
Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
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 the potential merits of providing certainty of funds to people who (a) receive continuing healthcare funding and (b) have a terminal illness.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no plans to undertake such an assessment, as guidance is in place to ensure an appropriate approach to individuals in this situation. Individuals with a primary health need arising from a rapidly deteriorating condition which may be entering a terminal phase, are eligible for Fast Track NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC). The fast track pathway is designed to ensure that eligible individuals receive appropriate care with minimal delay.
The National Framework on CHC makes clear that integrated care boards (ICBs) should monitor the effectiveness of the care arrangements, and consider whether, and at what point, a reassessment of eligibility is appropriate. Where an individual in receipt of Fast Track NHS CHC is expected to die in the very near future, the ICB should continue to take responsibility for the care package until the end of their life. Fast Track NHS CHC funding should not be removed without eligibility being reconsidered, through the completion of a CHC Decision Support Tool by a multidisciplinary team.
Asked by: Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average (a) cost per adult and (b) length of stay was for an acute hospital bed day in the Suffolk and North East Essex integrated care system in the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The average cost per adult for an acute hospital bed day by integrated care system, is not collected centrally by the Department. NHS England publishes a national cost collection which includes unit costs for non-elective inpatient stays. This data is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/costing-in-the-nhs/national-cost-collection/
The information on length of stay is not available in the format requested. NHS England publishes general and acute length of bed stay data, with data available at a trust level but not an integrated care system level. The trust level data is available at the following link:
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect updated NHS wait times to be published for 2022 and 2023.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England publishes Referral to Treatment Waiting Times data for elective treatment monthly in an online-only format, including for 2022 and 2023. There are no plans to revise waiting times figures for these years.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if NHS England will (a) fund and (b) publish a data dashboard to help integrated care boards commission children and young people’s palliative and end of life care.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has developed an all-age palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place in an easily accessible format. The dashboard is accessible to integrated care boards (ICBs) and their commissioners and helps them understand the palliative and end of life care needs of their local population, including children and young people. This supports commissioners in their statutory duty for palliative and end of life care, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities, and ensure that funding is distributed fairly based on prevalence.
Funding has been confirmed to ensure continued maintenance of the dashboard for 2024/25, with discussions ongoing regarding further development and use. There is, however, existing publicly available data, such as the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities ‘Fingertips’ data on palliative and end of life care.
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, what steps her Department is taking to prevent patients from being discharged from hospital to no fixed abode.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to promoting safe and timely discharge for people experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness, to appropriate accommodation.
Between 2020 and 2022, the Department delivered £16 million to 17 local sites, to pilot Out of Hospital Care Models to people experiencing homelessness following a hospital stay. These models provide interim accommodation and support while a full assessment of individual needs is carried out. There are positive preliminary findings, with a final evaluation due imminently. We will share learning to encourage local areas to adopt similar models.
We have ensured that every acute hospital has access to a care transfer hub, to manage discharge for people with more complex needs.
Additionally, in January 2024 the Department published the guidance Discharging people at risk of or experiencing homelessness, to support staff involved in planning safe and supportive discharge of these patients from hospital. This guidance is available at the following link:
Asked by: Alex Davies-Jones (Labour - Pontypridd)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions she has had with the Health and Safety Executive on monitoring public exposure to silica dust.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Responsibility for exposure to silica dust is led by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), who are supported by a number of other governmental organisations, to minimise risks from exposure to silica.
The Environment Agency, or equivalent regulators in devolved administrations such as Natural Resources Wales, regulates activities that have the potential to harm the environment and people. The regulator decides if relevant environmental permits and other consents and licences should be issued and, if so, what conditions should be applied. Local authorities also enforce nuisance legislation which includes the control of dust emissions.
The UK Health Security Agency would expect any activities that generate dust, including silica, to be well managed and regulated and have clear plans in place for proper management and monitoring, in order to minimise any impact to the public.
The HSE’s advice states that no cases of silicosis have been documented among members of the general public in Great Britain, indicating that environmental exposures to silica dust are not sufficiently high to cause this occupational disease. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.hse.gov.uk/quarries/silica.htm
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman entitled End-of-life care: improving 'do not attempt CPR' conversations for everyone, published on 14 March 2024, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the recommendation that CPR training for all doctors and nurses should include scenario-based training on Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation conversations.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department will respond to the report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman entitled End-of-life care: improving 'do not attempt CPR' conversations for everyone, in due course.