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: Dean Russell (Conservative - Watford)
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 effectiveness of Early Intervention Hubs.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In July 2023, the Department secured just under £5 million from HM Treasury’s Shared Outcomes Fund, for a project to boost and evaluate the impact of 10 early support hubs. The Department has since provided an additional £3 million to increase the number of hubs being funded across the country to 24.
Crucially, alongside boosting 24 hubs, the funding is also being used to evaluate the impact of the services, and inform any potential expansion of the model in the future. The evaluation aims to report its findings by Summer 2025.
Asked by: Elliot Colburn (Conservative - Carshalton and Wallington)
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 help improve the knowledge of GPs on the symptoms of young onset dementia.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We want all general practitioners to have received appropriate training, in order to provide high quality care to people with dementia, regardless of the person’s age or individual needs.
The standard of training for health care professionals is the responsibility of the health care independent statutory regulatory bodies who set the outcome standards expected at undergraduate level and approve courses and Higher Education Institutions to write and teach the curricula content that enables their students to meet the regulators outcome standards.
Whilst not all curricula may necessarily highlight a specific condition, they all nevertheless emphasize the skills and approaches a Health Care Practitioner must develop in order to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients, including for dementia.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published on 30 June 2023, sets out NHS England’s commitment to improving training for workers caring for people with dementia.
The Long Term plan also sets out the plan for there to be more healthcare staff working in and with GP practices, which will mean people will be able to get an appointment with the right professional depending on their needs. This means that those with dementia will be able to access the most appropriate support more quickly.
The plan will include more GPs, nurses and 20,000 additional pharmacists, physiotherapists, paramedics, physician associates and social prescribing link. These bigger teams of staff will work with other local services to make sure people, including those with dementia, get better access to a wider range of support for their needs.
We are seeing more people from younger cohorts with multimorbidity. Multimorbidity challenges the specialised approach to medicine, which has improved our ability to successfully treat single diseases. The Long Term Plan also addresses the increased need for medical and other clinical professionals with generalist and core skills to manage and support patients with seemingly unrelated diseases.
There are also 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: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
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 ensure that health and social care professionals are trained in Parkinson’s-related dementia care.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The standard of training for health care professionals is the responsibility of the health care independent statutory regulatory bodies. They set the outcome standards expected at undergraduate level and approve courses and Higher Education Institutions to write and teach the curricula content that enables their students to meet the regulators outcome standards.
Whilst not all curricula may necessarily highlight a specific condition, they all nevertheless emphasize the skills and approaches a health care practitioner must develop in order to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients, including for dementia.
Individual employers across health and social care are responsible for ensuring their staff are trained and competent to carry out their role, and for investing in the future of their staff by providing continuing professional development (CPD) funding. The required training needs are set out in the Dementia Training Standards Framework, which is available at the following link:
https://www.skillsforhealth.org.uk/info-hub/dementia-2015-updated-2018/
The framework was commissioned and funded by the Department, and developed in collaboration with the sector. It sets out the essential knowledge, skills, and expected learning outcomes applicable across the health and care spectrum.
It is applicable to health and social care staff who work with people living with dementia, staff providing direct care and support, and those who provide leadership in transforming care, including social care managers and leaders.
To supplement local National Health Service 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. There are a variety of resources available on the NHS England e-learning for health platform, designed to enhance the training and education of the health and social care workforce. This includes a programme on dementia care, and modules in Parkinson’s disease in geriatric medicine.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - North Tyneside)
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 provide training in Parkinson’s-related dementia care for health and social care professionals.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The standard of training for health care professionals is the responsibility of the health care independent statutory regulatory bodies. They set the outcome standards expected at undergraduate level and approve courses and Higher Education Institutions to write and teach the curricula content that enables their students to meet the regulators outcome standards.
Whilst not all curricula may necessarily highlight a specific condition, they all nevertheless emphasize the skills and approaches a health care practitioner must develop in order to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients, including for dementia.
Individual employers across health and social care are responsible for ensuring their staff are trained and competent to carry out their role, and for investing in the future of their staff by providing continuing professional development (CPD) funding. The required training needs are set out in the Dementia Training Standards Framework, which is available at the following link:
https://www.skillsforhealth.org.uk/info-hub/dementia-2015-updated-2018/
The framework was commissioned and funded by the Department, and developed in collaboration with the sector. It sets out the essential knowledge, skills, and expected learning outcomes applicable across the health and care spectrum.
It is applicable to health and social care staff who work with people living with dementia, staff providing direct care and support, and those who provide leadership in transforming care, including social care managers and leaders.
To supplement local National Health Service 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. There are a variety of resources available on the NHS England e-learning for health platform, designed to enhance the training and education of the health and social care workforce. This includes a programme on dementia care, and modules in Parkinson’s disease in geriatric medicine.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to issue guidance to children’s hospices on changes in the distribution of the Children’s Hospice Grant for the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has confirmed it will renew the Children and Young People hospice funding for 2024/25, again allocating £25 million of funding for children’s hospices, using the same prevalence-based allocation approach as previously used. Funding will be distributed via integrated care boards (ICBs), in line with National Health Service devolution.
NHS England wrote to all ICBs and children’s hospices on 9 April 2024 to confirm the new arrangements, providing the sector with the clarity on 2024/25 allocations they have been seeking, for this very important funding stream.
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 steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for elective surgery for people in Suffolk Coastal constituency.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to increase National Health Service elective activity and productivity above pre-pandemic levels, while expanding capacity through creating a new network of community diagnostic centres and maximising all available independent sector capacity.
NHS England provides robust support and challenge to the trusts which have the highest number of patients waiting the longest for elective treatment, with each receiving bespoke regional or national intervention where it is required.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
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 (a) support research for and (b) raise awareness of Ornithine Transcarbamylase Deficiency.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department funds research into rare diseases such as ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Over the last five years, NIHR infrastructure has supported 13 research awards on ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency. Raising awareness of rare diseases such as ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency among healthcare professionals is a priority of the 2021 UK Rare Diseases Framework, and the 2024 England Rare Diseases Action Plan.
Asked by: Gen Kitchen (Labour - Wellingborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of care homes are rated as Good by the CQC in Wellingborough constituency.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As of 9 April 2024, the percentage of care homes in the Wellingborough Constituency with a rating of Good was 59%.
Asked by: Ashley Dalton (Labour - West Lancashire)
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 impact of the guidance submitted to medical professions on the prescription of semaglutide on the availability of that drug for people suffering from type 2 diabetes.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has worked intensively with industry to seek commitments from them to address issues with the supply of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs), including semaglutide, to expedite deliveries and boost supplies. As a result, the overall supply position in the United Kingdom has improved. Guidance for healthcare professionals now allows for the initiation of new patients on Rybelsus tablets, an oral semaglutide, and provides advice on what to prescribe patients who are unable to obtain their existing GLP-1 RA treatment whilst there continue to be disruptions to the supply of some products, including semaglutide. These disruptions are affecting many countries around the world, and aren’t specific to the UK.
We continue to work with international partners, given the global nature of medical supply chains, collaborating to share best practice and manage and respond to common threats to supply, including on semaglutide and other GLP-1 RAs licensed for treating patients with type 2 diabetes.