Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of vaping on fertility.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans her Department has to (a) expand and (b) improve autism services in (i) Lancashire and (ii) Preston for (A) adults and (B) children.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including services to support autistic people, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB advises that it is currently reviewing its all-age autism pathway, and is in the initial stages of completing consultations with system partners and stakeholders. The ICB is aiming to complete the review, and proposals for a future pathway for 2025/26, by the end of this calendar year. In addition to this work, the ICB is reviewing the service specifications in place for the keyworker team, specialist autism team, and forensic autism team with the local provider, to ensure that the commissioned offer reflects the current needs of their population.
Nationally, we are taking steps to improve autism services. NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance for autism assessment services on 5 April 2023. These documents are intended to help the National Health Service improve autism assessment services, and improve the experience for adults and children who are going through an autism assessment. They also set out what support should be available before an assessment, and what support should follow a recent diagnosis of autism.
We are currently updating the Autism Act Statutory Guidance to support the NHS and local authorities to deliver improved outcomes for autistic people. This will include setting out what NHS organisations and local authorities must and should be doing to support autistic people.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on funding for sexual health clinics.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authorities are responsible for commissioning comprehensive, open access sexual health services that meet the local demand, and these include online and face to face provision of advice and interventions. Individual local authorities decide on spending priorities based on an assessment of local need for sexual health services, as well as the blend of service access that best suits their population.
In 2024/25 we are allocating £3.6 billion to local authorities in England to fund public health services, including sexual health services, through the Public Health Grant. This will provide local authorities with an average 2.1% cash increase compared to 2023/24. No specific discussions on funding for sexual health clinics have been held with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the number of sexual health clinics which offer cryotherapy treatment.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Dedicated local sexual health services play a key public health role in diagnosis, early treatment, and management of sexually transmitted infections, cryotherapy being one form of treatment for genital warts. Individual local authorities are responsible for commissioning decisions about the sexual health services, to best meet the needs of their local populations, including providing open-access sexual health testing and treatment services. The Department has not assessed the number of sexual health clinics which offer cryotherapy treatment.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the number of professionals able to offer pre-school autism assessments in Leeds.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
An assessment of the adequacy of the number of professionals able to offer pre-school autism assessments in Leeds is not currently planned. It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including autism assessment services, in line with relevant clinical guidelines.
The West Yorkshire ICB advises that pre-school autism assessments in Leeds were temporarily stopped due to a shortage of professionals. The service remains suspended as it needs one full time equivalent clinical psychologist. The post has recently been recruited, and plans are in place for the service to reopen by the end of June 2024.
Nationally, we are taking steps to improve autism assessment services. NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance for autism assessment services on 5 April 2023. These documents are intended to help the National Health Service improve autism assessment services, and improve the experience for adults and children who are going through an autism assessment. They also set out what support should be available before an assessment, and what support should follow a recent diagnosis of autism.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 ensure equitable provision of Hormone Replacement Therapy for women.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The menopause is a priority area within the Women’s Health Strategy, and the Government and National Health Service are implementing an ambitious programme of work to improve menopause care, so all women can access the support they need, including hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
We have reduced the cost of HRT prescriptions through the HRT prescription prepayment certificate (PPC), which enables women who pay for their prescriptions to pay less than £20 for all their HRT prescriptions for a year. In the first year, 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, 566,042 HRT PPCs have been purchased.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
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 the (a) experiences and (b) specialist needs of young people with cancer are reflected in the work of the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Supporting children and young people affected by cancer remains a priority for the Government. The scope of the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce, including stakeholder engagement, will be determined once the work of the taskforce begins, currently planned to start from Spring 2024.
The Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce is being set up to progress the Government’s mission to deliver world-leading cancer services. This is dedicated work focusing on cancers affecting children and young people and will explore detection and diagnosis, including improving awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer in young people, as well as genomic testing, treatment, and research and innovation.
Asked by: George Howarth (Labour - Knowsley)
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 consult young people with cancer affected by cancer during the development of the Children and Young People Taskforce.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Supporting children and young people affected by cancer remains a priority for the Government. The scope of the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce, including stakeholder engagement, will be determined once the work of the taskforce begins, currently planned to start from Spring 2024.
The Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce is being set up to progress the Government’s mission to deliver world-leading cancer services. This is dedicated work focusing on cancers affecting children and young people and will explore detection and diagnosis, including improving awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer in young people, as well as genomic testing, treatment, and research and innovation.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the average waiting time for people diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder to receive their first medication prescription in Leeds.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) treatment, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance. The NICE guideline on ADHD does not set out a timeframe within which medication for ADHD should be provided. The Department has not made a specific assessment of the implications on departmental policies of the average waiting time from diagnosis of ADHD, to receiving a first medication prescription in Leeds.
In respect of the adequacy of ADHD service provision nationally, in December 2023, NHS England initiated a rapid piece of work to consider ADHD service provision within the National Health Service. The initial phase of work identified challenges, including with current service models and the ability to keep pace with demand. Following this initial review, NHS England is establishing a new ADHD taskforce alongside the Government, to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The new taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, and help provide a joined up approach in response to concerns around rising demand for assessments and support.
Alongside the work of the taskforce, NHS England has announced that it will continue to work with stakeholders to develop a national ADHD data improvement plan, carry out more detailed work to understand the provider and commissioning landscape, and capture examples from local health systems which are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services to ensure best practice is captured and shared across the system.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the number of (a) people that are on a waiting list and (b) assessments provided each month at the Leeds adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder service.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available the appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. The NICE guidelines for ADHD diagnosis and management aim to improve the diagnosis of ADHD and the quality of care and support people receive. The NICE guidelines do not recommend a maximum waiting time standard for ADHD diagnosis, either from referral for an assessment to receiving an assessment, a diagnosis, or a first contact appointment.
There is, at present, no single, established dataset that can be used to monitor waiting times for assessment for ADHD. A specific assessment of the implications for departmental policies of the number of people on a waiting list, or the number of assessments provided each month for adult ADHD services in Leeds, is not currently planned.
The Department is exploring options to improve data collection and reporting on ADHD assessment waiting times nationally, to help improve access to ADHD assessments in a timely way, and in line with the NICE guideline. In support of this, the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Policy Research Programme has commissioned a research project to provide insights into local ADHD diagnosis waiting times data collection.
In December 2023, NHS England initiated a rapid piece of work to consider ADHD service provision within the National Health Service. The initial phase of work identified challenges, including with current service models and the ability to keep pace with demand. Following this initial review, NHS England is establishing a new ADHD taskforce alongside the Government, to improve care for people living with the condition. The new taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD and help provide a joined-up approach in response to concerns around rising demand for assessments and support.
Alongside the work of the taskforce, NHS England has announced that it will continue to work with stakeholders to develop a national ADHD data improvement plan, carry out more detailed work to understand the provider and commissioning landscape, and capture examples from local health systems who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services, to ensure best practice is captured and shared across the system.