Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that any risks to a woman's health are accurately assessed before she may be sent abortion pills to be taken at home.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The wellbeing and safety of women accessing abortion services, including early medical abortion at home, is our first and foremost priority. Before prescribing abortion medicine for use at home, either an in-person or a virtual consultation is held with the woman concerned. If any health issues are identified during a virtual consultation which could make home use of early medical abortion medicine potentially unsuitable, the woman will be asked to attend an in-person appointment for further assessment.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether additional new burdens funding will be committed to local authorities who will require additional enforcement capacity within trading standards teams to enforce the policies included in the 2023 Department For Health and Social Care policy paper Stopping the Start.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department published the command paper, Stopping the Start, in October 2023, which sets out our plans to create the first Smokefree Generation, to tackle youth vaping, and to strengthen tobacco and vape enforcement. These measures amount to the most significant public health intervention in a generation.
The policies announced in the command paper are being introduced through the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which is currently undertaking its passage through Parliament. The bill changes the age of sale of tobacco so that those born on or after 1 January 2009 will never be legally sold tobacco. It also prohibits the sale of non-nicotine vapes to under 18-year-olds, and the free distribution of vapes to under 18-year-olds, and introduces fixed penalty notices for breaches of the age of sale legislation.
To help tackle the rise in youth vaping, the bill provides powers to restrict vape flavours, point of sale displays, and packaging, and the Government has also confirmed that under environmental legislation, we will ban the sale and supply of disposable vapes. Any new burdens on local trading standards to enforce these new measures will be assessed ahead of any future regulations.
We are strengthening our enforcement activity through £30 million of new funding per year for enforcement agencies, including for trading standards, to boost the enforcement of underage tobacco and vape sales. In addition, fixed penalty notices introduced in the bill will support trading standards to take quicker action against irresponsible retailers, through using on-the-spot fines rather than going through lengthy magistrate’s court processes. Local authorities will keep the proceeds, to invest back into their enforcement activity.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, per their guidance note for completing HSA4 paper forms and guidance note for completing HSA4 electronic forms, whether or how follow-up care is provided in cases where (1) all medicine was administered in hospital or clinic, (2) one medicine was administered in hospital or clinic and one medicine was administered at the patient’s usual place of residence or home, and (3) all medicines were administered at the patient’s usual place of residence or home, so as to ensure that proper care is provided should any complications arise, and the appropriate reporting is undertaken.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department’s Required Standard Operating Procedures for the approval of independent sector places for termination of pregnancy in England, which all independent abortion providers must comply with, sets out that all providers should have protocols in place to support women following an abortion procedure, whether medicines are administered in the home or other approved place.
Women should be informed as early as possible of the most common physical, emotional or psychological symptoms following an abortion, including after use of pills at home for early medical abortion. Information should also include what to do in an emergency situation as well as routine follow-up.
On discharge, women must be given a letter providing sufficient information about the procedure to allow another healthcare practitioner to manage any complications and/or ongoing care. A 24-hour dedicated support line which specialises in post-abortion support and care should be offered by the abortion provider.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, per their guidance note for completing HSA4 paper forms, which states, "You must use this section to record any complications that occurred up until the time of discharge from the place of termination", and their guidance note for completing HSA4 electronic forms, which states, “You must select any complications that occurred up until the time of discharge from the place of termination”, whether or how complications are tracked in cases where one or both medicines were administered at the patient’s usual place of residence or home, so as to ensure that proper care is provided should any complications arise and the appropriate reporting is undertaken.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
Complications resulting from legal abortions in England and Wales are recorded on the HSA4 form until the patient has been discharged. For medical terminations where either both or the second stage was administered at the patient’s usual place of residence, complications are unlikely to be recorded on the HSA4 form after discharge. Complications are also recorded in other patient record systems such as Hospital Episodes Statistics, where the woman has attended a health service after being discharged.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase the public health grant in (1) 2023–24, and (2) 2024–25, in line with inflation as announced in the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
We will announce 2023/24 Public Health Grant allocations to local authorities shortly.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will inform local authorities of their provisional public health grant budgets for 2023–24.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
We will announce 2023/24 Public Health Grant allocations to local authorities shortly.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of the level of funding of the public health grant to local authorities.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
At the Spending Review 2021, we considered the need for local authority public health funding and confirmed that the public health grant to local authorities would increase over the settlement period. In 2022/23, the Grant increased by 2.81% to £3.417 billion. This is in addition to targeted investment through local Government in Start for Life support and drug and alcohol treatment services.
We will announce 2023/24 Public Health Grant allocations to local authorities shortly and in doing so will consider the impact of changes to pay and inflation trends and forecasts since the Spending Review.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many children and young people received inpatient mental health care from (1) private mental health providers, and how (2) NHS children, adolescent and mental health services (CAMHS), in each of the 10 years preceding October 2022.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The table below details the number of children and young people aged 17 and under receiving inpatient care from National Health Service providers and non-NHS providers. Information for NHS providers is for all mental health inpatient services as there is not a defined or agreed reporting methodology solely for children and adolescent mental health inpatient services.
Year | NHS providers | Non-NHS providers |
2016/17 | 2,429 | 1,075 |
2017/18 | 2,498 | 1,160 |
2018/19 | 2,720 | 1,233 |
2019/20 | 2,731 | 1,028 |
2020/21 | 2,397 | 818 |
2021/22 | 2,161 | 1,012 |
Source: NHS Mental Health Services Data Set
1. This information includes all the children and young people under the age of 18 who have been admitted (i.e. were an inpatient at any point in the year) to Non-NHS and NHS providers.
2. We are not able to provide data prior to 2016 as the children services were not in scope in the previous datasets.
3. The number of providers submitting data has changed over time (i.e. 92 in April 2017 to 350 in April 2022).
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many young people were on waiting lists to access (1) mental health support, and (2) an inpatient mental health bed, on 1 October 2022.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The information requested is not collected as a national access and waiting times standard for children and young people’s mental health services has not yet been defined or set.
NHS England has consulted on the potential to introduce five new waiting time standards as part of its Clinically-led Review of NHS Access Standards, including that children, young people and their families presenting to community-based mental health services should start to receive care within four weeks from referral. As a first step, NHS England has recently shared and promoted guidance with its local system partners to consistently report waiting times to support the development of a baseline position.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of children currently have access to a mental health support team in school.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
Mental health support teams offer support to children experiencing anxiety, depression, and other common mental health issues. As of spring 2022, there were 287 in place in around 4,700 schools and colleges across the country covering 26% of pupils. This will increase to 399 teams, covering around 35% of pupils, by April 2023 with over 500 planned to be up and running by 2024.
The rollout of mental health support teams beyond 2023/24 will be set out in due course.