Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to fully review the medicines supply market, particularly with regard to shortages of medicines and their costs.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no plans to fully review the medicines supply market. Medicine supply chains are complex, global, and highly regulated, and there are a number of reasons why supply can be disrupted, many of which are not specific to the United Kingdom and outside of Government control, including manufacturing difficulties, access to raw materials, sudden demand spikes, or distribution and regulatory issues. We have drawn on up-to-date intelligence and data on the root causes of medicine supply issues, with manufacturing problems being the most dominant root cause.
The resilience of UK supply chains is a key priority, and the Department and NHS England are committed to helping to build long term supply chain resilience for medicines. We are continually learning and seeking to improve the way we work, to both manage and help prevent supply issues and avoid shortages. The Department, working closely with NHS England, is taking forward a range of actions to improve our ability to mitigate and manage shortages and strengthen our resilience. As part of that work, we continue to engage with industry, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and other colleagues across the supply chain as we progress work to co-design and deliver solutions.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to incorporate a role for chiropractors in national musculoskeletal health prevention strategies.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Improving health outcomes for the over 17 million people in England with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions forms a key part of the Government's missions to build a National Health Service fit for the future and kickstart economic growth.
Prevention, early detection, and treatment of these conditions using a multidisciplinary approach can enable people to live in good health and remain independent. As such, the Government recognises the role chiropractic treatment can play in supporting people with MSK-related pain.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the use of 'units of dental activity' for the remuneration of dental work, in favour of patient-centred system which prioritises prevention.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to National Health Service dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
There are no perfect payment systems, and careful consideration needs to be given to any potential changes to the complex dental system, so that we deliver a system that is better for patients and the profession.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in reforming the NHS dental contract, and what plans they have to roll out a new patient-centred system.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to National Health Service dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists. There are no perfect payment models and careful consideration needs to be given to any potential changes to the complex dental system, so that we deliver genuine improvements for patients and the profession.
We are continuing to work with the British Dental Association and other representatives of the dental sector to deliver our shared ambition to improve access to treatments for NHS dental patients.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that everyone who needs one is able to access a NHS dentist.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments, and to recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to introduce supervised teeth brushing and targeted fluoride applications in early years settings.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are working at pace to introduce a supervised toothbrushing scheme for three to five-year-olds, targeting the areas of highest need. We are currently reviewing the Dental Recovery Plan, including proposals to deliver fluoride varnish treatments to more than 165,000 children in under-served areas, and what elements of the plan can be taken forward effectively. Further information on the timing of implementation will follow the budget on 30 October 2024, as well as the ongoing Spending Review process.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their policy paper A cyber resilient health and adult social care system in England: cyber security strategy to 2030, published on 22 March 2023, what progress they have made in aligning cyber resilience standards within the different organisations of the healthcare sector; how many extra staff will be needed to undertake this; and what is their target date for completion.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are increasing cyber resilience across the National Health Service. Over £338 million has been invested to date, and in March 2023 the Cyber security strategy for health and social care: 2023 to 2030 was published, outlining ambition in this area. The new Government are delivering the Cyber Improvement Programme, from 2022/23 to 2024/25, that addresses the changing cyber risk landscape, expands protection and services, and reduces the risk of a successful attack across the healthcare sector.
Health and care providers continue to demonstrate alignment to the cyber resilience standards through the Data Security Protection Toolkit submission, supported by the Cyber Improvement Programme.
Work continues to be delivered to meet the 2030 target, including a suite of work to develop and grow the cyber workforce in an evolving threat environment. The programme is looking to further strengthen existing national cyber security controls for health and care, which already includes continuous cyber monitoring through NHS England’s Cyber Security Operations Centre, national-scale defences from cyberattack, such as Secure Boundary, and nationally provided cyber incident response contracts in the event of a cyber incident.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (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 merits of introducing mandatory warning labels on food products which include so-called "secret sugars" such as sauces and condiments.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Food labelling legislation means that food, including sauces and condiments, needs to include back of pack nutritional information, which includes total sugar content.
In addition, Front of Pack Nutrition Labelling is intended to support healthier choices by communicating complex nutritional information to consumers in a way that is easy and quick to understand. The United Kingdom was one of the first to introduce a national Front of Pack Nutrition Labelling system, and the voluntary Multiple Traffic Light scheme has been in place across the UK since 2013. It is widely used by consumers and some businesses.
In 2020, the Government and the devolved governments at the time held an evidence-gathering consultation on Front of Pack Nutrition Labelling. This considered whether improvements were needed to the UK’s Front of Pack Nutrition Labelling scheme and invited views on international examples of labelling, including the use of warning labels.
If changes to Front of Pack Nutrition Labelling are required in future, we will publish findings and consult again on the proposed policy changes.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the present NHS commissioning system and to develop more robust arrangements to alleviate any potential of creating a two-tier system which could lead to differing priorities between Councils, the NHS, and the care sector.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department supports the role and structure of statutory integrated care systems (ICSs) in both commissioning health services to meet the needs of their populations, and bringing together commissioners and other partners to plan and deliver joined up health and care services that improve the lives of people who live and work in their area.
The organisations within an ICS include the National Health Service, local government, social care providers, charities, and other organisations working together to provide more joined up care for people, and to improve the outcomes for their populations. NHS England has set out the four core purposes for the ICSs, which are as follows:
- improve outcomes in population health and healthcare;
- tackle inequalities in outcomes, experience, and access;
- enhance productivity and value for money; and
- help the NHS support broader social and economic development.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to upgrade the ultrasound and x-ray equipment and software used in breast cancer screening units, to improve breast cancer detection; and what is their estimate of the proportion of units that have access to upgraded software and equipment.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department invested £10 million of funding into the NHS Breast Screening Programme in 2023, providing 28 new breast screening units and nearly 60 service upgrades, targeted at areas with the greatest challenges of uptake and coverage. This extra capacity aims to boost the uptake of screening in areas where attendance is low, tackle health disparities, and contribute towards higher early diagnosis rates, in line with the NHS Long Term Plan.
In addition, the Digital Transformation of Screening (DToS) programme seeks to design, deliver, and implement a more sophisticated and future-proof digital system for all screening IT systems. Although we know the new system will offer us huge improvements, it is important that the programme is introduced without interrupting the delivery of breast screening services. A full replacement of the IT systems will only take place when the DToS programme can replicate what the current National Breast Screening System does.