Health: Quad-demic
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts(2 weeks, 3 days ago)
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Baroness Merron (Lab)
I must be honest: I cannot explain here the exact reasons why NHS staff are not taking it up, but I assure the noble Lord, as I have assured other noble Lords, that our focus is on getting vaccination rates up. That is why the national medical director made the comments that he did, as well as assuring me that we are not nearing a pandemic.
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)
My Lords, undoubtedly the vaccination programme has had an important influence and impact on our National Health Service as well as our economy. What further vaccines and vaccination programmes will be accelerated on to the national immunisation programme this year and in further financial years?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
My noble friend has campaigned tirelessly for the vaccine rollout in respect of RSV, for which I thank her, and I know that many others would wish to thank her for that too. With regard to the other vaccines about which my noble friend asked, we will continue to work with the JCVI and, as there are further developments, I will update your Lordships’ House.
Fracture Liaison Services
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts(3 weeks, 2 days ago)
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Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)
My Lords, I begin by thanking the noble Lord, Lord Black of Brentwood, for securing this vital debate. I welcome my noble friend the Minister to the Front Bench and declare an interest as a breast cancer survivor who is osteopaenic and therefore required to avail of bone density examinations in Northern Ireland, where there is excellent provision of fracture liaison services and where research has shown that there is 100% coverage. I hope that my experience and those of many people in Northern Ireland will be helpful to my noble friend in seeing the benefit of such service provision to many people, particularly those in the older cohort of the population.
We have seen encouraging signs in recent weeks that the Government are ready to act decisively on bold, proven ideas. There is a growing appetite for initiatives that will tackle ill health, reduce pressures on the NHS and keep people in work. Fracture liaison services, as we all know, are a perfect example across all three: a gold-standard, internationally recognised intervention that was invented here in Britain and has been adopted across the world. Yet, unfortunately, around half the trusts in England still lack access to this life-changing service.
We now have six integrated care boards across England that are ready to take action. These ICBs have done the groundwork, mapping pathways, securing local support and developing clear plans to establish high-quality fracture liaison services, so I ask my noble friend when they will be able to do that. Crucially, there is a clear road map to take us from these early adopters to full national coverage by 2030. With a phased rollout approach, we can learn from these trailblazers and build momentum over the coming years. What is needed now is targeted pump-priming funding to bridge the short 18 to 24-month period before fracture liaison services become cost-saving—an approach that has already proven successful in Wales, as pointed out by the noble Baroness, Lady Bull.
It is not just the ICBs that are ready to act. Across the country, there is a coalition of support poised to make universal FLS a reality. A shadow national implementation steering group has convened to support the Government in making FLS one of its early successes in prevention—a true example of a Darzi reform in action. Its members include the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of GPs, as well as Age UK and several other expert societies: pooled expertise to help the Government make quick progress.
What we need now is a clear plan setting out how these services will be delivered by 2030 or even sooner. The groundwork has been done, the support is in place and the opportunity is here; let us not waste it. By acting now, the Government can turn their ambition into reality, saving lives, easing NHS pressures and strengthening the economy. Acting together, along with the Government, we should take this opportunity and make it happen. I look forward to the Minister’s response outlining how that will happen.
Cancer: Older People
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick
To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure a UK-wide approach to improving outcomes for older people with cancer.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Baroness Merron) (Lab)
My Lords, sadly, the risk of developing cancer increases as a person gets older. Health is a devolved matter, as your Lordships’ House will know, and the department is working with the NHS in England to improve outcomes for people of all ages with cancer. On my noble friend’s specific point, we are working to bring England in line with other nations by delivering a new national cancer strategy next year following the publication of the 10-year health plan.
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)
I thank my noble friend for her Answer. I am sure she is aware that the UK’s cancer burden is projected to rise by around one-third by 2040, and 60% of those cancer diagnoses are expected to be among those aged 70 and above. Yet there is evidence that older people’s cancer care is not always provided to the level that it should be. Therefore, what assurances can she give me of actions the Government will take as part of the forthcoming cancer plan and the 10-year NHS plan to address these health inequalities in cancer care and treatment throughout the UK?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
My noble friend is quite right that the incidence of cancer is expected to rise across the UK, especially in older people. I agree that older people can face specific barriers when accessing care. Following on from the independent review by the noble Lord, Lord Darzi, I assure my noble friend that the 10-year health plan and the subsequent cancer strategy for England, both to be published next year, will help us do more to prevent cancer, identify it early and treat people quickly. They will have regard to older people.
Type 2 Diabetes: Continuous Glucose Monitors
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Baroness Merron (Lab)
I must confess that is something that I will need to look into—it may be with my ministerial colleagues in the Department for Transport. But I will look into it, and I will be pleased to write to the noble Baroness.
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)
My Lords, as part of ongoing research, would my noble friend talk to her ministerial colleagues about possible research that is required into the causes of type 1 diabetes, and if more updated research could therefore provide new types of technologies and treatment? There is no particular cure at this moment in time, and people live with it on a daily basis, hour by hour.
Baroness Merron (Lab)
Through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, £206 million was awarded to diabetes research in the last five years through its research programme. The NIHR and Diabetes UK have developed a joint strategy which will inform diabetes research in the UK. I hope that can get us to the place that my noble friend refers to.
NHS Hospitals: Apheresis
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts(2 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick
To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support increasing apheresis capacity in NHS hospitals in England.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Baroness Merron) (Lab)
The Government are aware of the issues around apheresis capacity within the National Health Service impacting patient services, including stem cell donations. A departmentally led working group met for the first time last month to examine existing apheresis capacity and to develop solutions, and it will report in the spring. This working group includes members of the UK stem cell register, health professionals and service providers, and it aims to develop an evidence base by which strategic decisions around capacity can be established.
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)
My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lady Merron for her very helpful reply. Only last month I chaired a round table in your Lordships’ House on apheresis capacity. Therefore, given the rapid developments in cell and gene therapies and related international regulation over the last few years, what plans do the Government have to update legislation governing the use of substance of human origin and the development of advanced therapeutical medicinal products to better utilise modern technologies such as apheresis platforms?
Baroness Merron (Lab)
I am grateful to my noble friend for her work in this regard. I certainly share the view that there have been very rapid developments in cell and gene therapies over the past few years, and there is tremendous potential for these therapies to address the root cause of diseases and to offer life-changing outcomes for patients. So, we are working with devolved Governments and with key stakeholders to review the EU standards and requirements, and to consider our approach in light of the changes introduced by the EU SoHO regulations, which will take account of innovation within the sector.
NHS: Breast Screening Programme
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts(3 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Baroness Merron (Lab)
The measures that the noble Lord refers to did indeed assist, but as I mentioned earlier we have a stubborn problem in returning to pre-Covid rates. The improvement plan that exists sets out the priorities and the interventions, but also the monitoring of what is working and what is not. The kinds of things that are being tested and introduced now include, for example, new IT systems to enable communication with women in 30 different languages, and new IT systems that mean people know when their appointment is and are reminded of it. All these things sound quite straightforward, but they have not been in place across the country and it is important that they are. I mentioned the importance of addressing fears and embarrassment, improving information and reassurance to women, as well as more convenient times and booking systems. It is very important that we make better use of mobile screening units, so that screening is near to where women are.
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)
My Lords, undoubtedly breast screening is vital—I know that from a personal perspective—but I ask my noble friend whether consideration could be given to lowering the breast cancer screening age to 40, to include for diagnosis those with triple-negative breast cancer, because many in the younger cohort are diagnosed with it.
Baroness Merron (Lab)
As my noble friend will be aware, we keep a very close eye on the science and the advice, and we will continue to follow that. I emphasise, and it was raised in an earlier question as well, that the NHS has been proactively writing to those women at very high risk of breast cancer who may not have been referred. I give an assurance that women who are at greater risk are not forgotten.
Northern Ireland Dentists: Amalgam Fillings
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts(5 months ago)
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Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)
My Lords, I refer to my entry in the Register of Lords’ Interests. I welcome the derogation on amalgam fillings, because that issue has been persisting for some time. It proves that a Labour Government are working to find solutions to the outstanding matters relating to the Windsor Framework. In that respect, will the Minister and her colleagues undertake to provide us with details of the resetting of the relationship between the UK and the EU? There are several outstanding matters relating to veterinary medicines and the EU’s carbon floor.
Baroness Merron (Lab)
I am glad that my noble friend welcomes today’s announcement. I am sure the House will appreciate the particular set of circumstances surrounding amalgam, which are extremely complex. This has required considerable collaboration between several departments, as well as the devolved Administrations. I hope it will be regarded as something very positive, but I can assure my noble friend and your Lordships’ House that I will discuss with my ministerial colleagues the points being raised about the Windsor Framework and the relationships that that entails.