Asked by: Baroness Thornton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address the particular mental health and wellbeing of ethnic minority girls and young women.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Whilst we are not taking steps nationally to address specifically the particular mental health and wellbeing of ethnic minority girls and young women, we are expanding access to mental health services through the NHS Long Term Plan, which commits to investing an additional £2.3 billion a year for mental health services by 2023/24, so that an additional two million people, including girls and young women from minority ethnic groups, can access National Health Service-funded mental health support.
NHS England launched its first Advancing mental health equalities strategy in October 2020 to support the ambition of reducing mental health inequalities outlined in the NHS Long Term Plan. The strategy summarises the core actions that NHS England will take to bridge the gaps for communities faring worse than others in mental health services, including black, Asian and minority ethnic groups, and women in secure care settings. A copy of the strategy is attached.
The Government and NHS England are also taking forward non-legislative work to address racial disparities, including the piloting of Culturally Appropriate Advocacy services by the Department. These are exploring approaches to identifying, supporting, and advocating for the specific cultural needs of people from ethnic minority groups.
Asked by: Baroness Thornton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their Women’s Health Strategy for England, published on 30 August 2022, what steps they are taking to address the high rates of poor mental health amongst girls and young women.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Long Term Plan commits an additional £2.3 billion a year for mental health services in England by 2023/24, supporting an additional two million people, including girls and young women, to get the National Health Service-funded mental health support that they need.
We also continue to make progress on rolling out mental health support teams to schools and colleges, with 287 in place in over 4,700 schools and colleges across the country, offering support to children experiencing common mental health issues. The number of teams is expected shortly to have increased to 399.
We know that girls and women are more likely to experience an eating disorder, so as part of the NHS Long Term Plan investment, we are putting an extra £1 billion into community mental health care for adults with severe mental illness by 2023/24. This will give 370,000 adults and older adults with severe mental illnesses, including eating disorders, greater choice and control over their care and will support them to live well in their communities.
Since 2016, extra funding is going into children and young people's community eating disorder services every year, with £54 million per year from 2022/23. This extra funding will enhance the capacity of community eating disorder teams across the country.
The NHS Long Term Plan also includes measures to improve safety, quality and continuity of care and a commitment for a further 24,000 women to be able to access specialist perinatal mental health care by 2023/24. This care will also be available from preconception to 24 months after birth, which will provide an extra year of support. This expansion includes 33 new Maternal Mental Health Services, which bring together psychological therapy, maternity services and reproductive health for women who have mental health needs following trauma or loss related to their maternity experience. These will be available across England by March 2024.
As outlined in the Women’s Health Strategy, women are one of our priority groups when promoting our Every Mind Matters resource, which includes content to support issues affecting women’s mental health, including life changes such as pregnancy.
Asked by: Baroness Thornton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to publish NHS Resolution's annual report.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Department and its bodies, which includes NHS Resolution, have a statutory requirement to produce an annual report and accounts (ARA) following the end of the financial year. NHS Resolution is responsible for ensuring its ARA is laid before Parliament in accordance with Departmental guidance. NHS Resolution has advised that it intends to lay its ARA before the summer recess.
Asked by: Baroness Thornton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish a consultation on fixed recovery costs for clinical negligence claims; and if so, when.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We are developing proposals to introduce fixed recoverable costs for clinical negligence claims under the value of £25,000. We plan to consult on these measures in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Thornton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when the HIV Action Plan will be published.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The HIV Action Plan is currently being developed and is planned for publication later this year.
Asked by: Baroness Thornton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to enable pre-exposure prophylaxis treatment for HIV to be accessed in (1) GP practices, and (2) community pharmacies.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is routinely available in specialist sexual health services throughout the country. The settings in which PrEP is made available outside of sexual health services, such as general practitioner practices and community pharmacies, will be considered as part of our ongoing work on the development of the Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy and the HIV Action Plan, which we plan to publish later this year.
Asked by: Baroness Thornton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made towards meeting the recommendation in the HIV commission report How England Will End New Cases of HIV, published 30 November 2020, that the Government must review and assess the impact of current policies and legislation that need improvement.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The HIV Oversight Group has been formed with key HIV stakeholders, including civil society organizations who represent women, black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, trans, non-binary and gender diverse individuals, and in addition, networks of community advocates and people living with HIV to support the development of the HIV Action Plan. Specific discussions have not yet been held with those representing traveller communities.
Through these member organisations, the HIV Oversight Group aims to ensure that the intersectional voices of people living with HIV, especially those from vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, are fairly represented during the development process and in the final Action Plan. The recommendations of the HIV commission will be actively considered during the development of the HIV Action Plan.
Asked by: Baroness Thornton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made towards meeting the recommendation in the HIV commission report How England Will End New Cases of HIV, published 30 November 2020, that all late HIV diagnoses should be investigated as serious incidents by the National Institute for Health Protection.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The HIV Oversight Group has been formed with key HIV stakeholders, including civil society organizations who represent women, black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, trans, non-binary and gender diverse individuals, and in addition, networks of community advocates and people living with HIV to support the development of the HIV Action Plan. Specific discussions have not yet been held with those representing traveller communities.
Through these member organisations, the HIV Oversight Group aims to ensure that the intersectional voices of people living with HIV, especially those from vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, are fairly represented during the development process and in the final Action Plan. The recommendations of the HIV commission will be actively considered during the development of the HIV Action Plan.
Asked by: Baroness Thornton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they had regarding the development of the HIV Action Plan with (1) women (2) Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, (3) traveller communities, and (4) trans, non-binary, and gender diverse individuals.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The HIV Oversight Group has been formed with key HIV stakeholders, including civil society organizations who represent women, black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, trans, non-binary and gender diverse individuals, and in addition, networks of community advocates and people living with HIV to support the development of the HIV Action Plan. Specific discussions have not yet been held with those representing traveller communities.
Through these member organisations, the HIV Oversight Group aims to ensure that the intersectional voices of people living with HIV, especially those from vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, are fairly represented during the development process and in the final Action Plan. The recommendations of the HIV commission will be actively considered during the development of the HIV Action Plan.
Asked by: Baroness Thornton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the cost of the investigation to find the individual whose identity was initially unknown who tested positive for the ‘Brazilian’ strain of COVID-19.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The incident response team used existing data analysis resources and as such, there was no additional cost to the investigation.