Folic Acid

Debate between Lord Bethell and Baroness Wyld

Monday 26th April 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, I join the noble Lord in paying tribute to all those who have worked so hard, particularly the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, who has delivered a playbook campaign on this. Being on the receiving end, I pay tribute to the grace, persuasiveness and energy with which he has conducted that campaign. He is not the only one, and I pay tribute to the personal testimony of the noble Lord, Lord Dodds— what a moving story he has just told. All who have been involved in these sorts of conditions would have been touched by that. I cannot deliver the categoric guarantee that he asks for but, as I said, we are looking at it extremely carefully and I hope to return soon.

[Baroness Wyld (Con)]

I join my noble friend in paying tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, for his campaign. I urge him to keep up the pace. While the Government are looking at that, we surely need more creative public information campaigns to raise awareness of the importance of folic acid, particularly when communications around health have, under- standably, focused on the pandemic. What work have the Government done with HCPs, in practice, to make sure that women are fully informed?

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My noble friend is right: with half of pregnancies unplanned or unexpected, it is entirely right that we should seek to raise issues such as folic acid. The Government are committed to the preventive agenda, and folic acid is just one among many examples where we hope to mobilise public interest in looking after their own health to avoid these kinds of conditions. Her point is extremely well made.

Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review: Sodium Valproate

Debate between Lord Bethell and Baroness Wyld

Tuesday 2nd March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, I completely acknowledge the noble Baroness’s point. Support is incredibly important and our hearts go out to all those who have been hit by any of the three conditions covered by the review. We are absolutely looking at those recommendations to see how they may be implemented to provide the support that the noble Baroness rightly points out.

[Baroness Wyld (Con)]

My Lords, could my noble friend please update the House on the timetable for the appointment of the patient safety commissioner, one of the key recommendations that I am delighted the Government accepted? I understand that that requires new regulations, and the Government have rightly said that we ought to take time to find the best and widest possible field, but surely that just underlines the urgency of the need to get going with this.

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

As my noble friend rightly acknowledges, the everyday workings of the commissioner require some work. That work is being finalised and regulations will be made setting out further details about the appointment and operation of the commissioner—for example, the terms of office, the finances and other support for the commissioner. Officials are now working with legal and appointment colleagues to firm up time- lines and begin both the regulations and the appointment process for the commissioner.

Mental Health Services: Young People

Debate between Lord Bethell and Baroness Wyld

Thursday 24th September 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

The right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Carlisle is right to emphasise bereavement support. We all remember well the difficulties faced by family or friends who were bereaved in the terrible circumstances that we were put under during Covid. We have put £9.2 million of additional funding into mental health charities, which includes charities that provide bereavement support. However, I will take away the well-made points of the right reverend Prelate and will look into whether more could or should be done.

[Baroness Wyld (Con)]

My Lords, we know that a particularly risky time for children and young people is when they move across and between services, whether that is accessing CAMHS for the first time or moving on to adult services. Can the Minister reassure me that face-to-face appointments will still be made available for those important relationships to be established and embedded?

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, face-to-face appointments are incredibly important for some people, which is why we have emphasised the return to work, particularly in GP surgeries. However, I would like to make the case for internet or telephone services. They have proved to be extremely popular among some mental health patients, who find the direct intimacy of face-to-face too overwhelming and prefer instead to do Zoom or telephone consultations. We are supporting analysis of where these rightfully work and in the meantime are supporting face-to-face when preferred or necessary.

Childhood Obesity

Debate between Lord Bethell and Baroness Wyld

Wednesday 2nd September 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, there are individual programmes specifically targeting those from deprived backgrounds. I emphasise the childhood obesity trailblazer programme, which has funding for several councils to pioneer forward-thinking ideas to address childhood obesity among those target populations.

The other area that I emphasise is exercise in school. Of course, obesity is linked to intake, not exercise, but exercise helps to get the disciplines right around looking after one’s mind and body. The £320 million going into school sports facilities is a massive bonus in this area.

[Baroness Wyld (Con)]

My Lords, could my noble friend say, a little more specifically, what training and support will be available to health visitors for the very earliest intervention? Would not the one-year and two-year checks that the majority of children go along to be an ideal opportunity to inform parents about the nutritional needs of very young children so that they can make those informed choices?

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

Health checks in the early years of childhood are an incredibly valuable opportunity to intervene in a number of health inputs. Diet and exercise are two of those. Training is in place for health visitors to provide dietary advice but, when back at the department, I will ask whether we are working on any new initiatives at the moment and write back to my noble friend.

Covid-19: Mental Health

Debate between Lord Bethell and Baroness Wyld

Wednesday 1st July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell]

My Lords, we are feeling our way in this area. There have been benefits from some of the moves online. People have been able to see more of their consultants, they have found that some of the content provided has been helpful, and the reach has gone up. However, I completely agree with the noble Baroness that it will not work for everyone. I pay tribute to mental health professionals who have maintained face-to-face contact during the epidemic, with all the threats associated, and we continue to look closely at how to fit appropriate technology and digital access to the right people and in the right format.

[Baroness Wyld (Con) [V]]

My Lords, what is the Government’s assessment of the impact of Covid-19 on antenatal and perinatal mental health services, and what steps are they taking to ensure that expectant and new parents are able to access the support they might need in person, particularly given the nuanced nature of potentially accessing services for the first time?

[Lord Bethell]

The area of antenatal and natal services has developed a huge amount of concern and, as my noble friend may remember, we adjusted the guidelines to give parents greater access to mother and child at an early stage. This area does concern us. However, it is a relief that, generally speaking, the disease has not hit pregnant women and early born children in the way that it has hit elderly people, and for that we are grateful.