Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the value of Government-funded research into the impact of calorie labelling on alcohol products, given that such information has been provided on other drinks for many years.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department commissioned a National Institute for Health and Care Research study on understanding the impact of alcohol calorie labelling on alcohol and calorie selection, purchasing, and consumption. This study is underway, and due to end in 2026. The findings from this work will be useful in showing the potential impact of calorie labelling on reducing calorie intake and alcohol consumption.
Under our Health Mission, the Government is committed to prioritising preventative public health measures to support people to live longer, healthier lives. The Department will continue to work across Government to determine the best ways to reduce alcohol-related harms.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many limb amputations were performed in NHS hospitals in (1) 2005, (2) 2010, (3) 2015, and (4) 2020, and what was the principal cause of these.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
A table showing the number of finished consultant episodes with a main or secondary procedure code for limb amputation, broken down by primary diagnosis group and the year of the operation, is attached due to the size of the data.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the key incentives needed to achieve sustained long-term weight reduction in cases of obesity.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
Local authorities and the National Health Service provide weight management services to support their communities to achieve and maintain a healthier weight. These services incentivise behaviour change, by encouraging the development of sustainable habits and fostering independence and self-management
Maintaining weight loss over the medium and long term is challenging in an environment where high saturated fat, salt and sugar food are readily available, marketed, and cheaper than healthier alternatives. That is why the Government is taking action to help people maintain a healthier weight such as: the introduction of out of home calorie labelling regulations for food sold in large businesses, including restaurants, cafes and takeaways; the introduction of restrictions on the promotion by location of less healthy products in key selling locations in store and online; and working with the food industry to make further progress on reformulation and making healthier choices easier.
The Government also launched ‘The Better Health: Rewards’ pilot in February 2023 for adults who live in Wolverhampton. This is an innovative app-based health intervention where participants can download an app, receive a free wearable fitness tracker, and can earn points for completing diet and physical activity challenges which they can redeem for rewards in an in-app store. This pilot is designed to test whether financial incentives can be used to support people to improve their diet and physical activity behaviour.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the cost to the NHS of prescribing the heroine substitute drug methodone in (1) 2005, (2) 2010, (3) 2015, and (4) 2020.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
Information on the cost to the NHS of prescribing methadone is not held centrally.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to use more trained therapists to ease the backlog of NHS patients with mental health problems.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
Through the NHS Long Term Plan we are committed to transforming and expanding mental health services in England by 2023/24 so that an additional two million people can get the mental health support that they need. This commitment is backed by our plans through the NHS Long Term Plan to grow the mental health workforce by an additional 27,000 professionals, including more trained therapists to provide more people with National Health Service talking therapies, by 2023/24.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish the fourth and final report from their Sugar Reduction Programme.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The fourth progress report, Sugar reduction – industry progress 2015 to 2020: Including the final report for foods included in the programme and the latest data for drinks included in the Soft Drinks Industry Levy and juices and milk based drinks on the sugar reduction programme was published on 1 December. A copy of the report is attached.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what further steps they will take to encourage the greater use of Stevia in food and drink as a replacement for processed sugar.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
No specific assessment has been made. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities is aware that some businesses use artificial or other non-caloric sweeteners, including Stevia, to lower the sugar content of their products. It is an individual business decision to decide if and how the product is used, subject to legislation.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for promoting the use of Stevia as an alternative to processed sugar.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
No specific assessment has been made. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities is aware that some businesses use artificial or other non-caloric sweeteners, including Stevia, to lower the sugar content of their products. It is an individual business decision to decide if and how the product is used, subject to legislation.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of patients who joined the Diabetes Prevention programme between 2018 and 2019 failed to complete the course; and what steps they are taking to improve completion rates.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
The information is not collected in the format requested as the NHS Diabetes Prevention programme is of nine months’ duration, where patients may commence support at any point during a calendar year. Completion rates are not collected on a yearly basis. However, data is collected for reference periods to identify cohorts of service users who have completed the programme within a specific time.
Providers of the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme are updating session availability to support increased convenience and reduce waiting times. The support available for participants is being amended to encourage continued engagement outside of sessions such as meetings with a health coach and facilitated peer support groups.
Asked by: Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why they did not mark the 70th anniversary of the NHS in 2018 with the creation of a National NHS Charity; and why they intend to mark the 75th anniversary in 2023 with the creation of such a charity.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
We have no plans to create a national National Health Service charity. There are currently 241 charities in the United Kingdom which collectively raise £1 million a day for the NHS. NHS Charities Together is the national umbrella organisation of which all NHS charities are members.