Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish the findings or results of Dame Carol Black’s recent work on drugs in the criminal justice system.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no plans to publish Dame Carol Black’s recent work on drug treatment in prisons.
Following Professor Dame Carol Black’s 2021 review of drug misuse and treatment in the community, Dame Carol was asked to assess the scope, quality, and effectiveness of treatment and recovery provision in prisons in England, and the support provided by the HM Prison and Probation Service regime. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention, the Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, the Minister for Policing, Fire and Crime Prevention, and the Chief Executive of NHS England have received Dame Carol’s completed report.
The Government is considering the implications of the report’s findings across departments and agencies, ensuring that improved drug treatment for prisoners is part of the delivery of our Health and Safer Streets Missions.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure access to drug treatment services for those leaving prison on day of release.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Everyone leaving prison with a need for drug and alcohol treatment should be able to access high-quality provision that enables them to recover from their problems as quickly as possible. We will continue to ensure that the full range of evidence-based treatment interventions is available to address drug and alcohol needs among people who are in prison, or who have left prison, including abstinence-based interventions, to support recovery from drug and alcohol dependency.
A cross-Government implementation group has been established to support the introduction of the changes to the Standard Determinate Sentences (SDS40) that were announced in July, and includes the Ministry of Justice, HM Prison and Probation Service, the Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England.
In September, the Department and NHS England issued clear clinical advice to support the delivery of SDS40 and give local services more flexibility to use additional drug and alcohol treatment and recovery grants to meet local needs.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to mitigate the current shortage of the psychotropic medication Olanzapine, Risperidone and Haloperidol following the sudden departure of two generic manufacturers from the UK market.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
We are aware that there have been supply constraints with olanzapine 210 milligram, 300 milligram, and 405 milligram powder and solvent for prolonged release suspension for injection. We worked with manufacturers to uplift production, and the issues were resolved in February 2024. We worked with NHS England to issue national communications containing advice on how to manage patients whilst there was a disruption to supply. We are not aware of any supply issues affecting oral presentations of olanzapine, or of any supply issues with any risperidone or haloperidol products.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the shortage of the psychotropic medication Olanzapine, and what steps they are taking to ensure that such shortages do not affect the health and safety of patients, and wider public safety.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
We are aware that there have been supply constraints with olanzapine 210 milligram, 300 milligram, and 405 milligram powder and solvent for prolonged release suspension for injection. We worked with manufacturers to uplift production, and the issues were resolved in February 2024. We worked with NHS England to issue national communications containing advice on how to manage patients whilst there was a disruption to supply. We are not aware of any supply issues affecting oral presentations of olanzapine, or of any supply issues with any risperidone or haloperidol products.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they expect integrated care boards in England to be able to identify how much money they spend on children’s hospices; and, if not, what action they will take.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government does not hold information regarding the amount of money each integrated care board (ICB) spends on children’s hospices. There is currently no plan to take any action to ensure that ICBs can identify how much money they spend specifically on children’s hospices.
At a national level, NHS England supports palliative and end of life care for children and young people through the Children and Young People’s hospice grant. The grant provided approximately £17 million in 2021/22, £21 million in 2022/23 and £25 million in 2023/24 directly to children and young people’s hospices. NHS England has confirmed that it will be renewing the grant for 2024/25, once again allocating £25 million grant funding for children’s hospices using the same prevalence-based allocation approach as in 2022/23 and 2023/24. NHS England is reprioritising budgets for 2024/25, in light of the revised assessment of financial position and, whilst it is holding funding aside for the children and young people’s hospice sector, it cannot confirm further details, including the distribution mechanism, until 2024/25 financial planning is concluded.
Additionally, in line with the NHS Long Term Plan commitment, NHSE has provided approximately £8.5 million match-funding to participating ICBs and formerly clinical commissioning groups between 2022/23 and 2023/24 that committed to invest in children and young people’s palliative and end of life care, including hospices, giving a total investment of £17 million for that period.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their policy for providing in-patient accommodation for trans women in NHS hospital wards in England; and what steps they are taking to protect trans women in hospital from potential discrimination.
Answered by Lord Kamall - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
NHS England and NHS Improvement’s current guidance concerning the placement of transgender people in hospital wards states that this should be done in accordance with their presentation, such as the way the person dresses and the pronouns they use. NHS England is reviewing this guidance and the Department will ensure that any revised guidance takes account of relevant equalities legislation.