Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve dementia care research and support for carers of people with dementia across the UK.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Government’s Dementia 2020 Challenge aims to make England the best country in the world for dementia care, support, awareness and research. The Government is committed to supporting research into dementia to find a disease-modifying treatment by 2025, and to help people with dementia live well with the condition. People participating in research are central to this effort, as are the health and social care staff who support their participation.
We expect all people who are newly diagnosed with dementia, and their carers, to receive information on opportunities to take part in research into dementia. By 2020, we expect all relevant staff to have received appropriate dementia training. This should include training relevant staff to be able to signpost interested individuals towards research via the Join Dementia Research service. We are also currently exploring options for increasing take-up of the more advanced Tier 2 training to everyone who needs it.
We are committed to supporting carers to provide care in ways that protect and preserve their own health and wellbeing. In June 2018, we published the Carers Action Plan, a cross-Government programme of targeted work, including a £5 million Carers Innovation Fund to encourage innovative and creative ways of supporting carers. In addition, we are working with local government on a sector-led improvement programme of work focused on the implementation of the Care Act 2014 duties for carers.
The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The usual practice of the NIHR is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics such as dementia. Research proposals in all areas compete for the funding available. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health including dementia. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. In all disease areas, the amount of the NIHR’s funding depends on the volume and quality of scientific activity.
The NIHR funding for dementia research was £43.0 million in 2017/18, having increased from £27 million in 2013/14. Government spending overall on dementia research is running ahead of the Government’s 2020 Dementia Challenge commitment to maintain this at £300 million over five years. The total in 2017/18 was £82.5 million; £43 million via the NIHR, £36.3 million via the Medical Research Council and £3.2 million via the Economic and Social Research Council.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much additional funding they have provided to health services in the United Kingdom in the last three years.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
HM Treasury publishes expenditure on health services in the United Kingdom in its annual Country and Regional Analysis reports.
The additional expenditure, above a baseline of 2014-15, on health services in the United Kingdom in the last three years is set out in the following table.
Year | Additional funding above 2014-15 |
2015-16 | £4.6 billion |
2016-17 | £8.3 billion |
2017-18 | £11.3 billion |
It should be noted that these figures are not cumulative but represent the difference between the funding in each year and the baseline of 2014-15, i.e. £133.6 billion.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to improve cancer care across the National Health Service and to ensure that National Health Service staff are trained to meet the future needs of cancer patients.
Answered by Earl Howe - Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
On Sunday 11 January NHS England announced a new independent cancer taskforce to develop a five-year action plan for cancer services that will improve survival rates and save thousands of lives. It will produce a new cross-system national cancer strategy to 2020, building on NHS England’s vision for improving cancer outcomes as set out in the NHS Five Year Forward View.
The taskforce will work in partnership with the cancer community and other health system leaders, and will be chaired by Dr Harpal Kumar, Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK. It will include cancer specialist doctors and clinicians, patients groups and charity leaders, Public Health England, local council representatives and professional bodies.
The strategy will set a clear direction covering the whole cancer pathway, from prevention to living with and beyond cancer and end-of-life care, issues such as data, workforce, research and reducing inequalities. It will also consider how services need to develop and innovate in the future. The taskforce will produce a statement of intent by March 2015, with the new strategy to be published in the summer.
It is the responsibility of the professional regulators to set the standards and content for education and training and ensure newly qualified doctors, nurses, and other professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high-quality patient care. The General Medical Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council set standards for the education of doctors and nurses respectively. The royal colleges have responsibility for developing curricula for doctors and nurses.
The Government has mandated Health Education England (HEE) to provide national leadership on education, training and workforce development in the National Health Service in England. HEE works across disciplines to train staff to deal with patients with all conditions, including cancer.