Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Minister of Health in Northern Ireland about support for people with mental illness.
Answered by Norman Lamb
My Rt. hon Friend the Secretary of State has not had any discussions with the Minister of Health in Northern Ireland about support for people with mental illness.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the devolved administrations on the future treatment and care of people with cancer.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Research and evidence of best practice in health is shared widely across the United Kingdom. However, as health is a devolved matter Ministers do not routinely discuss health issues with their counterparts.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the devolved administrations to ensure continual improvement in cardiovascular disease outcomes.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Research and evidence of best practice in health is shared widely across the United Kingdom. However, as health is a devolved matter Ministers do not routinely discuss health issues with their counterparts.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he and officials in his Department have had with the Northern Ireland Department of Health to ensure that patients with rare muscle-wasting conditions have access to new and effective drugs.
Answered by George Freeman
We have had no such discussions.
As the hon. Member will be aware, Health is devolved in Northern Ireland and is the responsibility of the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in the Northern Ireland Executive.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Minister of Health in the Northern Irish Executive on raising awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Research and evidence of best practice in health is shared widely across the United Kingdom. However, as health is a devolved matter Ministers do not routinely discuss health issues with their counterparts.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce regional variations in dementia diagnosis.
Answered by Norman Lamb
Improving diagnosis rates for dementia in England is a priority for the Government and we want to see both an increase in the overall rate and a reduction in the current regional variation. Diagnosis rates for dementia in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are a matter for the devolved administrations.
NHS England is undertaking a range of initiatives to help reduce increase dementia diagnosis rates and reduce variation including:
Monthly Letters to Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs): the National Clinical Director for dementia is writing to CCGs on a monthly basis to update them on their latest dementia diagnosis rates. This information shows how each CCG is performing in relation to other CCGs in their area and by general practitioner practice. The letter contains resources and tools that CCGs and practices can use to help them increase diagnosis rates, for example, use of the Dementia Prevalence Calculator, which provides the opportunity for comparison between and within CCGs, at practice level.
Intensive Support Offer: bespoke support is available to CCGs who wish to access specific clinical advice, through a newly established network of dementia ambassadors. This network is working closely with Regional, Area Team and Strategic Clinical Network colleagues. It provides targeted support to CCGs, providing tools, resources and guidance to aid better understanding and improvements in local dementia data and information.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what comparative assessment he has made of rates of dementia diagnosis in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) the rest of the UK.
Answered by Norman Lamb
Improving diagnosis rates for dementia in England is a priority for the Government and we want to see both an increase in the overall rate and a reduction in the current regional variation. Diagnosis rates for dementia in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are a matter for the devolved administrations.
NHS England is undertaking a range of initiatives to help reduce increase dementia diagnosis rates and reduce variation including:
Monthly Letters to Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs): the National Clinical Director for dementia is writing to CCGs on a monthly basis to update them on their latest dementia diagnosis rates. This information shows how each CCG is performing in relation to other CCGs in their area and by general practitioner practice. The letter contains resources and tools that CCGs and practices can use to help them increase diagnosis rates, for example, use of the Dementia Prevalence Calculator, which provides the opportunity for comparison between and within CCGs, at practice level.
Intensive Support Offer: bespoke support is available to CCGs who wish to access specific clinical advice, through a newly established network of dementia ambassadors. This network is working closely with Regional, Area Team and Strategic Clinical Network colleagues. It provides targeted support to CCGs, providing tools, resources and guidance to aid better understanding and improvements in local dementia data and information.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many UK health workers have gone to West Africa to help tackle the Ebola virus.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Chief Medical Officer wrote to National Health Service medical and nursing directors on 19 September seeking volunteers to help efforts on the ground in West Africa. Currently over 1000 NHS staff and 185 staff from Public Health England have put their names forward through UK MED which runs the UK International Emergency Medical Register (UKIEMR).
The programme comprises a robust selection process, pre-deployment vaccinations and occupational health and psychological screening, training in the UK with further training and mentoring in Sierra Leone, and advice and support on monitoring health on return. We do not expect everyone on the register to be deployed.
We do not know how many UK health care workers are currently deployed with non-governmental organisations on the ground in West Africa.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with the Minister for Health, Social Services and Public Safety in the Northern Ireland Executive on the 24 Hour Domestic and Sexual Violence Helpline in Northern Ireland; and what assessment he has made of the success of that service.
Answered by Jane Ellison
No such discussion has taken place and we are unable to make an assessment of services that are a devolved matter.
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients have been removed from GPs' lists in each of the last three years.
Answered by Dan Poulter
The information requested is not collected centrally.