Asked by: Lord Turnberg (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average waiting time for patients with anxiety and depression to gain access to cognitive behavioural therapy.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information is not held in the format requested. NHS England publishes data on the average waiting time for patients to start treatment with NHS Talking Therapies services, but the condition with which a person may be presenting is not recorded.
Asked by: Lord Turnberg (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the current vacancy rate for clinical psychologists.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold the information requested. NHS England publishes quarterly National Health Service hospital trust vacancy and job advert data. The publication sets out vacancy rates for total NHS trust staff and, separately, for registered nurses and doctors at a national and regional level. The latest data for December 2024 shows that the vacancy rate for total NHS trust staff was 7.2%. The data is not detailed enough to identify vacancy rates for clinical psychologists.
Asked by: Lord Turnberg (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government why there is an upper age limit of 79 years for the respiratory syncytial virus vaccination.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The policy for the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) programme is based on the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which is an independent expert advisory committee on vaccination and immunisation. This advice is provided to the Government to inform, develop, and make policy.
In the JCVI’s statement summarising the advice for the RSV programme, the committee stated that an extension to the initial programme would be considered when there is more certainty about the protection provided by the vaccination in the very elderly and evidence of the real-world impact of the programme in the 75 to 80-year-old cohort.
Following an assessment of specific individual clinical situations, a doctor such as a general practitioner or hospital consultant may choose to prescribe vaccines outside of the national programme, under clinical discretion.
Asked by: Lord Turnberg (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to expand the fluoridation of drinking water supplies to improve children's dental health.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
A public consultation on the proposal to expand community water fluoridation in the North East of England finished on 31 July 2024. We are currently considering the responses to this consultation, and a decision on whether to expand the scheme will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Lord Turnberg (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what efforts they are making to reduce waiting list times for cognitive behavioural therapy services for people with anxiety and depression by recruiting more clinical psychologists.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service is expanding access to NHS Talking Therapies for adults with common mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression, with a commitment to increase the number of people completing courses of treatment by 384,000 and increase the number of sessions, between 2024/25 and 2028/29.
Decisions about recruitment are matters for individual NHS trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.
However, we know that the NHS has been facing workforce shortages for a number of years and, while there has been growth in the mental health workforce over recent years, more is needed. That is why, as part of our mission to build an NHS that is fit for the future and is there when people need it, we will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to reduce waiting times and provide faster treatment. We recognise that bringing in the staff needed will take time. We are working with NHS England on options to deliver this expansion of the mental health workforce.
Asked by: Lord Turnberg (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what efforts they are making to address the shortage of clinical psychologists in mental health trusts.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service is expanding access to NHS Talking Therapies for adults with common mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression, with a commitment to increase the number of people completing courses of treatment by 384,000 and increase the number of sessions, between 2024/25 and 2028/29.
Decisions about recruitment are matters for individual NHS trusts. NHS trusts manage their recruitment at a local level, ensuring they have the right number of staff in place, with the right skill mix, to deliver safe and effective care.
However, we know that the NHS has been facing workforce shortages for a number of years and, while there has been growth in the mental health workforce over recent years, more is needed. That is why, as part of our mission to build an NHS that is fit for the future and is there when people need it, we will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to reduce waiting times and provide faster treatment. We recognise that bringing in the staff needed will take time. We are working with NHS England on options to deliver this expansion of the mental health workforce.
Asked by: Lord Turnberg (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they offer to general practitioners in meeting the demands placed on them.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We hugely value the critical role that general practitioners (GPs) play, and we are determined to address the issues they face by shifting the focus of the National Health Service beyond hospitals and into the community.
We have committed to training thousands more GPs across the country, as well as taking pressure off those currently working in the system. The inclusion of newly qualified GPs into the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) will also support the recruitment of GPs.
The ARRS provides funding for a number of additional roles to help create bespoke, multi-disciplinary teams. All these roles are in place to assist GPs in reducing their workload and assisting patients directly with their needs, allowing doctors to focus on more complex patients and other priorities, including continuity of care.
Asked by: Lord Turnberg (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many vacancies are currently available for general practitioners in primary care, and how many newly qualified general practitioners are seeking appointment.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The data requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Lord Turnberg (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 impact on the mental health of medical practitioners of withdrawing NHS Practitioner Health services for new applicants.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
We recognise that the NHS Practitioner Health service is valued by many doctors. NHS England is reviewing the service as part of a wider review of its mental health and wellbeing offer to National Health Service staff. It was confirmed on 15 April 2024 that the service will continue to accept new patients from primary and secondary care whilst this review is undertaken over the next 12 months. NHS England will confirm future arrangements once the review has been completed.
Asked by: Lord Turnberg (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to combat antisemitism (1) in medical schools, and (2) amongst medical professionals.
Answered by Lord Markham - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
We are deeply concerned about the rise in antisemitic incidents since 7 October 2023. That is why on 22 November 2023, the Chancellor announced in his Autumn Statement an additional £7 million over three years to tackle antisemitism in education.
The Secretary of State for Education and the Minister for Skills wrote to all schools, colleges, and universities on 11 October 2023, urging them to respond swiftly to hate-related incidents and actively reassure Jewish students that they can study without fear of harassment or intimidation. The Minister for Skills wrote again to Vice Chancellors on 16 November 2023, further emphasising the use of disciplinary measures and the importance of police engagement, as well as the suspension of student visas where the student is a foreign national. This was one of the key actions in the five-point plan for tackling antisemitism in higher education, How we’re protecting Jewish students on university campuses, which was published on GOV.UK on 5 November 2023 in an online-only format.
On 3 November 2023, the former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care wrote to healthcare regulators, including the General Medical Council (GMC), which is the independent regulator of all medical professionals practising in the United Kingdom, to emphasise that there can be no place in our healthcare professions for those espousing racism or extremism. The letter asked the regulators what action they are taking, in the context of a rise in incidents of an antisemitic nature and of individuals expressing support for proscribed terrorist organisations.
All doctors must meet the expected standards set out in Good medical practice, the GMC’s framework of professional standards. These standards make clear that all doctors must treat patients and colleagues fairly and without discrimination. The GMC has a zero-tolerance approach to racism. Failure to uphold and adhere to the principles within these standards and related guidance may put a doctor’s registration with the GMC at risk. A copy of these standards is attached.