Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of those who use telemedicine abortion services have an abortion after the 10 week threshold.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2022, the latest available data, there were 152,405 abortions where both abortion medications, mifepristone and misoprostol, were taken at home by residents of England and Wales. Of this, 16 abortions, or 0.01%, were recorded as having occurred at 10 weeks gestation or over. Cases containing inconsistent information, such as at-home abortions over 10 weeks gestation, are returned to clinics for confirmation. At the time of publication of the 2022 statistics, five, or 0.003%, of these abortions were confirmed as having occurred at 10 weeks gestation or over, with the remaining 11 cases being unconfirmed.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what safeguards are in place to ensure that those with serious mental health conditions who wish to seek a telemedical abortion are given adequate support.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Safeguarding is an essential aspect of abortion care, and abortion providers are required to have effective arrangements in place to safeguard children and vulnerable adults accessing their services. Before an early medical abortion can be undertaken at home, women are given the choice to have either an in-person consultation or a virtual consultation. However, if the doctor has any concerns, the woman will be asked to attend a clinic.
As laid out in the Department’s required standard operating procedures for the approval of independent sector places for termination of pregnancy in England, staff should be able to identify those who require more support than can be provided in the routine abortion service setting, such as those with a mental health condition, and have appropriate referral pathways to support services in place.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that the independent review into rising demand for mental health, ADHD, and autism services in England draws on a broad and representative range of evidence.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The independent review into the prevalence of and support for mental health conditions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism will appoint an Advisory Working Group. This will be a multidisciplinary group of leading academics, clinicians, epidemiological experts, charities, and people with lived experience to directly shape the recommendations and scrutinise the evidence.
As this is an independent review, it is for the Chair and vice-chairs to consider who to consult and the relevant forums for engagement, that are relevant to deliver the terms of reference, set by the Department. It would not be appropriate for the Department to comment or influence further.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps the NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board has taken to (a) commission and (b) deliver services at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board (ICB) is responsible for commissioning services for the local area. The services at Alexandra Hospital are delivered by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.
A wide range of services are delivered at Alexandra Hospital. The trust publishes information on services available at the Alexandra Hospital on its website. The Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB plans to increase the amount of planned elective activity carried out at the Alexandra Hospital, especially in orthopaedics.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to ensure that Alexandra Hospital in Redditch publish updated information on the scope of its services.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board (ICB) is responsible for commissioning services for the local area. The services at Alexandra Hospital are delivered by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.
A wide range of services are delivered at Alexandra Hospital. The trust publishes information on services available at the Alexandra Hospital on its website. The Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB plans to increase the amount of planned elective activity carried out at the Alexandra Hospital, especially in orthopaedics.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to help ensure the return of maternity and children’s services to the Alexandra hospital in Redditch.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
I know that my honourable friend has campaigned tirelessly on this issue on behalf of her constituents.
As a result, she will understand that the decisions about the reconfiguration of services are made locally, following appropriate engagement with people and communities.
However I am pleased to say that by working with the local NHS, we have invested £18 million in the hospital’s operating theatre and secured a long-term workforce pipeline through the Three Counties Medical School.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has issued recent guidance to integrated care boards on its powers to require hospitals to provide (a) maternity and (b) children's services.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Integrated care boards (ICBs) have a statutory duty to commission most healthcare services in the National Health Service for their respective populations in line with their other statutory duties and guidance. This means that ICBs are responsible for evaluating the needs of their local population and then planning and arranging the delivery of healthcare services to meet those needs by working with local providers as well as people and communities.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has provided recent guidance to the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch on publishing information on the services that are provided at its site.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Department has not recently provided such specific guidance. The Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust publishes information on services available at the Alexandra Hospital on its website.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) her Department, (b) NHS England and (c) NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of returning (i) maternity and (ii) children's services to the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch in the context of population (A) trends and (B) needs in the local area.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The reconfiguration of services is a clinically led local decision following appropriate engagement with patients and stakeholders. There are no plans to change the current configuration of services.
There have been significant improvements to children’s and maternity services provided by the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust since the reconfiguration of services. The presence of consultants for children’s services has increased with reduced reliance on agency locums and the Care Quality Commission has improved the rating for maternity services from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’ at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
Asked by: Baroness Maclean of Redditch (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) her Department, (b) NHS England and (c) NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of the local workforce to provide (i) maternity and (ii) children's services at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The reconfiguration of services is a clinically led local decision following appropriate engagement with patients and stakeholders. There are no plans to change the current configuration of services.
There have been significant improvements to children’s and maternity services provided by the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust since the reconfiguration of services. The presence of consultants for children’s services has increased with reduced reliance on agency locums and the Care Quality Commission has improved the rating for maternity services from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’ at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital.