Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the NHS dentist provision in Stockton North constituency.
Answered by Will Quince
No specific assessment has been made. In September, we announced ‘Our plan for patients’, which outlines how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to dental care, including in Stockton North.
The plan includes improvements to ensure dentists are renumerated fairly for more complex work, allowing greater flexibility to reallocate resources and to utilise dentists with greater capacity to deliver National Health Service treatment, whilst enabling full use of the dental team. The plan also includes streamlining processes for overseas dentists and holding the local NHS to account for dentistry provision. In addition, Health Education England is also reforming dental education to improve the recruitment and retention of dental professionals.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the uptake of breast cancer screening in Stockton North constituency.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department is working with NHS England to finalise the delivery of £10 million for breast screening units, including determining which areas will benefit from this investment.
National Health Service breast screening providers are also encouraged to work with Cancer Alliances, Primary Care Networks, NHS regional teams and the voluntary sector to promote the uptake of breast screening and ensure access to services.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help improve access to NHS dental services in Stockton North constituency.
Answered by Will Quince
No specific assessment has been made. However, NHS England asked dental practices to return to full delivery of contracted activity from July 2022, including in Stockton North. In September, we announced ‘Our plan for patients’, which outlines how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to dental care, including in Stockton North.
The plan includes improvements to ensure dentists are renumerated fairly for more complex work, allowing greater flexibility to reallocate resources and to utilise dentists with greater capacity to deliver National Health Service treatment, whilst enabling full use of the dental team. The plan also includes streamlining processes for overseas dentists and holding the local NHS to account for dentistry provision. In addition, Health Education England is also reforming dental education to improve the recruitment and retention of dental professionals.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on when pharmacies in the Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council area will receive vaccine supplies for the covid-19 spring booster vaccination.
Answered by Maggie Throup
No formal assessment has been made. However, NHS 119 can make appointments for individuals to be vaccinated, including at community pharmacies. Community pharmacies wishing to provide COVID-19 vaccinations between 1 September 2022 and 31 March 2023 should submit an expression of interest to NHS England, including those in Stockton-on-Tees. The application process commenced on 30 June.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of coordination between NHS 119 and local pharmacies on the delivery of the covid-19 spring booster vaccination.
Answered by Maggie Throup
No formal assessment has been made. However, NHS 119 can make appointments for individuals to be vaccinated, including at community pharmacies. Community pharmacies wishing to provide COVID-19 vaccinations between 1 September 2022 and 31 March 2023 should submit an expression of interest to NHS England, including those in Stockton-on-Tees. The application process commenced on 30 June.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to extend covid-19 vaccinations to children under five.
Answered by Maggie Throup
There are currently no COVID-19 vaccines for children under the age of five years old currently approved for use in the United Kingdom. We will continue to monitor developments and if a vaccine is approved for use in the UK, we will seek the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to make Evusheld available to immunocompromised people.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Evusheld has been granted conditional marketing approval by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on 17 March 2022. However, the MHRA highlighted uncertainty over the appropriate dose needed for protection against the Omicron variant. Understanding the efficacy of Evusheld is necessary prior to any procurement or deployment.
The UK Health Security Agency is currently undertaking further testing on the treatment’s effectiveness against the Omicron variant. This will inform any decisions on the potential procurement of this treatment.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people living with dementia who have benefitted from community diagnostic centres.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
No specific estimate has been made. We will set out plans for dementia in England for the next 10 years later this year, which will include a focus on dementia diagnosis.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to increase screening for dementia in England.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
There is no nationally recommended screening programme for dementia in the United Kingdom. The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) reviewed the available evidence and found no screening test which could identify people with dementia before the onset of symptoms. The UK NSC also found there was no evidence that current treatments for dementia are effective. The UK NSC is due to the review the evidence for screening for dementia in 2022/23.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the equity of the dementia diagnosis process.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
No formal assessment has been made. NHS England and NHS Improvement continue to monitor the monthly dementia diagnosis rate each month and provide analysis on trends at regional and sustainability and transformation partnership level to aid targeted recovery efforts. In 2021, factsheets were published to encourage local conversations to understand patterns and potential reasons for any trends in dementia diagnosis rates and identifying specific areas for support. In 2021/22, we also provided £17 million to clinical commissioning groups to address the needs of those waiting for diagnosis and those who have a diagnosis but are unable to access support services due to the pandemic.
NHS England and NHS Improvement have also commissioned the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ Dementia Intelligence Network to investigate the underlying variation in dementia diagnosis rates in specific areas in England. This will include a focus on social and economic deprivation; rurality; demographic characteristics including age, ethnicity and educational attainment; and general health and life expectancy. We will set out plans for dementia in England for the next 10 years later this year, which will include a focus on dementia diagnosis.