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Written Question
Migraines: Health Services
Tuesday 17th December 2024

Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) improve support, (b) ensure equitable access to specialist services and (c) promote workplace adjustments for people living with migraine; and what plans he has to work with local health boards to (i) review the level of need for migraine-specific services and (ii) ensure appropriate provision.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

As health is a devolved matter, no plans have been made to work with local health boards to review the level of need for migraine-specific services and ensure appropriate provision. In England, NHS England is responsible for allocating funding to integrated care boards (ICBs), which are, in turn, responsible for commissioning specialist migraine services that meet the needs of their populations, subject to local prioritisation and funding.

The process of commissioning services should take into account best practice guidance, such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidance on the diagnosis and management of headaches in over 12-year-olds, which was updated in December 2021. The NICE guideline provides recommendations on principles of care for people with migraines, which may include a multidisciplinary approach to care, based on clinical need, and involving access to a range of health professionals, including specialist neurology nurses, neurologists, and pain management specialists. Whilst NICE guidelines are not mandatory, the Government expects the healthcare system to take them fully into account when designing services.

Occupational health as advisory support has a broad remit. It plays an important role in supporting employers to maintain and promote employee health and wellbeing through assessments of fitness for work, advice about reasonable adjustments, work ability or return to work plans, and signposting to treatment for specific conditions such as migraines.


Written Question
Neurology
Thursday 28th November 2024

Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) improve neurology waiting times and (b) help ensure timely access to treatment for people with multiple sclerosis.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are committed to supporting people with long term conditions, including neurological conditions, and ensuring they receive the support that they need, including referral to specialist services as appropriate.

The Government is committed to putting patients first. This means making sure that patients, including patients with multiple sclerosis, are seen on time, and ensuring that people have the best possible experience during their care.

Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission. We will deliver an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments, including for neurology, per week, as a first step in our commitment to ensuring patients can expect to be treated within 18 weeks.

We will be supporting National Health Service trusts to deliver these through innovation, sharing best practice to increase productivity and efficiency, and ensuring the best value is delivered.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning most services for people with long term conditions, including neurological conditions. ICBs are allocated funding by NHS England to meet local need and priorities, and improve outcomes. NHS England continues to set national standards, service specifications, and clinical access policies which ICBs are expected to apply.

NHS England’s Neuroscience Transformation Programme is supporting ICBs to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients, including treatment for those with multiple sclerosis. This includes providing care closer to home.


Written Question
Mental Health Services: Northern Ireland
Wednesday 20th November 2024

Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve mental health support for young people in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) the United Kingdom; and whether he is allocating additional resources to ensure (i) timely and (ii) accessible mental health services for young people.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

As health is a devolved matter, it is for the devolved Governments to decide how best to improve mental health support for children and young people in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

Plans for investment in children and young people’s mental health services will be known once the planning round for 2025/26 has concluded following the publication of system allocations and planning guidance for the next financial year. Devolved Governments, including Northern Ireland, will benefit from this additional funding through the Barnett formula.

The Mental Health Bill currently before Parliament will deliver the Government’s commitment to modernise the Mental Health Act 1983, so that it is fit for the 21st century. The Bill will amend the Act, which applies to England and Wales, and give children and young people detained under the Act greater choice, autonomy, rights, and support.


Written Question
Ovarian Cancer
Thursday 14th November 2024

Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) increasing public awareness of the symptoms of, (b) provide timely access to (i) diagnostic tests and (ii) treatments for and (c) otherwise take steps to improve early diagnosis rates for ovarian cancer.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England runs Help Us Help You campaigns to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms and address barriers to acting on them, to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner. The campaigns focus on a range of symptoms, including symptoms of ovarian cancer, as well as encouraging body awareness, to help people spot symptoms across a wide range of cancers at an early point. Previous phases of the campaign have focused on abdominal symptoms which, among other abdominal cancers, can be indicative of ovarian cancer.

It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including ovarian cancer, as quickly as possible, to treat it faster, and to improve outcomes. This is supported by NHS England’s key ambition on cancer to meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard, which sets a target of 28 days from urgent referral by a general practitioner or screening programme to patients being told that they have cancer, or that cancer is ruled out.

To ensure women have access to the best treatment for ovarian cancer, NHS England commissioned an audit on ovarian cancer. The aim of the audit is to provide timely evidence for cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, to increase consistency of access to treatments, and help stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients.

Lord Darzi’s report has set out the scale of the challenges we face in fixing the NHS and the need to improve cancer waiting-time performance and cancer survival. In particular, he has highlighted the need to improve the number of patients starting their treatment within 62 days of referral and to increase the number of patients diagnosed at an earlier stage.

The Government will set out any further priorities on cancer, including on early diagnosis, in a national cancer plan. The national cancer plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, as well as speeding up diagnosis and treatment, ensuring patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and ultimately bringing this country’s cancer survival rates back up to the standards of the best in the world.


Written Question
Sodium Valproate and Surgical Mesh Implants: Compensation
Tuesday 12th November 2024

Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Patient Safety Commissioner's report entitled The Hughes Report: Options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh, published on 7 February 2024, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of sodium valproate on families affected by fetal valproate syndrome in Northern Ireland; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure a UK-wide redress scheme for those affected by that syndrome.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The impact of sodium valproate on families affected by fetal valproate syndrome in Northern Ireland is a transferred matter and is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive, therefore an assessment has not been made by the Department of Health and Social Care.

The Government is carefully considering the valuable work done by the Patient Safety Commissioner and the resulting Hughes Report, which set out options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh. We will be providing an update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s report at the earliest opportunity. Although the Hughes Report and its recommendations only cover patients harmed in England, the Government recognises that any response will likely have implications for the whole of the United Kingdom, and is engaging with the devolved administrations on the Hughes Report.


Written Question
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Medical Treatments
Monday 11th November 2024

Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people with ADHD receive the level of support set out in the guidelines by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence entitled Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: diagnosis and management, published on 14 March 2018.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department is currently considering next steps to improve access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments and support in England. It is the responsibility of integrated care boards to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including ADHD assessments and support, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

We are supporting a taskforce that NHS England is establishing to look at ADHD service provision in England and its impact on patient experience. The taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the National Health Service, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD and to help provide a joined-up approach in response to concerns around rising demand.

Alongside the work of the taskforce, NHS England will continue to develop a national ADHD data improvement plan, carry out more detailed work to understand the provider and commissioning landscape, and capture examples from local health systems in England, which are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services, to ensure best practice is captured and shared across the system.


Written Question
Brain: Tumours
Monday 4th November 2024

Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of recent trends in the amount of time it takes to diagnose brain tumours in (a) children and (b) young adults on long-term health outcomes; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a brain tumour strategy to help improve (i) the coordination of approaches to funding research, (ii) treatment pathways and (iii) support services for people affected by brain tumours.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department recognises that children and young adults with brain cancer are often waiting too long for diagnosis. As part of our 10-Year Health Plan to radically reform our broken National Health Service, we will fight cancer on all fronts, from prevention to diagnosis, treatment, and research.

Brain cancer in children remains one of the hardest to treat cancers and a challenging area of research, but the Government is taking several steps to improve outcomes. In September 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) announced new research funding opportunities for brain cancer research spanning both adult and paediatric populations. This includes a national NIHR Brain Tumour Research Consortium, to ensure the most promising research opportunities are made available to adult and child patients. This also included a new funding call to generate high quality evidence in brain tumour care, support before during and after treatment, quality of life, and patient rehabilitation.

To support faster and earlier diagnosis, we will address the challenges in diagnostic waiting times, providing the number of computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and other tests that are needed to reduce cancer waits. NHS England is delivering a range of interventions to support general practices in diagnosing brain cancer earlier, for example, in April 2020, NHS England introduced the early cancer diagnosis service specification for Primary Care Networks. This is designed to support improvements in rates of early cancer diagnosis by requiring Primary Care Networks to review the quality of their practices’ referrals for suspected cancer and take steps to improve this.

We are also improving treatment and support for brain tumour patients. NHS England has worked with the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission to designate centres of excellence in the management of brain tumours, with nine centres having achieved designation. The mission has a workstream on training to expand the brain tumour treatment workforce, in collaboration with NHS bodies, royal colleges, and charities.


Written Question
Brain: Tumours
Monday 4th November 2024

Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to address the specific needs of children diagnosed with brain tumours; and whether he plans to take steps to establish a national brain tumour strategy to improve (a) early diagnosis, (b) treatment options and (c) post-treatment support.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department recognises that children and young adults with brain cancer are often waiting too long for diagnosis. As part of our 10-Year Health Plan to radically reform our broken National Health Service, we will fight cancer on all fronts, from prevention to diagnosis, treatment, and research.

Brain cancer in children remains one of the hardest to treat cancers and a challenging area of research, but the Government is taking several steps to improve outcomes. In September 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) announced new research funding opportunities for brain cancer research spanning both adult and paediatric populations. This includes a national NIHR Brain Tumour Research Consortium, to ensure the most promising research opportunities are made available to adult and child patients. This also included a new funding call to generate high quality evidence in brain tumour care, support before during and after treatment, quality of life, and patient rehabilitation.

To support faster and earlier diagnosis, we will address the challenges in diagnostic waiting times, providing the number of computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and other tests that are needed to reduce cancer waits. NHS England is delivering a range of interventions to support general practices in diagnosing brain cancer earlier, for example, in April 2020, NHS England introduced the early cancer diagnosis service specification for Primary Care Networks. This is designed to support improvements in rates of early cancer diagnosis by requiring Primary Care Networks to review the quality of their practices’ referrals for suspected cancer and take steps to improve this.

We are also improving treatment and support for brain tumour patients. NHS England has worked with the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission to designate centres of excellence in the management of brain tumours, with nine centres having achieved designation. The mission has a workstream on training to expand the brain tumour treatment workforce, in collaboration with NHS bodies, royal colleges, and charities.


Written Question
Brain: Tumours
Wednesday 30th October 2024

Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help improve outcomes for people with brain tumours; and if he will develop a brain tumour strategy to help improve (a) diagnosis, (b) treatments and (c) support from clinical nurse specialists for (i) patients and (ii) families.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department, NHS England, and the National Institute for Health Care and Research (NIHR) are taking several steps to help improve outcomes for brain tumour patients.

NHS England has worked with the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission to designate centres of excellence in the management of brain tumours, with nine centres having achieved this designation. The mission has a workstream on training to expand the brain tumour treatment workforce, with collaboration between National Health Service bodies, royal colleges, and charities.

NHS England is committed to ensuring that all cancer patients are offered Holistic Needs Assessment and Personalised Care and Support Planning, ensuring care is focused on what matters most to each person. As well as this, all patients, including those with secondary cancers, will have access to the right expertise and support, including a Clinical Nurse Specialist or other support worker.

Further to this, in September 2024, the NIHR announced new research funding opportunities for brain cancer research, spanning both adult and paediatric populations. This includes a national NIHR Brain Tumour Research Consortium, to ensure the most promising research opportunities are made available to adult and child patients, and a new funding call to generate high quality evidence in brain tumour care, support, and rehabilitation.

As part of our 10-Year Health Plan to radically reform our broken NHS, we will fight cancer on all fronts, from prevention, to diagnosis, treatment, and research.

We will get the NHS diagnosing cancer, including brain tumours, on time, diagnosing it earlier, and treating it faster, so more patients survive this horrible set of diseases, and we will improve patients’ experience across the system. To do this, we will address the challenges in diagnostic waiting times, providing the number of computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and other tests that are needed to reduce cancer waits.


Written Question
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: North Down
Tuesday 22nd October 2024

Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what can be done to address the shortage and delays obtaining ADHD medications in North Down constituency.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department monitors and manages medicine supply at a national level so that stocks remain available to meet regional and local demand. Information for the North Down constituency is a matter for the devolved government in Northern Ireland.

The Department has been working hard with industry, the devolved administrations, and NHS England to help resolve the supply issues with some attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medicines, which are affecting the United Kingdom and other countries around the world. As a result of intensive work, some issues have been resolved, and all strengths of lisdexamfetamine, atomoxetine capsules, and guanfacine prolonged-release tablets are now available.

We are continuing to work to resolve supply issues, where they remain, for methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets. We are engaging with all suppliers of methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets to assess the challenges faced and their actions to address them. We are also directing suppliers to secure additional stocks, expedite deliveries where possible, and review plans to further build capacity to support continued growth in demand for the short and long-term. We anticipate intermittent regional supply disruptions to continue, and we expect supply to improve in the UK from October 2024 onwards.

In parallel, the Department has worked with specialist clinicians, including those within the National Health Service, to develop management advice for NHS clinicians to consider prescribing available alternative brands of methylphenidate prolonged release tablets or available alternative ADHD medicines. We would expect ADHD service providers and specialists to follow our guidance, which includes offering rapid response to primary care teams seeking urgent advice or opinions for the management of patients, including those known to be at a higher risk of adverse impact because of these shortages.

To aid ADHD service providers and prescribers further we have widely disseminated our communications and continually update a list of currently available and unavailable ADHD products on the Specialist Pharmacy Service website, helping ensure that those involved in the prescribing and dispensing of ADHD medications can make informed decisions with patients.