Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
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 improve care for people with migraines.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guideline, Headaches: Diagnosis and management of headaches in young people and adults, updated in December 2021, sets out best practice for healthcare professionals in the care, treatment, and support of people who suffer from headaches, including migraines. It aims to improve the recognition and management of headaches and migraines.
At the national level, there are a number of initiatives supporting service improvement and better care for patients with migraines, including the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Programme for Neurology and the RightCare Headache and Migraine Toolkit. The GIRFT Programme published a National Speciality Report, which makes several recommendations in relation to improving the recognition and diagnosis of migraines by general practitioners. Additionally, the RightCare Headache and Migraine Toolkit sets out key priorities for improving care for patients with migraines, which includes correct identification and diagnosis of headache disorders.
The Royal College of General Practitioners has developed two e-learning modules about migraines and cluster headaches, which aim to raise awareness amongst primary care clinicians about the different types of migraines and their associated symptoms, and how to differentiate.
Over the last four years, a new class of drugs, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) inhibitors, has been made available on the National Health Service for the prevention and treatment of episodic and chronic migraines. On 15 May 2024, Atogepant became the latest CGRP inhibitor for which the NICE has published guidance. The NICE recommended Atogepant for use as a preventive medication for the treatment of migraines on the NHS in England.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
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 increase uptake of early screening interventions for chronic kidney disease.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is working to detect people at risk of kidney disease through the NHS Health Check Programme. The programme, which is available for everyone between the ages of 40 and 74 years old who are not already on a chronic disease register, assesses people’s health and risk of developing certain health problems. Using this information, patients are supported to make behavioural changes and access treatment which helps to prevent and detect kidney disease earlier.
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) reviewed chronic kidney disease (CKD) and glomerulonephritis in 2011, concluding that a population-wide screening programme would not be recommended. The UK NSC has not looked at the evidence for a targeted programme. The UK NSC can be alerted to any new published peer-reviewed evidence which may suggest the case for a new screening programme. Further information is available at the following link:
The National Health Service provides access to tests and therapies to diagnose, code, and treat patients with early-stage CKD. NHS England, through the Renal Services Transformation Programme and regional renal networks, is implementing initiatives to provide better integrated care, reduce health inequalities, and focus on prevention and timely intervention for kidney disease. Regional renal clinical networks prioritise CKD diagnosis and prevention within their transformation ambitions, facilitating earlier treatment. This includes considerations to develop a unified approach to testing populations at risk of developing CKD, and includes raising awareness of diagnostic tools like urine albumin creatinine tests, enabling CKD diagnosis at stages 1 and 2. NHS England aims to improve awareness and access to these important urine and blood tests across primary and secondary care. In addition, the transformation programme launched a renal toolkit earlier last year, for use by systems, that outlines the principles to support better management of patients identified with CKD throughout their patient journey.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidance, Chronic kidney disease: Assessment and management [NG203], updated in November 2021, sets out best practice for clinicians in the diagnosis and management of CKD. The guidance covers the care and treatment of patients at risk of CKD. It includes recommendations on the monitoring of patients at risk of CKD and aims to prevent or delay the progression of the disease. The guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng203
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
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 ensure that patient (a) experience and (b) voice is reflected in the NHS 10-year plan.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As the Government works to fix the National Health Service, the public must begin to feel the difference in their daily lives. That is why, as part of the engagement exercise to support the development of the 10-Year Health Plan, there will be lots of easy ways for the public to express their views, with face-to-face events in every region, local conversations, and an online portal.
Working with Thinks Insight, integrated care systems, and the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector, we will seek to reach demographics and communities who may experience barriers to being involved.
This will be the biggest conversation in the NHS’s history. We want to hear from a wide range of individuals, including the experiences of patients, carers, and health and care workers. We have ambitious plans to engage across the country, and want as many people as possible to share their views.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
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 adequacy of the availability of medication for Parkinson's disease produced by Teva Pharmaceuticals.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Teva Pharmaceuticals supply a range of medicines to treat Parkinson’s disease. We are not aware of any issues with Teva Pharmaceuticals’ supply of these medicines. Teva Pharmaceuticals discontinued amantadine 100 milligram capsules in July 2024, however alternative suppliers remain in stock, and are able to meet patient demand.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to increase access to NHS dentistry in rural areas.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are aware of the challenges faced when accessing a dentist, particularly in more rural and coastal areas. The Government plans to tackle the challenges patients face when trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
From 1 April 2023, the responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards across England.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
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 improve healthcare (a) access and (b) outcomes in rural communities.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has asked distinguished surgeon Professor Lord Darzi to investigate the problems that are affecting the National Health Service. The Government will then begin work on an ambitious programme of action, a 10-year plan to put the NHS back on its feet. That includes the NHS in our rural and coastal areas, as well as the NHS in urban areas.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
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 increase dementia diagnosis rates.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The recovery of the dementia diagnosis rate to the national ambition of 66.7% is included in the National Health Service’s priorities and operational planning guidance for 2024/25. This provides clear direction for the integrated care boards (ICBs) to support delivery of timely diagnoses.
The latest dementia diagnosis rate reported by NHS England for the end of June 2024 was 65%. Timely diagnosis of dementia is vital to ensuring that a person with dementia in any local area can access the advice, information, care, and support that can help them to live well with the condition, and remain independent for as long as possible.
To support recovery of the dementia diagnosis rates and implementation of the Dementia Care Pathway, NHS England has funded an evidence-based improvement project for two trusts in each region, 14 sites in total, to pilot tools to improve the diagnosis of dementia and the provision of support in care homes.
Additionally, the Dementia Intelligence Network was commissioned to develop a resource for local health systems to support investigation of the underlying variation in dementia diagnosis rates. This work aims to provide context for variation and enable targeted investigation and provision of support at a local level to enhance diagnosis rates.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to improve mental health provision for farmers.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
People across the country are not getting the mental health support they need, which is why the Government will fix the broken system to ensure we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health. This should help people in rural areas, including farmers, to be confident in accessing high quality mental health support when they need it.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS England Children's Hospice Grant will be continued beyond 2023-24.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
NHS England determines the best use of its financial settlement to deliver services. Funding arrangements for children’s hospices beyond 2023/24 have not yet been agreed. Palliative and end of life care is commissioned locally by integrated care boards in response to the needs of their local population.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of public pension rules on early retirement rates of health professionals from the NHS.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department announced in 'Our plan for patients' intentions to implement new retirement flexibilities to support our most experienced doctors and nurses to stay in the workforce longer and change pension scheme rules to make it easier and more attractive for retired staff to return to service. A consultation on detailed proposals has been published on the 5th of December. This is expected to propose a new partial retirement flexibility and allowing retired staff to build up more pension when returning to service. It will also propose the permanent removal of the 16-hour rule that limited the amount of work retired staff could do in the first month upon returning to service.
In addition, the Department has extended until 31 March 2025 the suspension of pension abatement for nurses and other staff who claimed their pension early using special class retirement rights. This means they can contribute additional hours without affecting their pension. We are also working with NHS England to encourage NHS Trusts to explore local solutions for senior clinicians affected by pension tax charges, including the option of employer pension contribution recycling.