Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
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 access to mental health services in (a) Mid Cheshire constituency, (b) Cheshire and (c) England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board is responsible for providing health and care services to meet the needs of the people of Mid Cheshire constituency and Cheshire, taking into account local considerations.
Nationally, we recognise that many people with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they need, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure that mental health is given the same attention and focus as physical health, so that people can be confident in accessing high quality mental health support when they need it. We will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to reduce delays and provide faster treatment which will also help ease pressure on hospitals. By cutting mental health waiting lists and intervening earlier with more timely mental health support, we can get this country back to good health.
We will also ensure every young person has access to a mental health professional at school, and set up Young Futures hubs in every community, offering open access mental health services for young people.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the average waiting time for mental health treatment in (a) Mid Cheshire constituency, (b) Cheshire and (c) England in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows both the mean and median average waiting times, measured in days, for mental health treatment for adults in the Cheshire East local authority, for the last five years:
Waiting time between referral and second contact for adults in the Cheshire East local authority | |||
Year in which contact occurred | Number of adult referrals with a second contact in the year | Mean average waiting time | Median average waiting time |
2019/20 | 5,262 | 148.8 | 51 |
2020/21 | 5,986 | 122.2 | 34 |
2021/22 | 4,285 | 156.3 | 43.5 |
2022/23 | 3,005 | 234.3 | 69 |
2023/24 | 5,165 | 206.4 | 51 |
Similarly, the following table shows both the mean and median average waiting times, measured in days, for mental health treatment for children and young people aged under 18 years old in the Cheshire East local authority, for the last five years:
Waiting time between referral and first contact for children and young people aged under 18 years old in the Cheshire East local authority | |||
Year in which contact occurred | Number of child referrals with a first contact in the year | Mean average waiting time | Median average waiting time |
2019/20 | 3,244 | 133.5 | 28 |
2020/21 | 2,854 | 71.1 | 17 |
2021/22 | 2,810 | 139.6 | 27 |
2022/23 | 3,615 | 197.1 | 46 |
2023/24 | 4,145 | 104.3 | 30 |
The following table shows both the mean and median average waiting times, measured in days, for mental health treatment for adults in the Cheshire East and Cheshire West, and Chester local authorities combined, for the last five years:
Waiting time between referral and second contact for adults for the Cheshire East and Cheshire West, and Chester local authorities combined | |||
Year in which contact occurred | Number of adult referrals with a second contact in the year | Mean average waiting time | Median average waiting time |
2019/20 | 10,328 | 132.9 | 47 |
2020/21 | 10,474 | 115.6 | 27 |
2021/22 | 7,645 | 164.8 | 48 |
2022/23 | 6,210 | 218.1 | 56 |
2023/24 | 10,005 | 157.9 | 34 |
In addition, the following table shows both the mean and median average waiting times, measured in days, for mental health treatment for children and young people aged under 18 years old in the Cheshire East and Cheshire West, and Chester local authorities combined, for the last five years:
Waiting time between referral and first contact for children and young people aged under 18 years old for Cheshire East, and Cheshire West and Chester local authorities combined | |||
Year in which contact occurred | Number of child referrals with a first contact in the year | Mean average waiting time | Median average waiting time |
2019/20 | 5,300 | 106.0 | 27 |
2020/21 | 4,732 | 63.1 | 14.5 |
2021/22 | 4,510 | 133.2 | 26 |
2022/23 | 5,715 | 172.9 | 44 |
2023/24 | 7,310 | 83.3 | 30 |
The following table shows both the mean and median average waiting times, measured in days, for mental health treatment for adults in England, for the last five years:
Waiting time between referral and second contact for adults in England | |||
Year in which contact occurred | Number of adult referrals with a second contact in the year | Mean average waiting time | Median average waiting time |
2019/20 | 1,137,746 | 82.1 | 20 |
2020/21 | 1,139,423 | 69.7 | 13 |
2021/22 | 1,188,529 | 63.6 | 15 |
2022/23 | 1,176,748 | 68.2 | 19 |
2023/24 | 1,289,417 | 72.3 | 20 |
Finally, the following table shows both the mean and median average waiting times, measured in days, for mental health treatment for children and young people aged under 18 years old in England, for the last five years:
Waiting time between referral and first contact for children and young people aged under 18 years old in England | |||
Year in which contact occurred | Number of child referrals with a first contact in the year | Mean average waiting time | Median average waiting time |
2019/20 | 567,236 | 81.6 | 13 |
2020/21 | 568,703 | 75.3 | 7 |
2021/22 | 652,869 | 65.0 | 11 |
2022/23 | 674,702 | 69.7 | 13 |
2023/24 | 744,506 | 75.4 | 14 |
Source: Mental Health Services Dataset (MHSDS), NHS England
Notes:
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
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 reduce waiting times for NHS treatment in (a) Mid Cheshire constituency, (b) Cheshire and (c) England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission and a top priority for the Government, as we get the National Health Service back on its feet. This means making sure that patients are seen on time and ensuring that people have the best possible experience during their care.
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has now announced new investment to support this. Funding has been provided to support the delivery of our commitment to an extra 40,000 NHS operations, scans, and appointments per week. A £1.5 billion capital investment has also been announced towards new surgical hubs and scanners, alongside £70 million for new radiotherapy machines. We will be supporting NHS trusts to deliver more activity through innovation, sharing best practice to increase productivity and efficiency, and ensuring the best value is delivered.
We are transforming diagnostics to cut long waits through the Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs). In Cheshire there are four CDCs currently delivering much needed diagnostic activity, specifically: the Congleton War Memorial CDC; the Shopping City CDC; the Warrington and Halton CDC; and the CDC at Victoria Infirmary Northwich, located within the Mid-cheshire constituency, which has been delivering activity since October 2021.
Dedicated and protected surgical hubs are transforming the way the NHS providers elective care by focusing on high volume low complexity surgeries. Across England, there are currently 110 operational surgical hubs as of September 2024. In Cheshire, a new surgical hub is due to open in April 2025, the Cheshire and Merseyside Surgical Centre, and will provide services to patients across Cheshire and Merseyside.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) financial and (b) other steps his Department is taking to support the work of Air Ambulance charities.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and the National Health Service continue to support the work of air ambulance charities, including through NHS ambulance trusts’ provision of key clinical staff and medical equipment, which supports the operation of air ambulances.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
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 the number of face-to-face GP appointments in Mid Cheshire constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that patients are finding it harder than ever to see a general practitioner (GP). Patients can’t get through the front door of the National Health Service, so they aren’t getting the timely care they need.
Mid-Cheshire sits within the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board, where 62.8% of appointments were face-to-face in June 2024. Compared to August 2023, where 66.2% of appointments were face-to-face, appointments delivered face-to-face are down by 3.4%.
We have pledged to guarantee a face-to-face appointment for all those who want one. We will make sure the future of GPs is sustainable by training thousands more GPs, ensuring increased capacity across the NHS to deliver this commitment and secure a future pipeline of GPs.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
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 waiting times for cancer treatment in (a) Mid Cheshire constituency, (b) Cheshire and (c) England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving cancer survival rates and hitting all National Health Service cancer waiting time targets within five years, so that no patient waits longer than they should.
NHS England and the integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning and ensuring the healthcare needs of local communities in England are met, including for cancer patients. The Department is working with NHS England to deliver interventions to improve outcomes for those with cancer across England, including in Cheshire.
The NHS will maximise the pace of the roll-out of additional diagnostic capacity, delivering the final year of the three-year investment plan for establishing Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) and ensuring timely implementation of new CDC locations and upgrades to existing CDCs, with capacity prioritised for cancer diagnostics.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
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 research into treatments for pancreatic cancer; and how much funding his Department has allocated to pancreatic cancer research in each of the last 14 years.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Research is crucial in tackling cancer. The Department spends £1.5 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), with cancer the largest area of spend at more than £121.8 million in 2022/23. NIHR spends more on cancer than any other disease group, reflecting its high priority.
NIHR have committed more than £7.6 million to pancreatic directly funded cancer research, across 15 research projects, since 2010/11. The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into all cancer types. Funding applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition.
The following table shows the amount of funding allocated to pancreatic cancer research in each year since 2010/11 committed by NIHR:
Year | Total (£,000) |
2010/11 | 3,100 |
2011/12 | |
2012/13 | |
2013/14 | |
2014/15 | 66.5 |
2015/16 | 291 |
2016/17 | 66.5 |
2017/18 | 2,000 |
2018/19 | |
2019/20 | 149.5 |
2020/21 | 440.7 |
2021/22 | 544.3 |
2022/23 | 150 |
2023/24 | 839.5 |
Additionally, NIHR infrastructure funding supports the country’s leading experts to develop and deliver high-quality translational, clinical, and applied research that is funded by the NIHR’s research programmes, other public funders of research, charities and the life sciences industry. In doing so, our investment plays a crucial role in underpinning the research funded by our partners.
As part of our commitment to driving more and better research into less survivable cancers, the Government awarded £2 million to new interdisciplinary research teams tackling hard to treat cancers, via the Medical Research Council’s two-day cancer ‘sandpit’ strategic funding opportunity in 2023 focused on technological innovation for understanding cancers, including pancreatic, with the poorest survival rates.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time was for mental health treatment in (a) Mid Cheshire constituency, (b) Cheshire and (c) England in each of the last three years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
A table showing the average waiting time for mental health treatment for the Mid Cheshire constituency, Cheshire, and England for those aged over 18 years old, and another table for those aged under 18 years old, for each of the last three years, is attached.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people in (a) Mid Cheshire constituency, (b) Cheshire and (c) England who have unmet care needs; and what steps his Department is taking to help ensure those care needs are met.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authorities are responsible for assessing individuals’ care and support needs and, where eligible, for meeting those needs. Where individuals do not meet the eligibility threshold, they can get support from their local authorities in making their own arrangements for care services, as set out in the Care Act 2014.
We recognise that there are challenges in adult social care, with people needing to fight a complicated system or go without the care they need. Lord Darzi’s report indicated a growing gap between requests and those receiving publicly funded care, and the number of people receiving long term care decreased between 2015/16 and 2022/23. There is limited information on self-funders who arrange their own care.
Long-term reform is needed in adult social care. We will work with the sector to build consensus for a National Care Service, based on consistent national standards, to support people in living independent and dignified lives.
In the interim, Care Quality Commission (CQC) local authority assessments consider the performance of the delivery of the Care Act 2014 duties, including the timeliness of assessing care needs. If the CQC identifies that a local authority has failed or is failing its functions to an acceptable standard, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has powers to intervene. The CQC has published its first nine local authority ratings and reports.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) adults and (b) children in Mid Cheshire constituency who (i) are not registered with an NHS dentist and (ii) have been unable to access NHS dental treatment in each of the last five years; and what steps his Department is taking to improve access to NHS dentistry in Mid Cheshire constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Patients in England are not registered with a National Health Service dental practice, although many NHS dental practices do tend to see patients regularly. There is no geographical restriction on which practice a patient may attend, allowing patients the choice of where they would like to receive a course of treatment. Therefore, we cannot provide the number of people who are not registered with an NHS dentist.
The responsibility for commissioning primary care, including dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Mid Cheshire constituency, this is the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB.
We do not hold information on the number of adults and children unable to access NHS dental treatment, but the GP Patient Survey (GPPS) gives information on the percentage of adults who tried to get an NHS dental appointment in the last two years but were not successful in doing so. The GPPS is available at the following link:
The Government is committed to tackling the challenges for patients trying to access NHS dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and to recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and retaining NHS dentists.