Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an estimate of the potential savings to the public purse from increased levels of malnutrition (a) screening and (b) treatment.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Malnutrition is a clinical condition affecting all ages, across all communities, and in all health and care settings. Most cases of malnutrition will be secondary to another health condition, which may impact on nutritional needs or a person’s ability to eat and drink. All National Health Services are recommended to adhere to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) clinical guideline, Nutrition support for adults: oral nutrition support, enteral tube feeding and parenteral nutrition, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg32
This sets out the recommendations, based on best available evidence, of the organisation, screening, and delivery of nutritional support in hospitals and communities. This includes screening for malnutrition and the risk of malnutrition. The NICE guidelines recommend that all hospital inpatients should be screened for malnutrition on admission, as well as all outpatients at their first clinic appointment. Screening should be repeated weekly for inpatients, and when there is clinical concern for outpatients. People in care homes should be screened on admission, and when there is clinical concern.
All people who are identified as being malnourished or at risk of malnutrition should be assessed by an appropriately qualified health professional, such as a dietitian, to receive an individualised care plan in line with their individual circumstances, dietary preferences, and medical needs.
NHS England’s Nursing Directorate is leading on a review and refresh of the National Nutrition and Hydration guidance, which builds on NHS England’s previous Commissioning Excellent Nutrition and Hydration guidance 2015-2018. This previous guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/nut-hyd-guid.pdf
A National Hydration and Nutrition Advisory Board was established in June 2023, providing strategic advice, direction, and oversight across the review, codesign, and development of the policy.
There is no current estimate on the savings that could be made as a result of increasing the screening and treatment of malnutrition. However, efforts to prevent malnutrition and to treat it early could potentially reduce both the clinical and economic burden to the healthcare system. Malnourished patients spend on average 30% longer in hospital than patients who are not malnourished.
Integrated care systems, made up of local partners including the NHS, councils, the voluntary sector, and others, are responsible for planning and commissioning health services for their local population. Integrated care systems and providers will be responsible for implementation and delivery of the refreshed National Nutrition and Hydration policy.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what role he plans integrated care systems will play in addressing malnutrition across their localities.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Malnutrition is a clinical condition affecting all ages, across all communities, and in all health and care settings. Most cases of malnutrition will be secondary to another health condition, which may impact on nutritional needs or a person’s ability to eat and drink. All National Health Services are recommended to adhere to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) clinical guideline, Nutrition support for adults: oral nutrition support, enteral tube feeding and parenteral nutrition, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg32
This sets out the recommendations, based on best available evidence, of the organisation, screening, and delivery of nutritional support in hospitals and communities. This includes screening for malnutrition and the risk of malnutrition. The NICE guidelines recommend that all hospital inpatients should be screened for malnutrition on admission, as well as all outpatients at their first clinic appointment. Screening should be repeated weekly for inpatients, and when there is clinical concern for outpatients. People in care homes should be screened on admission, and when there is clinical concern.
All people who are identified as being malnourished or at risk of malnutrition should be assessed by an appropriately qualified health professional, such as a dietitian, to receive an individualised care plan in line with their individual circumstances, dietary preferences, and medical needs.
NHS England’s Nursing Directorate is leading on a review and refresh of the National Nutrition and Hydration guidance, which builds on NHS England’s previous Commissioning Excellent Nutrition and Hydration guidance 2015-2018. This previous guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/nut-hyd-guid.pdf
A National Hydration and Nutrition Advisory Board was established in June 2023, providing strategic advice, direction, and oversight across the review, codesign, and development of the policy.
There is no current estimate on the savings that could be made as a result of increasing the screening and treatment of malnutrition. However, efforts to prevent malnutrition and to treat it early could potentially reduce both the clinical and economic burden to the healthcare system. Malnourished patients spend on average 30% longer in hospital than patients who are not malnourished.
Integrated care systems, made up of local partners including the NHS, councils, the voluntary sector, and others, are responsible for planning and commissioning health services for their local population. Integrated care systems and providers will be responsible for implementation and delivery of the refreshed National Nutrition and Hydration policy.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
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 NHS patients receive appropriate (a) screening and (b) treatment for malnutrition.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Malnutrition is a clinical condition affecting all ages, across all communities, and in all health and care settings. Most cases of malnutrition will be secondary to another health condition, which may impact on nutritional needs or a person’s ability to eat and drink. All National Health Services are recommended to adhere to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) clinical guideline, Nutrition support for adults: oral nutrition support, enteral tube feeding and parenteral nutrition, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg32
This sets out the recommendations, based on best available evidence, of the organisation, screening, and delivery of nutritional support in hospitals and communities. This includes screening for malnutrition and the risk of malnutrition. The NICE guidelines recommend that all hospital inpatients should be screened for malnutrition on admission, as well as all outpatients at their first clinic appointment. Screening should be repeated weekly for inpatients, and when there is clinical concern for outpatients. People in care homes should be screened on admission, and when there is clinical concern.
All people who are identified as being malnourished or at risk of malnutrition should be assessed by an appropriately qualified health professional, such as a dietitian, to receive an individualised care plan in line with their individual circumstances, dietary preferences, and medical needs.
NHS England’s Nursing Directorate is leading on a review and refresh of the National Nutrition and Hydration guidance, which builds on NHS England’s previous Commissioning Excellent Nutrition and Hydration guidance 2015-2018. This previous guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/nut-hyd-guid.pdf
A National Hydration and Nutrition Advisory Board was established in June 2023, providing strategic advice, direction, and oversight across the review, codesign, and development of the policy.
There is no current estimate on the savings that could be made as a result of increasing the screening and treatment of malnutrition. However, efforts to prevent malnutrition and to treat it early could potentially reduce both the clinical and economic burden to the healthcare system. Malnourished patients spend on average 30% longer in hospital than patients who are not malnourished.
Integrated care systems, made up of local partners including the NHS, councils, the voluntary sector, and others, are responsible for planning and commissioning health services for their local population. Integrated care systems and providers will be responsible for implementation and delivery of the refreshed National Nutrition and Hydration policy.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress the Clinical Reference Group for allergies has made.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
NHS England’s Clinical Reference Group (CRG) provides clinical advice and leadership for both Specialised Immunology and Specialised Allergy services.
The CRG advises NHS England on the optimal arrangements for the commissioning of specialised services. This includes developing national standards in the form of service specifications and policies. The CRG commenced a review of the current published Specialist Allergy Service Specification in May 2023, which is expected to be complete by summer 2024. The outcome of the service specification review will be an updated specification which references up to date guidance and takes into account the latest evidence base to clearly define the standards of care for commissioned specialised services.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospital admissions due to anaphylaxis there have been in each year since 2000.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Data on admissions due to anaphylaxis is not available prior to 2011. The following table shows the number of admissions due to anaphylaxis between 2011/12 and 2022/23:
Year | Anaphylactic shock due to adverse food reaction | Anaphylactic shock, unspecified | Anaphylactic shock due to serum | Anaphylactic shock due to adverse effect of correct drug or medicament properly administered |
2022/23 | 1482 | 1589 | 20 | 579 |
2021/22 | 1903 | 2364 | 27 | 617 |
2020/21 | 1906 | 2406 | 37 | 565 |
2019/20 | 2134 | 2708 | 11 | 664 |
2018/19 | 2287 | 2670 | 18 | 532 |
2017/18 | 1855 | 2345 | 11 | 625 |
2016/17 | 1768 | 2324 | 16 | 679 |
2015/16 | 1711 | 2116 | 9 | 646 |
2014/15 | 1594 | 1958 | 19 | 634 |
2013/14 | 1505 | 1992 | 7 | 608 |
2012/13 | 1381 | 1764 | 12 | 590 |
2011/12 | 1258 | 1871 | 7 | 599 |
Source: NHS England
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospitals outside of those included in the New Hospital Programme have been identified to have reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete; and whether his Department plans to fund emergency mitigation works to those hospitals.
Answered by Will Quince
As of 17 October 2023, there are 42 hospital sites with confirmed reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC). Of these, seven are in the New Hospital Programme and will be fully replaced by 2030. All hospital sites with confirmed RAAC are in NHS England’s ongoing national RAAC programme. This is backed by significant additional funding of £698 million from 2021 to 2025 for trusts to put in place necessary remediation and failsafe measures. National funding is allocated annually based on National Health Service trust plans and delivery progress.
The Department has published a full list of hospitals with confirmed RAAC, which is available at the following link:
Where structural surveys identify RAAC in their estate, trusts are inducted into the national remediation programme. Each site will be different, and just because RAAC is present, it does not necessarily mean there is a high risk.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
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 implications for his policies of rises in the number of diagnoses of sexually transmitted infections.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)
We are committed to improving sexual heath in England, including tackling sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and are considering the next steps for delivering the best outcomes, but no specific assessment has been made of our policies and the increase in STIs.
Sexual health services (SHSs) play a key public health role in diagnosis, early treatment and management of STIs and we are providing more than £3.5 billion to local authorities through the public health grant to fund public health services, including SHSs, in this financial year. Individual local authorities are responsible for and well placed to make funding and commissioning decisions about the SHSs that best meet the needs of their local populations.
As part of the HIV Action Plan, we are investing over £3.5 million from 2021 to 2024 to deliver the National HIV Prevention Programme for England, including HIV Testing Week and other campaigns to improve information and testing for HIV and other STIs.
The UK Health Security Agency published a Syphilis Action Plan to address the increase in syphilis diagnosis in England, focusing on key interventions such as targeted testing, partner notification and awareness raising.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to take steps to provide funding for sexual health clinics for mpox work that was not covered by local authority tariffs.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)
No additional funding is currently planned for sexual health services in response to Mpox. Funding has been provided for antiviral medicines to treat Mpox, the procurement of the smallpox vaccine and for sexual health services to deliver this vaccine to those eligible for vaccination. There have been very few Mpox cases reported in the United Kingdom so far this year compared to the 2022 outbreak. It is likely that multiple factors, including vaccination, have contributed to the decline in transmission. We continue to work towards the goal of elimination of person-to-person Mpox transmission in the UK.
The Department is providing more than £3.5 billion this financial year to local authorities through the Public Health Grant to fund public health services, including sexual health services, increasing to £3.575 billion in 2024/25. This will provide every local authority real-terms funding protection over the next two years. Individual local authorities are responsible for and well placed to make funding and commissioning decisions about the sexual health services that best meet the needs of their local populations.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to extend the mpox vaccination programme, in the context of case numbers in London in summer 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
In December 2022, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) led the four public health bodies of the United Kingdom in publishing a joint strategy for Mpox control which is available at the following link:
This stated the ambition to work towards elimination of person-to-person Mpox transmission in the UK. The strategy made clear that vaccination was one of eight key areas of public health intervention, and that the vaccination programme would continue to be reviewed, drawing on the best available evidence, to ensure it delivers as efficiently as possible to protect those most at risk from Mpox.
The Government remain committed to delivering on this strategy. UKHSA continues to monitor the epidemiology of the Mpox outbreak very closely, including the recent, small cluster of cases in London, and are ready to scale up a response as required.
Asked by: Andy Slaughter (Labour - Hammersmith and Chiswick)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she will answer Question 61785 from the hon. Member for Hammersmith constituency as previously requested.
Answered by Will Quince
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 18 October to Question 61785.