Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what resources she is allocating to Integrated Care Boards to help them achieve an increase in the number of NHS dental appointments.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients 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. We have also introduced the Golden Hello scheme which will see up to 240 dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in areas that need them most for three years. 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.
NHS England is responsible for issuing guidance to integrated care boards on dental budgets, including ringfences. NHS England will publish planning guidance for 2025/26 in due course.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
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 HPV vaccination uptake amongst school-aged boys.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service Commissioned School Aged Immunisation Service providers have robust catch-up plans in place for the adolescent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme based on population need.
The UK Health Security Agency works closely with charities and academics to develop resources that can be used to raise awareness of HPV and the importance of vaccination, including for boys.
NHS England has improved digital communications on vaccinations, including expanding the NHS app, and has improved access to the HPV vaccine outside of schools through community clinics at convenient times and locations.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
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 contracts made between the NHS and private providers aren't acquired by private equity companies.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In accordance with the NHS Provider Selection Regime, contracts for National Health Service-funded healthcare services may be awarded to NHS trusts or foundation trusts and to non-NHS providers from the private and voluntary sectors. It is possible for a private organisation, that holds such a contract to deliver services to the NHS, to be acquired by a private equity company. In such circumstances, the NHS commissioning organisation, either an integrated care board or NHS England, which holds the contract must be notified of the change of control. In all cases, organisations delivering NHS services must deliver the requirements of the contract, and failure to do so may result in sanctions or even contract termination. More information on the selection regime is available at the following link:
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of unpaid carers in Frome and East Somerset constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 2021 Census found that there are approximately 4.7 million people in England who said they provided unpaid care. In the Frome and East Somerset constituency, the Census data showed that there were 7,900 people who said they provided unpaid care.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
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 the length of time between diagnosis and the start of radiotherapy treatment.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We will get the National Health Service diagnosing cancer on time, diagnosing it earlier, and treating it faster, and we will improve patients’ experience across the system.
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.
Improving 62-day performance and early diagnosis are already key priorities for NHS England. Lord Darzi’s report will inform our ten-year plan to reform the NHS, which include further details on how we will improve cancer diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) average and (b) longest waiting time was to access children and adolescent mental health services in Somerset in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information regarding what the average and longest waiting times were to access children and adolescent mental health services in Somerset is shown in the attached table.
This report provides data on the number of referrals for children and young people waiting and entering treatment for mental health services along with median and 90th percentile waits.
The data provided covers the reporting period 1 January 2024 to 31 March 2024 and has been grouped at national level and at integrated care board (ICB) level for ICBs which cover Somerset. The data at ICB level has been rounded and suppressed in accordance with Mental Health Services Dataset suppression rules. NHS England have no published data for a comparable date prior to 2023/24.
Asked by: Anna Sabine (Liberal Democrat - Frome and East Somerset)
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 insulin stocks in pharmacies in Somerset.
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. No assessment has been made, as information on stock levels within individual pharmacies is not held centrally. Local demand is managed by individual pharmacies.
We are aware of supply issues with Tresiba FlexTouch 100 units per millilitre pre-filled pens and Fiasp FlexTouch 100 units per millilitre pre-filled pens. The Department continues to work with the respective manufacturers to help resolve the supply issues. We have issued communications to National Health Service healthcare professionals, providing comprehensive management guidance, advice, and information, to allow them to support their patients. These supply issues do not only affect the United Kingdom, and we have a range of well-established processes to manage them when they do occur.