Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
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 blood cancer patients can access mental health support in (a) Enfield, Southgate constituency and (b) England.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Long Term Plan states that, where appropriate, every person diagnosed with cancer will have access to personalised care, including a needs assessment, an individual care plan and information and support for their health and wellbeing.
The National Health Service is supporting adults experiencing cancer with access to The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) mental health services, which provides evidence based psychological therapies for people with anxiety disorders and depression.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
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 potential impact of mandatory salt targets on the public's health in the context of evidence of the effectiveness of mandatory salt targets in South Africa.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Discussions with food industry representatives continue as part of the ongoing salt and wider reformulation programme. Reducing population salt intakes would reduce the risk of high blood pressure and hence cardiovascular disease. New salt reduction targets for the food industry were published in September 2020. The first report on the food industry’s progress towards achieving these targets is expected later in 2022.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
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 potential merits of reducing the population's intake of salt from 8.4 grams per day to a recommended maximum of 6 grams per day.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Discussions with food industry representatives continue as part of the ongoing salt and wider reformulation programme. Reducing population salt intakes would reduce the risk of high blood pressure and hence cardiovascular disease. New salt reduction targets for the food industry were published in September 2020. The first report on the food industry’s progress towards achieving these targets is expected later in 2022.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with representatives from the food industry on reducing the amount of salt in food products.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Discussions with food industry representatives continue as part of the ongoing salt and wider reformulation programme. Reducing population salt intakes would reduce the risk of high blood pressure and hence cardiovascular disease. New salt reduction targets for the food industry were published in September 2020. The first report on the food industry’s progress towards achieving these targets is expected later in 2022.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to reduce delays to NHS urgent appointments.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
On 8 February 2022, the Department published the ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’, which sets out how the National Health Service will recover and expand elective services over the next three years.
To reduce delays and waiting times, we have committed more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, supported by a £5.9 billion capital investment for new beds, equipment and technology. This is in addition to the £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund and £700 million Targeted Investment Fund already made available to systems this year to increase elective activity.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what additional support the Government plans to provide to assist NHS trusts in England to reduce waiting times for urgent appointments.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
On 8 February 2022, the Department published the ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’, which sets out how the National Health Service will recover and expand elective services over the next three years.
To reduce delays and waiting times, we have committed more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, supported by a £5.9 billion capital investment for new beds, equipment and technology. This is in addition to the £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund and £700 million Targeted Investment Fund already made available to systems this year to increase elective activity.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what additional support is being provided for people in Enfield Southgate constituency who are on a waiting list for treatment at North Central London CCG; and what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of using innovative medical technology to support the CCG in clearing its backlog of patients.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We have made £2 billion available through the Elective Recovery Fund which assists local systems, including those in North Central London Clinical Commissioning Group, to tackle waiting lists. In addition, we have committed £8 billion between 2022 and 2025 to transform elective services and increase activity in England. A further £5.9 billion of capital funding was announced in the 2021 Spending Review to support elective recovery, diagnostics and technology.
Trusts in North Central London CCG are using all available resources to treat patients on waiting lists as quickly as possible, while prioritising those with the most urgent health needs. This includes providing surgery seven days a week; operating additional outpatient clinics; investing in new equipment for high-volume procedures; developing clinical networks and temporary specialist surgical hubs; and the use of independent sector beds and theatres.
In addition, Chase Farm Hospital are using artificial intelligence to improve efficiency. In North Central London CCG, a community audiology-led clinic is being supported by tele-video-otology, to reduce unnecessary hospital visits and allow surgeons to focus on complex cases in their clinics. The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust is sharing its expertise in robotic process automation to improve on productivity and allowing staff to be returned to patient-centred activities.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what additional support his Department is providing to patients on waiting lists in North Central London CCG; and what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of using innovative medical technology to support the CCG is clearing its backlog of patients.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We have made £2 billion available through the Elective Recovery Fund which assists local systems, including those in North Central London Clinical Commissioning Group, to tackle waiting lists. In addition, we have committed £8 billion between 2022 and 2025 to transform elective services and increase activity in England. A further £5.9 billion of capital funding was announced in the 2021 Spending Review to support elective recovery, diagnostics and technology.
Trusts in North Central London CCG are using all available resources to treat patients on waiting lists as quickly as possible, while prioritising those with the most urgent health needs. This includes providing surgery seven days a week; operating additional outpatient clinics; investing in new equipment for high-volume procedures; developing clinical networks and temporary specialist surgical hubs; and the use of independent sector beds and theatres.
In addition, Chase Farm Hospital are using artificial intelligence to improve efficiency. In North Central London CCG, a community audiology-led clinic is being supported by tele-video-otology, to reduce unnecessary hospital visits and allow surgeons to focus on complex cases in their clinics. The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust is sharing its expertise in robotic process automation to improve on productivity and allowing staff to be returned to patient-centred activities.