Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
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 level of funding for hospices in Cornwall.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supporting commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.
Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at end of life and their loved ones.
Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services. The amount of funding charitable hospices receive varies by ICB area, and will, in part, be dependent on the breadth of a range of palliative and end of life care provision within their ICB footprint.
We will continue to proactively engage with our stakeholders, including the voluntary sector and independent hospices, on an ongoing basis, in order to understand the issues they face.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
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 awareness of (a) prostate cancer risk factors and (b) eligibility for PSA testing of patients aged 50 and above in (i) Cornwall and (ii) England.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is taking steps to raise awareness of prostate cancer, where there are opportunities to do so. For example, NHS England partners with Cancer Alliances, charities, and local representatives to reach people through projects in the heart of their communities. Cancer Alliances have also been undertaking action to alert at risk groups about prostate cancer, which is determined at a local level and so will vary depending on local needs and priorities.
On 8 January 2024, NHS England also relaunched the Help Us Help You campaign for cancer, designed to increase earlier diagnosis of cancer by reducing barriers to seeking earlier help, as well as increasing body vigilance and knowledge of key red flag symptoms.
Routine Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) testing is not offered on the National Health Service, although men aged 50 years old or over can ask their general practitioner for a PSA test, even if they do not have symptoms. This applies to anyone aged 50 years old or over with a prostate, in any part of England.
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) does not currently recommend screening for prostate cancer, as the PSA test does not meet the required accuracy for use in a national screening programme. Current methods offer insufficient benefits in relation to harms caused by overdiagnosis, such as invasive investigative procedures and unnecessary treatment, to warrant roll out as an organised screening programme. The UK NSC is due to review prostate cancer again in 2024, and will consider new evidence published since the last review.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people waited over six months to access Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services support in Cornwall in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of referrals for those aged 17 years old and under at the time of referral to mental health services in the Cornwall local authority, for each of the last five years:
Reporting Period | Number of new referrals | Number of new referrals that received a first contact (contact can occur at any point within the referral) | Number of referrals starting in the year that subsequently received a first contact over 6 months from the referral request date |
2019/20 | 6,301 | 3,414 | 378 |
2020/21 | 6,592 | 3,691 | 292 |
2021/22 | 8,294 | 4,806 | 533 |
2022/23 | 10,497 | 4,851 | 224 |
2023/24 | 13,646 | 6,330 | 50 |
Source: Mental Health Services Dataset
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many referrals have been accepted by Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Cornwall in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of referrals for those aged 17 years old and under at the time of referral to mental health services in the Cornwall local authority, for each of the last five years:
Reporting Period | Number of new referrals | Number of new referrals that received a first contact (contact can occur at any point within the referral) | Number of referrals starting in the year that subsequently received a first contact over 6 months from the referral request date |
2019/20 | 6,301 | 3,414 | 378 |
2020/21 | 6,592 | 3,691 | 292 |
2021/22 | 8,294 | 4,806 | 533 |
2022/23 | 10,497 | 4,851 | 224 |
2023/24 | 13,646 | 6,330 | 50 |
Source: Mental Health Services Dataset
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
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 reduce waiting times for GP appointments in North Cornwall constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government knows that patients are finding it harder than ever to access general practices (GPs) and is committed to fixing the crisis in GPs to secure the long-term sustainability of the National Health Service. North Cornwall sits within the NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board, where the percentage of appointments delivered within two weeks of booking is 9% lower than the national average.
Our plan to restore GPs will require both investment and reform. We have committed to training thousands more GPs, ending the 8:00am scramble for appointments by introducing a modern booking system, and trialing new neighborhood health centers to bring community health services together under one roof. Furthermore, the Government will also bring back the family doctor by incentivising GPs to see the same patient.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of open dentistry practices in North Cornwall constituency accepting adult NHS patients (a) on the most recent date for which figures are available and (b) in the last 5 years for which figures are available.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
While the data requested is not available for the last five years, as of 10 July 2024, there were 11 open dentistry practices in the North Cornwall constituency, none of which were showing as accepting new adult patients. This data is sourced from the Find a Dentist website, and is matched to constituencies based on the postcode data shown on the website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
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 reduce ambulance waiting times in (a) North Cornwall constituency and (b) the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust area.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has committed to supporting the National Health Service to improve ambulance response times and achieve the standards set out in the NHS Constitution. In doing so we will be honest about the challenges facing the health service, and serious about tackling them.
As a first step, my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has appointed the Professor Lord Darzi to lead an independent investigation of NHS performance, which will report in September 2024.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
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 expand community pharmacy provision in (a) Bodmin and (b) North Cornwall.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system. We are committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and to better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, including by cutting red tape. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists.
Local Authorities are required to publish Pharmaceutical Needs Assessments every three years to assess the need for pharmaceutical services in their area. Intergrated care boards are required to consider these assessments when commissioning services to meet their population’s need.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
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 reduce waiting times at accident and emergency departments in (a) Royal Cornwall Hospital Treliske, (b) Derriford Hospital and (c) North Devon District Hospital.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to supporting the National Health Service to reduce accident and emergency (A&E) waiting times and achieve the standards set out in the NHS Constitution. In doing so, we will be honest about the challenges facing the health service and serious about tackling them.
As a first step, my rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has appointed Lord Darzi to lead an independent investigation of NHS performance. This will report in September 2024.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many full-time equivalent GPs were working in North Cornwall constituency in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has committed to training thousands more general practitioners (GPs) across the country, to take the pressure off those currently working in the system, and NHS England has made a number of recruitment and retention schemes available to GPs. In addition, the Government will bring back the family doctor, incentivising GPs to see the same patient, so that ongoing or complex conditions are dealt with effectively.
NHS England is working with practices in North Cornwall to create greater sustainability and offers a GP retainer scheme, which provides support to those returning to GP work. Practices are also supported with access to the primary care training hub which provides recruitment, development, and retention programmes, a general practice staff bank for Cornwall practices which helps provide short term locum support, and relocation funding that, following a successful application, can assist with recruiting for hard-to-fill roles.
In May 2024, the latest period for which data is available, there were 60.2 full time equivalent (FTE) doctors in GPs in the North Cornwall constituency, and an average of 5.8 FTE doctors in GPs per 10,000 registered patients.