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 plans his Department has to decrease the waiting times for diagnosis of (a) autism and (b) other (i) neurological and (ii) developmental disorders.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICBs) in England to make available the appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people and adults referred to an autism assessment service. In 2024/25, £4.3 million is available nationally to improve services for autistic children and young people, including autism assessment services.
In respect of ADHD, we are supporting a cross-sector taskforce that NHS England has established to look at ADHD service provision and support across sectors, and their impact on patient experience. The taskforce is bringing together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, including timely access to services and support. The ADHD taskforce will also work closely with the Department for Education’s neurodivergence task and finish group.
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, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the average waiting time for an autism diagnosis in Cornwall.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including autism assessments and diagnosis, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people, and adults referred to an autism assessment service. In 2024/25, £4.3 million is available nationally to improve services for autistic children and young people, including autism assessment services.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 23 July 2024 to Question 244 on Dental Services: North Cornwall, how many dentists accept NHS patients in North Cornwall constituency; and what progress he has made on (a) providing additional dental care appointments and (b) setting up an innovative access pilot project in Cornwall.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As of 29 November 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
We are working to ensure that patients can start to access the 700,000 additional urgent dental appointments as soon as possible, targeting the areas that need them most.
The responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly ICB recently approved the Primary Care Strategy at its November meeting. This included information on work to improve dental access, such as the Lostwithiel Pilot Programme. This programme is a collaboration between the National Health Service and a Lostwithiel dental surgery, enabling children and the most vulnerable patients to access an NHS dentist. This pilot aimed to address unmet dental health needs by targeting priority groups and reducing waiting list backlogs.
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, whether his Department provides financial support to Cornwall Air Ambulance; and if will he will take steps to mitigate the potential impact of proposed changes to employer National Insurance Contributions on that service.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department and NHS England do not directly fund air ambulances, which are operated by independent charities.
The Government has protected the smallest businesses and charities from the impact of the increase to employer National Insurance, by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500, which means that 865,000 employers will pay no National Insurance contributions (NICs) at all next year, more than half of employers will see no change or will gain overall from this package, and all eligible employers will be able to employ up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage and pay no employer NICs.
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