Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an estimate of the average (a) distance travelled and (b) cost incurred by (i) children and (ii) young people from Scotland when attending cancer treatment in England; and what financial support is available to support people travelling cross-border.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is responsible for healthcare in England. In Scotland, health is a devolved matter. The Department has not made an assessment of the average distance travelled or the cost of travel for young cancer patients from Scotland when attending cancer treatment in England, as patient-level data on patient travel is not collected at a national level.
However, the Department recognises that the cost of travel is an important issue for many young cancer patients and their families.
In England, NHS England and the integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning and ensuring that the healthcare needs of local communities are met, including providing support for travel. The National Health Service in England runs the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS) to provide financial assistance for travel to a hospital or other NHS premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostics tests when referred by a doctor or other primary healthcare professional.
Patients who do not qualify for the HTCS and who are on a low income may be able to claim the costs from the Department for Work and Pensions through Universal Credit or Personal Independence Payment. There are also a number of United Kingdom charities who provide support, including financial support, for patients with cancer.
NHS England does not collect national patient-level data on uptake of the HTCS, therefore it is not possible to provide an estimate of how much financial support is provided annually to specific patient groups, such as children and young people with cancer and their families.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much financial support his Department provides annually to children and young people with cancer and their families travelling for treatment.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is responsible for healthcare in England. In Scotland, health is a devolved matter. The Department has not made an assessment of the average distance travelled or the cost of travel for young cancer patients from Scotland when attending cancer treatment in England, as patient-level data on patient travel is not collected at a national level.
However, the Department recognises that the cost of travel is an important issue for many young cancer patients and their families.
In England, NHS England and the integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning and ensuring that the healthcare needs of local communities are met, including providing support for travel. The National Health Service in England runs the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS) to provide financial assistance for travel to a hospital or other NHS premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostics tests when referred by a doctor or other primary healthcare professional.
Patients who do not qualify for the HTCS and who are on a low income may be able to claim the costs from the Department for Work and Pensions through Universal Credit or Personal Independence Payment. There are also a number of United Kingdom charities who provide support, including financial support, for patients with cancer.
NHS England does not collect national patient-level data on uptake of the HTCS, therefore it is not possible to provide an estimate of how much financial support is provided annually to specific patient groups, such as children and young people with cancer and their families.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
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 introduce mandatory heart screening for cardiac conditions for young people.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the United Kingdom, national screening programmes are introduced based on the recommendations of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), an independent scientific advisory committee which advises ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries on all aspects of population and targeted screening, and which supports implementation.
The UK NSC last reviewed screening for sudden cardiac death (SCD) in people under the age of 39 years old in 2019 and concluded that population screening should not be offered. Further information is available at the following link:
https://view-health-screening-recommendations.service.gov.uk/sudden-cardiac-death/
The UK NSC is currently examining the evidence for SCD screening and will open a public consultation to seek comments from members of the public and stakeholders on this in due course.