Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
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 6 May 2025 to Question 46236 on NHS: Contracts, what assessment he has made of the number of staff working in the NHS for non-NHS providers (a) nationally and (b) in the Bristol Central constituency area.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Neither the Department nor NHS England hold data on the number of staff working in the National Health Service for non-NHS providers.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy for contracts awarded to non-NHS providers to require those providers to provide pay and conditions on NHS Agenda for Change terms for staff that deliver such services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 allow for terms and conditions of service to be protected or frozen as they stand on the date of transfer to a non-National Health Service employer. This may also cover any pre-agreed contractual future entitlements if a deal is negotiated and agreed prior to the date of transfer.
However, this does not cover any future changes to NHS terms and conditions of service which may be negotiated under the collective bargaining process after the date of transfer, and where the employer receiving transferred staff is not a participant to the collective bargaining process. This includes annual pay increases under Agenda for Change. We would encourage employees to raise any issues relating to their terms and conditions directly with their employing organisation and/or trade union representative.
The Department and NHS England would expect any proposal to outsource work contracts such as the provision of facilities management services to be supported by a business case which, pursuant to the Government’s public interest test, should clearly demonstrate that the service is delivered in a way that improves quality, ensures greater stability and longer-term investment in the workforce; and delivers better value for money as part of the broader commitments on procurement, as set out in the ‘Make Work Pay’ programme. More information on the program is available at the following link:
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his plans to provide mental health professionals in schools include access to children and young people’s counsellors trained to Level 4 Diploma of Higher Education in counselling with clinical experience of working with children and young people.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that waits for mental health services are far too long, including for children and young people.
That is why we will recruit 8,500 additional mental health workers across children and adult mental health services, and introduce a specialist mental health professional in every school
We are not considering counsellors trained to Level 4 Diploma of Higher Education in counselling for these roles, however children and young people can be referred to higher qualified professionals if needs identified.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution by the Minister for Secondary Care of 19 November 2024, Official Report, column 146, whether she has sought commitments from the suppliers of medicines; and what the remaining issues are.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Following on from my answer to the question raised at health oral topical questions by the Hon. Member of Parliament for Gravesham, Dr Lauren Sullivan about the shortages of medications for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), I would like to confirm that the Department has been working hard with industry and NHS England to help resolve supply issues with some ADHD medicines, which are affecting the United Kingdom and other countries around the world. As a result of intensive work, some issues have been resolved and all strengths of lisdexamfetamine, atomoxetine capsules, and guanfacine prolonged-release tablets are now available.
We are continuing to work to resolve supply issues, where they remain, for methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets. We are engaging with all suppliers of methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets to assess the challenges faced and their actions to address them. We are also directing suppliers to secure additional stocks, expedite deliveries where possible, and review plans to further build capacity to support continued growth in demand for the short and long-term. We expect the supply to improve in the UK throughout the rest of 2024. However, we anticipate supply to be limited for some strengths and we continue to work with all suppliers to ensure the remaining issues are resolved as soon as possible. To improve supply chain resiliency, we are also working with prospective new suppliers of methylphenidate prolonged-release tablets to expand the UK supplier base.
We are supporting an ADHD taskforce that NHS England is establishing to examine ADHD service provision. The taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the National Health Service, education, and justice, to help provide a joined-up approach in response to concerns around rising demand. In collaboration with NHS England’s national ADHD data improvement plan, we plan to combine modelling for future growth forecasts, which will be shared with industry to improve demand forecasting for ADHD medicines.
To minimise the impact of the shortages on patients, the Department has worked with specialist clinicians, including those within the NHS, to develop management advice for NHS clinicians to consider prescribing available alternative brands of methylphenidate prolonged release tablets or available alternative ADHD medicines. We would expect ADHD service providers and specialists to follow our guidance, which includes offering rapid response to primary care teams seeking urgent advice or opinion for the management of patients, including those known to be at a higher risk of adverse impact because of these shortages.
To aid ADHD service providers and prescribers further we have widely disseminated our communications, and continually update a list of currently available and unavailable ADHD products on the Specialist Pharmacy Service website, helping ensure that those involved in the prescribing and dispensing of ADHD medications can make informed decisions with patients.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
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 17 October 2024 to Question 8297 on Prisons: Food and Prescription Drugs, what steps he is taking to monitor the adequacy of (a) suicide prevention provision, (b) palliative care, (c) medical emergency care and (d) mental health care in prisons; and whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of those steps.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England, via the regional health and justice teams, has regular meetings with prison healthcare providers to ensure the quality of the services that are provided. These are also supplemented with local partnership boards where governors, commissioners, and providers meet to discuss any issues, risks, and areas of concern. This could include the number of prisoners who are currently under an Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork approach where there is a risk of self-harm, and the overall healthcare provision, including any issues around enablement.
The Dying Well in Custody Framework and supporting self-assessment framework describes a set of national standards for local adoption, and provides a tool for a local multi-disciplinary approach to providing agreed standards of palliative and end of life care to people in prison.
Asked by: Carla Denyer (Green Party - Bristol Central)
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 29 July 2024 to Question 92 on Gender Dysphoria: Children, what his planned timetable is for (a) the study team to finalise their application for funding and (b) this application to be assessed by an independent scientific review study.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
A study into the potential benefits and harms of puberty suppressing hormones as one of the treatment options for children and young people with gender incongruence is being developed through a joint programme between NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the research arm of the Department. The research will be co-sponsored by King’s College London and the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. The study team has submitted its research application, and this is currently undergoing scientific review. In August, NHS England stated that the study protocol should be complete by December 2024 and, subject to academic approval, recruitment to the trial would commence in early 2025. Subject to the study achieving the necessary approvals, the NIHR will publish details of the award, including the planned trial duration and study completion date, on its website.