Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure hospitals develop treatment pathways for Myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome patients at risk of starvation.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the duty of clinicians to keep themselves appraised of best practice, in particular guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). The Department is working with NHS England to develop an e-learning course on myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, for healthcare professionals, with the aim of supporting staff in providing better care and improving patient outcomes. This has involved feedback and input from the ME Research Collaborative Patient Advisory Group. The Medical Schools Council will promote the NHS England e-learning package on ME to all United Kingdom medical schools, and encourage medical schools to provide undergraduates with direct patient experience of ME. The NICE’s guidance NG206 states that people with ME should undertake a dietetic assessment by a dietitian with a special interest in ME, if they are losing weight and at risk of malnutrition.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure hospitals follow the NICE guidelines on Myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the duty of clinicians to keep themselves appraised of best practice, in particular guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). The Department is working with NHS England to develop an e-learning course on myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, for healthcare professionals, with the aim of supporting staff in providing better care and improving patient outcomes. This has involved feedback and input from the ME Research Collaborative Patient Advisory Group. The Medical Schools Council will promote the NHS England e-learning package on ME to all United Kingdom medical schools, and encourage medical schools to provide undergraduates with direct patient experience of ME. The NICE’s guidance NG206 states that people with ME should undertake a dietetic assessment by a dietitian with a special interest in ME, if they are losing weight and at risk of malnutrition.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the mental health and wellbeing of student nurses in England.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The health and wellbeing of all National Health Service staff is taken seriously, and there is a wide range of support in place to aid the health and wellbeing of NHS staff. This includes a Health and Wellbeing Guardian role to ensure board level scrutiny, and that there are tools and resources to support line managers in holding meaningful conversations with staff to discuss their emotional and psychological health and wellbeing. The support package also includes access to regional mental health and wellbeing hubs.
In 2023, NHS England published a strategy to grow occupational health and wellbeing, setting out a roadmap for the NHS and partner organisations to work together to develop and invest in occupational health and wellbeing services for staff over the next five years. To ensure there is a long term sustainable approach to supporting staff, the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan has tasked integrated care boards with developing and implementing plans to invest in occupational health and wellbeing services.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to The Hughes Report, published on 7 February 2024, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing interim payments to victims of sodium valproate.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government commissioned the Patient Safety Commissioner (PSC) to produce a report on redress for those affected by sodium valproate and pelvic mesh. We are grateful to the PSC and her team for completing this report and our sympathies remain with those affected by sodium valproate and pelvic mesh. The Government is now carefully considering the PSC’s recommendations and will respond substantively in due course.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average (a) daily cost per adult held in the emergency department and (b) length of stay was in that department in the latest period for which data is available in each acute trust within the Lancashire and South Cumbria integrated care system boundary.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information is not available in the format requested. NHS England published the general and acute length of bed stay data for 2022/23, with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The length of stay in an adult intensive care unit hospital bed and an elderly care hospital bed is not collected centrally by the Department, or published by NHS England. NHS England publishes the median total time spent in accident and emergency, from arrival to admission, transfer, or discharge, and again with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The information requested on average daily costs by acute trust and integrated care system is not collected centrally by the Department.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average (a) daily cost is per adult elderly care hospital bed and (b) length of stay was in those beds in the latest period for which data is available in each acute trust within the Lancashire and South Cumbria integrated care system boundary.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information is not available in the format requested. NHS England published the general and acute length of bed stay data for 2022/23, with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The length of stay in an adult intensive care unit hospital bed and an elderly care hospital bed is not collected centrally by the Department, or published by NHS England. NHS England publishes the median total time spent in accident and emergency, from arrival to admission, transfer, or discharge, and again with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The information requested on average daily costs by acute trust and integrated care system is not collected centrally by the Department.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average (a) daily cost is for an adult intensive care unit hospital bed and (b) length of stay was in those beds in the latest period for which data is available in each acute trust within the Lancashire and South Cumbria integrated care system boundary.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information is not available in the format requested. NHS England published the general and acute length of bed stay data for 2022/23, with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The length of stay in an adult intensive care unit hospital bed and an elderly care hospital bed is not collected centrally by the Department, or published by NHS England. NHS England publishes the median total time spent in accident and emergency, from arrival to admission, transfer, or discharge, and again with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The information requested on average daily costs by acute trust and integrated care system is not collected centrally by the Department.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average (a) cost per adult and (b) length of stay was for an acute hospital bed day in each acute trust within the Lancashire and South Cumbria integrated care system in the 2022-2023 financial year.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information is not available in the format requested. NHS England published the general and acute length of bed stay data for 2022/23, with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The length of stay in an adult intensive care unit hospital bed and an elderly care hospital bed is not collected centrally by the Department, or published by NHS England. NHS England publishes the median total time spent in accident and emergency, from arrival to admission, transfer, or discharge, and again with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The information requested on average daily costs by acute trust and integrated care system is not collected centrally by the Department.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average (a) cost per adult and (b) length of stay was for an acute hospital bed day in the Lancashire and South Cumbria integrated care system in the 2022-2023 financial year.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information is not available in the format requested. NHS England published the general and acute length of bed stay data for 2022/23, with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The length of stay in an adult intensive care unit hospital bed and an elderly care hospital bed is not collected centrally by the Department, or published by NHS England. NHS England publishes the median total time spent in accident and emergency, from arrival to admission, transfer, or discharge, and again with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The information requested on average daily costs by acute trust and integrated care system is not collected centrally by the Department.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether postural tachycardia syndrome is a rare disease as defined in the UK Rare Diseases Framework.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Rare Diseases Framework defines rare diseases as having a prevalence of lower than one in 2000 people. Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (PoTS) UK has estimated the prevalence of PoTS to be 0.2%, or four in 2000 people, which is higher than the definition of a rare disease under the framework.
The Government recognises the significant impact that PoTS symptoms can have on an individual’s life, and is committed to ensuring those with PoTS have timely access to a diagnosis and appropriate treatment and services.