Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
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 reduce waiting lists for NHS-funded weight loss programmes.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service provides a range of weight management services, and we recognise that waiting times for some programmes can be long. NHS England is taking steps to improve access.
Access to the NHS Digital Weight Management Programme is being doubled over the next three years, enabling an additional 125,000 people to begin behavioural weight‑loss support without referral delays.
The recent rollout of tirzepatide prescribing in primary care, supported by national guidance and behavioural support, provides another route to access obesity medicines, outside of specialist weight management services, where waiting times can be long. Due to the significant number of people who are potentially eligible for these medicines, the NHS is prioritising access to those with the highest clinical need first.
NHS England continues to work with local systems to improve capacity and test new models of care for obesity prescribing that may help manage demand and reduce waiting lists.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
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 21 September 2022 to Question 45820 on Healthy Start Scheme: North East, what proportion of eligible claimants claimed Healthy Start vouchers in (a) the North East and (b) each local authority area in the North East in (i) April 2022 and (ii) each subsequent month for which data is available.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
The Department of Health and Social Care is continuing working with the NHS Business Services Authority and the Department for Work and Pensions to obtain data on the uptake of the Healthy Start scheme.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
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 May 2022 to Question 1509, and the Answer of 14 July 2022 to Question 18900, on Healthy Start Scheme: North East, what proportion of eligible claimants claimed Healthy Start vouchers in (a) the North East and (b) each local authority area in the North East in April 2022 and each subsequent month for which data is available.
Answered by Caroline Johnson - Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care is continuing to work with the Department for Work and Pensions to obtain the relevant data as soon as possible.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
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 May 2022 to Question 1509 on Healthy Start Scheme: North East, what proportion of eligible claimants claimed Healthy Start vouchers in (a) the North East and (b) each local authority area in the North East in April 2022.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The information requested is not currently held centrally. However, the Department continues to work with the Department for Work and Pensions to obtain the relevant data as soon as possible.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of eligible claimants claimed Healthy Start vouchers in (a) the North East and (b) each local authority area in the North East in (i) 2021-22 and (ii) in April 2022.
Answered by Maggie Throup
No specific assessment has been made. The attached table shows data on the uptake of Healthy Start in each local authority area in the North East in each month in 2021/22. Data for April 2022 is not yet available.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 17 May 2021 to Question 234 on Healthy Start Scheme: North East, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the fall in the take-up rate of Healthy Start vouchers in each local authority area in the North East from 2016-17 to 2020-21; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Maggie Throup
No specific assessment has been made. The attached table shows data on the uptake of Healthy Start in each local authority area in the North East in each month in 2021/22. Data for April 2022 is not yet available.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the (a) membership and (b) minutes of the meetings of the Maternity Inequalities Oversight Forum.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
We are unable to provide the membership and minutes of the Maternity Inequalities Oversight Forum as it relates to the formulation of Government policy.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Maternity Inequalities Oversight Forum has made any recommendations to his Department.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The Maternity Inequalities Oversight Forum has not made any specific recommendations to the Department to date.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the National Institute for Health and Research's Policy Research Unit in Maternal and Neonatal Health and Care’s research into the disparities in pregnancy complications and near misses among women from different ethnic groups, what his timescale is for the publication of that research.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The research has been submitted to a journal for peer review. The publication timeline is determined by the journal.
Asked by: Catherine McKinnell (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of eligible claimants claimed Healthy Start vouchers in (a) the North East and (b) each local authority area in the North East in each of the last five years.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The following table shows the percentage of eligible claimants who claimed Healthy Start vouchers in the North East and each local authority area in the North East in each of the last five years.
| 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 |
County Durham | 75% | 72.6% | 70.7% | 63.4% | 57.9% |
Darlington | 74% | 70.3% | 69.2% | 64.4% | 57.6% |
Gateshead | 76.3% | 74.2% | 73.9% | 64.2% | 59.3% |
Hartlepool | 76.7% | 81.4% | 78.3% | 59.4% | 58.6% |
Middlesbrough | 78% | 77.2% | 74.1% | 74.8% | 61.4% |
Newcastle upon Tyne | 79.2% | 80.8% | 78.9% | 63.4% | 57.7% |
North Tyneside | 72.7% | 69.5% | 68.9% | 64.1% | 55.4% |
Northumberland | 73.2% | 70.8% | 69.9% | 70.8% | 61.6% |
Redcar and Cleveland | 79.5% | 78.3% | 74.9% | 77.3% | 65.8% |
South Tyneside | 76.7% | 75.7% | 72.8% | 70.4% | 63% |
Stockton-on-Tees | 74.3% | 73.5% | 70.1% | 67.3% | 59.3% |
Sunderland | 76% | 73.5% | 70.5% | 67.1% | 58% |
Total North East (average) | 76% | 74.5% | 72.4% | 66.8% | 59.3% |