Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress his Department has made on implementing the new liberty protection safeguards process.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The implementation of the Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) has been delayed beyond this Parliament.
Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
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 availability of qualified healthcare scientists in areas where there is a backlog in fitting hearing aids to patients; and whether he plans to take steps to increase the level of recruitment of those qualified healthcare scientists.
Answered by Will Quince
No assessment has been made. It is the responsibility of individual National Health Service employers to ensure appropriate staffing levels and recruit the number of staff required to meet service need.
To support the workforce as a whole we have commissioned NHS England to develop a long term workforce plan, including projections for the numbers of doctors, nurses, and other key professionals required over the next five, ten and fifteen years. The plan is for the whole of the NHS workforce; it will not provide detailed workforce assessments for individual services or for every staff group.
Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
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 assessment of (a) the incidence and (b) rate of misdiagnosis of Hereditary Angioedema in England; and if he will make a statement on boosting awareness of the condition in the medical profession.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Information on the incidence and rate of misdiagnosis of hereditary angioedema (HAE) is not held by the National Health Service at a national level.
A survey of centres providing care for people with HAE in the last three years conducted by the HAE community found that there are approximately 1150 patients with identified HAE in England, with 90% of centres responding.
Raising awareness of rare diseases, including HAE, among healthcare professionals is one of the four priorities of the 2021 UK Rare Diseases Framework. Significant progress was made in 2022 against commitments in England’s first Rare Diseases Action Plan to increase awareness of rare diseases. This includes the development and expansion of innovative digital resources on genomics and rare diseases, specifically aimed at healthcare professionals.
A new action in England’s second action plan, published in February 2023, will see rare diseases incorporated in the educational strategies for the nursing and midwifery, pharmacy and primary care workforce. Progress made over the year ahead will be detailed in England’s 2024 Rare Diseases Action Plan.
Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
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 extent of the awareness of men's eating disorders; and if he will take steps to improve awareness of the support available.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We are aware of the research carried out by the eating disorder charity Beat which estimates that one in four people living with an eating disorder in the United Kingdom are thought to be male, and the majority of those who took part in that research felt that raising awareness would help more men to get treatment sooner.
Eating disorders are serious, life-threatening conditions that can affect people of any age, gender, ethnicity or background. We know that people with eating disorders can face stigma around their disorder, which can stop them from reaching out for help and support. To support early identification, the Government recognises that raising awareness and reducing the stigma associated with eating disorders and other mental health conditions is paramount. It is good to see Parliamentarians playing an important part in raising awareness of eating disorders in men through the debates and questions in both Houses this week, which is National Eating Disorders week.
Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
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 estimate of the number of children affected by the infected blood scandal; and if he expand the scope of compensation related to that scandal to the children of those affected.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department does not currently hold the information requested. The Infected Blood Inquiry is reviewing the support provided to those infected and affected. It is expected to report in 2023 and we will consider its recommendations.
Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
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 adequacy of (a) financial, (b) bereavement and (c) other support available to (i) mothers and (ii) fathers suffering baby loss.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Women’s Health Strategy set out a 10-year ambition to improve the care pathways for women and their partners who experience pregnancy loss. The Department continues to work across Government and the voluntary sector to consider how workplace support for women and partners can be improved.
In 2022/23, NHS England has provided £2.26 million to expand the number of staff trained in bereavement care and is deploying a National Bereavement Care Pathway to reduce the variation in the quality of bereavement care. In addition, we are addressing access to and quality of perinatal mental health care for mothers and their partners through expanding mental health hubs and introducing pregnancy loss certificates.
Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions she has had with the Department of Education on the potential merits of providing NHS support available to people with dyslexia; and whether she plans to bring forward proposal to help more adults get tested for dyslexia.
Answered by Caroline Johnson
Ministers regularly discuss a range of issues with Cabinet colleagues. There are no plans to take forward proposals to increase dyslexia testing for adults.
The ‘SEND review: right support, right place, right time’ green paper was published on 29 March 2022 for consultation. It includes proposals to improve earlier intervention for children and young people with special educational needs and disability.
Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
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 ensure that people in Tamworth constituency have access to local and adequate mental health inpatient care.
Answered by Caroline Johnson
NHS England has advised that Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board, which provides inpatient care for the Tamworth constituency, is developing a long-term solution for inpatient mental health services. This is based on an enhanced community mental health model, in line with the ambitions in the NHS Long Term Plan.
This includes providing enhanced crisis support, more personalised care to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions and discharge pathways which assist people to stay in the community and prevent readmission and maintain bed capacity for patients who require admission.
Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to reimburse friends and family members who travel long distances to visit NHS patients whose care has been moved to a new location.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The Government has no plans to do so.
Asked by: Christopher Pincher (Independent - Tamworth)
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 Department's policy to give the same priority to mental health as physical health.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Investment in National Health Service mental health services continues to increase each year from approximately £11 billion in 2015/16 to £15 billion in 2021/22.
The Health and Care Act 2022 includes clarification of the meaning of ‘health’ to include ‘mental health’; provisions to strengthen accountability and transparency on decisions and spending relating to mental health; and ensuring integrated care boards have an appropriate skill mix and experience necessary to deliver its functions, including mental health services.