Asked by: Connor Rand (Labour - Altrincham and Sale West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many clinical nurse specialists are currently working in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold the information requested.
Asked by: Connor Rand (Labour - Altrincham and Sale West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many psycho-oncologists are currently working in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold the information requested.
Asked by: Connor Rand (Labour - Altrincham and Sale West)
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 improve the dietary health of young children from financially deprived backgrounds.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to creating the healthiest generation of children ever, as set out in our Child Health Action Plan. The Healthy Start scheme was introduced in 2006 to encourage a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies, and young children under four years old from very low-income households. It can be used to buy, or can be put towards the cost of, fruit, vegetables, pulses, milk, and infant formula. Healthy Start beneficiaries have access to free Healthy Start Vitamins for pregnant women and children aged under four years old.
The NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) delivers the scheme on behalf of the Department. The NHS BSA is committed to increasing uptake of the Healthy Start scheme to ensure as many children as possible have a healthy start in life.
The NHS BSA promotes the Healthy Start scheme through its digital channels and has created free tools to help stakeholders promote the scheme locally. The NHS BSA has also reached out to stakeholders to see how it can support them in promoting the scheme.
Asked by: Connor Rand (Labour - Altrincham and Sale West)
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 improve the take up of the Healthy Start Scheme.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to creating the healthiest generation of children ever, as set out in our Child Health Action Plan. The Healthy Start scheme was introduced in 2006 to encourage a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies, and young children under four years old from very low-income households. It can be used to buy, or can be put towards the cost of, fruit, vegetables, pulses, milk, and infant formula. Healthy Start beneficiaries have access to free Healthy Start Vitamins for pregnant women and children aged under four years old.
The NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) delivers the scheme on behalf of the Department. The NHS BSA is committed to increasing uptake of the Healthy Start scheme to ensure as many children as possible have a healthy start in life.
The NHS BSA promotes the Healthy Start scheme through its digital channels and has created free tools to help stakeholders promote the scheme locally. The NHS BSA has also reached out to stakeholders to see how it can support them in promoting the scheme.
Asked by: Connor Rand (Labour - Altrincham and Sale West)
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 obtain contact data for those who are eligible for but not accessing the Healthy Start scheme .
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) runs the Healthy Start scheme on behalf of the Department. The Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with the NHS BSA and the Department for Work and Pensions, to enable the NHS BSA to receive the personal data for those potentially eligible citizens from the Department for Work and Pensions, as soon as possible. The NHS BSA will use this data to reach out to those eligible, who are not currently in receipt of Healthy Start, to encourage them to apply for the Healthy Start scheme.
Asked by: Connor Rand (Labour - Altrincham and Sale West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many referrals have been accepted by Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Trafford in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of referrals to Trafford mental health services for those aged 17 years old and under, as well as the number of those referrals who received first contact, in each of the last five years:
Year | Referrals | Referrals who received first contact |
2019/20 | 3,987 | 1,868 |
2020/21 | 4,852 | 2,559 |
2021/22 | 6,677 | 3,362 |
2022/23 | 4,835 | 3,132 |
2023/24 | 4,982 | 2,798 |
Source: data taken from the Mental Health Services Dataset, published by NHS England.
Asked by: Connor Rand (Labour - Altrincham and Sale West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many speech and language therapists there were in (a) Trafford and (b) Greater Manchester in each of the last five years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The table below shows the number of full-time equivalent speech and language therapists working in National Health Service trusts and other core organisations, in the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust and the Greater Manchester Integrated Care System, in March of each of the last six years:
Year | Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust | Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust |
2019 | 99 | 286 |
2020 | 125 | 433 |
2021 | 123 | 433 |
2022 | 139 | 459 |
2023 | 154 | 492 |
2024 | 154 | 509 |
Source: the Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics for England, published by NHS England on a monthly basis.
These staff provide services in a range of settings, including in education. However, therapists will also be directly employed by other providers, including schools, independent provision, and third sector and charitable organisations, for which data is not held centrally.
Asked by: Connor Rand (Labour - Altrincham and Sale West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of open GP practices in Altrincham and Sale West constituency (a) on the most recent date for which figures are available and (b) in 2010.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data provided by NHS England Digital shows that in May 2014, the earliest year from which data is available, there were 15 open general practices (GPs) in the Altrincham and Sale West constituency, and as of May 2024 there are 12 open GPs in the constituency. The data only includes main practices, and does not include branch practices.