Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she plans to take to ensure those that don't have access to the internet can respond to the 10 year review of the NHS constitution.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to supporting people from all backgrounds in accessing the NHS Constitution consultation. We would encourage those without internet access to utilise resources on offer at some public spaces, including libraries and community centres, to support their response. The easy read consultation, which will be launched imminently, will provide an option for the consultation to be printed and sent to the Department. More widely, the Government has taken steps to ensure households across the United Kingdom are able to access fast, reliable mobile and broadband services to support their full participation in society.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 5 June 2023 to Question 187004 on Health Professions: Regulation, if she will set out the timetable to remove the five year time limit for fitness to practice concerns to be investigated by the General Medical Council.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is currently working with the General Medical Council (GMC) to develop a new legislative framework for the GMC, in relation to the regulation of doctors. As set out in the Government’s response to Regulating Healthcare Professionals, Protecting the Public, the Government has committed to the removal of any legislative restrictions on regulators from being able to consider fitness to practise concerns that are more than five years old. Regulators such as the GMC will have the discretion to determine whether a concern should be investigated based on the specific details of a fitness to practise case, which may include reflections on the length of time that has elapsed since the concern was raised or occurred. A public consultation on the new legislative framework will be taken forward in due course, and will adhere to the requirements of section 60 of the Health Act 1999.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 potential merits of including carers in the eligibility criteria for the Spring 2024 Covid Vaccination Programme.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government remains committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). On 7 February 2024, the JCVI published further advice on the United Kingdom’s COVID-19 vaccination programme. The JCVI advice is that a COVID-19 vaccine should be offered in spring 2024 to those at greatest risk of serious disease, and who are therefore most likely to benefit from vaccination. Those eligible are: adults aged 75 years old and over; residents in a care home for older adults; and individuals aged six months old and over who are immunosuppressed, as defined in chapter 14a of the UK Health Security Agency Green Book. The JCVI’s advice for spring 2024, including the approach to eligibility, is available via the following link:
The Government has accepted this advice, and the spring 2024 COVID-19 vaccination programme is now in progress. The spring programme is targeted to those at highest risk of serious outcomes from COVID-19. Whilst carers as a group are therefore not recommended for vaccination in this programme, any carer who falls within one of the above cohorts will be eligible. Everyone who is eligible is encouraged to take up the offer of spring COVID-19 vaccination.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing access to pelvic floor (a) training and (b) physiotherapy for every new mother.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Last October, NHS England published a national service specification for Perinatal Pelvic Health Services. The specification sets out the expected standards of care to improve the prevention, identification, and access to physiotherapy for pelvic health issues during pregnancy, and for at least one year following birth. Perinatal Pelvic Health Services will work with local Maternity and Physiotherapy services so that all women receive quality information about the risk of developing pelvic health problems before they have their baby, the key signs of pelvic floor dysfunction, and things they can do to help prevent these issues from developing, for instance performing pelvic floor exercises. The aim is to reduce the number of women living with pelvic health problems postnatally and in later life.
The specification also states that Perinatal Pelvic Health Services will work with maternity services across England to implement the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ Obstetric Anal Sphincter Injuries Care Bundle, to reduce rates of perineal tears resulting from labour and vaginal birth, and improve outcomes for women. This has been shown to reduce serious birth injuries by as much as 20%. Perinatal Pelvic Health Services are currently being rolled out across England.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to develop waiting time targets for receiving treatment in the eight new children and young people's gender services regional centres.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
There are no plans to develop tailored waiting time targets for receiving treatment in children and young people's gender services regional centres. NHS England has made significant progress on its overhaul of children’s gender identity services. NHS England closed the Tavistock Gender Clinic last month and opened two new, regional services operating under a fundamentally differing service model earlier this month. A third clinic is set to open in Bristol this Autumn, and NHS England has committed to a further three services by 2026. These new services will increase service capacity and reduce waiting lists.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a Parkinson's Passport that would give automatic access to clearly defined benefits.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is currently exploring the feasibility of this, and the other asks within the charter.
The Department for Work and Pensions offers Personal Independence Payments (PIP) to individuals with health conditions or disabilities. However, there is currently no automatic entitlement to PIP in relation to specific health conditions, except in cases of people nearing the end of life, specifically the last year of life. The Government understands that there are people with severe and lifelong health conditions which will not improve. Guidance ensures that those on the highest level of support, whose needs will not improve, receive an ongoing award with a light-touch review at the 10-year point.
The primary focus of the Department for Transport’s Blue Badge scheme is to help those with the greatest mobility needs. Eligibility is not based on the type of disability. There are several automatic qualifying criteria for a Blue Badge, such as being in receipt of PIP because you cannot walk more than 50 metres. People who do not automatically qualify for a Blue Badge may still be eligible for a badge through further assessment.
With regards to free prescriptions, approximately 89% of prescription items are currently dispensed free of charge, and there is a wide range of exemptions from prescription charges already in place. People with Parkinson’s disease who are 60 years old or over are entitled to free prescriptions. For those that have to pay for prescriptions, the cost can be capped by purchasing a pre-payment certificate, which can be paid for in instalments. Additionally, the NHS Low Income Scheme can provide help with health costs on an income-related basis.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the amount of funding allocated to the research of Parkinson's disease over the next five years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including Parkinson’s disease. Future funding allocated to research into Parkinson’s disease, and into other aspects of human health, will depend on the volume and quality of proposals received from the research community, with the level of spending outlined in the end of year accounting.
The Department, through the NIHR, invested £12.2 million into Parkinson’s research over five financial years, ending in 2022/23. The NIHR has supported a broad portfolio of Parkinson’s research and, in the last year alone, supported the conduct of 114 studies relating to Parkinson’s disease through the NIHR Clinical Research Network. For example, the NIHR is investing £3 million in the PD MED clinical trial, which investigates the efficacy of different drugs in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. The usual practice of the NIHR is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to publish a response to the Patient Coalition for AI, Data and Digital Tech in Health's report entitled Public and Patient Experience of the NHS app, published on 27 March 2024, in the context of its recommendations on retaining (a) face-to-face and (b) telephone appointments.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise that digital skills levels are not universal, including amongst those people who need our health services the most. NHS England is therefore collaborating with local organisations and charities to include NHS App support in their outreach programmes. Alongside this, we have a priority programme to develop secure and safe ways for families and carers to access the NHS App on behalf of other people. The efficiency that the NHS App brings to frontline health services frees up staff to reach people who cannot access digital services via face-to-face and telephone appointments which will continue to be available.
The Department is not planning to publish a formal response to the report, but will use the recommendations to inform ongoing work to improve the App.
People can currently log in to the NHS App with their face ID or fingerprint and can be remembered on their device too. We are introducing more automated ID checks and new forms of login in the next 6 months, to make it even quicker for people to register and log in to the NHS App across a range of devices. This includes our web version that people without smartphones can access.
In the short term, we are making it easier to read information in the medical record, appointment lists, test results and prescription information. NHS England is making strategic changes in how the data is sent from system suppliers which will allow it to be more clearly presented.
We are updating plans to help frontline staff support their patients to use the NHS App, through training and support. This will be backed up by improvements to existing help pages and support processes and redesigning the contact form to make sure queries can be quickly resolved.
NHS England will work closely with frontline staff, Patient Participation Groups and our large App Ambassador network so that they can explain the NHS App to patients. This network will be expanded so that awareness of the support offer is raised further as suggested in the report.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the Patient Coalition for AI, Data and Digital Tech in Health report entitled Public and Patient Experience of the NHS app, published on 27 March 2024.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise that digital skills levels are not universal, including amongst those people who need our health services the most. NHS England is therefore collaborating with local organisations and charities to include NHS App support in their outreach programmes. Alongside this, we have a priority programme to develop secure and safe ways for families and carers to access the NHS App on behalf of other people. The efficiency that the NHS App brings to frontline health services frees up staff to reach people who cannot access digital services via face-to-face and telephone appointments which will continue to be available.
The Department is not planning to publish a formal response to the report, but will use the recommendations to inform ongoing work to improve the App.
People can currently log in to the NHS App with their face ID or fingerprint and can be remembered on their device too. We are introducing more automated ID checks and new forms of login in the next 6 months, to make it even quicker for people to register and log in to the NHS App across a range of devices. This includes our web version that people without smartphones can access.
In the short term, we are making it easier to read information in the medical record, appointment lists, test results and prescription information. NHS England is making strategic changes in how the data is sent from system suppliers which will allow it to be more clearly presented.
We are updating plans to help frontline staff support their patients to use the NHS App, through training and support. This will be backed up by improvements to existing help pages and support processes and redesigning the contact form to make sure queries can be quickly resolved.
NHS England will work closely with frontline staff, Patient Participation Groups and our large App Ambassador network so that they can explain the NHS App to patients. This network will be expanded so that awareness of the support offer is raised further as suggested in the report.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the accessibility of electronic patient record systems for patients who do not own a mobile phone and cannot use text message verification services.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
A phone number is required to register with the National Health Service login, used to access NHS digital services, although it is not required to log in after registration is complete. Two-step verification is a necessary security feature to ensure that only the correct individual can access an account, and that their medical information is protected.
Once registered, to log in without a phone number, people can have the login remembered on their computer or tablet, or set up face or fingerprint login on their devices, provided their devices support this. They can also set up their device using passkeys, which allow use of the main login used on the device, with access to a trusted phone number required to set this up.
However, NHS England recognises the two-step verification features that NHS login supports may not work for everyone. Landline support was therefore recently introduced for NHS login, that allows those without a mobile phone to register and receive security codes. The needs of those with hearing difficulties were considered, and research with deaf charities showed that most people had access to a trusted phone number that they could use. Phone numbers can also be shared between people for NHS login purposes, as a further option to allow access.