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 25 July 2024 to Question 403 on Health Professions: Regulation, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of expediting the removal of the five-year rule in relation to regulators being able to consider fitness to practise concerns where these involve allegations of historic sexual abuse.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has been considering its priorities for professional regulation and will be setting these out shortly.
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 he plans to issue statutory guidance on the provision of absorbent products for adult incontinence products.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no plans to issue statutory guidance on the provision of absorbent products for adult incontinence, as there is already existing guidance to which the National Health Service must have regard.
NHS England published Excellence in Continence Care on 23 July 2018, bringing together evidence-based resources and research for guidance for commissioners, providers, and health and social care staff, and which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/excellence-in-continence-care/
NHS England will consider next steps on Excellence in Continence Care through its National Bladder and Bowel Health Project, which aims to improve continence care across the whole public health and care system.
In addition, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence has produced guidance on the management of faecal incontinence in adults, which healthcare professionals and commissioners are expected to take fully into account when delivering services for people with bowel incontinence.
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 he will take steps to ensure the weekly personal expense allowance for those living in care homes is increased by the rate of inflation each financial year.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The social care allowance rates, which include the Personal Expenses Allowance (PEA), are reviewed each year. The PEA rates have been uprated in line with inflation every year since 2022, and the rates for the 2025/26 financial year will be published in early 2025.
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 his Department plans to take to support NHS services in West Hertfordshire, in the context of his Department's review of the New Hospital Programme.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that delivering high quality healthcare services in the National Health Service requires the right facilities and support systems in the right places. We understand that investment in capital projects, whether through allocations prioritised locally or through national programmes, is important in achieving this, but such investment must be strategic and offer value for money.
West Hertfordshire is served by the Watford General Hospital which is in scope of the review into the New Hospital Programme. My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, will set out further details of the outcome of the review in due course, alongside a new delivery schedule for the Programme.
Managing the local capital budget for its area, reconfiguring services including to address estates issues, and allocating funds according to local priorities, such as investment to support healthcare services, are matters for the local NHS organisations. The Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board received almost £65 million in operational capital funding in 2023/24 to support NHS services across the region, including West Hertfordshire.
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 data his Department (a) collects and (b) holds on the number of people waiting for places in hospices run by charitable organisations.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We want a society where every person, as well as their families and carers, receives high-quality, compassionate care, from diagnosis through to end of life.
I recently met NHS England and discussions have begun on how to reduce inequalities and variation in access to, and the quality of, palliative and end of life care in England. We will consider next steps on palliative and end of life care, including hospice funding, in the coming months.
We have committed to develop a 10-Year Health Plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future, by driving three shifts in the way health care is delivered. We will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our stakeholders, including those in the hospice sector, as we develop the plan.
The engagement process has been launched, and I would encourage the palliative and end of life care sector, including hospice providers, service users and their families, to engage with that process to allow us to fully understand what is not working as well as it should and what the potential solutions are. More information is available at the following link:
The Department does not collect or hold data on the number of people waiting for places in hospices run by charitable organisations.
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 hospice funding will be included in his Department's 10-year plan for health and care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We want a society where every person, as well as their families and carers, receives high-quality, compassionate care, from diagnosis through to end of life.
I recently met NHS England and discussions have begun on how to reduce inequalities and variation in access to, and the quality of, palliative and end of life care in England. We will consider next steps on palliative and end of life care, including hospice funding, in the coming months.
We have committed to develop a 10-Year Health Plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future, by driving three shifts in the way health care is delivered. We will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our stakeholders, including those in the hospice sector, as we develop the plan.
The engagement process has been launched, and I would encourage the palliative and end of life care sector, including hospice providers, service users and their families, to engage with that process to allow us to fully understand what is not working as well as it should and what the potential solutions are. More information is available at the following link:
The Department does not collect or hold data on the number of people waiting for places in hospices run by charitable organisations.
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 4 October 2024 to Question 6540 on Kidney Diseases: Transplant Surgery, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of providing psychological and social care support to all kidney transplant recipients in each of the next five years.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
A financial assessment for all aspects of renal replacement therapy provision, including transplantation, will be completed as part of the work NHS England is currently undertaking to update the specialised renal service specifications, again including transplantation. This will include reviewing and updating, where appropriate, the requirements for psychological support services, in line with the recommendations of the Renal Services Transformation Programme toolkit. No specific assessment has been made of the cost of providing social care support to all kidney transplant recipients.
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 he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the number of health visitors available to support babies with special educational needs and disabilities.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children. The child health workforce, including health visitors, is central to how we support all families to give their child the best start in life. Their contact with parents, carers, and children of all ages provides vital advice and support and helps ensure that health and development needs are identified early, including those children with special educational needs and disabilities.
We are committed to training the staff we need to ensure people, their carers, and their families are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it. We will want to assure ourselves, and the National Health Service, that the current workforce plan will deliver the reform needed. We will need to do this in light of the 10-Year Health Plan.
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 he has received recent representations from the charitable hospice sector on the impact of statutory funding levels on the adequacy of (a) service levels, (b) staffing levels and (c) patient care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, also play in providing support to people at end of life, and their loved ones. Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services. The amount of funding charitable hospices receive varies by integrated care board (ICB) area, and will, in part, be dependent on the breadth of palliative and end of life care provision within each ICB catchment area.
I am aware from meetings with, and published reports and correspondence from, the charitable hospice sector linking the level of statutory funding for hospices to reductions in the adequacy of service levels, staffing levels, and patient care. I have also recently met NHS England and discussions have begun on how to reduce inequalities and variation in access to, and the quality of, palliative and end of life care.
We, alongside key partners NHS England, will continue to proactively engage with our stakeholders, including the voluntary sector and independent hospices, on an ongoing basis, in order to understand the issues they face. We will consider next steps on palliative and end of life care, including funding, in the coming months.
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 he plans to visit Watford General Hospital before his Department's review of the New Hospital Programme is complete.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers regularly consider visits across the country. Any plans to visit specific locations will be notified to the Hon. Members in advance.