Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on which dates he met the Royal College of Nursing to discuss strike action since his appointment.
Answered by Will Quince
Since his appointment on 25 October 2022, my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, met the Royal College of Nursing to discuss strike action on the following dates: 10 and 15 November 2022, 12 December 2022, 9 and 12 January 2023, 22, 23, 24, 27 and 28 February 2023 and 7, 8, 9, 14, 15 and 16 March 2023.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has taken recent steps to encourage doctors to prescribe gluten-free (a) foodstuffs and (b) other products for people diagnosed with coeliac disease.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Decisions about prescribing rest with the general practitioner or other prescriber who has clinical responsibility for a patient’s care, taking into account relevant clinical guidance. It is not appropriate for Ministers to influence individual prescribing decisions.
The information on how many integrated care boards support prescriptions for gluten free and other products for people diagnosed with coeliac disease is not held centrally.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Integrated Care Boards support prescriptions for gluten-free (a) foods and (b) other products for people diagnosed with coeliac disease in their area prescribing policies.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Decisions about prescribing rest with the general practitioner or other prescriber who has clinical responsibility for a patient’s care, taking into account relevant clinical guidance. It is not appropriate for Ministers to influence individual prescribing decisions.
The information on how many integrated care boards support prescriptions for gluten free and other products for people diagnosed with coeliac disease is not held centrally.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to increase the number of dental practices providing NHS services in Bristol.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The National Health Service contracts with independent dental providers to deliver NHS dental treatment in primary care settings.
In September 2022, we announced ‘Our plan for patients’ which sets out how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to NHS dental care, including in Bristol, whilst making the NHS dental contract more attractive to dental practices to offer NHS treatments. These changes have been implemented, including through regulations that came into effect on 25 November 2022. The changes include fairer remuneration for practices providing complex treatment within current Band 2 treatments and removing barriers around use of staff skills mix in NHS dentistry.
NHS England is holding further discussions with the British Dental Association and other stakeholders for additional reforms of the NHS Dental System planned to take place this year.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps Department has taken to increase awareness of Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes amongst NHS staff.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
England’s first Rare Diseases Action Plan was published on 28 February 2022 and included specific actions to increase awareness of rare diseases, such as Ehlers Danlos Syndromes (EDS), amongst National Health Service staff.
Progress against these actions is detailed in England’s second Rare Diseases Action Plan, published on 28 February 2023. This includes ongoing work by Health Education England (HEE), as part of their Genomics Education Programme, to deliver education and training to the NHS workforce to support awareness, knowledge and management of rare diseases as well as other conditions with a genomic aetiology, including EDS.
England’s 2023 Rare Diseases Action Plan also includes a new commitment for HEE to publish and implement specific strategies for increasing awareness of rare diseases in the nursing, midwifery, pharmacy and primary care workforce over the coming year.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department made on enacting the 10-Year Plan for Dementia that was announced by the Government in May 2022.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 24 January, the Government announced that it will publish a Major Conditions Strategy covering six conditions including dementia. An interim report on the Major Conditions Strategy will be published in the Summer.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the £375 million of funding for researching neurodegenerative diseases over the following five years announced in November 2021, whether his Department will provide additional funding for such research as part of the 10-year plan for dementia.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is strongly committed to supporting research into dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases. Through partnerships with patients, researchers, funders and charities we continue to play a significant role in global efforts against the disease. In our 2019 manifesto we committed to double funding for dementia research. We will double funding for dementia research to £160 million a year by 2024/25.
On 24 January, the Government announced that it will publish a Major Conditions Strategy covering six conditions including dementia. An interim report on the Major Conditions Strategy will be published in the Summer. Many stakeholders have already engaged with the Government on dementia. The Department will set out opportunities to contribute further in due course.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of Hormone Replacement Therapy NHS services available in Bristol North West.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No assessment has been made. Menopause care for patients who may be taking Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) products is a matter for local decision. This includes menopause services.
With regard to the adequacy of supply, information is not held at a local level but there are over 70 HRT products available in the United Kingdom. There have been supply issues with a small number of these, but those issues have been resolved or are being managed following action taken by suppliers and the Government's use of Serious Shortage Protocols to limit dispensing to three months’ supply to even out distribution and allow alternative products to be dispensed, as necessary.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Nightingale Hospital in Frenchay has been decommissioned; how much that facility cost to run; and whether his Department has made an assessment of the alternative uses for that building.
Answered by Will Quince
No specific assessment has been made on the alternative uses for that building.
The commissioning of appropriate estates is a matter for the National Health Service locally. The Nightingale Hospital at the University of the West of England was closed and decommissioned from 1 April 2021. The overall cost of providing the hospital was £26.2 million. Any reusable equipment has been redistributed to local hospitals.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North 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 make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing universal free prescriptions in England.
Answered by Will Quince
There are no plans to make an assessment. Approximately 89% of prescription items are already dispensed free of charge and there are already a wide range of exemptions from prescription charges currently in place.