Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her planned timetable is to ensure free NHS car parking for those with greatest need.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Free National Health Service carparking for those with the greatest need has already been delivered. The Government committed in 2019 to provide free hospital car parking for in-need groups, including disabled people, parents of children staying overnight, frequent outpatient attenders and NHS staff working overnight. As of October 2022, all trusts that charge for car parking have fully implemented this commitment. This is the first time that free hospital car parking in England has been made available to those who need it the most.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information her Department holds on the number of NHS clinical staff that were issued with parking penalty notices by NHS hospitals in each region in the last 12 months.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The information requested is not collected centrally. National Health Service hospital car parking is free for those with greatest needs. This includes disabled blue badge holders, frequent outpatient attenders, parents of children staying in hospital overnight and NHS staff working overnight.
NHS organisations decide locally on the provision and charging for their car parking within the policies set out in the NHS Patient, Visitor and Staff Car Parking Principles. This will include when it is appropriate to issue parking penalty notices.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of patients waited more than 15 weeks for an initial dementia assessment in 2023; what is the average waiting time for an initial dementia assessment; and what steps she is taking to improve those waiting times.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The information requested is not held centrally. To improve waiting times, we have set an expectation that everyone who needs an appointment at a general practice should get one within two weeks, with the most urgent patients being seen on the same day.
The Dementia Care Pathway: Full implementation guidance, commissioned by NHS England, outlines the dementia care pathway and associated benchmarks to support improvements in the delivery and quality of care and support, for people living with dementia and their families and carers. The guide showcases good-practice examples of services that have successfully reduced their waiting times. More information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an estimate of how many NHS clinical staff were issued with parking penalty notices by NHS hospitals in the last year.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The information requested is not collected centrally. National Health Service trusts decide locally on their strategy for car parking based on their needs and the local environment. This will include when it is appropriate to issue parking penalty notices.
The Government has delivered on its commitment to ensure that free hospital car parking is provided for those with greatest need, which includes NHS staff working overnight. All NHS trusts that charge for car parking have implemented this policy.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of people have (a) been referred for and (b) received antiviral treatments as of 12 December 2023.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
This data, relating to COVID-19 therapeutics, was published by NHS England up to 26 June 2023. Following that date, and the publication of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, responsibility for arranging access to treatment transferred to integrated care boards and all national reporting requirements ended. The data is no longer collected centrally and nationally.
The published data and further information are available at the following link:
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the action for me report entitled Implementation of the NICE Guideline [NG206] on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in England, published May 2023, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of that report's findings.
Answered by Will Quince
‘My Full Reality’, the cross-government Interim Delivery Plan on myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) was published on 9 August 2023. The Plan aims to improve experiences and outcomes for people with ME/CFS by setting out agreed actions to drive an expansion of research, better education of professionals, improvements in attitudes towards the condition, and improvements to service provision. Alongside the Plan we have published an eight-week consultation to build a picture of how well the Plan meets the needs of the ME/CFS community, and to highlight any significant gaps where further action may be necessary. The Plan and consultation are available at the following link:
We have made no assessment of the implications of the report published by Action for ME, ‘Implementation of the NICE Guideline [NG206] on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in England’, the adequacy of implementation of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline on ME/CFS, or on the provision of specialist services for people with ME/CFS.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services for people with ME/CFS to meet local needs. In making commissioning decisions, we would expect ICBs to consider guidelines published by NICE.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
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 provision of specialist services for people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Answered by Will Quince
‘My Full Reality’, the cross-government Interim Delivery Plan on myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) was published on 9 August 2023. The Plan aims to improve experiences and outcomes for people with ME/CFS by setting out agreed actions to drive an expansion of research, better education of professionals, improvements in attitudes towards the condition, and improvements to service provision. Alongside the Plan we have published an eight-week consultation to build a picture of how well the Plan meets the needs of the ME/CFS community, and to highlight any significant gaps where further action may be necessary. The Plan and consultation are available at the following link:
We have made no assessment of the implications of the report published by Action for ME, ‘Implementation of the NICE Guideline [NG206] on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in England’, the adequacy of implementation of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline on ME/CFS, or on the provision of specialist services for people with ME/CFS.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services for people with ME/CFS to meet local needs. In making commissioning decisions, we would expect ICBs to consider guidelines published by NICE.