Asked by: Flick Drummond (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the potential effect of a new duty band for super-strength cider on health outcomes.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Taxation policy is a matter for the Chancellor of the Exchequer; the United Kingdom Government believes alcohol duties should be proportional to alcohol content. A consultation on the introduction of a new band to target, high strength ‘white’ ciders is underway and ends on 12 June.
No estimate has currently been made of the effect of a possible new duty band on health.
Asked by: Flick Drummond (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what measures he plans to include in the Carers Strategy on the availability of breaks for carers.
Answered by David Mowat
In developing the new Carers Strategy we have been consulting widely and working closely with carers to understand the many issues that may impact on them, including the role of breaks for carers. The Strategy will look at the support we provide to carers themselves; to their families and will reach beyond the health and care system to help support carers in employment, education and in the development of ‘carer friendly communities’.
Asked by: Flick Drummond (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to improve access to opportunities for people to train to become nurses while working in the NHS.
Answered by Philip Dunne
Developing new work based routes into nursing is a priority for the Department.
That is why we have developed the new Nursing Associate role and Nursing Degree Apprenticeship which will open up routes into the registered nursing profession for thousands of people from all backgrounds and allow employers to grow their own workforce.
The first 1,000 Nursing Associates were recruited to commence their training in January and the second wave of a further 1,000 Nursing Associates are due to commence training next month.
Asked by: Flick Drummond (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to reduce the number of patients with lung disease admitted to accident and emergency departments.
Answered by David Mowat
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on conditions such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and asthma emphasise the importance of avoiding emergency admissions for patients with lung diseases. The introduction of an Enhanced Service for general practitioners in 2015-16, continuing in 2016-17, is designed to help reduce avoidable unplanned admissions by improving services for vulnerable patients and those with complex health needs, who are at high risk of admission.
Asked by: Flick Drummond (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in England aged over 60 had a free eye sight test in each of the last three years; and what proportion that was of the total number of people eligible for such tests.
Answered by David Mowat
The table below, taken from the General Ophthalmic Services Activity Statistics for England, published by NHS Digital, shows the number of National Health Service sight tests provided to people aged 60 and over in England, between 2013/14 and 2015/16.
Year | Total NHS sight test for people aged 60 and over | % of total NHS sight tests |
2013/14 | 5,576,957 | 43.6% |
2014/15 | 5,507,932 | 43.2% |
2015/16 | 5,651,025 | 43.5% |
It is not possible to estimate what proportion of people eligible for free NHS sight tests used their entitlement during the reported years.
Notes:
Asked by: Flick Drummond (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that access to a timely autism diagnosis is included in the next Clinical Commissioning Group Investment and Assessment Framework.
Answered by David Mowat
To support local areas in addressing long waits, NHS England, supported by the Department and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, initiated a series of visits to clinical commissioning groups and local authorities. These visits aimed to develop a better idea of the challenges in securing timely autism diagnosis across all ages, looking at the variability in diagnosis times and sharing good practice to help areas to improve their service. NHS England submitted a report on the visits to the 16 June meeting of the Cross Government Autism Programme Board, which includes representatives of autism third sector organisations and people who have autism. NHS England will have further discussions with relevant organisations over the summer about actions in their report, including on the Clinical Commissioning Group Improvement and Assessment Framework, before reporting back to the Autism Programme Board.
In parallel, as recommended by the independent Mental Health Taskforce, the Department is undertaking a five year plan for the development of mental health data to be published by the end of the year. The plan will set out future requirements and timings for developing data to inform pathways of care, which will include requirements for autism in the Health and Social Care Information Centre Mental Health Services Data Set. Data on referrals or appointments for an autism diagnostic assessment are not currently captured in published mental health data.
Asked by: Flick Drummond (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of changes to funding levels on the provision of breastfeeding services.
Answered by Ben Gummer
There has been no assessment made on the effect of changes to funding levels on the provision of breastfeeding services. However, the Department is working with Public Health England and other stakeholders to develop a method and sources of information to monitor the impact of its policy on infant feeding.
Asked by: Flick Drummond (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to support breastfeeding services; and what assessment he has made of the importance of breastfeeding to national health policy.
Answered by Ben Gummer
Support and information about breastfeeding is currently available to health professionals and parents through: the NHS Choices website under the Start4Life banner; the National Breastfeeding Helpline; UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative; and local peer support programmes.
Parents-to-be and new mums and dads can also sign up to the Start4life Information Service for Parents. Subscribers receive regular free emails, videos and SMS messages offering high quality advice and information, based on the stage of pregnancy and the age of the child, including breastfeeding support. The service also signposts parents to other quality assured information about parenting, relationship support and benefits advice.
Breastfeeding delivers significant health benefits both for the mother and her baby and is more cost effective for mothers than other methods of infant feeding. A mother’s milk provides a perfect balance of nutrients and vitamins, so exclusive breastfeeding is all a baby needs for around the first six months. This is why the Department in line with the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence guidelines encourages exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life.
Asked by: Flick Drummond (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the serum folate levels in women of child-bearing age were in the latest results of the National Diet and Nutrition Survey; and how that figure compares to the World Health Organisation thresholds.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Results from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS), published in March 2015, show that the mean serum folate level in women of child bearing age (16-49 years) was 20nmol/l. Approximately 16.5% of women in this age group fell below the published World Health Organization threshold for biochemical folate deficiency however, as a result of methodological difficulties the threshold needs to be adjusted to be comparable with the laboratory method used to measure folate in NDNS. The adjusted threshold will be higher than the published threshold and so the percentage of women with serum folate levels below the adjusted threshold is expected to be higher than the published value. A note setting out these points was published on 17 February 2016, alongside the NDNS report.
Asked by: Flick Drummond (Conservative - Meon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of trends in the number of women of child-bearing age taking folic acid supplements over the last five years.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Public Health England has not made an assessment of the impact of trends in folic acid supplement use in recent years. We continue to encourage women to take a folic acid supplement from before they are pregnant to the 12th week of pregnancy, and include this in all appropriate public health messaging.