Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that women with spinal cord injuries receive adequate (a) breast feeding assistance, (b) breast feeding assistance and (c) other postnatal support.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will prioritise women’s health, placing women’s equality at the heart of our agenda and ensuring women’s health is never again neglected. Spinal cord injury centres provide life-long services and support, providing ongoing advice and management for those under their care. They provide advice to general maternity services in managing pregnancy in line with individual need, as well as information, advice, and support to women regarding the practical elements of breast feeding, as required.
The Three-Year Delivery plan for Maternity and Neonatal services sets out the vision for women to experience personalised, joined-up, high-quality care right through to the postnatal period with handover to health visiting services and general practices (GPs). According to NHS England guidance, all women who have given birth should be offered a check-up with their GP six to eight weeks after giving birth. The check-up will cover a range of topics such as mental health, physical recovery, breastfeeding, and support with family planning. Women should be provided with practical support and information that reflects how they choose to feed their babies. Providers should ensure that, for women with spinal cord injuries, care is tailored to their individual needs.
NHS England is also rolling out perinatal pelvic health services to reduce rates of perineal tears, and maternal mental health services to provide additional mental health support and improve outcomes for women.
The Department is working closely with 75 local authorities across England, including Sheffield, to improve their infant feeding services, including breastfeeding support, through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme. These services are helping families to access face-to-face and virtual infant feeding support whenever they need it, and in a location that suits them. This could be at home, in their family hub, or in a hospital setting.
At a national level, families across the United Kingdom can access round-the-clock support and advice on breastfeeding through the National Breastfeeding Helpline.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure access to (a) comprehensive healthcare guidance and (b) specialised gynaecological support for people with spinal cord injury including (i) management of menstruation, (ii) contraception options and (iii) safe pregnancy care.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England Specialised Commissioning has a Clinical Reference Group (CRG) for specialised women’s services that provides clinical advice and leadership for complex obstetrics and maternity, and complex gynaecology and fertility preservation services. Specialist gynaecological services are commissioned in line with the service specification published by the CRG.
Furthermore, there is a CRG for rehabilitation and complex disability and spinal cord injury services. Specialist services for spinal cord injuries are commissioned in line with the service specification published by the CRG. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence also has guidance on the assessment and early management of spinal cord injuries, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng41.
Spinal cord injury centres provide life-long services and support, providing ongoing advice and management for those under their care. The service provides advice to general maternity services in managing pregnancy in line with individual need.
We recognise that having a spinal cord injury can create additional challenges for women and girls when it comes to managing their period. Women with spinal cord injuries are provided with menstruation and contraception information and advice during their first inpatient episode of care, and details are included in their discharge plan, which is shared with their general practitioner (GP) or primary care team. Through the spinal cord injury centres and voluntary sector, women have access to female discussion forums.
Both the Multidisciplinary Association of Spinal Cord Injury Professionals and the Spinal Injuries Association have provided free webinars for staff and those with spinal cord injuries, called Menstruation to Menopause.
The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has published a Women’s Health Library, which brings together educational resources and guidelines on women’s health from the RCGP, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare. This resource is continually updated to ensure GPs and other primary healthcare professionals have the most up-to-date advice, to provide the best care for their patients.
The Government will continue to work with the NHS as it delivers its three-year maternity and neonatal plan to grow our maternity workforce, develop a culture of safety, and ensure women and babies receive safe, compassionate care. In the three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services, NHS England set out their ambition that all women should receive personalised, joined-up, high-quality care during pregnancy, birth, and the postnatal period, including access to specialist care when required. Providers should ensure that women with spinal cord injuries have a personalised care and support plan that is tailored to their specific needs and choices and made in conjunction with appropriate specialist input.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase access to (a) preventative care, (b) diagnosis and (c) long term management strategies for women with spinal cord injury who are at increased risk of (i) uterine prolapse and (ii) osteoporosis.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will prioritise women’s health, placing women’s equality at the heart of our agenda and ensuring women’s health is never again neglected. Symptoms of uterine prolapse can usually be improved with pelvic floor exercises and lifestyle changes, but sometimes medical treatment is needed. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced guidance on the management of pelvic organ prolapse in women, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng123
For patients who need surgery for uterine prolapse, NHS England’s Specialised Commissioning Clinical Reference Group (CRG) for specialised women’s services has produced a service specification for specialised complex surgery for urinary incontinence and vaginal and uterine prolapse, which is available at the following link:
MSK conditions, such as osteoporosis, disproportionately impact women. One in three women will experience an osteoporotic fracture in their lifetime, compared to one in five men. Women are more at risk of developing osteoporosis due to hormone changes that happen at menopause, and which directly affect bone density.
For all people, including those with spinal injuries, regular exercise and healthy eating are important factors in preventing osteoporosis. Weight-bearing exercise and resistance exercise can improve bone density and help to prevent osteoporosis. Eating foods rich in calcium and vitamin D, or taking vitamin D supplements, is also an important way people can maintain their bone health and reduce their risk of osteoporosis.
The drug Raloxifene is also recommended by the NICE for the primary prevention of osteoporotic fragility fractures in postmenopausal women. In addition, the Government is committed to expanding access to Fracture Liaison Services, a globally recognised secondary fracture prevention model for those with osteoporosis, which can reduce the risk of refracture by up to 40%. With NHS England, we are considering a range of options to identify the most effective ways of improving the quality of, and access to, the Fracture Liaison Service model and the interventions it provides.
To support early diagnosis of osteoporosis, including in those with spinal cord injuries, the Government is investing £1.5 billion of capital funding in 2025/26 for new surgical hubs and diagnostic scanners to build capacity for over 30,000 additional procedures and over 1.25 million diagnostic tests as they come online.
Specialist services for spinal cord injuries are commissioned in line with the service specification published by NHS England’s Specialised Commissioning CRG. Spinal cord injury centres provide life-long services and support, providing ongoing advice and management for those under their care. Through the spinal cord injury centres and voluntary sector, women have access to female discussion forums.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support Start for Life services in Sheffield; and if he will make it his policy to extend funding beyond 1 April 2025.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Family Hubs and Start for Life programme is central to the Government’s commitments to give every baby the best start in life, and to deliver the healthiest generation of children ever.
Sheffield is one of 75 local authorities the Government is funding to ensure parents and carers can access Start for Life services from conception to the age of two years old. We work closely with them to support programme implementation across all funded strands, and they have opened seven Family Hub sites with Start for Life services at their heart since 2023. We also signpost policy toolkits, provide guidance, and facilitate the sharing of good practice between local authorities.
The Autumn Budget announcement included £69 million to continue delivery of a network of Family Hubs in 2025/26. The Department will confirm Start for Life funding in due course.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure greater accessibility to healthcare (a) information and (b) communication for people with sensory impairments.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers a required to adhere to the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), to meet the communication needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss. The AIS conformance criteria, published in 2016, set out how organisations should comply with the AIS, with further information available at the following link:
The responsibility for monitoring compliance with the AIS sits with the commissioner of the service.
NHS England has completed a review of the AIS to help ensure that the communication needs of people with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss are met in health and care provision.
A revised AIS is being reviewed with a view to publication, and in the meantime NHS England is continuing to work to support implementation with awareness raising, communication and engagement, and a review of the current e-learning modules on the AIS. The intention is to ensure that staff and organisations in the NHS are aware of the AIS and the importance of meeting the information and communication needs of disabled people using these services.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure greater accessibility to healthcare for deaf people.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Equality Act 2010, health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged. Since 2016, all National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers are required to meet the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), to meet the communication needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss, including deaf people.
NHS England has undertaken a review of the AIS. The review considered its effectiveness, how it is implemented and enforced in practice, and identified recommendations for improvement.
The revised standard is being reviewed with a view to publication, in the meantime NHS England will continue work to support implementation with awareness raising, communication and engagement and a review of the current e-learning modules on the AIS. The intention is to ensure by several routes that staff and organisations in the NHS are aware of the current standard implemented in 2016 and the importance of meeting the needs of disabled people using services.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the accessibility of healthcare (a) information and (b) communication for deaf patients using British Sign Language.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Equality Act (2010), health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged. Since 2016, all National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers are required to comply with the Accessible Information Standard and meet the information and communication support needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment or sensory loss, including patients using British Sign Language (BSL).
NHS England has undertaken a review of the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), and a revised standard is being reviewed with a view to publication. Within the revised standard and implementation guide, there is specific mention of BSL in ‘requirements to implementing the standard’. These include organisations identifying and recording needs and ensuring that BSL interpreters meet the appropriate professional registrations.
The British Sign Language Act 2022 provides the legal recognition of BSL and helps to promote and facilitate its use. The Act also provides a specific duty on the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to prepare and publish a "British Sign Language report". This is a report describing what each named ministerial department has done to promote and facilitate the use of British Sign Language in their public communications. The Government is committed to championing the rights of disabled people, including Deaf BSL users, and will publish this data in the coming months.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
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 revise the Accessible Information Standard to improve accessibility to healthcare for deaf people.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Equality Act 2010, health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged. Since 2016, all National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers are required to meet the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), to meet the communication needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss.
NHS England has completed a review as part of its revision of the AIS. The review considered the effectiveness of the current AIS, how the standard is implemented and enforced in practice, and identified recommendations for improvement.
Once the revised standard receives publishing approval, NHS England will support implementation of it to ensure NHS staff are better aware of the standard and their roles and responsibilities.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to publish the sixth stage of the Accessible Information Standard.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
A revised Accessible Information Standard (AIS) is being reviewed with a view to publication, and will include the sixth stage. The sixth stage requires consistent and regular reviews of people’s information and communication needs in patient or service user records on clinical management or administration systems.
In the meantime, NHS England is continuing to work to support implementation of the AIS with awareness raising, communication and engagement, and a review of the current e-learning modules on the AIS. The intention is to ensure that staff and organisations in the National Health Service are aware of the AIS and the importance of meeting the information and communication needs of disabled people using these services.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to publish a call to evidence for the NHS 10-Year Plan.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The use of data and evidence is embedded throughout our development of the 10-Year Health Plan and we will undertake intensive engagement with the public and workforce to gain insights into experiences, priorities and ideas for change.
We will invite stakeholders to submit evidence to the plan in a variety of ways, as well as using evidence collected as part of Lord Darzi’s Independent Investigation of the National Health Service in England, to make sure the plan is based on the most reliable available evidence.