Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 improve access to NHS dentist appointments in North Shropshire.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
The Integrated Care Board (ICB) has taken steps to improve access to NHS dental care in North Shropshire, but we know more needs to be done. The ICB is ensuring that undelivered NHS dental activity is redistributed to other practices to help support access to care.
Four practices across the North Shropshire parliamentary constituency recently saw an uplift to their Unit of Dental Activity (UDA) rate to £28. This should help support recruitment and retention of NHS dentists in this area. In addition, a new dental practice in Oswestry has increased their contracted UDAs and will do so again in April 2025.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 improve waiting times for cancer treatment in the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board following an urgent GP referral.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Cancer patients are being failed, waiting too long for a diagnosis and treatment. The latest cancer waiting times data from NHS England shows Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board performance is below both the 31-day treatment standard and the 62-day diagnosis and treatment standard. This data is publicly available and can be accessed via NHS England’s website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/
The Department is committed to improving waiting times for cancer treatment across England, including within the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board. We will start by delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, as the first step to ensuring early diagnosis and faster treatment. Additionally, Lord Darzi is currently undertaking an independent investigation into the state of the National Health Service, the findings of which will feed into the government’s 10-year plan to build a health service that is fit for the future.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 improve waiting times for GP appointments in North Shropshire.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government knows that patients are finding it harder than ever to access general practice (GP) appointments, and is committed to fixing the crisis to secure the long-term sustainability of the National Health Service. North Shropshire sits within the NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board (ICB), where the percentage of appointments delivered within two weeks of booking is 4.1% lower than the national average.
Our plan to restore GPs and improve waiting times to see a practitioner will require both investment and reform. We have committed to training thousands more GPs, ending the 8:00am scramble for appointments by introducing a modern booking system, and trialing new neighborhood health centers to bring community health services together under one roof. Furthermore, the Government will also bring back the family doctor by incentivising GPs to see the same patient.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 ensure that all actions recommended in the Ockenden Report to improve maternal and neonatal services at Shropshire and Telford Hospital are successfully implemented.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 reduce ambulance waiting times in North Shropshire.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has committed to supporting the National Health Service to improve ambulance response times and achieve the standards set out in the NHS Constitution. In doing so we will be honest about the challenges facing the health service, and serious about tackling them.
As a first step, my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has appointed the Professor Lord Darzi to lead an independent investigation of NHS performance, which will report in September 2024.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure there are effective pathways for early detection of liver disease in Shropshire.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Early detection of liver disease is vital to enable interventions, and encourage behavioural changes that can potentially lead to recovery. Liver disease is one of the primary risk factors for liver cancer. Across the Shropshire, Telford, and Wrekin Integrated Care Board (ICB) area, the early detection of liver disease is led by primary care partners, and the ICB encourages general practitioners to follow best practice in the delivery of patient care pathways, to ensure the early detection of liver disease in patients. The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust is working with primary care partners to increase awareness and provide tools to support this work. The hospital also carries out active outreach into the community for drug and alcohol patients.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many women were turned away from mammogram screening tests because they were unable to hold the required position for sufficient time in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
NHS England does not hold this information at a national level. NHS England is committed to improving the accessibility of the screening programmes it commissions and contractually, providers of National Health Service screening services are required to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that their services are accessible for people with disabilities.
Services make reasonable adjustments within the constraints of mammography equipment, to ensure that people with disabilities are offered the opportunity to have screening; However, there may be situations where this is not possible.
Local providers will have a better understanding of any accessibility issues for individual patients and will deal with these on a case by case basis. Providers will offer an alternative approach as necessary. For example, for women who are unable to have a mammogram, may be offered a referral to a symptomatic breast clinic for a physical check.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to improve access to breast screening for people with physical disabilities that prevent them from holding the required position for sufficient time to complete the screening.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
NHS England is committed to improving the accessibility of the screening programmes it commissions under the Public Health Services (S7a) agreement, particularly for under-served groups in society. Contractually, providers of National Health Service screening services are required to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that their services are accessible for people with disabilities. For example, the NHS breast screening service offers longer appointments at accessible sites to support women with physical disabilities.
Services make reasonable adjustments within the constraints of mammography equipment, to ensure that people with disabilities are offered the opportunity to have screening. However, there may be situations where this is not possible. Providers will deal with these on a case by case basis, and offer an alternative approach as necessary. For example, for women who are unable to have a mammogram, they may be offered a referral to a symptomatic breast clinic for a physical check.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
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 prisoners had (a) an identified mental illness and (b) a diagnosed neurodivergence in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
NHS England is only able to produce data for the last 12 months, as we have improved our reporting mechanisms to include neurodivergent conditions. Prior to this improvement, information is not available.
As of 29 February 2024, there were 6,152 prisoners, or 7.3% of the prison population, with an identified mental health illness, according to the Quality and Outcomes Framework’s classifications. This only includes those with confirmation of a severe and enduring mental health illness such as schizophrenia, and does not include dementia, depression, and learning disabilities. 6,699 prisoners, or 8% of the prison population, had a confirmed diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. 2,684 prisoners, or 3.2% of the prison population, had a confirmed diagnosis of autism. It is not possible to produce a combined figure within the timescales, due to the fact that prisoners may have more than one diagnosis and therefore may be counted multiple times.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the financial support for (a) travel costs, (b) energy bills, (c) accommodation and (d) dietary requirements available for carers of children and young people with cancer.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Department has not made a specific assessment of the financial support available for travel costs, energy bills, accommodation, or dietary requirements for carers of children and young people with cancer.
The Department does not provide guidance on the financial support available to carers of children and young people with cancer. NHS England and the integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning and ensuring the healthcare needs of local communities in England are met, including ensuring that healthcare providers inform all patients and carers, and specifically the carers of children and young people with cancer, of the financial support available to them.
The National Health Service in England runs schemes to provide financial assistance for travel to a hospital or other NHS premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostics tests, when referred by a doctor or other primary healthcare professional.