Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
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 efficacy of Esketamine in treating people with rare neurological conditions.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Currently, authorised Esketamine products are not licenced specifically intended for treating people with rare neurological conditions. Before new medicines intended to treat a specific condition can be placed onto the United Kingdom market, they must first receive approval from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) via the granting of a marketing authorisation (MA), commonly known as a product licence. The MHRA reviews all MA applications it receives, assessing each new medical product for its safety, quality, and efficacy in treating a condition.
It is for an applicant, namely the drug manufacturer, to apply for a MA for a medicinal product, and the MHRA does not and cannot actively seek these applications for submission.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has plans to invest in diagnostic infrastructure for people with dementia.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We committed in 2019 to double funding for dementia research to £160 million per year by 2024/25. This will span all areas of research from causes and prevention to treatment and care, delivering evidence to help prevent, diagnose and treat dementia, enabling the best possible care and quality of life for people with dementia.
NHS England is also working with partner agencies to support and inform further research into other diagnostic modalities, including blood-based biomarker and digital tests, which will help improve identification and management of Alzheimer’s disease.
The National Health Service is a world leader in rolling out innovative treatments, including personalised cancer and life-saving gene therapies, and has established a dedicated programme team to prepare the NHS for the potential arrival of new Alzheimer’s treatments that are approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and determined to be clinically and cost-effective by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
The team at NHS England are assessing the additional scanning, treating and monitoring capacity which would be required across the country. This includes securing additional diagnostic capacity including magnetic resonance imaging, lumbar puncture, and positron emission tomography and computed tomography.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions she has had with (a) the Chief Executive of NHS England and (b) NICE on regulatory approval of (i) Lecanemab, (ii) Donanemab and (iii) other medicines that could be used to manage the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is working closely together with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, NHS England, the devolved administrations, and the Dementia Mission to plan for the implementation of new dementia medicines, should they gain approval in the United Kingdom.
NHS England also has a programme of work overseeing national preparedness work ahead of regulatory decisions being made about the introduction of potential new disease modifying treatments for early Alzheimer’s disease. This includes partnering with other national agencies, proactively engaging with other key partners including patient groups, identifying opportunities for information sharing and collaboration, and supporting integrated care boards as they plan for local implementation.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS figures showing a recent increase in hospital admissions for cases of (a) malnutrition and (b) nutritional deficiencies, published in The Guardian on 21 December 2023, what steps her Department is taking to improve access to (i) affordable and (ii) nutritious food.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Malnutrition is a complex condition, and it is unclear from hospital admissions data what the underlying causes are. Through our Healthy Food Schemes, the Government provides a nutritional safety net to those who need it the most. Healthy Start, Nursery Milk and the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme together help more than three million children.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had recent discussions with representatives of Unison on (a) levels of pay and (b) employment conditions for NHS contractor staff; and if she will make it her policy to ensure that NHS contractors receive (i) the same (A) levels of pay and (B) employment conditions as their counterparts who are employed directly by the NHS and (ii) are paid at least the living wage recommended by the Living Wage Foundation.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Secretary of State has recently met with Unison to hear concerns on pay and conditions. Pay and Employment Conditions specifically for National Health Service contractor staff was not discussed.
NHS contractor staff are employed by independent organisations who are free to develop and adopt the terms and conditions of employment, including pay, that best help them attract and keep the staff they need.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with the British Medical Association about the potential impact of the Anaesthesia Associates and Physician Associates Order 2024 on patient safety.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Departmental officials have met with the British Medical Association, along with a range of other key stakeholders, in developing the policy behind the Anaesthesia Associates and Physician Associates Order 2024.
As well as public consultations, throughout the project we have engaged with key stakeholders, including the regulators, the trade unions and professional bodies including the Faculty of Physician Associates and the Association of Anaesthesia Associates. This engagement has been crucial in shaping both our policy intention and the resultant legislation, to ensure that it remains a practical piece of legislation that can be used by the regulators, for the benefit of patient safety and registrants.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had recent discussions with NHS England on (a) pay and (b) conditions for NHS contractor staff.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Secretary of State has not had recent discussions with NHS England with regard to NHS contractor staff.
NHS contractor staff are employed by independent organisations who are free to develop and adopt the terms and conditions of employment, including pay, that best help them attract and keep the staff that they need.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the guidance entitled FibroScan for assessing liver fibrosis and cirrhosis outside secondary and specialist care published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on 7 June 2023, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of expanding the use of FibroScans in (a) primary and (b) community care.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
A practice has clinical discretion to decide if a FibroScan is necessary and appropriate for a patient and can either provide directly or through a provider, typically a hospital out-patient appointment.
FibroScan capacity is also being increased via the community diagnostics centre (CDC) programme, backed as part of a £2.3 billion investment in diagnostic transformation. We currently have plans for 11 sites to be live with FibroScans by the end of 2023/24; seven are currently live with the test. By March 2025 we will have 15 CDCs offering FibroScans.
NHS England is reviewing existing liver diagnosis pathways as part of its wider diagnostic transformation work, to determine what the best approach should be to identify patients at an earlier stage of liver disease, through a liver pathway starting in primary care and involving pathology labs and CDCs. This will include a combination of blood tests and FibroScans.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had discussions with trade unions on the (a) pay and (b) conditions of Emergency Care Assistants at NHS ambulance trusts.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Secretary of State has not held any direct discussions with trade unions specifically on emergency care assistants’ (ECAs) pay or conditions but did meet the NHS Staff Council in December 2023. We negotiated a fair and reasonable deal with the NHS Staff Council that was accepted by a majority vote of unions. The NHS Staff Council has responsibility for negotiating the pay of staff on Agenda for Change contracts, which includes ECAs. Eligible ECAs will have received a 5% pay rise as a result of the deal as well as two non-consolidated payments. ECAs will also benefit from the non-pay elements of this deal, including further work supporting the career development and wellbeing of National Health Service staff.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department takes to ensure that (a) North West Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust and (b) other ambulance trusts provide appropriate pay for Emergency Care Assistants.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Emergency care assistants working directly for the National Health Service are members of the Agenda for Change workforce. For 2024/25, the Government is looking to the independent NHS Pay Review Board (PRB) for a pay recommendation for the Agenda for Change workforce, including emergency care assistants, and will carefully consider their recommendations when we receive them.
The PRB process is the established process for determining pay uplifts for all public sector workers including NHS staff and has operated for over four decades.