Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people are employed by NHS England in roles relating to equality, diversity and inclusivity.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are 34 individuals out of around 16,000 full-time equivalent staff who are employed by NHS England in roles relating to equality, diversity and inclusivity. NHS England provides services that are available for all, and good equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) principles ensure that everyone can access healthcare.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 value for money in (a) medicines and (b) medical supplies in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Processes are in place to ensure that new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources before they are routinely funded by the National Health Service in England. New licensed medicines are evaluated by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which makes recommendations for the NHS on whether they should be routinely funded based on an assessment of their costs and benefits. The NICE aims, wherever possible, to issue its recommendations close to the point of licensing, and the NHS in England is legally required to fund medicines recommended by the NICE, normally within three months of the publication of final guidance.
Furthermore, the United Kingdom has had controlled spend on branded medicines through a series of voluntary agreements since 1957. The new Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing, Access, and Growth is expected to generate the NHS approximately £14 billion in savings over five years in medicines expenditure that can be made available to provide the best possible treatment and care for NHS patients, grow the workforce, and cut waiting lists.
Regarding value for money in medical supplies for the NHS, the sourcing, delivery, and supply of healthcare products is managed by NHS Supply Chain. Their aim is to leverage the collective buying power of the NHS to drive savings and provide a standardised range of clinically assured, quality products at the best value. The Department is committed to realising the full potential of NHS Supply Chain to deliver greater savings and efficiencies alongside a broader value proposition focussing on supply chain resilience, product safety, enabling access to innovation, social value, sustainability, and ethical considerations. NHS Supply Chain is continuing to work together with the Department, NHS England, NHS trusts, suppliers, and other system partners across the country to improve procurement in the NHS. This will be achieved through ongoing collaboration, partnership working, and innovation.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on reducing waiting lists for planned care in Essex.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission. We will deliver an extra two million operations, scans, and appointments, equivalent to 40,000 per week, in our first year, as part of our commitment to ensuring patients can expect to be treated within 18 weeks across the whole country, including in Essex.
There are three integrated care boards (ICBs) that border Essex: Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB, Mid and South Essex ICB and Suffolk and North East Essex ICB. The total Consultant-led Referral to Treatment Waiting List across these ICBs has decreased by 44,786 or 7.9% between 31 August 2023 and 31 August 2024.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 help improve mental health services in Essex.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
People with mental health issues in Essex are not getting the support or care they deserve, which is why we will fix the system to ensure that mental health is given the same attention and focus as physical health, so that people can be confident in accessing high quality mental health support when they need it. We will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers nationally to reduce delays and provide faster treatment which will also help ease pressure on hospitals, as well as introduce specialist mental health professionals in every school and roll out “Young Futures hubs” in every community. By cutting mental health waiting lists and intervening earlier with more timely mental health support, we can get this country back to good health.
In addition, people of all ages who are in crisis or who are concerned about a family or loved one can now call 111, select the mental health option, and speak to a trained mental health professional. National Health Service staff can guide callers with next steps such as organising face-to-face community support or facilitating access to alternative services, like crisis cafés or safe havens, which provide a place for people to stay as an alternative to accident and emergency or a hospital admission.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 the number of GPs in Essex.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have committed to training thousands more general practitioners (GPs) across the country, including in Essex, which will increase capacity and take pressure off those currently working in the system. NHS England is working to address training bottlenecks so the health service has enough staff for the future, and we are providing £82 million to fund the recruitment of over 1,000 newly qualified GPs, via the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, so patients can get the care they need.
The Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board advises that there are currently 30 GPs on its Enhanced GP Fellowship Scheme, developed to support GP retention and recruitment. Additional fellowship opportunities, both portfolio and core, are due to launch in December 2024. A GP Fellowship Scheme is in place in Thurrock to specifically increase GP recruitment in the area. There has been an increase in the number of training practices, and Mid and South Essex now has 207 educators and 80 Training Practices.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 improve palliative and end of life care in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB), including Mid and South Essex ICB, which covers the South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency, must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.
NHS England has also developed a palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together all relevant local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative and end of life care needs of those their local population, thereby enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities.
I recently met NHS England and discussions have begun on how to reduce inequalities and variation in access to, and the quality of, palliative and end of life care. We are also in active discussions with NHS England about maintaining the £25 million of annual funding for children and young people’s hospices in 2025/26, with further information to follow in due course.
Additionally, we have committed to develop a 10-year plan, to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future, as part of which we will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our stakeholders as we develop the plan. More information about how they can input into the 10 Year Health Plan is available at the following link:
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 help support the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of dentists in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are determined to rebuild National Health Service dentistry, but it will take time and there are no quick fixes. Strengthening the workforce is key to our ambitions. We are exploring how we can better support the whole dental team to work in NHS dentistry.
To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists. The NHS Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board was allocated three posts from the dental recruitment incentive scheme. Of these, two posts have so far been successfully filled. Further information on the dental recruitment incentive scheme is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/dental-recruitment-incentive-scheme-2024-25/
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 help improve palliative care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is determined to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community, to ensure that patients and their families receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting, and palliative and end of life care services will have a big role to play in that shift.
Palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.
I recently met NHS England and discussions have begun on how to reduce inequalities and variation in access to, and the quality of, palliative and end of life care. We are also in active discussions with NHS England about maintaining the £25 million of annual funding for children and young people’s hospices in 2025/26, with further information to follow in due course.
Additionally, we have committed to develop a 10-year plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future, by driving three shifts in the way health care is delivered. We will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our stakeholders as we develop the plan.
More information about how members of the public, patients, healthcare staff and stakeholder organisations can input into the 10-Year Health Plan is available at the following link:
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 improve (a) neonatal care for and (b) support for the parents of premature babies.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to improving neonatal services and supporting parents to be involved in all aspects of their baby's care. NHS England is implementing the Neonatal Critical Care Review Recommendations, investing £45 million in increasing neonatal cot capacity and assigning care coordinators for all Neonatal Operational Delivery Networks to implement care programmes, improving parent and family experiences. NHS England’s Three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services sets out a programme of work to make maternity and neonatal care safer, more equitable, and more personalised. This plan includes:
Additionally, NHS England has recently concluded a review of neonatal estates. They are in the process of analysing the findings, which will be used to inform the next steps.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
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 prevent health tourism to the UK.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service is a residency-based system, so only those who are ‘ordinarily resident’ in the United Kingdom, or otherwise exempt from charges under the NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015 (the Charging Regulations), are eligible for free care.
Being ordinarily resident broadly means living here on a lawful and properly settled basis for the time being, with individuals subject to immigration control also requiring ‘indefinite leave to remain’ in the UK.
Patients who are not ordinarily resident or subject to another exemption under the Charging Regulations are legally required to be charged upfront, in full, for all treatment not regarded as urgent or immediately necessary. Overseas visitors accessing NHS care whilst here are expected to have insurance or funds to cover the cost of any treatment which may arise, as would be the same for UK residents visiting other countries.
Failure to pay NHS debt can lead to significant consequences for an overseas visitor. An outstanding NHS debt of £500 or more that has not been paid for two months must be reported to the Home Office. The Home Office can use this information to inform future immigration decisions.