Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
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 domiciliary care is sustainably funded.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to reforming adult social care and improving the quality of care for people in need. That’s why we are taking steps to ensure all adult social care is sustainably funded, including domiciliary care. In 2025/26, the Government is providing at least £600 million in new grant funding for social care, as part of a broader estimated real terms increase in local government spending power of approximately 3.2%.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
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 encourage practices to create salaried GP roles instead of using physician associates.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have committed to training thousands more GPs across the country which will increase capacity in the system and take the 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.
Physician associates (PAs) can make a valuable contribution to patient care providing appointments and performing clinical and administrative tasks as part of the wider General Practice multi-disciplinary team with appropriate supervision. But they must not substitute the role of the GP within general practice.
GP practices are self-employed contractors to the NHS and it is largely up to employers to determine how best to staff their primary care network (PCN) or GP practice to best meet the needs of their population.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
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 support (a) experienced GPs not covered by the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme and (b) other GPs to find employment.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We remain committed to growing the number of doctors in general practice (GP) and we are working to increase the GP workforce in England.
NHS England is working to address training bottlenecks so the health service has enough staff for the future, and we will provide £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. GPs are self-employed contractors to the National Health Service, and it is largely up to employers to determine how best to staff their Primary Care Network or GP to best meet the needs of their population.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to ensure that only appropriately accredited psychologists are able to (a) diagnose and (b) treat illnesses and psychological disorders.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The British Psychological Society accredits undergraduate and postgraduate psychology programmes. Accreditation is an important hallmark of quality that is extensively acknowledged by employers in the field, and an essential stepping-stone for students who are looking to progress to become a Chartered Psychologist after graduation.
The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), which is independent of the Government, is the statutory regulator of practitioner psychologists in the United Kingdom, meaning that only those who are registered with the HCPC and meet its standards can practise as practitioner psychologists.
In addition, the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care holds a list of accredited voluntary registers, which they have independently assessed against nine standards. In relation to psychological professions, accredited registers include: the British Psychoanalytic Council (a professional association of the psychoanalytic psychotherapy profession)’ s Register of practitioners; and the British Psychological Society’s Wider Psychological Workforce register of Wellbeing Practitioners and Associate Psychologists.
Employers in the health system are responsible for ensuring that their staff are trained to the required standards to deliver appropriate treatment for patients.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of expanding existing water fluoridation arrangements in Nottinghamshire to cover the whole of (a) Nottingham and (b) Nottinghamshire.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No such assessment has been made. Public consultation is required on proposals for new, or the expansion of existing, community water fluoridation schemes. The Water Fluoridation (Consultation) (England) Regulations 2022 set out the requirements, and is available at the following link:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2022/1163/contents/made
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to include a focus on respiratory conditions in the NHS Long Term Plan.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Ten Year Health Plan will consider the change needed to meet the three health mission goals: a fairer system where everyone lives well for longer; a National Health service that is there when people need it and fewer lives lost to the biggest killers. We will carefully be considering policies with input from patients, public, health staff and our stakeholders as we develop the plan, including on respiratory conditions.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the potential cost to the public purse of respiratory conditions in (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2034.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Chronic respiratory diseases are the third biggest contributor to Years of Life Lost in England. The annual economic burden of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on the National Health Service in the United Kingdom is estimated as £3 billion and £1.9 billion, respectively. In total, all lung conditions, including lung cancer, directly cost the NHS in the UK £11 billion annually. Further information is available at the following link:
NHS England is working alongside a range of organisations with an interest in respiratory data, including Asthma and Lung UK, Health Data Research UK, and the British Thoracic Society, and have developed a collective vision for the future of high-quality respiratory data. The vision is due to be finalised in October 2024 and is supported by a working group of key stakeholders to take forward.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to improve the (a) availability and (b) quality of data on respiratory health.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Chronic respiratory diseases are the third biggest contributor to Years of Life Lost in England. The annual economic burden of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on the National Health Service in the United Kingdom is estimated as £3 billion and £1.9 billion, respectively. In total, all lung conditions, including lung cancer, directly cost the NHS in the UK £11 billion annually. Further information is available at the following link:
NHS England is working alongside a range of organisations with an interest in respiratory data, including Asthma and Lung UK, Health Data Research UK, and the British Thoracic Society, and have developed a collective vision for the future of high-quality respiratory data. The vision is due to be finalised in October 2024 and is supported by a working group of key stakeholders to take forward.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
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 address regional disparities in cancer treatment.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Reducing inequalities and variation in cancer treatment is a priority for the Government, as is increasing early cancer diagnosis, as both are key contributors to reducing cancer health inequalities.
To improve diagnosis and outcomes, NHS England is delivering a range of interventions including implementing non-specific symptom pathways for patients who have symptoms, such as unexplained weight-loss and fatigue, that do not align to a single tumour type, as is often the case with pancreatic cancer. 115 pathways are now in place across the country, providing almost full population coverage.
We are also rolling out the Targeted Lung Health Checks Programme, which aims to improve early detection of lunch cancer. People living in deprived areas are four times more likely to smoke, and smoking causes 72% of lung cancers. Therefore, introducing this programme will disproportionately benefit those in deprived areas.