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Written Question
Dental Services: Wetherby Young Offender Institution
Wednesday 13th March 2024

Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the HM Chief Inspector of Prisons publication entitled Report on an unannounced inspection of HMYOI Wetherby by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (20 November – 7 December 2023), published on 5 March 2024, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for routine dental treatment.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

NHS England has advised that, since the inspection, the waiting time for a routine dental appointment at HM Wetherby Young Offenders Institute (HMYOI) has reduced from 15 weeks to 12 weeks, with all patients triaged to ensure all urgent or pain related cases are expedited appropriately. Orthodontist services are also available.

Healthcare services continue to provide regular weekly dental clinics at HMYOI Wetherby, and non-attendance at appointments has reduced, with the involvement of an allocated healthcare officer. Work is also underway to re-procure dental healthcare services in secure children’s settings, which will further improve access and reduce waits.


Written Question
Dental Services: Young Offender Institutions
Wednesday 14th February 2024

Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of dentistry provision in the youth secure estate.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England has statutory responsibility for the direct commissioning of health services in the children and young people secure estate. Intercollegiate Healthcare Standards for children and young people in secure settings were first published in 2013 to support high quality healthcare provision for children in secure settings, and were refreshed in 2023. These standards are available at the following link:

https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/healthcare-standards-children-young-people-secure-settings

They formed the basis of an outcome-based dental service specification, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/health-and-justice-and-armed-forces-service-specifications-for-children-and-young-people-in-secure-settings/#:~:text=Health%20and%20justice%20service%20specifications%20for%20children%20and%20young%20people%20in%20secure%20settings,-Document%20first%20published&text=This%20suite%20of%20specifications%20includes,dental%20and%20oral%20health%20specifications.

All children in the secure estate receive individualised care according to need and following an assessment via the Comprehensive Health Assessment Tool. This is an evidence based, validated health assessment tool for under 18-year-olds, which screens for physical health, substance misuse, mental health and neurodisability. This would include any dental care needs.


Written Question
Dental Health: Young Offenders
Tuesday 13th February 2024

Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the number of young people in the youth secure estate being reported as having tooth decay in each of the last five years.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England has statutory responsibility for the direct commissioning of health services in the children and young people secure estate. All children in the secure estate receive individualised care, following an assessment via the Comprehensive Health Assessment Tool. This is an evidence based, validated health assessment tool for under 18-year-olds, which screens for physical health, substance misuse, mental health and neurodisability. This would include any dental care needs. Data on the number of young people in the youth secure estate reported as having tooth decay is not held centrally.


Written Question
Members: Correspondence
Thursday 1st February 2024

Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to respond to the correspondence of (a) 30 November 2023 and (b) 10 January 2024 from the hon. Member for Lewisham East, case reference JD39544.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The department has received the correspondence from the hon. Member and has provided a response in PO-1484241. With apologies, this case was delayed as part of our continued backlog of cases following the pandemic and we are currently working through an urgent recovery plan to resolve this.


Written Question
Health: Children in Care
Wednesday 10th January 2024

Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the statutory guidance on promoting the health and wellbeing of looked-after children published on 17 March 2015, if she will review and update that guidance.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government committed to update the statutory guidance, Promoting the health and wellbeing of looked-after children, in the February 2023 children’s social care strategy, Stable Homes, Built on Love. This commitment includes extending the guidance to care leavers and was reaffirmed in the Government’s response to the strategy’s consultation, issued in September 2023.

While a timeframe for completing the update has not been published, the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care continue to work together to complete this work and have commenced engagement with stakeholders.


Written Question
Young Offenders: Mental Health Services
Monday 8th January 2024

Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans she has to improve the provision of mental health care across the youth secure estate.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

NHS England has statutory responsibility for the direct commissioning of health services or facilities in the secure estate for children and young people, including for mental health services


Within this estate, the Framework for Integrated Care (SECURE STAIRS) allows for a trauma informed, collaborative approach to care, assessment and the planning of sentences and interventions, regardless of previous diagnosis. This includes input from mental health staff as well as from social care professionals, education professionals and the operational staff working on a day-to-day basis at the setting. 

It also seeks to ensure that staff have the right skills and support to care for the children and young people appropriately. NHS England has continued to support the implementation and sustainability of the framework in the estate, in partnership with Youth Custody Service and the Department for Education.

As well as this, intercollegiate healthcare standards for children and young people in secure settings were first published in 2013. These standards were developed to help improve the quality and consistency of healthcare available to children in secure settings and have been refreshed in 2023. The standards benchmark NHS England’s core outcome based service specifications, including a specific specification for mental health services, which was also refreshed in 2023.


Written Question
Members: Correspondence
Monday 8th January 2024

Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to respond to the correspondence of (a) 17 October 2023 and (b) 23 November 2023 from the hon. Member for Lewisham East, case reference JD36657.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

I replied to the hon. Member on 8 December 2023.


Written Question
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Drugs
Tuesday 28th November 2023

Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 22 November 2023 to Question 1712 on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Drugs, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of her Department’s processes to (a) manage and (b) mitigate problems in the supply of medicines used for the management of ADHD.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Medicine supply problems can occur for several reasons; for example, they can be due to manufacturing difficulties, regulatory problems, problems with the supply of raw materials, sudden demand spikes or from issues which are related to the distribution of the product.

We have well-established processes for managing and mitigating medicine supply issues, which involve working with the pharmaceutical industry, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, NHS England, the devolved governments and others operating in the supply chain to help ensure patients have access to the treatments they need.

Disruptions to the supply of medicines used for the management of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have been primarily driven by issues which have resulted in capacity constraints at key manufacturing sites. The Department has been working closely with the respective manufacturers and some issues have now been resolved. However, we know that there continue to be disruptions to the supply of some other medicines, which are expected to resolve by the end of 2023 or in early 2024.


Written Question
Blood Diseases: Medical Treatments
Monday 27th November 2023

Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)

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 NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on access to new treatments for sickle cell disease and beta thalassaemia.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department regularly discusses a range of issues with colleagues in NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) related to patient access to effective new treatments. NICE appraises all newly licensed medicines and aims to publish draft guidance around the time of licensing wherever possible. NICE works closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and NHS England to ensure that there is a joined-up, timely approach to supporting access to new treatments for National Health Service patients.

NICE is currently appraising exagamglogene autotemcel for treating transfusion-dependent beta-thalassaemia and sickle cell disease, and expects to publish final guidance in March and April 2024 respectively.


Written Question
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Drugs
Wednesday 22nd November 2023

Asked by: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of trends in the level of demand for medication used to treat ADHD since 2010.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

There are currently no plans to make such an assessment.

It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision, including for ADHD assessment and support, to meet the health and care needs of their local population, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. NICE guidelines for ADHD diagnosis and management aim to improve the diagnosis of ADHD and the quality of care and support people receive. The Department is looking into options for improving data collection and reporting on ADHD assessment waiting times, to help improve access to ADHD assessments in a timely way and in line with the NICE guidelines.

We are aware of global disruptions to the supply of medicines used for the management of ADHD. Medicine shortages are an ongoing issue that the Department has been managing for many years. Supply problems can arise for various reasons such as manufacturing issues, problems with the raw ingredients, sudden spikes in demand and batch failures. The Department has well established processes to manage and mitigate supply problems.