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 steps his Department is taking to increase awareness of Sickle Cell amongst healthcare professionals outside of London.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
No assessment has been made. NHS England and Health Education England (HEE) have invested in raising awareness of sickle cell disease amongst medical staff. NHS England’s Health Inequalities improvement team launched a sickle cell awareness campaign ‘Can you tell it’s sickle cell’ in June 2022 and continues to promote and monitor its reach. A sickle cell disorder e-learning resource has also been developed and is now available across the National Health Service.
There have been recent improvements to the haematology medical curriculum, with understanding sickle cell and thalassaemia now described in the curriculum as core competencies. HEE has additionally held discussions with the Royal Colleges of Pathology and Physicians to ensure that this curriculum is deliverable across all four nations, in line with General Medical Council standards.
In addition to the above e-learning, HEE now provides two ‘e-Learning for healthcare’ programmes with sickle cell content, NHS Screening Programmes, including the Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Screening Programme and the Maternity Support Worker Programme.
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 he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing free prescriptions for sickle cell patients.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
There are no plans to make an assessment. Approximately 89% of prescription items are already dispensed free of charge and there are already a wide range of exemptions from prescription charges currently in place. Patients with sickle cell disease may meet the eligibility criteria for another prescription charge exemption and be in receipt of free prescriptions.
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 he will make an assessment of the potential merits of including in sickle cell health care protocols policies to promote the importance of nutrition.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
No specific assessment has been made. There is little evidence in support of any specific nutritional intervention that ameliorates sickle cell symptoms and therefore, there is no intention at this point to incorporate specific information regarding nutrition in national protocols or policies.
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, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure that sickle cell services receive increased (a) staffing and (b) funding levels.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
No specific assessment has been made. NHS England has launched an end-to-end sickle cell clinical pathway review led by the Health Inequalities Improvement team. The end-to-end clinical pathway for patients with sickle cell disease is being reviewed to identify opportunities for delivering improvements. The review is at an early stage but has highlighted a number of opportunities to improve current services, including in relation to workforce, the digitalisation of care plans and general education of the public about the condition.
In addition, NHS England is undertaking an exercise to assess compliance of Specialist Haemoglobinopathy Teams and Haemoglobinopathy Coordinating Centres with the respective service specifications which are published on the Haemoglobinopathies Clinical Reference Group webpage.
Resources have been invested in raising awareness of sickle cell disease amongst medical staff. There have been recent improvements to the haematology medical curriculum, with sickle cell disease and thalassemia now described in the curriculum as core competencies. Health Education England (HEE) also provides a range of e-learning that includes sickle cell disease content. HEE has held discussions with the Royal Colleges of Pathology and Physicians to ensure this curriculum is deliverable to all four nations, in line with General Medical Council standards. The Haemoglobinopathy Coordinating Centres also provide network development, leadership, learning and education across their network area.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2022 to Question 105556 on Sickle Cell Diseases, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing (a) funding and (b) staffing levels for sickle cell services.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
No specific assessment has been made by the NHS England National Specialised Commissioning Team on the potential merits of simplifying the administration of pain relief for Sickle Cell patients or, of increasing funding and staffing levels for sickle cell services. However the National Sickle Pain Group, a sub-group of the Specialised Commissioning Haemoglobinopathies Clinical Reference Group, has produced guidance for hospitals to improve the care for sickle cell patients presenting with acute sickle pain and are working on an associated acute pain audit to measure the time to first analgesia universally across England.
NHS England has launched an end to end sickle cell clinical pathway review led by the Health Inequalities Improvement team. The end to end clinical pathway for patients with Sickle Cell Disease is being reviewed to identify opportunities for delivering improvements. The review is at an early stage but has highlighted a number of opportunities to improve current services, including in relation to workforce, the digitalisation of care plans and general education of the public about the condition.
In addition, NHS England is undertaking an exercise to assess compliance of Specialist Haemoglobinopathy Teams and Haemoglobinopathy Co-ordinating Centres with the respective service specifications which are published on the Haemoglobinopathies Clinical Reference Group webpage.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2022 to Question 105558 on Sickle Cell Diseases, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of simplifying the administration of pain relief for sickle cell patients.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
No specific assessment has been made by the NHS England National Specialised Commissioning Team on the potential merits of simplifying the administration of pain relief for Sickle Cell patients or, of increasing funding and staffing levels for sickle cell services. However the National Sickle Pain Group, a sub-group of the Specialised Commissioning Haemoglobinopathies Clinical Reference Group, has produced guidance for hospitals to improve the care for sickle cell patients presenting with acute sickle pain and are working on an associated acute pain audit to measure the time to first analgesia universally across England.
NHS England has launched an end to end sickle cell clinical pathway review led by the Health Inequalities Improvement team. The end to end clinical pathway for patients with Sickle Cell Disease is being reviewed to identify opportunities for delivering improvements. The review is at an early stage but has highlighted a number of opportunities to improve current services, including in relation to workforce, the digitalisation of care plans and general education of the public about the condition.
In addition, NHS England is undertaking an exercise to assess compliance of Specialist Haemoglobinopathy Teams and Haemoglobinopathy Co-ordinating Centres with the respective service specifications which are published on the Haemoglobinopathies Clinical Reference Group webpage.
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 his policy is on the provision of primary ophthalmic services for children in non-residential special schools.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
All children under 18 years old in full time education are eligible for free National Health Service sight tests from high street opticians and in some circumstances domiciliary sight tests delivered in their own home. Where access to services may be challenging, the hospital eye service can also provide eye care services and ongoing care.
The NHS Long Term Plan made a commitment to ensure that children and young people with a learning disability and/or autism in special residential schools have access to sight checks in school. NHS England commenced a proof-of-concept programme in 2021 to pilot and evaluate a potential sight testing service model in residential schools. The pilot is currently being evaluated and we expect this to conclude early in 2023.
NHS England has confirmed that all existing contracts operating under the proof of concept programme will continue until 31 July 2023. This will provide continuity of care until the end of the academic year and allow for additional stakeholder engagement. The evaluation of the programme will also inform whether this service should continue beyond this date.
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 recent progress his Department has made on the delivery of the NHS Special Schools Eye Care Service.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
All children under 18 years old in full time education are eligible for free National Health Service sight tests from high street opticians and in some circumstances domiciliary sight tests delivered in their own home. Where access to services may be challenging, the hospital eye service can also provide eye care services and ongoing care.
The NHS Long Term Plan made a commitment to ensure that children and young people with a learning disability and/or autism in special residential schools have access to sight checks in school. NHS England commenced a proof-of-concept programme in 2021 to pilot and evaluate a potential sight testing service model in residential schools. The pilot is currently being evaluated and we expect this to conclude early in 2023.
NHS England has confirmed that all existing contracts operating under the proof of concept programme will continue until 31 July 2023. This will provide continuity of care until the end of the academic year and allow for additional stakeholder engagement. The evaluation of the programme will also inform whether this service should continue beyond this date.
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 his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of cold weather on people living with sickle cell disease; and whether his Department is taking steps to help support people with sickle cell disease during winter 2022.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We are working across Government and with external partners to identify those most vulnerable to the health impacts of the increased cost of living and any further action which can be taken in winter 2022/23 to support them.
We recognise that people are worried about the rising cost of living, and that will be particularly felt by those with chronic conditions such as sickle cell disease. The Government announced a £37 billion package of cost of living support to help households and businesses, including a £15 billion targeted package of direct support for the most vulnerable households. People in receipt of extra-costs disability benefits such as Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Disability Living Allowance (DLA) will receive a one-off Disability Cost of Living Payment of £150 from 20th September, to further help with the extra costs.
This winter we are spending £55 billion to help households and businesses with their energy bills, amongst the largest support plans in Europe. A typical household will save around £900 this winter through the price guarantee in addition to the £400 Energy Bill Support Scheme.
We are also spending £9.3 billion over the next five years on energy efficiency and clean heat, making homes easier and cheaper to heat. We will spend £26 billion in total on cost of living support next year, including the £900 cost of living payment for eight million poorer households.
There is some evidence to suggest that exposure to cold or wind increases hospital attendance with acute pain, not only for Sickle Cell patients. However, there is no scientific evidence that examines the effect of ambient room temperatures and rates of vaso-occlusion.
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 his Department has made of the potential merits of increasing funding and staffing levels for Sickle Cell services .
Answered by Neil O'Brien
No specific assessment has been made.