Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
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 support research and development of new hearing aid technology.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Department funds research mainly through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The usual practice of the NIHR and other research funders is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including hearing aid technology.
In 2017-18 the NIHR was supporting four studies related to hearing aid technology and improving the use of hearing aids through its research infrastructure in the National Health Service. Between 2017 and 2019, the NIHR Clinical Research Network supported eight clinical studies related to hearing aid technology.
The NIHR funds three Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs) which have research themes related to hearing loss, deafness and hearing health. The total NIHR investment in these three BRC research themes over the five years from 1 April 2017 is £10.9 million. This includes the Manchester BRC that has established the United Kingdom’s only Hearing Device Research Centre to drive innovation in interventions for hearing loss and to accelerate the translation of new hearing technologies into the NHS.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
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 changing places toilets with hoist and a bench throughout the UK.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
In December 2018, we announced £2 million funding for National Health Service trusts in England to install Changing Places facilities in hospitals and significantly improve provision. From 31 May 2019, NHS trusts can bid for this funding, on a matched basis.
We are supportive of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government consultation which ran from 12 May 2019 to 22 July 2019 and sought views on how to increase provision of Changing Places toilets in specific new, large buildings commonly used by the public, as well as those undergoing building works. They propose to introduce a mandatory requirement for Changing Places in Building Regulations for some specific new, large buildings.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential health benefits of adding an assessment of fire toxicity to fire safety tests for upholstered products and construction materials.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The Department has made no specific assessment of the potential health benefits of adding an assessment of fire toxicity to fire safety tests for upholstered products and construction materials.
Asked by: Jim Cunningham (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of dementia diagnosis in each year of the last five years.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
No formal assessment of the trends in levels of dementia diagnosis in each year of the last five years has been made. The Prime Minister's Challenge on Dementia 2020 (started in 2015) sets out the ambition for two thirds of people with dementia to receive a formal diagnosis. We collect data for an indicator: Estimated Dementia Diagnosis Rate 65+. This indicator compares the number of people thought to have dementia with the number of people diagnosed with dementia, aged 65 and over. The result is presented as a rate, in the form of a percentage and published regularly. The published diagnosis rate is consistently above the target.
The annual ‘Recorded Dementia Diagnoses 2018-19’ publication is scheduled for release on 25 July 2019 and this will cover trends in national and regional diagnosis rates for April 2018 - March 2019.