Asked by: Jim Dickson (Labour - Dartford)
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 prohibit the free distribution of nicotine vapes to children.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will end the current loophole which allows free samples of vaping and nicotine products to be given away to anyone of any age. This will come into force six months after Royal Assent of the bill.
Asked by: Jim Dickson (Labour - Dartford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, what his Department's planned timetable is for bringing forward legislative proposals to introduce new regulations to help reduce the appeal of vapes to children.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will stop vapes and nicotine products from being deliberately promoted and advertised to children, to stop the next generation from becoming hooked on nicotine.
The bill includes a range of new regulation-making powers for the Government. Proposed regulations will be consulted on and subsequently laid. They will be implemented as soon as possible after the Tobacco and Vapes Bill has received Royal Assent.
The new age of sale restrictions for nicotine pouches will come into force six months after Royal Assent.
Asked by: Jim Dickson (Labour - Dartford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when age of sale restrictions will be brought into force for nicotine pouches.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will stop vapes and nicotine products from being deliberately promoted and advertised to children, to stop the next generation from becoming hooked on nicotine.
The bill includes a range of new regulation-making powers for the Government. Proposed regulations will be consulted on and subsequently laid. They will be implemented as soon as possible after the Tobacco and Vapes Bill has received Royal Assent.
The new age of sale restrictions for nicotine pouches will come into force six months after Royal Assent.
Asked by: Jim Dickson (Labour - Dartford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to widen the number of conditions for which pharmacies can assess and treat patients for without the need for a (a) GP appointment and (b) prescription.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are currently focused on optimising the implementation of the current clinical pathways that allow for the supply of prescription only medicines, and which cover seven common health conditions, including: sinusitis; sore throat; earache; impetigo; shingles; infected insect bites; and uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women aged 16 to 64 years old. NHS England is keeping the clinical scope of the service under review.
Asked by: Jim Dickson (Labour - Dartford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department has issued to (i) integrated care boards and (ii) NHS Trusts on including opt-out smoking cessation interventions in routine hospital care.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to ensuring that all hospitals integrate ‘opt-out’ smoking cessation interventions into routine care. As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, NHS England has prioritised and put new funding out to integrated care boards (ICBs) for the rollout of tobacco dependence services in hospital settings. Future funding decisions are subject to the Spending Review process.
Local authorities work with ICBs to provide a range of interventions recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and the National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training, based on the needs of their local populations.
Asked by: Jim Dickson (Labour - Dartford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's planned timetable is for all hospitals to integrate opt-out smoking cessation interventions in routine care.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to ensuring that all hospitals integrate ‘opt-out’ smoking cessation interventions into routine care. As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, NHS England has prioritised and put new funding out to integrated care boards (ICBs) for the rollout of tobacco dependence services in hospital settings. Future funding decisions are subject to the Spending Review process.
Local authorities work with ICBs to provide a range of interventions recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and the National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training, based on the needs of their local populations.
Asked by: Jim Dickson (Labour - Dartford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) volunteer and (b) paid peer support worker positions were created in the NHS England (i) liaison and diversion and (ii) RECONNECT service since peer support was first included in the liaison and diversion national service specification.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not collected centrally by NHS England. The national service specifications set an expectation that the workforce composition will include volunteer and paid peer-support roles within each liaison and diversion and RECONNECT service. However, the service specification does not stipulate the number or ratio of volunteer or peer support roles per service. It is a matter for the provider to satisfy the regional commissioner that the overall workforce plan is appropriate to meet the needs of the patient population.
Asked by: Jim Dickson (Labour - Dartford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to take steps to alter the messaging provided on cervical screening leaflets to make clear it does not screen for (a) ovarian cancer and (b) other gynaecological cancers.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
NHS England is responsible for delivering the NHS Cervical Screening Programme, and works to ensure that core public information on screening is easily accessible and understandable to the public. NHS England regularly reviews key public information across National Health Service screening programmes.
NHS England has advised that they are currently updating the Cervical screening: helping you decide leaflet, and that the draft update already addresses the concerns raised, making it clear that cervical screening does not screen for other cancers of the reproductive system. The final updated version is expected to be published in early 2025, and the current leaflet is available at the following link:
Asked by: Jim Dickson (Labour - Dartford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to ensure adequate levels of funding for healthcare in Dartford.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have taken tough decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, and this enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26.
NHS Kent and Medway will in turn receive a share of this additional funding. NHS England is responsible for funding allocations to integrated care boards. This process is independent of the Government, and NHS England takes advice on the underlying formulae used to help determine allocations from the independent Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation.
The formulae are based on independent academic research and include factors statistically associated with higher or lower need per head for National Health Services. The formulae produce a target allocation, or ‘fair share’ for each area, based on a complex assessment of factors such as demography, morbidity, deprivation, and the unavoidable cost of providing services in different areas.
Asked by: Jim Dickson (Labour - Dartford)
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 access to NHS dentistry in Dartford constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Dartford constituency, this is the NHS Kent and Medway ICB.