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Written Question
Veterans: Mental Health Services
Wednesday 13th March 2024

Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many veterans are in receipt of specialist mental health support.

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

From 1 April 2023, a new integrated Op COURAGE service has been operational. This new service has brought together the three previously separate mental health services for veterans into a single service, to make it easier for veterans to access the support they need, when they need it. Between April 2023 and December 2023, there were 5,084 referrals into Op COURAGE.

Veterans can also choose to use Talking Therapies and other National Health Service mental health services, commissioned by NHS England. Between April 2023 and December 2023, there were 14,595 veteran referrals into Talking Therapies services.


Written Question
Paramedical Staff
Thursday 1st December 2022

Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many paramedics worked in the NHS in each region in each year since 2010.

Answered by Will Quince

A table showing the number of full-time equivalent paramedics employed by National Health Service hospital trusts and commissioning bodies in each NHS region in England in August of each year from 2010 to 2022 is attached.


Written Question
Mental Health Services: Veterans
Thursday 3rd November 2022

Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will record (a) how many veterans are seen by NHS commissioned services for mental health support, (b) the time to enter treatment and (c) the length of treatment offered on delivery.

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

This information is not held in the format requested. However, as of 31 August 2022, over 24,000 referrals have been made to Op COURAGE since April 2019, the bespoke mental health service commissioned by NHS England for veterans. The following table shows the number of referrals to Op COURAGE in each year since 2019.

Year

Number of referrals

2019

4,870

2020

5,261

2021

5,802

2022 to 31 August

4,120

Individuals can have multiple referrals, calls or appointments. In addition, some veterans may also seek support through National Health Service mental health services. The following table shows the average waiting time for treatment to the services provided by Op COURAGE in 2021/2022.

Service

Average waiting time in calendar days

Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service

23 days

Complex Treatment Service

16 days

High Intensity Service

4 days

The length of treatment is dependent on the clinical needs and circumstances of the veteran concerned. While NHS England collect data on the length of treatment offered to individuals within Op COURAGE, there is no standard treatment period as individual treatment times will vary.


Written Question
Health Services: Veterans
Tuesday 1st November 2022

Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking with the devolved administrations to facilitate cross-border referrals for veterans where there is a clinical need or waiting lists are extremely long.

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

It is for the devolved administrations to determine health policies for those living in those jurisdictions. In England, all individuals are treated according to clinical need with those requiring urgent treatment prioritised accordingly, irrespective of veteran status. The Department and NHS England meet regularly with National Health Service trusts to discuss waiting lists for planned treatment. This includes assessing current progress on addressing waiting times and sharing advice to deliver on the targets in the ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’.

In addition to mainstream NHS services, there are several bespoke veteran services in England exclusively available to veterans which have shorter waiting times, including Op COURAGE.


Written Question
Refugees: Afghanistan
Monday 10th January 2022

Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when Afghan refugees in the UK and housed in bridging hotels will be offered the covid-19 vaccine; and what proportion of Afghan refugees have received (a) a single dose and (b) two doses of the vaccine.

Answered by Maggie Throup

We have provided £3 million to the National Health Service to support an enhanced healthcare offer for people and their families arriving through Afghan resettlement schemes. The NHS was asked to ensure individuals were offered COVID-19 vaccination in line with national guidelines. Vaccinations are being offered to individuals in all 72 bridging hotel sites.

Information on the proportion of refugees who have received a single and two doses of the vaccine is not available, as general practice data does not record whether individuals have been resettled through the Afghan resettlement scheme.


Written Question
Care Homes: Coronavirus
Tuesday 8th June 2021

Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)

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 care home workers being required to use their annual leave entitlement in the event that they need to stay at home and self-isolate.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has written to local authorities and care providers to remind them of the importance of paying staff normal wages when self-isolating. Since May 2020 the Government has made available an Infection Control Fund and one of the stated purposes of this fund is to enable care providers to pay care home workers their full wage in the event they need to self-isolate. We are working with local government, stakeholders and care providers to ensure as many providers as possible are following our guidance.


Written Question
Care Homes: Coronavirus
Thursday 20th May 2021

Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will issue clear guidance to care providers on the use of the Infection Control Fund to pay care home workers their normal wage in the event that they need to stay at home and self-isolate.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Since May 2020 the Government has made an Infection Control Fund available to support adult social care providers take measures to reduce COVID-19 transmission. One of the purposes of this fund is to enable care providers to pay care home workers their full wage in the event they need to self-isolate.

The Department has provided guidance to providers which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adult-social-care-infection-control-and-testing-fund


Written Question
Care Homes: Coronavirus
Thursday 20th May 2021

Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)

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 merits of care providers using funding from the Infection Control Fund to pay care home workers their normal wage in the event that they need to stay at home and self-isolate.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Since May 2020 the Government has made an Infection Control Fund available to support adult social care providers take measures to reduce COVID-19 transmission. One of the purposes of this fund is to enable care providers to pay care home workers their full wage in the event they need to self-isolate.

The Department has provided guidance to providers which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adult-social-care-infection-control-and-testing-fund


Written Question
Care Homes: Coronavirus
Thursday 20th May 2021

Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)

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 merits of care home workers receiving their normal wage in the event that they need to stay at home and self-isolate.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Since May 2020 the Government has made an Infection Control Fund available to support adult social care providers take measures to reduce COVID-19 transmission. One of the purposes of this fund is to enable care providers to pay care home workers their full wage in the event they need to self-isolate.

The Department has provided guidance to providers which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adult-social-care-infection-control-and-testing-fund


Written Question
Care Homes: Coronavirus
Thursday 20th May 2021

Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)

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 merits of using the Infection Control Fund to support care home workers who need to stay at home and self-isolate.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Since May 2020 the Government has made an Infection Control Fund available to support adult social care providers take measures to reduce COVID-19 transmission. One of the purposes of this fund is to enable care providers to pay care home workers their full wage in the event they need to self-isolate.

The Department has provided guidance to providers which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adult-social-care-infection-control-and-testing-fund