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Written Question
Mental Health Services: Rural Areas
Tuesday 11th February 2025

Asked by: Josh MacAlister (Labour - Whitehaven and Workington)

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 provision of mental health services in rural areas.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Integrated care boards are responsible for providing mental health services to meet the needs of their local populations.

As part of our plan for change, we will reduce delays and provide faster treatment.

We are working with NHS England to transform mental health services, shift care from hospitals to local communities and increase access to support for people across the country, including rural areas.

Written Question
Department of Health and Social Care: Foster Care
Wednesday 22nd January 2025

Asked by: Josh MacAlister (Labour - Whitehaven and Workington)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) his Department and (b) each of its arms length bodies offers employees who are foster carers (i) flexible working, (ii) paid time off for (A) training and (B) settling a new child into their home and (iii) other support.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department is keen to encourage employees to become foster carers, and to support those already providing foster care or care for their family and friends by providing time off where necessary. Fostering related leave, which forms part of our special leave provision, can be planned or unplanned, and may be paid or unpaid, and our current provision is as follows:

  • leave during an assessment for approval, specifically discretionary special paid leave for up to five days in a 12-month period, which can be taken in whole or half days;
  • additional leave during the approval process or when child is in placement, comprising of an additional five days of paid or unpaid leave in a 12-month period at a line manager’s discretion, for example, for meetings, training, unforeseen emergencies relating to their fostering role, and to accommodate an emergency placement, among other reasons; and
  • additional leave at the start of a planned permanent placement, which is additional discretionary special paid leave for up to 10 days in a 12-month period. If both parents are employed, one parent would receive up to 10 days and the other up to five days.

In addition, foster carers are also entitled to the same statutory and departmental dependents and carers related leave provisions as for all other employees with caring responsibilities. These being:

  • three days of paid emergency carers leave over a rolling one-year period, with discretion to allow paid leave up to a maximum of five days;
  • emergency leave for dependants that provides one day of special leave to allow an employee to attend hospital when a dependant is admitted to accident and emergency;
  • the statutory right to take up to a week’s unpaid leave in any 12-month period to provide or arrange care for a dependant with a long-term care need, with the leave being able to be taken in half days, full days, or as consecutive days;
  • paid bereavement leave of up to five days, which can be granted to an employee following the death of a dependent, although there is a limit of five days for this type of leave, there is discretion to exceed this limit where circumstances are particularly traumatic, for example the death of a child; and
  • a carer’s passport, to enable a carer and their manager to document the flexibilities needed to support the carer in combining caring and work.

All employees, regardless of caring responsibilities, are entitled to the same flexible working provisions. While flexible working is discretionary and isn't an automatic right, such arrangements provide employees with some degree of flexibility over how, where, and when they work. Some frequently used arrangements are outlined below, although this list is not exhaustive:

  • part-time, for those contracted to work fewer hours than standard full-time hours;
  • compressed hours, which are standard working hours covered in fewer working days;
  • job sharing, an arrangement where a job is split between two;
  • part-year or term time working, where employees work fewer than 365 days per year and have contractual periods of attendance and non-attendance, for example, a set period of non-attendance for school holidays; and
  • flexi-time system, which allows employees using the Department's flexi-time system to vary their start and finish times, vary the time and length of their lunch break, and take time off.

Foster carers working at the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and the Food Standards Agency have access to flexible working arrangements, paid time off, and additional support for training and settling a new child into their home.

All employees at NHS England, the NHS Business Services Authority, the Health Research Authority, the Care Quality Commission, the Health Services Safety Investigations Body, NHS Resolution, the Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, and the UK Health and Security Agency have access to flexible working. These arm’s length bodies have no specific provisions for foster carers, but rather access to general carers and special leave policies.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellent, the Health Services Safety Investigations Body, NHS Resolutions, the Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, and the UK Health and Security Agency work with foster carers on a case-by-case basis to accommodate reasonable requests. The Human Tissue Authority does not have any specific provisions for foster carers.

Written Question
Prescriptions
Wednesday 18th September 2024

Asked by: Josh MacAlister (Labour - Whitehaven and Workington)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress the NHS England and College of Operating Department Practitioners working group has made on prescribing rights.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

In late 2020, NHS England launched a series of public consultations seeking views on proposals to amend the responsibilities for the prescribing, supply, and administration of medicines for the following professionals:

  • dental hygienists and dental therapists;
  • biomedical scientists, clinical scientists, and operating department practitioners;
  • podiatrists and physiotherapists; and
  • paramedics.

This work was undertaken as part of the Chief Professions Officers’ Medicines Mechanisms (CPOMM) programme. The Department is working with NHS England to consider the CPOMM’s consultations and progress the extension of responsibilities to supply, administer, or prescribe medicines under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 (HMRs 2012) to regulated healthcare professionals, where a clear need and benefits have been identified.

For example, the Department recently completed work to amend the HMRs 2012 to allow dental hygienists and dental therapists to supply and administer specified medicines via exemptions, and pharmacy technicians to use Patient Group Directions. This legislation came into force in late June 2024. The Department will review priorities for progressing work in the CPOMM programme.

Written Question
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Drugs
Monday 9th September 2024

Asked by: Josh MacAlister (Labour - Whitehaven and Workington)

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 ensure sufficient supply of (a) creon and (b) other ADHD medications.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department has been working with suppliers to address current supply issues with pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) used by patients with conditions such as cystic fibrosis and certain cancers, including pancreatic cancer. The supply issues are impacting countries throughout Europe and have been caused by limited availability of raw ingredients and manufacturing capacity constraints to produce volumes needed to meet demand. The Department is continuing to work with all suppliers of PERT to help resolve the supply issues in the short and longer term. This includes asking that they expedite deliveries, source stock from other markets, and increase production.

We have issued comprehensive guidance to healthcare professionals about these supply issues, which provides advice on how to manage patients whilst there is disruption to supply. This guidance is being kept under review and updates will be made as necessary. Serious Shortage Protocols are in place for Creon 10,000 and 25,000 capsules to limit prescriptions to one months’ supply whilst stocks are limited.

The Department has also been working hard with industry to help resolve supply issues with some attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medicines, which are also impacting countries throughout Europe. As a result of intensive work, some issues have been resolved. All strengths of lisdexamfetamine, atomoxetine capsules, and guanfacine prolonged-release tablets are now available. We are working to resolve the remaining issues impacting some strengths of methylphenidate. This includes asking suppliers to secure additional stocks, expedite deliveries where possible, and review plans to further build capacity to support continued growth in demand for the short and long-term.

The Department has worked with specialist clinicians to develop management advice for clinicians which includes consideration to prescribe available alternative brands of methylphenidate prolonged release tablets. We have widely disseminated our communications and continually update a list of currently available and unavailable ADHD products on the Specialist Pharmacy Service website, helping to ensure that those involved in the prescribing and dispensing of ADHD medications can make informed decisions with patients.