Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to ensure adequate support is provided to people who live with severe chronic pain.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
The majority of routine treatment and support for people with chronic pain is provided by local primary, community and secondary care services and commissioned via clinical commissioning groups. For patients with severe and complex pain, NHS England commissions specialised care. Upon referral to specialist centres, patients can access a range of health professionals, including consultant specialists, clinical nurse specialists, psychologists and physiotherapists and receive specialised treatment.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published its guidance on chronic pain in April 2021, which includes recommendations on how chronic pain can be managed through pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches, such as exercise programmes, acupuncture and psychological therapy. NHS England has established a task and finish group to produce guidance on the provision of high-quality services for people living with long-term pain conditions by September 2022. The guidance is aimed at integrated care systems, to provide core principles which can be used to inform the development of local models of care to support people living with chronic pain.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
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 impact of the removal of domestic covid-19 restrictions on the health and wellbeing of clinically vulnerable and immunocompromised people.
Answered by Maggie Throup
No specific assessment has been made. However, we have made antiviral and other therapeutic treatments available for the most vulnerable patients and a targeted vaccination programme. On 1 April 2022, we issued updated guidance for those most at risk from serious illness as a result of COVID-19 infection, including those previously considered as clinically extremely vulnerable and the immunocompromised. We are also continuing to engage with patients and relevant stakeholder groups to review the impact of these measures.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) accessibility and (b) quality of child and adolescent mental health services in Lancashire.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
No specific assessment has been made. However, in 2020/21 42% of children and young people with a probable mental health condition in the Healthier Lancashire and South Cumbria Sustainability and Transformation Partnership area received at least two contacts with National Health Service-funded mental health services. The percentage of children and young people with a probable mental health condition is based on 2004 prevalence from the Office of National Statistics. The Care Quality Commission’s inspection report published in September 2019 found that the quality of child and adolescent mental health services at Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust was rated as good.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
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 monitor the effects and prevalence of long covid.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Long COVID is still a new condition and it is vital that our understanding of it grows. We have invested over £50 million in dedicated research to improve the diagnosis and treatment of long COVID.
The Office for National Statistics publishes estimates of self-reported long COVID prevalence on a monthly basis. NHS England and NHS Improvement publish activity data and demographic information for patients who have been referred to a post-COVID assessment clinic.