Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
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 dementia care and support for (a) patients and (b) families post-diagnosis in (i) England and (ii) Beckenham and Penge constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is committed to delivering high quality care and support for every person with dementia, and central to this is the provision of personalised care and support planning for post diagnostic support.
The Department has produced guidance on what to expect from health and care services following a dementia diagnosis, which is available at the following link:
There has been a longstanding priority in the London Borough of Bromley, including Beckenham and Penge, to ensure fast and effective dementia diagnostic services, as well as a strong community support offer which is provided by the Bromley Dementia Support Hub and MindCare Dementia respite service. These services are delivered through a partnership of National Health Service and voluntary sector partners to ensure that there is a tailored offer of support for those who need it.
The Bromley Dementia Support Hub, together with the MindCare Dementia Service provided by South-East London Mind, and in partnership with the Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, Bromley Well, and Age UK Bromley and Greenwich, offers a range of support services and stimulating activities both in-person and online for people living with dementia, and their friends and family carers.
Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to maternal mental health services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
People with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they deserve or need, which is why we will fix the system to ensure we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health, and that people can be confident in accessing high quality mental health support when they need it. We will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to reduce delays and provide faster treatment, which will also help ease pressure on hospitals.
NHS England’s three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services commits to offering all women a personalised care and support plan, considering physical health, mental health, and social complexities, with an updated risk assessment at every contact.
Specialist perinatal mental health services are available in all 42 integrated care system (ICS) areas of England. Maternal mental health services are available in 40 of the 42 ICS areas in England, and the last two are being supported by NHS England to ensure they are up and running as soon as possible. There are currently 19 Mother and Baby Units across England, with 153 operational beds.
Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
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 help reduce the number of people off work due to long term sickness.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that appropriate work is generally good for health and wellbeing. We want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. We want people to avoid poverty, and for this to happen we must ensure that disabled people and people with health conditions have the opportunity to work and save for as long as they wish and are able to. Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group, so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key.
The Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Work and Pensions are committed to supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, and have range of support available so individuals can stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems.
Measures include joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care, as well as support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants.
We have also launched WorkWell services in 15 integrated care board areas across England from October this year. WorkWell seeks to help people with health-related barriers to start and get on in work.
Employers play a key role in increasing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and people with health conditions to thrive as part of the workforce. Our support to employers includes increasing access to Occupational Health, a digital information service for employers, and the Disability Confident scheme. Further information on the digital information service is available at the following link:
As part of the Get Britain Working plan, more disabled people and those with health conditions will be supported to enter and stay in work, by devolving more power to local areas so they can shape a joined-up work, health, and skills offer that suits the needs of the people they serve.
The Autumn Budget 2024 included more than £2.7 billion in 2025/26 for the Department for Work and Pensions to deliver individualised employment support programmes and reduce health related inactivity, helping the Government meet its ambition to support more people into work. This includes more than £800 million for disability employment support and £240 million to tackle the root causes of inactivity through the Get Britain Working White Paper.
Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of the report by Lord Darzi entitled Independent investigation of the NHS in (a) England and (b) Beckenham and Penge constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Lord Darzi’s full report has laid bare the true extent of the challenges facing our health service, giving us the frank assessment necessary to face these problems honestly and properly, and do the hard work required to fix them. Lord Darzi’s findings will inform our 10-Year Health Plan to radically reform the National Health Service, and build a health service that is fit for the future. across England’s constituencies, such as Beckenham and Penge.
The plan will be a key element of how we deliver the change needed to meet the three mission goals, specifically: a fairer system where everyone lives well for longer: an NHS that is there when people need it: and fewer lives lost to the biggest killers.
This is a long-term challenge and will take time to deliver, and so the plan will consider both the immediate actions needed to get the NHS back on its feet and bring waiting lists down, as well as the longer-term changes needed to make the health service fit for the future.
Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of NHS urgent and emergency care services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to supporting the National Health Service to reduce urgent and emergency service waiting times, and to achieve the standards set out in the NHS Constitution.
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care ordered an investigation of NHS performance by Professor Lord Darzi. The report, which was published on 12 September 2024, includes an assessment of the pressures on urgent and emergency care services, and is available at the following link:
Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
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 the role of pharmacies in (a) delivering healthcare and (b) improving health outcomes in the community.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to expanding the role of community pharmacies. We want to develop and better utilise the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to improve access to care in local communities and address inequalities.
That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists. In preparation, NHS England is piloting the use of prescribing by community pharmacists in a range of pathways that will enable them to play an increased role in delivering clinical services in primary care.
Pharmacies have demonstrated their reach into their local communities, particularly in delivering preventative healthcare like vaccinations and advice on minor illness. The Government is committed to shifting more care from the hospital to the community, and pharmacies will play a vital role in that.
Asked by: Liam Conlon (Labour - Beckenham and Penge)
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 reduce waiting times for elective surgeries in Beckenham and Penge constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission and a top priority for the Government, as we get the National Health Service back on its feet. Equality of both access to care and outcomes will be at the heart of building an NHS that is fit for the future.
We have committed to achieving the NHS Constitutional standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from Referral to Treatment by the end of this Parliament. As a first step to achieving this, we will deliver an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week across the country, and will increase the number of computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and other tests, that are needed to reduce elective and cancer waits.
Dedicated and protected surgical hubs are also helping to reduce elective surgeries’ wait times by focusing on high volume low complexity surgeries, as recommended by the Royal College of Surgeons of England, and transforming the way the NHS provides elective care. There is one surgical hub within the King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, the Orpington Hospital Elective Surgical Hub. This stand-alone hub opened in December 2013 and is a single specialty hub focusing on trauma and orthopaedics. Patients from the Beckenham and Penge constituency can be referred to this surgical hub for elective surgeries.