Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that people diagnosed with autism are actively consulted on the support they require by (a) addressing healthcare barriers, (b) improving health outcomes and (c) implementing necessary adjustments in health services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidelines for autism highlight the importance of working in partnership with autistic people and, where appropriate, with their families, partners, and carers. The national framework and operational guidance for all-age autism assessment pathways, published by NHS England, set out what types of support autistic people may benefit from following diagnosis.
From 1 July 2022, service providers registered with the Care Quality Commission are required to ensure their staff receive learning disability and autism training appropriate to their role, as set out in the Health and Care Act 2022. To support this, we are rolling out the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism. Over 1.7 million people have now completed the e-learning module, which is the first part of the training.
To make it easier for autistic people to use health services, NHS England has mandated the use of a Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag in health records from April 2024. This shows where a disabled person needs a reasonable adjustment to their care. In addition, in June 2024, NHS England published a Health and Care Passport guidance and template. Owned by the individual, hospital passports aim to support personalised care for people with a learning disability and autistic people, enabling better informed clinical decisions and shared decision making.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
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 ensure ADHD testing is accessible to children in Greater Manchester.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is currently considering next steps to improve access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) services. It is the responsibility of integrated care boards to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including ADHD care pathways, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
We are supporting a taskforce that NHS England is establishing to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the National Health Service, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD and help provide a joined-up approach in response to concerns around rising demand.
NHS Greater Manchester advises that it has launched a public engagement exercise to gather views on improving children and young people’s ADHD services in Greater Manchester. The engagement exercise, which runs until 29 November 2024, seeks to address several issues including long wait times, levels of ongoing support for patients, the referral and assessment process, and how services vary across Greater Manchester.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
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 help ensure that people diagnosed with autism at the age of 30 or later receive comparable (a) support and (b) resources to people diagnosed in childhood; and what plans he has to tackle disparities in services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is currently considering next steps to improve support for autistic people of all ages. It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including support services for autistic people of all ages, in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. The NICE guideline, Autism spectrum disorder in adults: diagnosis and management, aims to improve access and engagement with interventions and services, and the experience of care, for autistic adults.
On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to deliver improved outcomes in all-age autism assessment pathways. This guidance will help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people, and adults referred to an autism assessment service. The guidance sets out what support should be available before an assessment and what support should follow a recent diagnosis of autism based on the available evidence. This includes setting out specific considerations for developing post-diagnostic support for adults diagnosed as autistic.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to reduce waiting times for autism diagnosis; and what steps he is taking to improve access to diagnostic services for (a) children and (b) adults.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is currently considering next steps to improve diagnostic assessment and support for autistic people. It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including autism assessment and support services, in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to deliver improved outcomes in all-age autism assessment pathways. This guidance will help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people, and adults referred to an autism assessment service. The guidance also sets out what support should be available before an assessment and what support should follow a recent diagnosis of autism, based on the available evidence.
In 2024/25, £4.3 million is available nationally to improve services for autistic children and young people, including autism assessment services.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of mandating that acupuncture providers disclose potential (a) risks, (b) side effects and (c) outcomes before treatments.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has no plans to introduce statutory regulation for acupuncture practitioners in the United Kingdom, and we have no plans to make such assessments. The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) operates an accredited voluntary registers programme, providing a proportionate means of assurance for unregulated professions by setting standards for organisations holding voluntary registers.
The British Acupuncture Council holds a voluntary register of acupuncturists, which is accredited by the PSA. The organisations accredited by the PSA are independent, representative bodies and as such, they do not fall under Government oversight and therefore any decisions about the practice requirements for the professions they represent are a matter for those organisations and their members.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing Government oversight of self-regulating acupuncture bodies.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has no plans to introduce statutory regulation for acupuncture practitioners in the United Kingdom, and we have no plans to make such assessments. The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) operates an accredited voluntary registers programme, providing a proportionate means of assurance for unregulated professions by setting standards for organisations holding voluntary registers.
The British Acupuncture Council holds a voluntary register of acupuncturists, which is accredited by the PSA. The organisations accredited by the PSA are independent, representative bodies and as such, they do not fall under Government oversight and therefore any decisions about the practice requirements for the professions they represent are a matter for those organisations and their members.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of taking steps to (a) integrate acupuncture practitioners into the broader healthcare system and (b) ensuring their treatments are in alignment with (i) standard medical practices and (ii) patient safety protocols.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has no plans to introduce statutory regulation for acupuncture practitioners in the United Kingdom, and we have no plans to make such assessments. The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) operates an accredited voluntary registers programme, providing a proportionate means of assurance for unregulated professions by setting standards for organisations holding voluntary registers.
The British Acupuncture Council holds a voluntary register of acupuncturists, which is accredited by the PSA. The organisations accredited by the PSA are independent, representative bodies and as such, they do not fall under Government oversight and therefore any decisions about the practice requirements for the professions they represent are a matter for those organisations and their members.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of mandating statutory regulation for acupuncture practitioners.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has no plans to introduce statutory regulation for acupuncture practitioners in the United Kingdom, and we have no plans to make such assessments. The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) operates an accredited voluntary registers programme, providing a proportionate means of assurance for unregulated professions by setting standards for organisations holding voluntary registers.
The British Acupuncture Council holds a voluntary register of acupuncturists, which is accredited by the PSA. The organisations accredited by the PSA are independent, representative bodies and as such, they do not fall under Government oversight and therefore any decisions about the practice requirements for the professions they represent are a matter for those organisations and their members.