Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 4.24 of the Spring Budget 2023, HC1183, published on 15 March 2023, on Suicide Prevention Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Grant Fund, by what mechanism the grant fund will be allocated; and what his timescale is for allocation of the funding.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
As the Chancellor announced in the Spring Budget, we will assign an extra £10 million over the next two years for a Suicide Prevention Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Grant Fund. Further information about the fund will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)
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 address gaps in the usage of insulin pumps between (a) people with diabetes living in the most deprived areas and (b) people with diabetes living in the least deprived areas.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
NHS England firmly supports and encourages local integrated care boards to adopt National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance in relation to the management of Type 1 diabetes, which includes recommended use of insulin pump.
NHS England is using the Core20PLUS5 approach to support the reduction of healthcare inequalities at both national and system level. A clinical focus for Core20PLUS5 for children and young people includes diabetes.
The approach targets populations living in 20% of the most deprived areas as identified by the national Index of Multiple Deprivation and identifies five focussed clinical areas requiring accelerated improvement.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Major Conditions Strategy will (i) tackle social determinants of ill health and (ii) address the relationship between poverty and incidence of Type 2 Diabetes.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
The Major Conditions Strategy will include both immediate and long-term action to tackle major conditions.
The Strategy’s focus is on tackling conditions that contribute most to morbidity and mortality across the population in England: cancers; cardiovascular disease, including stroke and diabetes; chronic respiratory diseases; dementia; mental ill health; and musculoskeletal conditions.
The Strategy will cover treatment and prevention for all six conditions and we will continue to work closely with stakeholders, citizens and the National Health Service in the coming weeks to identify actions that will have the most impact.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer 31 January 2023 to Question 133742 on Health Services, which mental health conditions will be included in the Major Conditions Strategy.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Major Conditions Strategy will cover prevention to treatment for six broad conditions including mental ill health and we will continue to work closely with stakeholders, citizens and the National Health Service in coming weeks to identify actions that will have the most impact. No decisions have yet been made on which specific mental health conditions might be included in the strategy.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Major Conditions Strategy will include policies to (a) help tackle children's mental health needs and (b) support children's mental health services.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
We received over 5,000 submissions to our mental health and wellbeing call for evidence, and we appreciate the engagement work many stakeholders carried out with children and young people, to inform their responses. We have analysed these responses and we will consider them as part of the process for developing the mental ill health content in the Major Conditions Strategy.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Major Conditions Strategy will be delivered by multiple Government departments.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
The Department of Health and Social Care will deliver the Major Conditions Strategy in consultation with NHS England and other Government Departments.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will set out a timetable for the publication of the refreshed NHS Long Term Plan.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department and NHS England are working together on an ongoing basis to review progress of commitments in the NHS Long Term Plan. The Hewitt Review is currently looking at the scope and options for national targets and how to empower local leaders to improve outcomes for their populations and the Department looks forward to considering its conclusions. The Government is building on the commitments in the NHS Long Term Plan through the ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’, the ‘Delivery plan for recovering urgent and emergency care services’, the upcoming general practice access recovery plan, as well as the long term workforce plan and the major conditions strategy which will be published in due course.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2023 to Question 117924 on Life Expectancy, when the Government will set out its plans to reduce health disparities.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Government announced on 24 January 2023 that it will publish a Major Conditions Strategy. An interim report will be published in the summer. The strategy will set out a strong and coherent policy agenda that sets out a shift to integrated, whole-person care. Interventions set out in the strategy will aim to alleviate pressure on the health system, as well as support the Government’s objective to increase healthy life expectancy and reduce ill-health related labour market inactivity.
The strategy will tackle conditions that contribute most to morbidity and mortality across the population in England including, cancers, cardiovascular disease, including stroke and diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, dementia, mental ill health and musculoskeletal conditions.
Health disparities exist across a wide variety of conditions from cancer to mental health, and contribute to stark and unacceptable variation in the number of years people live in good health. Therefore, the Major Conditions Strategy will apply a geographical lens to each condition to address regional disparities in health outcomes, supporting the levelling up mission to improve health and reduce disparities. As material for the Major Conditions Strategy will cover many of the same areas as the Health Disparities White Paper (HDWP), we will no longer be publishing the HDWP.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has he made of the potential merits of recognising gambling as a public health issue; and what steps is he taking to address the relationship between gambling and suicide.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Government remains committed to tackling gambling-related harms and prioritising gambling as a public health issue. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the lead Government department responsible for gambling policy, is currently leading a review of the Gambling Act (2005). The Department of Health and Social Care continues to work with DCMS to strengthen the current public health approach, including encouraging actions to prevent harms from arising in the first place.
To address the relationship between gambling and suicide, we are focused on ensuring those experiencing harms are able to access the right treatment and support in a timely manner. NHS England remain on track to deliver against their Long Term Plan commitment to create 15 specialist gambling treatment clinics by 2023/24. As at time of writing, there are now eight of these clinics in operation across England.
On 24 January 2023, we announced that we will publish a new National Suicide Prevention Strategy later this year. As part of the development of the strategy, we will consider the changing pattern of risk of suicide associated with issues such as harmful gambling and the Department will engage with key stakeholders, across both the gambling and health sector, during this process.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon and Consett)
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 including early intervention measures within the upcoming Mental Health Bill.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Government published a draft Mental Health Bill on 23 June 2022. It is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/draft-mental-health-bill-2022
The draft Bill is focused on modernising the Mental Health Act 1983, which provides the legislative framework under which people may be detained and treated for a severe mental disorder. The draft Bill is currently subject to pre-legislative scrutiny by a joint Parliamentary Committee. Information on the Committee is available at the following link:
https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/605/joint-committee-on-the-draft-mental-health-bill/
Following pre-legislative scrutiny, the Government will bring forward a Mental Health Bill when Parliamentary time allows.