Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings by the charity Together for Short Lives in its report Commissioning children’s palliative care in England: 2017 edition that (1) only 35 per cent of clinical commissioning groups are implementing HM Government’s guidance set out in Our Commitment to You for End of Life Care, and (2) that 46 per cent have no plans to do so; and whether they intend to conduct a review into how implementation levels can be improved and made consistent throughout England.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
In July 2016, the Government set out its commitment to everyone at the end of life in the Government response to the independent What’s important to me. A Review of Choice in End of Life Care. A copy of the Review is attached. Our Commitment to you for end of life care: The Government Response to the Review of Choice in End of Life Care (the Choice Commitment) set out what everyone should expect from their care at the end of life and the actions we are taking to make high quality and personalisation a reality for all, both adults and children, and to end variation in end of life care across the health system by 2020. A copy of the Government Response is attached. On 21 September 2017 we published One year on: the government response to the review of choice in end of life care setting out the good progress made in delivering this over the first year. A copy is attached.
Through the Mandate, we have asked NHS England to deliver the Choice Commitment, and working through NHS England’s National Programme Board for End of life Care with all key system partners and stakeholders, including Together for Short Lives (TFSL), a range of activity is ongoing to achieve this. It is right that clinical commissioning groups have autonomy to shape services locally, and it is important that, where needed, more is done to provide them with tools, evidence, support and guidance to demonstrate the benefits of delivering the Government’s vision for end of life care. NHS England, Public Health England and the Ambitions Partnership (comprising national organisations across the statutory and voluntary sectors, including TFSL) have provided a wealth of support over the first year, including: currencies to improve transparency in specialist palliative commissioning; new guidance on cost effective commissioning; data about end of life care to assist Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STP) as they develop their plans for services; and seven evaluations of different approaches to 24/7 models of care.
Early in 2017, NHS England will be holding workshops with a range of STP leads to provide practical advice and support on developing effective end of life care services and demonstrating the value they can bring. In addition, TFSL has been commissioned by NHS England to promote the adoption of best practice approaches to children’s that are recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, and report back on barriers to implementation locally.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to commission a review into the consistency of regional commissioning of services families with children in need of palliative care.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
In July 2016, the Government set out its commitment to everyone at the end of life in the Government response to the independent What’s important to me. A Review of Choice in End of Life Care. A copy of the Review is attached. Our Commitment to you for end of life care: The Government Response to the Review of Choice in End of Life Care (the Choice Commitment) set out what everyone should expect from their care at the end of life and the actions we are taking to make high quality and personalisation a reality for all, both adults and children, and to end variation in end of life care across the health system by 2020. A copy of the Government Response is attached. On 21 September 2017 we published One year on: the government response to the review of choice in end of life care setting out the good progress made in delivering this over the first year. A copy is attached.
Through the Mandate, we have asked NHS England to deliver the Choice Commitment, and working through NHS England’s National Programme Board for End of life Care with all key system partners and stakeholders, including Together for Short Lives (TFSL), a range of activity is ongoing to achieve this. It is right that clinical commissioning groups have autonomy to shape services locally, and it is important that, where needed, more is done to provide them with tools, evidence, support and guidance to demonstrate the benefits of delivering the Government’s vision for end of life care. NHS England, Public Health England and the Ambitions Partnership (comprising national organisations across the statutory and voluntary sectors, including TFSL) have provided a wealth of support over the first year, including: currencies to improve transparency in specialist palliative commissioning; new guidance on cost effective commissioning; data about end of life care to assist Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STP) as they develop their plans for services; and seven evaluations of different approaches to 24/7 models of care.
Early in 2017, NHS England will be holding workshops with a range of STP leads to provide practical advice and support on developing effective end of life care services and demonstrating the value they can bring. In addition, TFSL has been commissioned by NHS England to promote the adoption of best practice approaches to children’s that are recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, and report back on barriers to implementation locally.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of broken and unrepaired laptops in NHS hospitals and clinics; and whether they will take steps to ensure that NHS doctors and other clinicians have uninterrupted access to working laptops so far as is necessary for sound clinical practice.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The Department does not collect data on the number of broken and unrepaired laptops in National Health Service trusts and clinics. The provision and servicing of information technology equipment in NHS trusts is a matter for individual trusts.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will make representations to the World Health Organisation (WHO) concerning the appointment of Robert Mugabe as a WHO Ambassador.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The World Health Organization has now rescinded President Mugabe’s appointment as a Goodwill Ambassador on Non-Communicable Diseases. The United Kingdom welcomes this decision, and we are pleased that Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus listened to the concerns raised by many countries, including the UK, and also by civil society groups working in global health. We look forward to working with him to help the organisation address the world’s most pressing health challenges in the years ahead.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that Clinical Commissioning Groups understand their responsibility for the commissioning of children’s palliative care, and that they engage with the work that is done in the third sector to provide and develop children’s palliative care.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
In 2016, the National Palliative and End of Life Care Partnership, made up of 27 partners from across the system, published Ambitions for Palliative and End of Life Care - a national framework for local action 2015-2020. The framework outlines an overarching vision for palliative and end of life care for both children and adults, and includes six ambitions, all with building blocks, to make that vision a reality. A copy of the framework is attached.
The framework emphasises the importance of local decision-making and delivery and encourages commissioners to work with partners to improve palliative and end of life care across the local system.
To support delivery of the ambitions, a new online only ‘knowledge hub’ has been developed containing resources, tools and case studies for both commissioners and professionals, including commissioning guidelines.
NHS England also expects clinical commissioning groups to commission services in accordance with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines End of life care for infants, children and young people with life-limiting conditions: planning and management, which includes details on the planning and management of end of life and palliative care for infants, children and young people. A copy of the guidance is attached.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to ensure that Clinical Commissioning Groups are accountable to NHS England for delivering a consistent level of children’s palliative care across England.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
NHS England expects clinical commissioning groups to commission services in accordance with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline End of life care for infants, children and young people with life-limiting conditions, which includes details on the planning and management of end of life and palliative care for infants, children and young people. A copy of the guideline is attached.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will take steps to increase the funding for the Children’s Hospice Grant, and if so, how they will sustain that increase in funding for the foreseeable future.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
The Government strongly values the crucial role of the children's hospice sector in providing excellent end of life care across the country. Our ambition is for everyone approaching the end of life to receive high quality care that reflects their individual needs, choices and preferences.
The budget for the Children’s Hospice Grant programme was reviewed as part of NHS England’s business planning process and has been maintained at the current rate. However, children’s hospices will receive notification of their two year budget allocations from April instead of the usual annual budget settlement to allow for better future planning.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government which prisons and youth custody sites provided new services in 2016 to deal with substance misuse.
Answered by Lord O'Shaughnessy
NHS England are responsible, through local procurement exercises, for commissioning integrated substance misuse services across the secure and detained estate for both adults and young people under 18.
NHS England do not hold the information requested centrally.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to review the funding provisions for the parents of children detained under the Mental Health Act 1983, in particular in the light of the number of children held in hospitals that are significant distances away from their homes.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
Under the hospital travel costs scheme, parents are eligible to apply for help with travel costs to accompany their children being treated in distant locations. This is means tested. Parents and carers of children detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 may also, in some circumstances, seek additional assistance provided at the discretion of the clinical commissioning group as part of the child’s care package.
Asked by: Lord Carlile of Berriew (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the funding available for parents whose children are detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 complies with the Equality Act 2010 provisions regarding disability discrimination.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
Under the hospital travel costs scheme, parents are eligible to apply for help with travel costs to accompany their children being treated in distant locations. This is means tested. Parents and carers of children detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 may also, in some circumstances, seek additional assistance provided at the discretion of the clinical commissioning group as part of the child’s care package.