Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
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 15 May 2019 to Question 254804, when the National Suicide Prevention Strategy will be published.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The National Suicide Prevention Strategy was first published in 2012 as the cross-Government outcomes strategy, ‘Preventing Suicide in England’.
We have published a number of progress reports since then with the third progress report, published in January 2017, updating the 2012 strategy in a number of areas. The latest progress report was published in January 2019 together with a cross-Government suicide prevention workplan which sets out an ambitious programme across central and local government and delivery agencies to reduce suicide. These documents are available at the following link:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/suicide-prevention-resources-and-guidance
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the data published by the Nursing and Midwifery Council on 20 May 2019, what steps his Department is taking to retain nurses that are EU nationals in the NHS.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The Department is clear that all staff that are European Union nationals are valued and should be made to feel welcome in the United Kingdom and working in the National Health Service. To this end the Department has supported employers in promoting the EU Settlement Scheme and piloting the scheme from December 2018 to NHS and social care employees, before it was launched to the wider public in March 2019.
It should be noted that the rate of European Economic Area citizens leaving the Nursing and Midwifery Council register decreased by 18.1% between April 2018 and March 2019.
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the interim report published by the Care Quality Commission, published on 20 May 2019, whether he will convene an expert group to consider the delivery of best care to people with learning disabilities and autism.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
On 21 May 2019, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) published its ‘Interim Report: Review of restraint, prolonged seclusion and segregation for people with a mental health problem, a learning disability and or autism.’ The Government has accepted all five of the recommendations in the CQC’s interim report including the recommendation that an expert group, that includes clinicians, people with lived experience and academics, should be convened to consider what would be the key features of a better system of care for this specific group of people (that is those with a learning disability and/or autism whose behaviour is so challenging that they are, or are at risk of, being cared for in segregation).
The target in the NHS Long Term Plan is to reduce the number of children with a learning disability, autism or both in a specialist inpatient unit to a level equivalent to no more than 12 to 15 children per one million children in England by 2023-24.
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS target to reduce the number of children and young people being held in assessment and treatment units by 50 per cent, by what date he expects that target to be achieved.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
On 21 May 2019, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) published its ‘Interim Report: Review of restraint, prolonged seclusion and segregation for people with a mental health problem, a learning disability and or autism.’ The Government has accepted all five of the recommendations in the CQC’s interim report including the recommendation that an expert group, that includes clinicians, people with lived experience and academics, should be convened to consider what would be the key features of a better system of care for this specific group of people (that is those with a learning disability and/or autism whose behaviour is so challenging that they are, or are at risk of, being cared for in segregation).
The target in the NHS Long Term Plan is to reduce the number of children with a learning disability, autism or both in a specialist inpatient unit to a level equivalent to no more than 12 to 15 children per one million children in England by 2023-24.
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS workforce strategy will priorities the specialist training required for people working with people with complex needs.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The interim People Plan, published on 3 June 2019, recognises the need to move to a multi-disciplinary model of care, particularly for people with more complex health and care needs, and places general practitioners at the heart of this model.
In advance of publishing the final People Plan, NHS England will work to implement the plan set out in Health Education England and NHS Improvement’s report, ‘Maximising the Potential: essential measures to support SAS doctors’, published in February 2019.
The aim is to provide further support and flexible training for specialty and associate specialist doctors, and establish a national programme board to address geographical and specialty shortages in medicine. The report can be accessed here:
https://www.hee.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/documents/SAS_Report_Web.pdf
Skills for Care and Health Education England are working to ensure that the health and social care workforce have the skills and training they need, including when working with people with complex needs.
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
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 retain nursing staff.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
NHS Improvement is leading a national retention programme across the National Health Service with an initial focus on improving retention of the nursing workforce, as well as the mental health clinical workforce.
To date 110 trusts have completed the NHS Improvement Direct Support Programme. NHS Improvement is currently working with an additional 35 trusts and will be expanding the programme across the NHS and providing support to all remaining NHS trusts in England.
The latest data from the University and College Admissions Service (February 2019) shows that there has been a 4.5% increase in applicants to nursing or midwifery courses at English universities when compared to this time last year (2018).
The NHS Long Term Plan, published on 7 January 2019, sets out a vital strategic framework to ensure that over the next 10 years the NHS will have the staff it needs. This will ensure that nurses are able to offer the expert compassionate care that they are committed providing. To ensure a detailed plan that everyone in the NHS can get behind my Rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has asked Baroness Harding to lead an inclusive programme of work to set out a detailed workforce implementation plan to be published in due course.
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
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 effect of the removal of the nursing bursary on the recruitment of nurses.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
NHS Improvement is leading a national retention programme across the National Health Service with an initial focus on improving retention of the nursing workforce, as well as the mental health clinical workforce.
To date 110 trusts have completed the NHS Improvement Direct Support Programme. NHS Improvement is currently working with an additional 35 trusts and will be expanding the programme across the NHS and providing support to all remaining NHS trusts in England.
The latest data from the University and College Admissions Service (February 2019) shows that there has been a 4.5% increase in applicants to nursing or midwifery courses at English universities when compared to this time last year (2018).
The NHS Long Term Plan, published on 7 January 2019, sets out a vital strategic framework to ensure that over the next 10 years the NHS will have the staff it needs. This will ensure that nurses are able to offer the expert compassionate care that they are committed providing. To ensure a detailed plan that everyone in the NHS can get behind my Rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has asked Baroness Harding to lead an inclusive programme of work to set out a detailed workforce implementation plan to be published in due course.
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report entitled Far less than they deserve published by the Children’s Commissioner on 20 May 2019, what plans he has to publish a national strategy to replace Transforming Care.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
‘Building the right support’, published in 2015 by NHS England, the Local Government Association (LGA) and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) is the national plan in England for reducing the number of people with learning disabilities or autistic people who are inpatients in mental health hospitals. It set out a clear framework for commissioners to reduce inpatient capacity by developing more community services for people with learning disabilities or autistic people with behaviour that challenges. The expectation was for a reduction in inpatient numbers of between 35 and 50% by March 2019.
By the end of April 2019, inpatient numbers had reduced by 22%. National Health Service planning guidance for 2019/20 requires a 35% reduction in inpatients compared to 2015 no later than the end of 2019/20. The LGA and ADASS, as key delivery partners of the Transforming Care programme, will continue to support work to improve provision of suitable accommodation and services in the community and the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Education will remain accountable for ensuring that children and young people receive the support they need.
The NHS Long Term Plan prioritises services for children and young people, providing a clear focus on improving the health and wellbeing of children and young people with learning disabilities and/or autism, as well as committing to implementing ‘Building the right support’ in full, achieving at least a 50% reduction in the number of people with a learning disability or autism who are inpatients, compared to the figure in 2015, by the end of 2023/24.
The Long Term Plan sets out specific commitments to achieve this by developing new models of care to provide care closer to home and investing in intensive, crisis and forensic community support. By 2023/24 children and young people with a learning disability, autism or both with the most complex needs will also have a designated keyworker. These will be initially provided to children and young people who are inpatients or at risk of being admitted to hospital.
Local health systems have been asked to develop plans for implementing the Long Term Plan’s commitments. These plans will be brought together in a national implementation programme for the Long Term Plan to 2023-24, and an NHS workforce implementation plan, by the end of 2019.
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
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 30 April 2019 to Question 247685 on Suicide, how many local authorities have policies to tackle financial difficulty in their suicide prevention plans.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The Government consulted on the Breathing Space programme between October 2018 and January 2019. Breathing Space is a statutory debt repayment plan which aims to give people in problem debt the opportunity to take control of their finances and put them on a sustainable footing. The scheme includes a specific mechanism to make it easier for people experiencing a mental health crisis to access support. A response to the consultation will be published in due course.
The National Suicide Prevention Strategy highlights groups that need tailored approaches to address their mental health needs to reduce their suicide risk, including people who are vulnerable due to social or economic circumstances. We are working with the local government sector to assess the effectiveness of those plans, and a report will be published shortly that highlights areas of best practice and areas for improvement. This report will include an analysis of the extent to which local authority plans are addressing high risk groups.
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of Clinical Commissioning Groups have put in place plans to identify avoidable deaths.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The information requested is not collected centrally.