Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to support women with a genetic history of breast cancer to access screening services in (a) England and (b) Leicestershire.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In Leicestershire and nationwide, women with a very high risk (VHR) of breast cancer due to family history may be offered screening earlier and more often, as part of the NHS Breast Screening Programme.
Women formally identified as eligible for VHR breast screening are referred to the National Health Service breast screening service associated with their general practice. They are eligible to be screened from the age of 25 years old upwards, and should be invited every year. The diagnostic screen includes mammography or magnetic resonance imaging, depending on age and risk criteria, and is therefore not the same as the routine breast screening service. To support screening of VHR women, a new central database is planned to ensure all referrals reach NHS breast screening services.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
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 encourage school leavers to pursue a career in social care.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We launched the latest phase of the adult social care national recruitment campaign Made with Care on 9 October 2023, with advertising appearing across catch up television, social media, radio and online, motivating suitable candidates to apply. We also recently launched the specification for a new level two occupationally based qualification so that staff joining adult social care can gain an early qualification on the job.
The social care workforce remains at the heart of our reform plans. Our workforce reforms will provide the workforce with more support to develop and progress within their careers and will improve the quality, safety, and personalisation of care.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timescale for publishing (a) the UK National Screening Committee's review of evidence for screening and (b) updated guidance on treatment pathways for prostate cancer is.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) will consider the evidence for six possible approaches to targeted prostate screening when the review, commissioned by the Department, has been completed. The UK NSC will publish its recommendations.
Guidance on testing and treatment of prostate cancer was updated in October 2022. There are no current plans to update the guidance again.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NHS England on monitoring the initial effectiveness of the Neuroscience Transformation Programme in the fields of (a) improving specialised adult neuroscience science and (b) a new model of integrated care for neurology services.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
To improve specialised adult neuroscience, the NHS England Neurosciences Service Transformation Programme (NSTP) has worked with a range of stakeholders to identify what ‘good’ looks like. This includes common principles regarding access to appropriate timely services.
The NSTP provides integrated care systems (ICSs) with the tools, information, and resources to support the transformation of integrated services at a local level. Outcomes include the Adult Neurology Integrated Care Board dashboard and the Neurosurgery Networks, which have led on the five Neurosurgery Recovery High Impact Changes. This work will support ICSs as they take on joint responsibility for commissioning specialised neurology and specialised neurosurgery services from April 2024.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he (a) has had and (b) plans to have with (i) NHS England and (ii) other bodies on raising public awareness of HRT prepayment certificates.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department has engaged extensively with stakeholders when developing and implementing the hormone replacement therapy prescription prepayment certificate (HRT PPC) which was introduced on 1 April this year.
We have worked with print and broadcast media to promote the HRT PCC, updated relevant NHS England and NHS Business Services Authority web pages, and used social media to amplify our key messages.
We have also engaged with various key stakeholder groups including those representing clinicians and patients as well as a number of menopause charities. We shared key resources with stakeholders encouraging them to amplify across their channels and engage their wider networks to further maximise reach, helping to raise awareness of the HRT PPC and ensure patients can benefit.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the level of take-up of HRT prepayment certificates in (a) England and (b) Leicestershire.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Between the launch of the service on 1 April 2023 and the end of 13 June 2023, there were 250,971 applications for a Hormone Replacement Therapy Prescription Prepayment Certificate across England. It is estimated that 5,237 applications were received from patients in the Leicestershire area.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with NHS England on increasing access to diabetes healthcare teams in (a) Leicestershire (b) Bosworth and (c) the rest of the UK.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has held no discussions with NHS England on increasing access to diabetes healthcare teams specifically in Leicestershire, Bosworth and the rest of the UK.
On 17 May 2023, the Government launched a call for evidence to inform the Major Conditions Strategy on how best to prevent, diagnose and manage six groups of major conditions, including diabetes.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
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 (a) address the backlog in NHS England's diabetes service, (b) promote greater integration of diabetes services with other NHS services, (c) promote greater co-ordination of diabetes services with other NHS services and (d) improve diabetes services.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
To address the backlog in NHS England’s diabetes service, in 2022/23, £36m was allocated to integrated care boards (ICBs) to support the recovery of routine diabetes care. In addition, the 2023/24 ‘NHS Priorities and Operational Planning Guidance’ asked that ICBs update plans for the prevention of ill-health including a continued focus on diabetes in their joint forward plans.
On 17 May 2023, the Government launched a call for evidence to inform the Major Conditions Strategy on how best to prevent, diagnose and manage six groups of major conditions, including diabetes.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
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 introducing a national carers passport scheme.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has no plans to assess the potential merits of introducing a national carers passport scheme. In partnership with Carers UK and Carers Trust, the Department funded a project in 2017/18 to provide resources and guidance to support the development of local Carer Passport schemes. The resources and guidance were launched in 2018 and remain active.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Bosworth)
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 increase the early identification of people with familial hypercholesterolaemia in (a) Leicestershire and (b) the UK.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England are collaborating with Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland’s Integrated Care Board to implement an agreed model of a nurse-led, assessment and genetic testing service to increase the early identification of people with familial hypercholesterolaemia in Leicestershire. Once established, clinics will be held in primary care venues across Leicestershire with an allocated familial hypercholesterolaemia Specialist Nurse.
NHS England is reviewing the decision of the National Screening Committee on screening for familial hypercholesterolaemia and is considering how best to address the committee’s outstanding concerns. This work will be supported by an ongoing child parent screening pilot which is being implemented through the Academic Health Sciences Networks.
The Department has been supporting local areas with the recovery of the NHS Health Check programme, which includes an assessment of cholesterol. We are progressing a programme of modernisation which includes the development of a digital NHS Health Check that will include home cholesterol testing and enable more people to benefit.