Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to reduce access to treatment variations between ICBs for people with arthritis.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to improving timely diagnosis and management of arthritis and other musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions across England.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published guidance to support health and care professionals in the early diagnosis and management of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. These guidelines help ensure that patients receive evidence-based care as early as possible.
NHS England is working to improve early diagnosis rates through its Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) rheumatology programme. This initiative focuses on reducing variation in care, improving referral pathways, and ensuring patients with suspected arthritis and other MSK conditions are assessed promptly by specialists.
The Government has funded NHS England’s GIRFT programme to deploy its proven Further Faster model for MSK community services. The programme has been designed to reduce waiting times for community MSK appointments and to enhance access to quality treatment, working with integrated care board leaders to improve data and metrics and referral pathways to wider support services.
We are working together to further develop the approach to better enable integrated care systems to commission the delivery of high quality MSK services in the community, which will benefit patients now and into the future.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
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 ensure people are able to access a timely diagnosis for arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to improving timely diagnosis and management of arthritis and other musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions across England.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published guidance to support health and care professionals in the early diagnosis and management of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. These guidelines help ensure that patients receive evidence-based care as early as possible.
NHS England is working to improve early diagnosis rates through its Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) rheumatology programme. This initiative focuses on reducing variation in care, improving referral pathways, and ensuring patients with suspected arthritis and other MSK conditions are assessed promptly by specialists.
The Government has funded NHS England’s GIRFT programme to deploy its proven Further Faster model for MSK community services. The programme has been designed to reduce waiting times for community MSK appointments and to enhance access to quality treatment, working with integrated care board leaders to improve data and metrics and referral pathways to wider support services.
We are working together to further develop the approach to better enable integrated care systems to commission the delivery of high quality MSK services in the community, which will benefit patients now and into the future.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are his Department taking to ensure NHS staff can recognise rheumatological symptoms and ensure urgent referral to rheumatology services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Royal College of General Practitioners has produced e-learning modules on a number of musculoskeletal (MSK) and rheumatic conditions, such as inflammatory arthritis, osteoarthritis, and axial spondyloarthritis, which are designed to help general practitioners and other primary care professionals recognise the symptoms of these conditions.
Additionally, to support health and care professionals in the early diagnosis and management of different rheumatological conditions, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published expert guidance on rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and spondyloarthritis, with guidance for all three available, respectively, at the following three links:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng100
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng226
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng65
The Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Programme for Rheumatology has made recommendations on the diagnosis and management of a range of rheumatic and MSK disorders and will support the National Health Service to deliver care more equitably across the country and closer to patients’ homes, and to improve services nationally. The GIRFT National Speciality Report included a number of recommendations designed to help support patients with non-inflammatory MSK conditions to be cared for in primary and community settings, freeing up capacity for those who need it to have urgent referrals to outpatient rheumatology services.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
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 adequate funding for grassroots organisations delivering peer support to people bereaved by suicide.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Commissioning responsibility for local suicide bereavement services, sits with integrated care boards (ICBs) and it is for them to commission appropriate services for their local population while considering their overall financial position.
The NHS Long Term Plan committed that, from 2019/20, every area of the country would receive funding for suicide prevention and bereavement services by 2023/24. £57 million was allocated from the overall investment in mental health services in three annual waves via specific System Development Funding. Local systems had the flexibility to design bereavement services to best meet the needs of their local population, which could include peer support and specialist postvention services.
From 2023/24, funding for local suicide bereavement services has been included within System Development Funding allocations for adult crisis services. ICBs are able to spend this wider allocation flexibly according to the needs of their local population and the amounts invested in local suicide prevention and bereavement services cannot be separately identified.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
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 that families bereaved by suicide have access to local, specialist postvention support.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Commissioning responsibility for local suicide bereavement services, sits with integrated care boards (ICBs) and it is for them to commission appropriate services for their local population while considering their overall financial position.
The NHS Long Term Plan committed that, from 2019/20, every area of the country would receive funding for suicide prevention and bereavement services by 2023/24. £57 million was allocated from the overall investment in mental health services in three annual waves via specific System Development Funding. Local systems had the flexibility to design bereavement services to best meet the needs of their local population, which could include peer support and specialist postvention services.
From 2023/24, funding for local suicide bereavement services has been included within System Development Funding allocations for adult crisis services. ICBs are able to spend this wider allocation flexibly according to the needs of their local population and the amounts invested in local suicide prevention and bereavement services cannot be separately identified.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of providing funding to community-led suicide bereavement services.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We recognise the important role that community-led organisations can play in suicide prevention and suicide bereavement services.
While there is no specific national funding allocated for suicide bereavement services, integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning health and care services to meet the needs of their local populations, which may include working with community-led organisations.
As part of the 10-Year Health Plan, we are committed to working closely with voluntary, community, and social enterprise stakeholders as we begin this journey to transform mental health services, tackle the drivers of mental ill-health, and create the conditions to nurture good mental health and wellbeing for all.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's policy paper entitled Suicide prevention in England: 5-year cross-sector strategy, published on 11 September 2023, what steps his Department is taking to help provide postvention local support services.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are committed to delivering the Suicide Prevention Strategy for England, which aims to reduce suicide rates and address the risk factors contributing to suicide, as well as improving support for those who have self-harmed or are bereaved by suicide.
We are continuing to work towards the ambition and vision for improving bereavement support over the next five years, as set out in the strategy.
NHS England commissioned the Support After Suicide Partnership to help local health systems to develop suicide bereavement and postvention support services, and which continues to offer support to local areas to embed suicide bereavement services in line with their core standards, which are available at the following link:
https://hub.supportaftersuicide.org.uk/resource/summary-of-core-standards/
A detailed description of the work involved can be found on their website, at the following link:
https://hub.supportaftersuicide.org.uk/standards-intro/
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
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 adequacy of the (a) performance and (b) level of accountability of NHS Property Services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Property Services is a company with all of the share capital owned by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. As a limited company regulated by the Companies Act, it is governed by a board consisting of a majority of non-executive directors, in line with best practise in corporate governance, and this includes a Shareholder Director appointed by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. Where the company needs to seek formal shareholder consent under the Articles of Association and its scheme of delegation, appropriate departmental approvals are sought.
NHS Property Services publishes an annual statement of accounts, which sets out their performance against corporate key performance indicators agreed with the Department. The latest published set of accounts, setting out performance for the 2023/24 financial year, is available at the following link:
https://www.property.nhs.uk/news-insights/news/annual-report-202324/
The 2024/25 accounts will be published in due course, which will confirm that the company has achieved 100% of its corporate key performance indicators for that year.
In common with other wholly owned subsidiary companies and Arms Lenth Bodies, the Department holds quarterly accountability and performance reviews with the Chair and Chief Executive of NHS Property Services. As is required for all organisations that are arms-length from Government departments, regular periodic reviews are undertaken to ensure the form, function, and accountability arrangements remain appropriate.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to review the adequacy of his Department’s oversight of NHS Property Services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS Property Services is a company with all of the share capital owned by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. As a limited company regulated by the Companies Act, it is governed by a board consisting of a majority of non-executive directors, in line with best practise in corporate governance, and this includes a Shareholder Director appointed by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. Where the company needs to seek formal shareholder consent under the Articles of Association and its scheme of delegation, appropriate departmental approvals are sought.
NHS Property Services publishes an annual statement of accounts, which sets out their performance against corporate key performance indicators agreed with the Department. The latest published set of accounts, setting out performance for the 2023/24 financial year, is available at the following link:
https://www.property.nhs.uk/news-insights/news/annual-report-202324/
The 2024/25 accounts will be published in due course, which will confirm that the company has achieved 100% of its corporate key performance indicators for that year.
In common with other wholly owned subsidiary companies and Arms Lenth Bodies, the Department holds quarterly accountability and performance reviews with the Chair and Chief Executive of NHS Property Services. As is required for all organisations that are arms-length from Government departments, regular periodic reviews are undertaken to ensure the form, function, and accountability arrangements remain appropriate.
Asked by: Luke Murphy (Labour - Basingstoke)
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 ensure that (a) access to weigh in services with health visitors and (b) other postnatal support is provided (i) consistently and (ii) accessibly to new parents in (A) Basingstoke, (B) Hampshire and (C) England.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authorities have responsibility for commissioning public health services, including health visiting and services for all new parents. The Healthy Child Programme sets out the services and support families can expect and includes guidance on weighing, screening, immunisation, health improvement, wellbeing, and parenting, as well as five mandated health and development reviews.
Department officials and NHS England have worked across the South East region to develop resources. This includes a Health Visiting Development Toolkit to help share best practice and ensure consistency.
The Government is committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever and strengthening the health visiting service. To achieve this, we must ensure that families have the support they need to give their babies and children the best start and the building blocks for a healthy life.