Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the NHS is taking to provide better pain relief for people suffering from chronic urinary tract infections.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Treating clinicians use National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance, which helps practitioners and commissioners get the best care to patients, when assessing, signposting to, and prescribing pain relief medications.
It is a prescriber’s duty when providing clinical care for conditions, such as urinary tract infections, to prescribe medicines, including pain relief, when they have adequate knowledge of the patient’s health and are satisfied that the medicine is clinically suitable for the patient.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which prisons offer the provision of braille transcription services for prisoners with visual impairments.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Braille translation services are available in publicly operated prisons through the national translation and transcription contract, which is currently held by thebigword Group Limited. Privately managed prisons must have arrangements in place using either this national contract or equivalent arrangements.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
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 improve access to mental health services for young people in London.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Too many young people are not receiving the mental health care they need, including in London and we know that waits for mental health services are too long. As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future and that is there when people need it, we will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across children and adult mental health services in England to reduce delays and provide faster treatment. We will also provide access to a specialist mental health professional in every school and roll out Young Futures Hubs in every community.
There are currently approximately 65 locally-funded early support hubs in England offering early easy access mental health interventions to thousands of children and young people aged between 11 and 25 years old including those from low-income families.
The Department is running an £8 million Shared Outcomes Fund project throughout 2024/25 to boost and evaluate the impact of 24 of these existing early support hubs, including two in London.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle underreporting of stalking.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Stalking is an insidious crime that can leave victims living in fear just going about their daily lives. That is why this Government is fully committed to tackling it.
On 3 December the Government announced six new measures to tackle stalking. This included legislating to introduce multi-agency statutory guidance on stalking and providing for the courts to impose Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs) on conviction and acquittal of their own volition. We will bring forward legislation to introduce measures at the earliest opportunity.
The College of Policing provides an Authorised Professional Practice (APP) and e-learning on stalking to support the police. This includes guidance on identifying and investigating stalking and applying for and managing SPOs. The guidance and e-learning are being updated to reflect the findings from a recent super-complaint on stalking and will be kept under regular review. The CPS provides guidance for prosecutors with the general principles to be applied when making decisions about prosecutions involving stalking.
We know there is a gap between the prevalence of stalking and stalking offences reported to the police. For example, the Crime Survey for England and Wales estimates 3.1% of adults over 16 experienced stalking in the year ending June 2024 while police recorded 131,912 stalking offences. This is why we are committed to playing a more active role in policing to ensure officers have the right support, to significantly improve standards across the board and to ensure justice is delivered for victims.
Raising awareness of stalking is an important part of this and there are existing examples of local initiatives funded by police forces, Police and Crime Commissioners or local authorities. We are considering how raising awareness of VAWG crimes including stalking could form part of the upcoming new VAWG strategy.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to increase public trust in the Metropolitan Police Service.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Commissioner’s ‘New Met for London’ plan sets out the force’s work to improve its performance. The Mayor for London established the London Policing Board to hold the Commissioner to account for delivery of the plan. Home Office Ministers are in regular contact with the MPS Commissioner and Mayor of London to ensure progress is being made.
The MPS is also currently in the enhanced ‘Engage’ phase of routine monitoring by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS). The force has developed an improvement plan and on 13 November, HMICFRS closed one of the four causes of concern that led to the MPS being placed into ‘Engage’. The Home Office will continue to monitor progress through attendance at HMICFRS’s Police Performance and Oversight Board.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason late-night services at Worcester Park station are not being reinstated between Thursday and Sunday.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Worcester Park continues to have a later train on Fridays and Saturdays from London Waterloo, but there is judged to be insufficient demand to justify the costs of a similar provision on Thursdays and Sundays.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the NHS is taking to improve the accuracy of tests used by GPs to diagnose chronic urinary tract infections.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Diagnostic tests for chronic urinary tract infections (UTIs), such as urinalysis and urine culture, are widely available across all pathology networks in England. Ensuring accurate diagnostic testing not only aids more effective identification of infection but can also reduce unnecessary prescribing and overprescribing of broad-spectrum antimicrobials and directly benefit patients who get the right treatment sooner.
General practitioners can request testing for chronic UTIs via several pathways, including at point-of-care, via community diagnostic centres, or via laboratories. Laboratories across England adhere to stringent quality standards for diagnostic tests, including the UK Accreditation Standard ISO 15189, and implement robust internal and external quality assurance schemes. Together, these measures ensure the accuracy and reliability of diagnostic testing.
The development of new products to diagnose infections more accurately is essential to ensure we can continue to treat infections and protect public health. NHS England is also supporting research into newer, more accurate point-of-care tests for UTIs, such as via the Toucan study. More information on the study is available at the following link:
https://www.phctrials.ox.ac.uk/recruiting-trials/toucan-platform-for-uti-diagnostic-evaluation
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will have discussions with Transport for London on mitigation of the potential impact of fare increases on commuters in London in March 2025.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Transport in London is devolved and decisions on TfL fares are for the Mayor of London and TfL. Department for Transport ministers and officials speak regularly with TfL on a wide range of issues impacting commuters in the capital.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the NHS is taking to improve training for doctors on (a) understanding and (b) treating chronic urinary tract infections.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The standard of training for doctors is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC). The GMC sets the outcome standards expected at undergraduate level. The curricula for postgraduate training is set by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges for foundation training, and by individual Royal Colleges and faculties for specialty training. The GMC approves curricula and assessment systems for each training programme.
Curricula across the specialties where doctors in training might regularly treat patients with urinary tract infections will contain competencies relating to understanding, identifying and treating urinary tract infections and the associated symptoms. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges Evidenced-based interventions (EBI) programme includes guidance on chronic UTIs, with more information available at the following link:
In September 2024, the EBI programme was adopted as standard operating procedure by the National Health Service.
The Royal College of General Practitioners also provide e-learning on UTIs, with more information available at the following link:
https://elearning.rcgp.org.uk/mod/book/tool/print/index.php?id=12652
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to increase diagnosis levels for genetic haemochromatosis.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Genomic testing in the National Health Service in England is provided through the NHS Genomic Medicine Service (GMS) and delivered by seven NHS Genomic Laboratory Hubs. Genomic testing for genetic haemochromatosis is available through the NHS GMS for all patients in England who show an unexplained iron overload, suggestive of hereditary haemochromatosis, to aid in the diagnosis of the disease. Any healthcare professional who suspects their patient may have haemochromatosis can refer their patient for testing via their local NHS Clinical Genomic Service. Individuals can discuss with their healthcare professional, for instance their general practitioner, whether genomic testing is appropriate for them.