Asked by: Baroness Brown of Silvertown (Labour - Life peer)
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 tackle (a) mental ill-health and (b) loneliness affecting people with a learning disability following the covid-19 pandemic; and what assessment his Department has made of the extent to which access to day services for people with learning disabilities has changed since the publication of the Government’s COVID-19 Mental Health and Wellbeing Recovery Action Plan in March 2021.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
In 2021/22, we provided an additional £500 million to expand mental health services and target groups whose mental health have been most affected by the pandemic. Of this funding, £31 million was allocated to support learning disability and autism services, address the diagnostic backlog as a result of the pandemic and support interventions to prevent children and young people with learning disability, autism or both escalating into crisis.
More than £34 million of the £750 million provided to the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector was allocated to measures to reduce loneliness. In addition, £1.6 million was provided to charities supporting autistic people and people with a learning disability for activities such as virtual peer support and helpline capacity. No specific assessment on access to day services for people with learning disabilities has been made.
Asked by: Baroness Brown of Silvertown (Labour - Life peer)
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 rapidly implement improvements to miscarriage (a) care and (b) statistics as part of the Women’s Health Strategy.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Pregnancy, pregnancy loss and post-natal support will be addressed in the forthcoming Women’s Health Strategy for England, which will be published later this year.
There are currently no official statistics reported for miscarriages. As a significant number of miscarriages are not reported to a healthcare provider, particularly those that take place at an early gestation, the collection of accurate data in England is challenging. However, we have committed to consider the Lancet Series’ recommendation to record all miscarriages.
Asked by: Baroness Brown of Silvertown (Labour - Life peer)
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 ensure that physician associates are used appropriately and with adequate GP supervision at practices run by Operose Health in Newham; and what recent assessment he has made of the impact that an increase in the use of physician associates as substitutes for GPs in practices will have on (a) patient safety and (b) the efficacy of NHS healthcare.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
All providers of National Health Service general practitioner (GP) services are subject to the same requirements, regulation and standards and we expect commissioners to take action if services are not meeting the reasonable needs of patients.
Physician associates (PAs) are not a substitute for a GP. The use of PAs in primary care is detailed in the Network Contract Directed Enhanced Service, which describes the role and tasks a PA funded by the Additional Role Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) would be expected to undertake. This includes the expectation of the supervision of PAs. Primary Care Networks (PCNs) have access to the ARRS, which provides funding to recruit additional direct patient care roles and build multi-disciplinary teams. PAs are one of 15 roles which PCNs can recruit to best meet local need.
Asked by: Baroness Brown of Silvertown (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of accessibility of (a) testing and (b) healthcare for monkeypox for people at risk of infection from community spread in the UK since 4 May 2022.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Since the first case of monkeypox was identified on 4 May 2022, the UK Health Security Agency has ensured that the availability and accessibility of testing and healthcare provision is kept under review. This includes working with the National Health Service, public health teams and sexual health providers to ensure an effective response to the incident through guidance for testing and clinical management. The ongoing review of relevant guidance ensures that individuals, including those from disproportionately affected communities, can access the appropriate healthcare services, such as testing and limit further transmission in at risk groups.
Asked by: Baroness Brown of Silvertown (Labour - Life peer)
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, in advance of the organisation of any smallpox vaccination programme, of a business support scheme to enable venues which may expose clients to a higher risk of exposure to monkeypox in the UK outbreak to temporarily close with no loss of revenues to interrupt chains of transmission.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Monkeypox does not spread easily between people and the risk to the United Kingdom’s population remains low. Work to understand the data and the clustering of cases is continuing which will inform any targeted vaccination beyond those directly infected. Emerging data shows that there are specific clusters of transmission in certain demographics in the community.
Guidance for venues and other locations where there is a higher risk of transmission is currently under consideration. This will include appropriate public health advice on cleaning and decontamination to limit the potential spread of infection.
Asked by: Baroness Brown of Silvertown (Labour - Life peer)
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 prevent the emergence of stigma around monkeypox transmission in the UK for (a) LGBT+ communities and (b) communities with close links to African countries where monkeypox is endemic in rodents.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The United Kingdom monkeypox incident currently has a high proportion of cases identifying as gay and bisexual men and men who have sex with men. We are asking these groups to be aware of the symptoms and organisations such as the Terrence Higgins Trust, are working with the UK Health Security Agency to develop specific health communications.
The majority of recently confirmed monkeypox cases in the UK have no travel links to a country where monkeypox is endemic. This has been reflected in information shared with the media, public and other stakeholders. As the nature of this cluster differs from those previously reported in the UK, we are ensuring all communications are updated and more diverse imagery is sourced.
Asked by: Baroness Brown of Silvertown (Labour - Life peer)
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 offering groups at higher risk of exposure to monkeypox in the UK outbreak a smallpox vaccine immediately upon notification of contact with an infected person.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is currently considering a potential vaccine strategy and the associated procurement options. Vaccines are offered to any named close contacts identified, with eligibility kept under review. Imvanex, a smallpox vaccine, has been recommended for post-exposure prophylaxis against monkeypox by an expert group. As monkeypox is caused by a virus similar to that of smallpox, this vaccine is considered effective in preventing or reducing the severity of monkeypox.
Monkeypox has low transmissibility and is spread from person to person through direct contact, with clothing or linens used by an infected person or potentially by close respiratory contact via coughing or sneezing by an infected individual.