Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
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 help ensure that people with additional communication needs are able to access (a) online appointment bookings and (b) other digital healthcare services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
All National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers in England are required to meet the Accessible Information Standard to meet the communication needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss.
Patients are able to request general practice appointments and manage secondary care appointments through local online tools and the NHS App, which can also be accessed through a web browser. The NHS App is designed to meet international accessibility standards and the services are routinely tested with a range of people with accessibility issues. User reviews and research show the NHS App and website to be highly usable and simple to use. Local online tools must also meet minimum accessibility standards.
Digital healthcare services are part of a multi-channel offering, and patients unable to use digital channels can continue to access services via telephone and through traditional face to face services. Digital services must be designed to alleviate healthcare inequalities rather than exacerbate them. Our goal is to ensure that reducing healthcare inequalities and improving digital inclusion have due focus in wider inclusive user design and delivery for all digital health products and services, including through implementation of the NHS England Digital Inclusion Framework.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will hold discussions with Healthwatch Leeds on the potential merits of implementing their policy on communication, coordination and compassion in other parts of the country.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
While there are no current plans for my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to meet with Healthwatch Leeds, he does meet with stakeholders regularly about a range of issues.
NHS England has carefully considered the points raised in Healthwatch Leeds’ paper, in particular its recommendations for how providers and commissioners should communicate change to people and their communities. In 2022, NHS England published statutory guidance on working with people and communities, which is available at the following link:
This guidance supports integrated care boards (ICBs) and providers to meet their legal duties to involve the public in changes to services, and highlights the importance of communicating effectively with communities. NHS England carries out an annual assessment of ICBs, which includes how they meet their public involvement legal duty.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of implementing the recommendations of the briefing paper by Healthwatch Leeds entitled Communicating change, published in September 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
While there are no current plans for my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to meet with Healthwatch Leeds, he does meet with stakeholders regularly about a range of issues.
NHS England has carefully considered the points raised in Healthwatch Leeds’ paper, in particular its recommendations for how providers and commissioners should communicate change to people and their communities. In 2022, NHS England published statutory guidance on working with people and communities, which is available at the following link:
This guidance supports integrated care boards (ICBs) and providers to meet their legal duties to involve the public in changes to services, and highlights the importance of communicating effectively with communities. NHS England carries out an annual assessment of ICBs, which includes how they meet their public involvement legal duty.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
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 support people diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases, such as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS). The UK Rare Diseases Framework sets out four priorities collaboratively developed with the rare disease community. These include better coordination of care and improving access to specialist care, treatments, and drugs. We remain committed to delivering under the framework, and will publish an annual England action plan in 2025 which will report on progress.
NHS England commissions some specialist services for patients with EDS, currently delivered by two centres in England, the London North West University Healthcare Trust and the Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust. The Complex EDS service provides diagnosis and advice to referrers on the treatment and management of complex cases.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
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 with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of making tuition free for dental students; and what steps he is taking to ensure that dentists receive adequate funding to treat NHS patients.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is determined to rebuild National Health Service dentistry, but it will take time and there are no quick fixes. Strengthening the workforce is key to our ambitions.
The Government will make sure the NHS has the staff it needs to be there for all of us when we need it. We have no plans to make tuition free for dental students. From year five of an undergraduate course, and from year two of a graduate-entry course, dental students can access the NHS Bursary. This is non-repayable and comprises payment for tuition fees and, where eligible, further grants and allowances.
The Government will tackle the immediate crisis with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contact, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will allow individuals with a history of anaphylaxis to receive Novavax Covid-19 booster vaccinations.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Novavax was not purchased for the Autumn 2024 COVID-19 vaccination programme, as sufficient pre-procured COVID-19 doses of the Moderna mRNA (Spikevax) and Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA (Comirnaty) vaccines were available.
The COVID-19 chapter of the publication Immunisation against infectious diseases, also known as the Green Book, details that there are very few individuals who cannot receive the COVID-19 vaccines approved in the United Kingdom. The Green Book Chapter 14a is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-the-green-book-chapter-14a
Published advice recommends that anyone with a prior allergic reaction to COVID-19 vaccines should be seen by an expert allergist and, after a review of the individual’s risks and benefits of vaccination, where vaccination is indicated, they could then be vaccinated in hospital under clinical supervision. NHS England will continue to follow this clinical guidance and offer mRNA vaccination under expert supervision in a hospital setting. This advice is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/vaccinations/COVID-19-vaccine/
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
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 availability of (a) GP appointments and (b) other primary care services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that patients are finding it harder than ever to see a general practitioner (GP) and access other primary care services, and we are committed to fixing the crisis in GPs.
Our plan to increase the number of GP appointments delivered will require both investment and reform. We have already invested £82 million to recruit over 1,000 newly qualified GPs through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme. This will increase the number of appointments delivered in general practice and take pressure off those currently working in the system. We will also train thousands more GPs, securing the future of the workforce, and end the 8:00am scramble for GP appointments by introducing a modern booking system.
We will provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. Additionally, to rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to National Health Service dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
We are also committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, including by cutting red tape. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists as we shift care from the hospital to the community.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
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 recruit more full-time healthcare support workers.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service has been facing chronic workforce shortages for years and we have to be honest that bringing in the staff the NHS needs will take time. The Government will make sure the NHS has the staff it needs to be there for all of us when we need it.
We are committed to training the staff we need to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it. We will launch a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS and make it fit for the future.
Asked by: Mark Sewards (Labour - Leeds South West and Morley)
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 help ensure NHS dental practices have the capacity to treat more patients.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and to recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term and increase access to NHS dental care, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
The responsibility for commissioning primary care, including dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Leeds South West and Morley constituency, this is the NHS West Yorkshire ICB. NHS dentists are required to update their NHS website profiles at least every 90 days to ensure patients have up-to-date information on where they can access care.