Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he his taking to ensure the adequacy of primary care provision for pensioners in (a) City of Durham constituency and (b) County Durham in winter 2024-25.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government cares about pensioners and access to primary care services. We know that patients nationally and in Durham are struggling to access their general practitioner (GP), and that this can be worsened throughout the winter period when demand is higher. We have committed to restoring the front door of the National Health Service by shifting the focus of the NHS out of hospitals and into the community. We know when patients aren’t able to get a GP appointment, they end up in accident and emergency, which is worse for the patient, more expensive for the taxpayer, and creates additional winter pressures.
Durham sits within the NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB), where the percentage of appointments delivered within two weeks of booking is 1.7% lower than the national average. To address this, we will increase the proportion of funding for primary care, starting with a commitment to recruit over 1,000 newly qualified GPs through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme. This will increase the number of appointments delivered in GPs, secure the future pipeline of GPs, and take pressure off those currently working in the system.
The Government will trial new neighbourhood health centres to bring community health services together under one roof. We will also bring back the family doctor, by incentivising GPs to see the same patient, so ongoing or complex conditions are dealt with effectively. In doing so, we will improve continuity of care, which is associated with better health outcomes and fewer accident and emergency attendances.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
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) support people with and (b) raise awareness of endometriosis.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Endometriosis is a common gynaecological condition, estimated to affect one in 10 women of reproductive age. Endometriosis can significantly impact women and girls’ physical and mental health, and anyone with symptoms of endometriosis should contact their general practice. Information on endometriosis symptoms and treatments can be found on the National Health Service website, available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/endometriosis/
Additionally, further information on endometriosis symptoms can be found on the NHS’ YouTube channel, specifically a video series on menstrual health, which is available at the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnhASgDToTkvLigKt1XBE-iwZVJxd7Lto
To support people and raise awareness of endometriosis among healthcare professionals, endometriosis is included in the Royal College of General Practitioners’ curriculum. The General Medical Council is also introducing the Medical Licensing Assessment for students, which will include endometriosis. This assessment is mandatory for doctors who want to practice in the United Kingdom, and will be introduced for students graduating from 2024/25.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
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 tackle health inequalities in the North East of England.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
As part of our health mission, the Government is committed to ensuring people live well for longer. This includes tackling the determinants that underpin stark health inequalities to halve the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest regions, and creating the healthiest generation of children ever.
Local authorities in the North East received a total of £238 million in Public Health Grant funding for 2024/25, with Durham County Council having received £53.9 million for 2024/25. This provides services such as stop smoking, drug and alcohol treatment, school health visits and nursing, and sexual health, among others, all of which contribute to addressing health inequalities. Additionally, Directors of Public Health from each local authority are working in partnership with the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board to support action to address inequalities in access, experience, and outcomes associated with health care.
Durham County Council is one of 75 local authorities with high levels of deprivation, receiving funding to improve outcomes for families with babies as part of the £300 million Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme. This programme is creating a network of family hubs with services to support families from conception to the age of two years old.
The North East Mayoral Combined Authority was formed on 7 May 2024, and has also committed to creating a fairer North East, reducing inequalities, and improving health. Its priorities include work to address the causes of health inequalities, such as bringing investment into the region to boost economic growth, and improving available housing, education, inclusion, and skills. The Tees Valley Combined Authority also works to secure investment, create jobs, and grow the economy, helping to create the conditions in which health inequalities can be reduced.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
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 adequacy of preparedness for future pandemics.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The Department is embedding lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic within its approach to pandemic preparedness. This includes amending the approach to cover all five routes of communicable disease transmission, rather than focusing on planning for specific threats. We are working with partners in the health and social care system, including the UK Health Security Agency and NHS England, to maintain a flexible and scalable set of response capabilities that can be adapted to any future novel disease. The approach to pandemic preparedness also recognises that the underlying resilience of the health and social care system is crucial to the ability to respond to a novel disease threat.
The UK COVID-19 Inquiry published its first report on 18 July 2024, which focuses on resilience and preparedness for a pandemic, and the Department will consider the inquiry’s recommendations in full.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
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 adults affected by backlogs for ADHD assessments.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including support for those waiting for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments, in line with the relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
We are supporting a cross-sector taskforce that NHS England has launched to explore challenges in ADHD service provision and to help provide a joined-up approach for the growing numbers of people coming forward for support.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her planned timetable is for the implementation of the Women’s Health Strategy; and whether she plans to help tackle disparities in access to fertility services for LGBTQ+ couples.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Women’s Health Strategy is a 10-year strategy. On 17 January 2024, my Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, set out our priorities for implementing the Women’s Health Strategy in 2024. This statement is available at the following link:
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2024-01-17/hcws192
Improving access to fertility treatment is a priority in the Women’s Health Strategy. On 15 May 2024, we laid a Statutory Instrument to update the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act to allow gamete donation for people with HIV, who have an undetectable viral load. It will also eliminate additional screening costs for female same sex couples undertaking reciprocal, or shared motherhood, in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment. This is part of wider work to improve access to IVF for everyone, and ensure same-sex couples have the same rights as a man and woman when accessing fertility treatment.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to protect the titles for all (a) psychologists, (b) psychotherapists, (c) counsellors and (d) other psychological therapy providers.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
All professional healthcare regulators have protected titles, relating to the professions they regulate. There are currently 64 protected titles across 10 professional health and care regulators, including nine protected titles relating to the practitioner psychologist profession, regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council.
Titles can only be protected for statutorily regulated professions. There are no plans to statutorily regulate psychologist, psychotherapist, counsellor, or other psychological therapy provider roles.
The Government keeps the professions subject to statutory regulation under review and in 2022 published the consultation, Healthcare regulation: deciding when statutory regulation is appropriate, seeking views on the criteria used to decide when regulation is necessary, and whether there are any unregulated professions that should be brought into statutory regulation. The Government will publish its response to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of waiting times for gynaecological care and treatment in (a) the North East and (b) England as of 21 February 2023.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Delivery Plan for Tackling the COVID-19 Backlog of Elective Care outlines how the National Health Service will bring down waiting times across all elective services. The plan does not prioritise specialties, but the NHS continues to focus on reducing the longest waits, providing high levels of support and scrutiny, targeted at the trusts which have the highest number of patients waiting the longest for elective treatment.
To support this plan and tackle waiting lists, including those in gynaecology, the Government plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to drive up and protect elective activity. We are also increasing capacity, including for gynaecological surgery, through our surgical hubs, delivered by the Getting It Right First Time ‘High Volume Low Complexity’ programme.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to reduce waiting times for a hysterectomy in (a) County Durham and (b) England.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Delivery Plan for Tackling the COVID-19 Backlog of Elective Care outlines how the National Health Service will bring down waiting times across all elective services. The plan does not prioritise specialties or certain interventions, but the NHS continues to focus on reducing the longest waiting times and providing high levels of support and scrutiny, targeted at the trusts which have the highest number of patients waiting the longest time, for elective treatment.
To support this plan and tackle waiting lists, including those in gynaecology, the Government plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to drive up and protect elective activity. We are also increasing capacity, including for gynaecological surgery, through our surgical hubs, delivered by the Getting It Right First Time’s High Volume Low Complexity programme.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
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 help tackle health inequalities in the North East.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom