Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
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 reduce the levels of (a) overweight and (b) obesity among men.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We have introduced regulations on out-of-home calorie labelling for food sold in large businesses, including restaurants, cafes and takeaways, and regulations restricting the placement of less healthy products in key selling locations in store and online. We are also working with industry to make further progress on reformulation and to ensure it is easier for people to make healthier choices.
The weight loss drug Semaglutide (Wegovy) was launched in the United Kingdom on 4 September and will be made available on the National Health Service in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommendations to ensure cost effective use. A two-year pilot backed by up to £40 million is being developed to explore ways to make these drugs accessible to patients living with obesity outside of hospital settings.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
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 work with dental practices to help ensure an adequate supply of NHS appointments.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
In July 2022, we announced a package of dental system improvements having fully engaged with the profession and patient representatives. These initial changes were aimed at improving information for patients; improving incentives in the contract to deliver more complex care; and enabling the National Health Service to better work with the sector to ensure that dental care is delivered. The first of these changes came into force in late 2022.
The latest NHS Dental Statistics for England show that NHS dental activity as measured by Courses of Treatments delivered increased by 23% between 2021/22 and 2022/23.
We have also announced significant reforms as part of our NHS Long-Term Workforce Plan, including a 40% increase in dentistry training places, and are consulting on proposals to enable dental therapists and hygienists to deliver more treatments.
But we acknowledge more needs to be done and we are working on our dental plan, which will be published shortly and will include further measures to improve access.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
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 changes in rates of type 2 diabetes.
Answered by Will Quince
The National Health Service has set up T2Day: Type 2 Diabetes in the Young, a programme of intensive and targeted care for people aged 18 to 39 years, which offers tailored health checks and support with diabetes management. This will support those individuals to lead healthier lives and, in some cases, put their type 2 diabetes into remission.
In addition, the existing NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme supports those identified at high risk of type 2 diabetes to reduce their risk. Latest figures in February 2023 show a 20% reduction in risk for those who are referred to the programme compared to those who are not.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
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 doing to tackle shortages of GPs.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
We remain committed to growing the general practitioner (GP) workforce and number of doctors in general practice, and the Government is determined to deliver this as soon as possible. There were over 2,000 more full time equivalent doctors working in general practice in June 2023 compared to June 2019.
We are working with NHS England to increase the GP workforce in England. This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encourage them to return to practice.
NHS England has made retention schemes available to boost the GP workforce. To boost recruitment, we have increased the number of GP training places. Last year, we saw the highest ever number of doctors accepting a place on GP training - 4,032 trainees in 2022, compared to 2,671 in 2014.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
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 support for couples who experience baby loss.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government funded the Stillbirths and Neonatal Death charity (SANDs) to work with other baby loss charities and Royal Colleges to produce and support the rollout of a National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP). The pathway covers a range of circumstances surrounding baby loss, including miscarriage, stillbirth, termination of pregnancy for medical reasons, neonatal death and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
As of 1 January 2023, 108 NHS England trusts (84%) have committed to adopting the nine NBCP standards. 21 trusts are yet to do so, and NBCP England continue to push for their inclusion.
A key commitment in the Single Delivery Plan for Maternity and Neonatal Services is investment to ensure the availability of bereavement services seven days a week by the end of 2023/24 for women and families who sadly experience loss.
The Pregnancy Loss Review was launched in 2018 to consider questions on registering and certifying pregnancy loss that occurs before 24 weeks’ gestation and the quality of National Health Service care for women experiencing such losses. The Review is being led by two independent experts. This was paused in 2019 and 2020 but has now recommenced with a view to publishing a report by the end of the year.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to take steps to extend NHS non-consolidated payments to NHS staff bank members.
Answered by Will Quince
Many National Health Service bank staff who are directly employed on the Agenda for Change contract, for example, on permanent or fixed-term contracts, and who undertake additional shifts through an NHS bank, will already be eligible for the non-consolidated payments agreed with the NHS Staff Council. Some will be employed exclusively on locally managed contracts, for example Bank contracts, and thus it will be for individual employers to determine the pay and conditions for those members of staff.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
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 tackle incidents of sexual assault against NHS staff.
Answered by Will Quince
There is no place for sexual misconduct, violence, abuse, or harassment in the National Health Service. NHS leaders have a statutory duty of care to look after their patients and staff. They must provide an environment for every person using or working in their services to be sexually safe.
Tackling sexual harassment and assault of NHS staff is one of NHS England’s top priorities and they are working with NHS organisations to ensure this is prioritised at every level. They have established a Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence programme to build on existing safeguarding processes. As a part of the new programme, they are carrying out a review of policies, support and training relating to staff who experience domestic abuse and sexual violence. This will create a ‘gold standard’ that will be available to integrated care boards, trusts and royal colleges.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
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 an adequate number of dental appointments is available for NHS patients.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
In July 2022, we announced a package of improvements to the National Health Service dental system, detailed in ‘Our plan for patients’, which outlined the steps we are taking to meet oral health need and increase access to dental care. The changes we have implemented include a contractual requirement for NHS dentists to keep their NHS.UK profiles up to date to make it easier for patients to seek treatment, improvements to ensure dentists are renumerated fairly for more complex work and greater flexibility to reallocate resources and to utilise dentists with greater capacity to deliver NHS treatment, while enabling full use of the dental team.
NHS England have published additional guidance for dentists and commissioners as part of this package. Patients who are struggling to find a local dentist can contact NHS England’s Customer Contact Centre for assistance or contact NHS 111 if seeking urgent care.
NHS England, regional teams and integrated care boards across England are also working together to ensure that patients continue to have access to NHS dental care. We know that we need to do more, and we are working with NHS England and stakeholders to consider additional reforms of the NHS dental system coming shortly this year.
We are also committed to publishing a long-term NHS workforce plan that will set out the actions and reforms that are required to reduce supply gaps and improve retention, including in dentistry.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
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 (a) update and (b) improve NHS IT systems.
Answered by Will Quince
We have set out our plans in ‘A Plan for Digital Health and Care’ June 2022 to update and improve technology efficiency and efficacy in the NHS. Further detail is also set out in the Data Saves Lives strategy, and in the annual business plans for both the Department and NHS England.
We are investing approximately £2 billion centrally each year between 2022/23 and 2024/25 to digitise the frontline of the NHS and improve services for patients and staff. Local NHS trusts and other providers top up those central investments locally. Allocations are made across a range of priority areas, including improving patient's abilities to access their own records, appointments, and information, such as through the NHS App, and in the core digital infrastructure of providers of all types through our GP IT and Frontline Digitisation programmes. The latter has provided circa £440 million to over 150 trusts in 2022/23 to support them to digitise, ensuring 90% of trusts have electronic health records by December 2023, rising to 95% by March 2025. We are also investing to ensure 80% of Care Quality Commission registered adult social care providers have a digital social care record by March 2024.
NHS IT capability in England is being measured and tracked through an annual digital maturity assessment designed to support trusts to understand their digital and data maturity and develop plans to meet our digitisation standards.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
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 tackle the sale of vapes to school children.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
Given the recent increase in children vaping, the Government launched a call for evidence to identify opportunities to reduce the number of children accessing and using vaping products. The call for evidence has now closed and we are currently analysing the responses. Following this, the Government will consider a range of options based on the evidence provided, including potential changes to vaping policy and regulation.
In April 2023, the Government announced £3 million of funding for a new national illicit vaping enforcement unit to tackle illicit and underage vape sales across the country.
The Prime Minister also recently announced several measures to address youth vaping, including closing a loophole that allows industry from giving out free samples to people of any age. The Government will also write to police forces to ensure dedicated school liaison officers across the country are aware of the Government's work on vaping and can make use of new resources to raise awareness of harms and the law, as well as supporting enforcement of school bans.