Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
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 potential disparities in access to prostate cancer screening among men of different (a) races and (b) socio-economic statuses.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Screening for prostate cancer is currently not recommended by the UK National Screening Committees (UK NSC). This is because of the inaccuracy of the current best test, called Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA).
The UK NSC is carrying out an evidence review of prostate cancer screening which includes looking at the evidence for targeted screening of specific high-risk groups, such as Black Men and those with a family history. This will determine whether a PSA test-based screening programme for high-risk groups could provide more good than harm.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
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 the adequacy of the informed choice framework for prostate cancer screening.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Screening for prostate cancer is currently not recommended by the UK National Screening Committees. This is because of the inaccuracy of the current best test called Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA).
The Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme provides general practitioners with information and guidance to counsel men who have no symptoms about the potential benefits and harms of PSA testing so they can make an informed decision about whether to have the test.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
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 ensure the full implementation of (a) equal access to IVF treatment for LGBTQ+ people and (b) the entire Women's Health Strategy.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Funding decisions for health services in England are made by integrated care boards (ICBs) and are based on the clinical needs of their local population. Organisations are expected to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidelines, which are based on the clinical evidence of the most effective treatment. The Department will be working with NHS England to support ICBs to improve the current National Health Service offer for patients.
The Government is committed to prioritising women’s health, and we are considering how to take forward the Women’s Health Strategy for England. We will prioritise women’s health as we build an NHS fit for the future, and women’s equality will be at the heart of our missions.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
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 impact of air quality on the health of residents in Warwick and Leamington constituency.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution indicator, measured as PM2.5, represents the percentage of annual deaths from all causes in those aged 30 years old and older, attributed to PM2.5. In 2022, the latest year from which published data is available, the fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution was 5.5% for Warwickshire, and 5.5% for Warwick.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) produces the estimates of the fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution in English local authorities and regions, as an indicator within the Public Health Outcomes Framework for England, published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. This framework is available at the following link:
The UKHSA provides the scientific secretariat to the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants, an expert committee of the Department, which advises the Government on matters concerning the health effects of air pollutants. Further information on this committee is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/committee-on-the-medical-effects-of-air-pollutants-comeap
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
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 average waiting times for young people to access mental health services in Warwickshire.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Whilst the Department has made no such assessment, we know that some children and young people are waiting longer than we would like to get help with their mental health, which is why we have been increasing access to services. Over the year to December 2023, over 750,000 children and young people aged under 18 years old were supported through National Health Service-funded mental health services, representing a 31% increase since March 2021.
NHS England is working to improve the quality of data on access and waiting times for children and their families and carers waiting to receive community-based mental health care. NHS England began publishing this new data in 2023 to improve transparency and drive local accountability.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
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 ensure people with diabetes can continue to access the insulin they need.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
We are aware of supply issues with some insulin products, however the vast majority are in stock. Comprehensive management guidance on alternative products has been issued to the National Health Service where needed.
The medicine supply chain is highly regulated, complex, and global. Supply disruption is an issue which affects the United Kingdom, as well as the other countries around the world, and it can have a variety of causes, including manufacturing issues, problems with access to raw ingredients, and sudden spikes in demand.
There is a team within the Department that deals specifically with medicine supply problems. It has well-established tools and processes to manage medicine supply issues, working closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the pharmaceutical industry, NHS England, and others operating in the supply chain, to help prevent shortages and expedite resupply as soon as possible, to ensure that the risks to patients are minimised.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average wait time for an ambulance was in (a) Coventry and (b) Warwickshire in each winter since 2010-2011.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The information is not available in the format requested.
Ambulance response times are measured by response time category down to regional ambulance trust level. Coventry and Warwickshire are both served by the West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS).
The current ambulance response time standards were introduced in 2017 following extensive clinical trials and include average response times by response time category. Prior to this average response times were not centrally collected.
The following table shows average ambulance response times for WMAS in December, January and February between 2017 and 2023.
Year | Month | Category 1 mean | Category 2 mean | Category 3 mean | Category 4 mean |
2017/18 | December | 00:07:03 | 00:13:12 | 0:39:49 | 1:04:30 |
| January | 00:06:48 | 00:12:22 | 0:35:20 | 0:57:11 |
| February | 00:07:03 | 00:13:14 | 0:41:35 | 1:00:51 |
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2018/19 | December | 0:06:48 | 0:12:29 | 0:36:14 | 0:51:31 |
| January | 0:06:44 | 0:12:11 | 0:35:17 | 0:51:40 |
| February | 0:06:46 | 0:12:32 | 0:38:22 | 0:51:10 |
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2019/20 | December | 0:07:02 | 0:14:56 | 1:01:08 | 1:16:39 |
| January | 0:06:59 | 0:12:29 | 0:32:47 | 0:48:36 |
| February | 0:07:09 | 0:13:06 | 0:41:16 | 0:56:45 |
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2020/21 | December | 0:06:57 | 0:14:46 | 0:47:41 | 1:01:10 |
| January | 0:06:51 | 0:14:48 | 0:51:45 | 1:03:04 |
| February | 0:06:35 | 0:12:01 | 0:25:06 | 0:35:28 |
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2021/22 | December | 0:08:19 | 0:48:19 | 3:20:50 | 3:46:03 |
| January | 0:08:10 | 0:34:44 | 2:35:07 | 2:54:24 |
| February | 0:08:11 | 0:33:36 | 2:26:14 | 3:15:26 |
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2022/23 | December | 0:09:14 | 1:31:10 | 4:48:31 | 4:33:46 |
| January | 0:08:11 | 0:27:21 | 1:39:18 | 1:51:52 |
| February | 0:08:18 | 0:25:49 | 1:54:42 | 2:37:55 |
Source: NHS England Ambulance Quality Indicators.
Note: The national standards for Category 3 and 4 incidents are 90th percentile response times, rather than mean response.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children have had an appointment with a NHS dentist in Warwick and Leamington constituency in each year since 2010.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
This data is not published at constituency level. We have therefore presented the data which is available at ICB level in the following table.
For Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board (ICB):
Year | Number of children seen in previous 12 months to June of each year | Number of children seen as a proportion of total population of children |
2016 | 109,691 | 59% |
2017 | 112,120 | 60% |
2018 | 114,960 | 55% |
2019 | 117,002 | 61% |
2020 | 107,114 | 55% |
2021 | 68,697 | 35% |
2022 | 99,569 | 50% |
2023 | 113,822 | 57% |
Source: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-dental-statistics
Note: The methodology to count how many children have been seen changed in 2016. We therefore have not included figures for the years before 2016 as they are not comparable.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding has been allocated to mental health services in Warwickshire in each year since 2010.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
It is for individual local commissioners to allocate funding to mental health services to meet the needs of their local populations and this information is not collected centrally. Integrated care boards are expected to continue to meet the Mental Health Investment Standard by increasing their investment in mental health services in line with their overall increase in funding for the year.
Spending on NHS mental health services in England continues to increase each year from almost £11 billion in 2015/16 to almost £16 billion in 2022/23.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients have been waiting for 12 months or longer for NHS treatment in Warwick and Leamington constituency.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The information is not held in the format requested as it is not available at a constituency level.