Asked by: Michelle Scrogham (Labour - Barrow and Furness)
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 that bereaved parents who require specialist psychological support following (a) pregnancy and (b) baby loss are able to access such support through the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises that the experience of losing a baby or pregnancy loss can be a very difficult time for parents and families. We are determined to make sure all bereaved parents, regardless of where they live, have access to specialist psychological support through the National Health Service.
Maternal Mental Health Services (MMHS) provide expert assessment and treatment for women experiencing moderate to severe or complex mental health difficulties due to loss, trauma, or severe fear of childbirth, known as tokophobia, related to their maternity or neonatal experiences. Referrals are typically made through a general practitioner, midwife, or health visitor, although some MMHS accept self-referrals.
The NHS also provides mental health support for bereaved parents through Talking Therapies services and specialist hospital-based bereavements teams. All NHS England trusts have signed up to the National Bereavement Care Pathway, which acts as a set of standard and guidance aimed at ensuring all families, including fathers and partners, receive consistent, individualised, and sensitive care.
Asked by: Michelle Scrogham (Labour - Barrow and Furness)
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 ensure that the Modern Service Framework for Palliative and End of Life Care is implemented consistently by local integrated care boards; and when his Department plans to publish the interim statement on that Framework.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We will publish an interim update on the Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care shortly. The final MSF will be published this autumn.
The MSF will provide a clinically-led, evidence-based framework to support sustained improvement in patient and carer outcomes, including reducing both inequality and unwarranted variation. Areas of action will be identified for those commissioning and delivering services, with associated performance and outcome metrics to support system accountability. The MSF will seek to embed palliative care and end-of-life care within a strategic commissioning model that is centred on population need.
Asked by: Michelle Scrogham (Labour - Barrow and Furness)
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 potential impact of a respiratory Modern Service Framework on (a) winter pressures on the NHS and (b) outcomes for people with long-term respiratory conditions and those with short-term respiratory illnesses, such as influenza.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Modern service frameworks will define an aspirational, long-term outcome goal for a major condition and will then identify the best evidenced interventions and the support for delivery. Early priorities will include cardiovascular disease, severe mental illness, and the first ever service framework for frailty and dementia.
The Government will consider other long-term conditions for future waves of modern service frameworks, including respiratory conditions. The criteria for determining other conditions for future modern service frameworks will be based on where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. There has not, therefore, been a specific assessment made in relation to winter pressures, long-term respiratory conditions, or short-term respiratory illnesses.
The Government has committed to delivering three big shifts that our National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention. All of these are relevant to improving respiratory health in all parts of the country.
Through our community diagnostic centres, we are building capacity for respiratory testing and enabling people to get diagnosed closer to home. 101 community diagnostic centres across the country now offer out of hours services, 12 hours a day, seven days a week, meaning patients can access vital diagnostic tests around busy working lives. This is alongside action being taken to expand capacity and improve the quality of pulmonary rehabilitation services to support patients living with respiratory conditions.
Asked by: Michelle Scrogham (Labour - Barrow and Furness)
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 respiratory health is prioritised nationally, including through consideration of the introduction of a Modern Service Framework for respiratory care.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Modern service frameworks will define an aspirational, long-term outcome goal for a major condition and will then identify the best evidenced interventions and the support for delivery. Early priorities will include cardiovascular disease, severe mental illness, and the first ever service framework for frailty and dementia.
The Government will consider other long-term conditions for future waves of modern service frameworks, including respiratory conditions. The criteria for determining other conditions for future modern service frameworks will be based on where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity. There has not, therefore, been a specific assessment made in relation to winter pressures, long-term respiratory conditions, or short-term respiratory illnesses.
The Government has committed to delivering three big shifts that our National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community; from analogue to digital; and from sickness to prevention. All of these are relevant to improving respiratory health in all parts of the country.
Through our community diagnostic centres, we are building capacity for respiratory testing and enabling people to get diagnosed closer to home. 101 community diagnostic centres across the country now offer out of hours services, 12 hours a day, seven days a week, meaning patients can access vital diagnostic tests around busy working lives. This is alongside action being taken to expand capacity and improve the quality of pulmonary rehabilitation services to support patients living with respiratory conditions.