Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 families of people with suicidal ideation have access to specialist advise and support.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before prorogation.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 efficacy of the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) scheme; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the family members of people with suicidal ideation have access to ASIST training.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before prorogation.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 improve the working relationship between the NHS and third-sector organisations that offer bespoke support to people with mental ill-health and suicidal ideation.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before prorogation.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 relevant health professionals have the requisite training necessary to assist patients with suicidal ideation to develop a safety plan.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before prorogation.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many covid-19 vaccines are being administered each day to people living in Birkenhead constituency.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
NHS England and NHS Improvement publish daily data for vaccinations in England, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-vaccinations/
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 potential effect on public health of giving priority vaccinations to the carers and households of clinically extremely vulnerable people.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are the independent experts who advise the Government on which vaccine/s the United Kingdom should use and provide advice on prioritisation at a population level. For the first phase, the JCVI has advised that the vaccine be given to care home residents and staff, as well as frontline health and social care workers, then to the rest of the population in order of age and clinical risk factors. Included in this are those with underlying health conditions, which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality.
All frontline social care workers directly working with people clinically vulnerable to COVID-19 who need care and support irrespective of where they work. Whether they care for clinically vulnerable adults or children or who they are employed by will be prioritised for a vaccine as the JCVI has advised. Other groups at higher risk, including those who are in receipt of a carer’s allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if the carer falls ill, will be offered vaccination alongside people with underlying health conditions in priority group six. Consideration has been given to vaccination of household contacts of immunosuppressed individuals. However, at this time there is no data on the size of the effect of COVID-19 vaccines on transmission. Evidence is expected to accrue during the course of the vaccine programme and until that time the JCVI is not in a position to advise vaccination solely on the basis of indirect protection.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 potential effect of increasing the target for units of dental activity to 45 per cent of pre-pandemic levels on waiting times for patients who require complex dental work.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
A steady increase in dental activity has been made possible following updated Public Health England’s Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) guidance. Dental services however continue to operate at reduced capacity due to the need for social distancing, personal protective equipment and other IPC measures.
NHS England and NHS Improvement have set a 45% dental activity target. This target is based upon clinical advice and modelling from the office of the Chief Dental Officer and has taken into consideration robust adherence to IPC guidance and social distancing requirements. Furthermore, data on the percentages of activity dental practices have achieved to date supports the view that the target can be safely attainable.
National Health Service commissioners have the discretion to make exceptions, for instance in cases where a dental practice has been impacted by staff being required to self-isolate and the reinstatement of shielding during the national lockdown.
The unit of dental activity targets for January to March 2021 are expected to increase available NHS dental care for patients and reduce waiting times for all dental care, including complex care.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 proportion of NHS dental clinics that will not be able to meet the 45 per cent of their pre-pandemic units of dental activity target during the January 2021 lockdown in (a) England and (b) the North West.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No such assessment has been made.
NHS England and NHS Improvement recognise that there may be exceptional circumstances when the 45% activity target may not be deliverable and so National Health Service commissioners will use discretion to make exceptions in these cases. In addition, where a practice under-delivers by up to 4%, they can carry this forward into the next financial year.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 potential effect on the mental wellbeing of dental clinicians and support staff of increasing the target for units of dental activity to 45 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The safety and wellbeing of patients and staff remains at the forefront of attempts to increase dental activity. NHS England and NHS Improvement have determined that dental practices delivering 45% of contracted units of dental activity (UDA) from 1 January to 31 March 2021 will be deemed to have delivered the full contractual volume. There may be exceptional circumstances when the 45% activity target may not be deliverable and dental teams should be reassured that commissioners have discretion to make exceptions.
Supporting the mental health of health workers is a priority for the Government, particularly during this unprecedented pandemic. Dental clinicians and their teams have access to a comprehensive package of health and wellbeing services designated to National Health Service staff.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
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 support available to family members of people experiencing serious mental health issues.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
Most people with severe and long-term mental ill health have a right to social care support under the Care Act 2014 and this extends to their carer. The Act requires that, where an adult or carer appears to have care and support needs, the local authority must carry out an assessment.
In addition, most people with a severe mental illness will have a care plan under the Care Programme Approach (CPA), a framework used to assess a person’s needs, make sure that they are supported and to carry out regular reviews to see if the person’s need have changed. Under the CPA, carers have a right to their own assessment of needs, and plan of support, including a choice about the level of support, a life outside of caring, regular breaks and support to maintain employment.