Asked by: Noah Law (Labour - St Austell and Newquay)
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 merits of providing free covid vaccinations to unpaid carers.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The primary aim of the national COVID-19 vaccination programme remains the prevention of severe illness, involving hospitalisation and/or death, arising from COVID-19.
The JCVI’s advice for autumn 2024 noted that in the era of high population immunity to COVID-19, and with all cases due to highly transmissible omicron sub-variants, any protection offered by the vaccine against the transmission of infection from one person to another was expected to be extremely limited. On this basis, the JCVI did not advise offering vaccination to unpaid carers. The Government accepted the JCVI’s advice for autumn 2024, with both the advice and the Government’s response available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-accepts-advice-on-2024-autumn-covid-vaccine-programme
On 13 November 2024, the JCVI published advice on the COVID-19 vaccination programme covering vaccination in 2025 and spring 2026. In line with its advice for the autumn 2024 campaign, the JCVI does not advise COVID-19 vaccination for unpaid carers. This advice is available at the following link:
The Government has accepted the JCVI’s advice on eligibility for the spring 2025 COVID-19 vaccination programme. The Government is considering the advice for autumn 2025 and spring 2026 carefully, and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Noah Law (Labour - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will have discussions with Cabinet colleagues on reforming student loan repayment rules to exempt nurses from repaying those loans while they are employed within the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government currently has no plans to exempt nurses from repaying student loans. The Government keeps the funding arrangements for all healthcare students under close review in order to balance the use of finite financial resources with the level of support students require.
Asked by: Noah Law (Labour - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to expand the number of organisations under the Right to Choose pathway that are able to have their ADHD prescriptions fulfilled by the NHS.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Shared care within the National Health Service refers to an arrangement whereby a specialist doctor formally transfers responsibility for all or some aspects of their patient’s care, such as the prescription of medication, over to the patient’s general practitioner (GP).
The General Medical Council (GMC), which regulates and sets standards for doctors in the United Kingdom, has made it clear that GPs cannot be compelled to enter into a shared care agreement. Shared care is not part of the GP Contract and as such, participation is voluntary. GPs may decline such requests on clinical or capacity grounds. A GP who has previously agreed to a shared care agreement but who can no longer support it must provide a clear rationale for their decision. Both the GP and the specialist clinician share responsibility for ensuring continuity of care for the patient.
The GMC has also issued guidance to help GPs decide whether to accept shared care responsibilities. In deciding whether to enter into a shared care agreement, a GP will need to consider a number of factors to determine whether it is within their sphere of competence, and therefore safe and suitable for their patient’s needs. This includes being satisfied that any prescriptions or referrals for treatment are clinically appropriate.
If a shared care agreement is not in place, the responsibility for ongoing prescribing remains with the specialist clinician, which applies to both NHS and private medical care.
Asked by: Noah Law (Labour - St Austell and Newquay)
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 GPs can support ADHD patients under the shared care plans through (a) reassessment, (b) re-prescription of ADHD medication and (c) other measures.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Shared care within the National Health Service refers to an arrangement whereby a specialist doctor formally transfers responsibility for all or some aspects of their patient’s care, such as the prescription of medication, over to the patient’s general practitioner (GP).
The General Medical Council (GMC), which regulates and sets standards for doctors in the United Kingdom, has made it clear that GPs cannot be compelled to enter into a shared care agreement. Shared care is not part of the GP Contract and as such, participation is voluntary. GPs may decline such requests on clinical or capacity grounds. A GP who has previously agreed to a shared care agreement but who can no longer support it must provide a clear rationale for their decision. Both the GP and the specialist clinician share responsibility for ensuring continuity of care for the patient.
The GMC has also issued guidance to help GPs decide whether to accept shared care responsibilities. In deciding whether to enter into a shared care agreement, a GP will need to consider a number of factors to determine whether it is within their sphere of competence, and therefore safe and suitable for their patient’s needs. This includes being satisfied that any prescriptions or referrals for treatment are clinically appropriate.
If a shared care agreement is not in place, the responsibility for ongoing prescribing remains with the specialist clinician, which applies to both NHS and private medical care.
Asked by: Noah Law (Labour - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to hire more specialists in the diagnosis of adult ADHD.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has established an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) taskforce which is working to bring together those with lived experience with experts from the National Health Service, education, charity, and justice sectors. The taskforce is working to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including timely and equitable access to services and support, with the final report expected in the summer of 2025.
In conjunction with the taskforce, NHS England has carried out detailed work to develop an ADHD data improvement plan, to inform future service planning. NHS England has also captured examples from integrated care boards who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services, and is using this information to support systems to tackle ADHD waiting lists and provide support to address people’s needs.
We will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and treat patients on time again. We will ensure the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need, when they need it.
Asked by: Noah Law (Labour - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many mental health workers will be recruited in Cornwall by 2029.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future and that is there when people need it, the Government will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers to reduce delays and provide faster treatment, which will also help ease pressure on busy mental health services. We are working with NHS England to consider options to deliver this commitment.
Whilst we don’t have the breakdown of how many mental health workers will be recruited in specific constituencies, this summer we will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again. We will ensure the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it.
Asked by: Noah Law (Labour - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will direct NICE to undertake an assessment of the potential merits of the use of hydrotherapy treatments in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I have no plans to direct the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to assess hydrotherapy treatments, and it would not be appropriate for ministers to circumvent the NICE’s established process for prioritising topics for guidance development.
When developing its guidelines, the NICE considers all the available evidence within the scope of the topic under consideration. Where good quality evidence supports the use of a therapy as clinically and cost effective, the NICE’s independent committee may recommend it for use in the National Health Service.
Hydrotherapy is already recommended as a form of rehabilitation therapy following nerve injury in the NICE’s Rehabilitation after traumatic injury 2022 guideline. It is also recommended in the 2017 guideline Spondyloarthritis in over 16s: diagnosis and management, as an adjunctive therapy to manage pain and maintain or improve function for people with axial spondyloarthritis.
Asked by: Noah Law (Labour - St Austell and Newquay)
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 put in place an effective workforce strategy for the neurology profession prior to the publication of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan in summer 2025.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This summer, we will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade, and treat patients on time again. We will ensure the National Health Service has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it, including in neurology.
As of July 2024, there were over 1,800 full-time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the specialty of neurology in NHS trusts and other organisations in England. This includes over 900 FTE consultant neurologists. In 2023, the fill rate for recruitment into the specialty of neurology in England was 94%.
There are currently no plans for a specific workforce strategy for the neurology profession prior to the publication of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.
The NHS workforce has been overworked for years, leading to staff becoming burnt out and demoralised. The NHS is broken but not beaten, and together we will turn it around. We have launched a 10-Year Health Plan to reform the NHS. The plan will set out a bold agenda to deliver on the three big shifts needed to move healthcare from hospital to the community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention.
A central part of the 10-Year Health Plan will be our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff, technology, and infrastructure the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities.
Asked by: Noah Law (Labour - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals on the provision of dental services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are currently reviewing the previous Government’s Dental Recovery Plan and what elements of that can be taken forward effectively and within National Health Service budgets. It is also clear that plan did not go far enough and so we are also working on further measures, prioritising initiatives that will see the biggest impact on access to NHS dental care.
The Government is committed to tackling the challenges for patients trying to access NHS dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and to recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and retaining NHS dentists. Not all improvements to the provision of NHS dental services may require legislative changes.
Asked by: Noah Law (Labour - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has for legislative reforms to improve the provision of dental services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to tackling the challenges patients face when trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments, and to recruit new dentists to areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract, with a shift to focus on prevention and retaining NHS dentists.