Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will increase the staffing budget for the East of England Ambulance Service.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The allocation of National Health Service funding, including local staffing budgets, is set by NHS England.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending NHS Outer London Weighting to (a) Hertsmere and (b) Watford.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is for the Pay Review Bodies to make recommendations on the future geographic coverage of high-cost area supplements, and on the value of such supplements. As this is reflected in terms and conditions of service, any changes would need to be collectively agreed between employers and trade unions.
Alternatively, National Health Service employers or staff organisations in a specified geographic area can propose an increase in the level of high-cost area supplement for staff in that area.
In areas where no supplement exists, NHS employers can introduce a supplement where they feel there is evidence to support its introduction.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much of the NHS funding announced in the Autumn Budget 2024, HC 295, will be allocated to ambulance services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held by the Department. The future allocation of National Health Service funding announced in the Autumn Budget will be decided by NHS England.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
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 adequacy of GP provision in Hertsmere.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We know that patients are finding it harder than ever to see a general practitioner (GP) and we are committed to fixing the the crisis in the National Health Service, to ensure that patients receive the care they deserve, and to secure the long-term sustainability of the NHS.
We will increase the proportion of funding for GPs and shift the focus of the NHS out of hospitals, and into the community. We have committed to end the 8:00am scramble for GP appointments by introducing a modern booking system. Additionally, the Government will train thousands more GPs across the country to increase capacity, secure the future pipeline of GPs, and take the pressure off those currently working in the system.
We will introduce and trial new Neighbourhood Health Centres to bring vital health and care services together under one roof, ensuring healthcare is closer to home and that patients receive the integrated, patient centered services we all want to see.
Hertsmere sits within the NHS Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board, where the percentage of appointments delivered within two weeks of booking is 5.6% lower than the national average.
We are pleased to announce that newly qualified GPs will be included in the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) as part of an initiative to address GP unemployment with additional funding over 2024/25. This is a step on the journey while the Government works with the profession to identify longer term solutions to GP unemployment and general practice sustainability.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he (a) has reviewed and (b) plans to review the (i) provision and (ii) location of (A) inpatient and (B) outpatient health services in South Hertfordshire.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are currently no plans to review the provision and location of inpatient and outpatient health services in South Hertfordshire. Integrated care boards are responsible for ensuring that the provision and location of both inpatient and outpatient health services meets the demand of their local population.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve information for patients who may be exempt from dental charges.
Answered by Steve Brine
The Department makes available to all National Health Service dental practices a patient leaflet which includes information on how to claim free treatment and reminds practices annually of the need to display the leaflets. Information is also set out on NHS Choices and can be found here:
www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1786.aspx?CategoryID=74&SubCategoryID=742
Information on NHS Choices is regularly reviewed.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if the Government will consider reinstating clothing grants for care homes for elderly residents who have just arrived from hospital.
Answered by David Mowat
Despite a welcome shift towards more care provision in community settings, our ageing population means a growing number of people require care in care and nursing homes, with an increasing level of acuity and complexity of need.
The Enhanced Health in Care Homes vanguards, implemented by NHS England, are beginning to show how addressing this inequity in access to services can reduce unnecessary, unplanned and avoidable admissions to hospital, shorten the length of hospital stays and improve peoples’ quality of life, wellbeing and clinical outcomes.
NHS England is also leading the multi-agency Community Services and Hospital Discharge programme, which will deliver a series of interventions to transform community services and improve discharge of older people from hospital. These include initiatives such as “discharge to assess”, which will increase the number of patients who are discharged quickly and safely to their usual place of residence.
The Department is not aware of a clothing grant for people who enter care homes and is therefore unable to consider reinstatement. Where a local authority arranges care and support to meet an adult’s eligible needs, it may charge them. Where care is arranged in a care home, a local authority must not, through charges, reduce the adult’s income below the Personal Expenses Allowance of £24.90 per week.
The allowance means that local authority supported care home residents have money to spend as they wish on personal items, including clothing. It must not be spent on meeting their eligible care needs.
Local authorities have discretion to be more generous where they think this would be appropriate.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if the Government will consider setting up a system of Finnish-style care packages for elderly people leaving hospital and going into care homes.
Answered by David Mowat
Despite a welcome shift towards more care provision in community settings, our ageing population means a growing number of people require care in care and nursing homes, with an increasing level of acuity and complexity of need.
The Enhanced Health in Care Homes vanguards, implemented by NHS England, are beginning to show how addressing this inequity in access to services can reduce unnecessary, unplanned and avoidable admissions to hospital, shorten the length of hospital stays and improve peoples’ quality of life, wellbeing and clinical outcomes.
NHS England is also leading the multi-agency Community Services and Hospital Discharge programme, which will deliver a series of interventions to transform community services and improve discharge of older people from hospital. These include initiatives such as “discharge to assess”, which will increase the number of patients who are discharged quickly and safely to their usual place of residence.
The Department is not aware of a clothing grant for people who enter care homes and is therefore unable to consider reinstatement. Where a local authority arranges care and support to meet an adult’s eligible needs, it may charge them. Where care is arranged in a care home, a local authority must not, through charges, reduce the adult’s income below the Personal Expenses Allowance of £24.90 per week.
The allowance means that local authority supported care home residents have money to spend as they wish on personal items, including clothing. It must not be spent on meeting their eligible care needs.
Local authorities have discretion to be more generous where they think this would be appropriate.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how the Government is monitoring the effects of the £1.25 billion funding for child and adolescent mental health services.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Following the March Budget 2015 announcement of £1.25 billion additional funding for children and young people's mental health services being available over the following five years, £143 million has been allocated for 2015-16. From this, £75 million has been allocated to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to work intensively with key partner agencies to transform local services through delivery of their Local Transformation Plans (LTPs) to improve children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing, and £68 million is being spent centrally on workforce and system development to support local transformation. For 2016-17, £119 million has been included in CCG baseline allocations. The profile of spending for future years has not yet been fully determined.
The guidance for LTPs issued in August 2015, specified that plans had to be signed off by Health and Wellbeing Boards to ensure a shared ambition across all local partners, and included details of a robust bespoke assurance process for 2015-16, put in place by NHS England. This included the completion of detailed financial tracking templates, backed by a programme of regional and national support, to ensure that the additional money was spent for the purposes intended and that locally determined key performance indicators are being met. The intention from 2016-17 is to mainstream children and young people’s mental health as part of the normal NHS England planning cycle and to integrate LTPs into the new Sustainability and Transformation Plan.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to paragraph 1.233 of the March 2015 Budget, how much of the £1.25 billion funding for child and adolescent mental health services has been allocated.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Following the March Budget 2015 announcement of £1.25 billion additional funding for children and young people's mental health services being available over the following five years, £143 million has been allocated for 2015-16. From this, £75 million has been allocated to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to work intensively with key partner agencies to transform local services through delivery of their Local Transformation Plans (LTPs) to improve children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing, and £68 million is being spent centrally on workforce and system development to support local transformation. For 2016-17, £119 million has been included in CCG baseline allocations. The profile of spending for future years has not yet been fully determined.
The guidance for LTPs issued in August 2015, specified that plans had to be signed off by Health and Wellbeing Boards to ensure a shared ambition across all local partners, and included details of a robust bespoke assurance process for 2015-16, put in place by NHS England. This included the completion of detailed financial tracking templates, backed by a programme of regional and national support, to ensure that the additional money was spent for the purposes intended and that locally determined key performance indicators are being met. The intention from 2016-17 is to mainstream children and young people’s mental health as part of the normal NHS England planning cycle and to integrate LTPs into the new Sustainability and Transformation Plan.