Asked by: Oliver Ryan (Independent - Burnley)
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 promote the importance of regular eye tests and vision screening for children; and what further steps he plans to take to increase the uptake of eye tests among children.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Free National Health Service sight tests are widely available for children under 16 years old, and under 19 years old in full time education. The NHS.UK website sets out the importance of regular sight tests whilst also providing information about who is entitled to free NHS sight tests. The Department also looks for opportunities to promote the importance of NHS sight tests, such as through National Eye Health Week.
All babies should receive a routine eye screening within 72 hours of birth as part of the newborn physical examination, and again at around six weeks of age. The UK National Screening Committee also recommends vision screening in school for children aged four to five years old to look for reduced vision in one or both eyes. Providers of this service will send information to parents, carers, or guardians, setting out why vision screening is important to encourage uptake.
Asked by: Oliver Ryan (Independent - Burnley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending eligibility requirements for the NHS Health Check to adults aged between 25 to 39.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Health Check, a core component of England’s cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention programme, assesses the risk factors for CVD in people aged 40 to 74 years old, provides advice on how to reduce the risk of developing CVD, and refers people to behaviour support programmes, clinical assessment, and treatment where appropriate.
Data shows that the older a person is, the more likely it is they will attend their NHS Health Check, with the highest uptake in the 70 to 74 year old age group.
We are undertaking a review of the evidence for expanding eligibility to people under 40 years of age. This work will inform the ongoing policy for the NHS Health Check programme.
Asked by: Oliver Ryan (Independent - Burnley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of ambulance response times.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have been clear our assessment is that ambulance response times have been wholly inadequate in recent years. Patients with serious conditions such as suspected strokes waited over 34 minutes on average last month for an ambulance to arrive – nearly twice as long as the 18-minute standard. This Government is committed to returning the NHS to the Constitution’s standards.