Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
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 reduce regional differences in waiting times for ADHD services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I commend my honourable friend for her dedication to improving support for people with ADHD and recognise the valuable perspective she brings through her lived experience.NHS England’s ADHD taskforce is looking at how support for people with ADHD can be improved and I look forward to reading their report when it is published.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress NHS England’s ADHD Taskforce has made on improving access to (a) services and (b) support.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) taskforce, established by NHS England, is working to bring together those with lived experience with experts from the National Health Service, education, charity, and justice sectors, to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including timely and equitable access to services and support. The taskforce is working closely with the Department for Education’s Neurodivergence Task and Finish Group to ensure consideration of joined up services and support across the health and education systems. The taskforce expects to publish its report in the summer.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
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 reduce waiting times for adult ADHD assessments.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Lord Darzi’s independent review of the National Health Service, published September 2024, highlighted the severe delays in access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments and that demand for assessments for ADHD has grown significantly in recent years.
It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICBs) in England to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including ADHD assessments, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
NHS England has established an ADHD taskforce which is working to bring together those with lived experience with experts from the NHS, education, charity, and justice sectors to get a better understanding of the challenges affecting those with ADHD, including timely and equitable access to services and support, with the report expected in the summer.
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 ICBs 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.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
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 reduce gaps in rehabilitation and long-term care provision for people living with acquired brain injury.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government wants a society where every person, including those with a long-term condition such as an acquired brain injury (ABI), receives high-quality, compassionate continuity of care, with their families and carers also supported.
We will change the National Health Service so that it becomes not just a sickness service, but one able to prevent ill health in the first place. This will help us be better prepared for the change in the nature of disease and allow our services to focus more on the management of chronic, long-term conditions, like ABIs, including rehabilitation where appropriate.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is currently developing the guidance Rehabilitation for chronic neurological disorders including acquired brain injury, which is expected to be published in September 2025. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ng10181
The former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention met the original proponent of the ABI strategy, Sir Chris Bryant MP, in November to discuss ABIs, and had a very fruitful discussion about what might be achievable in both the short and long term. Sir Chris Bryant MP remains an advocate for those who have suffered an ABI and the Department agrees with him that we should, and importantly will, do more, including showcasing those areas that have effectively integrated post-hospital care and support, including rehabilitation, to other areas where patients are not getting the care and support they deserve.
We have announced that we are setting up a new United Kingdom-wide neuro forum, facilitating formal, biannual meetings across the Department, NHS England, the devolved administrations and health services, and the Neurological Alliances of all four UK nations. The new forum will bring key stakeholders together to share learning across the UK, discuss the transformation of important neurology services, workforce challenges, best practice examples, and potential solutions that will add to both the existing programmes of work and wider health plans.
A decision on the next steps for ABIs at the national level will be taken in due course.
Meanwhile, we have committed to develop a 10-year plan to deliver an NHS fit for the future. We will be carefully considering input from the public, patients, health staff, and our stakeholders as we develop the plan over the coming months. The engagement process has launched, and I would encourage my fellow parliamentarians and stakeholders to engage with that process to allow us to fully understand what is not working as well as it should and what the potential solutions are, including on ABIs. This is available at the following link:
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much new funding healthcare providers in Sheffield Hallam have received since the general election, by provider; and what impact this has had on the number of appointments available for people in that constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Through Phase 1 of the Spending Review for 2025, the Government has reset public spending for 2024/25 and set departmental budgets for 2025/26. The Government has prioritised investment into the National Health Service, and this is reflected by a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending and a £3.1 billion increase in capital for the Department over this year and next.
This includes the additional £1.8 billion in direct support of elective activity since July 2024, which has supported the NHS to deliver an additional two million appointments. This settlement also makes progress towards meeting the commitment that, within our first term, patients should expect to wait no longer that 18 weeks from referral to consultant led treatment.
The 2024/25 financial year has not yet concluded so we do not yet have final outturn figures for expenditure and activity by provider. The NHS is currently planning for 2025/26, including for the delivery of the elective targets that systems have been given. We currently do not have the outcome of the planning round for individual providers, including those in Sheffield.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to improve data collection on suicide rates of (a) asylum seekers and (b) refugees.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The cross-Government suicide prevention strategy for England sets the direction for departments and a wide range of other organisations, and makes clear that nobody should be left out of suicide prevention efforts. This includes being responsive to the needs of marginalised communities and addressing inequalities in access to effective interventions to prevent suicides, including for vulnerable groups like refugees and asylum seekers.
The ambitions in the strategy include more comprehensive research on, and better understanding of, national trends and suicide rates in particular groups of people, with a focus on at-risk groups that include refugees and asylum seekers.
Official statistics on deaths by suicide for England are collected and published by the Office for National Statistics, and not by the Department. The official statistics are based on information recorded when deaths occur, are certified, and then registered. For deaths by suicide, registration can occur up to two years after the date of death, and on occasion longer. There is no information recorded as part of the death registration process to inform if a person was a refugee or an asylum seeker.
Improved data collection is part of ongoing wider action. This includes the development of the near to Real Time Suspected Suicide Surveillance (nRTSSS) system. Drawing upon data collected by the local police force attending deaths considered a ‘suspected suicide’, the nRTSSS provides an early warning system for potential changes in trends in suicides. There are current efforts to investigate the potential for this system to include intelligence relating to refugee and asylum seekers.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will undertake a review of the adequacy of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence severity modifier in the context of secondary breast cancer.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has no plans to conduct an equalities impact assessment on the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) severity modifier, or to undertake a review of its adequacy in the context of secondary breast cancer.
The NICE is responsible for developing the methods and processes it uses in its evaluations independently and in consultation with stakeholders. The severity modifier that the NICE introduced in 2022 is based on evidence of societal preferences and was introduced as part of a comprehensive review of the NICE’s methods and processes, following extensive public and stakeholder engagement. The NICE considered equality issues in an equality impact document that accompanied the introduction of its new methods and processes, including the severity modifier.
The NICE recently concluded a review of the severity modifier and found that it is operating as intended. Since its introduction, the severity modifier has resulted in a higher approval rate for cancer medicines than under the NICE’s previous methods, and has also allowed greater weight to be applied to non-cancer medicines that address a broader range of severe diseases, enabling the NICE to recommend medicines for conditions such as cystic fibrosis and hepatitis D. The NICE is keeping the impact of the severity modifier under review and is scoping further research into society’s preferences on how much additional weighting to give to health benefits for people with severe diseases.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has conducted an equalities impact assessment on the NICE severity modifier for secondary breast cancer.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has no plans to conduct an equalities impact assessment on the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) severity modifier, or to undertake a review of its adequacy in the context of secondary breast cancer.
The NICE is responsible for developing the methods and processes it uses in its evaluations independently and in consultation with stakeholders. The severity modifier that the NICE introduced in 2022 is based on evidence of societal preferences and was introduced as part of a comprehensive review of the NICE’s methods and processes, following extensive public and stakeholder engagement. The NICE considered equality issues in an equality impact document that accompanied the introduction of its new methods and processes, including the severity modifier.
The NICE recently concluded a review of the severity modifier and found that it is operating as intended. Since its introduction, the severity modifier has resulted in a higher approval rate for cancer medicines than under the NICE’s previous methods, and has also allowed greater weight to be applied to non-cancer medicines that address a broader range of severe diseases, enabling the NICE to recommend medicines for conditions such as cystic fibrosis and hepatitis D. The NICE is keeping the impact of the severity modifier under review and is scoping further research into society’s preferences on how much additional weighting to give to health benefits for people with severe diseases.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of maternity and neonatal safety improvement schemes on mitigating the effects of inequalities in perinatal deaths.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
In March 2023, NHS England published its three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services. This sets out how the National Health Service will make maternity and neonatal care more equitable, as well as safer and more personalised.
The three-year delivery plan is based on evidence, including the impact on inequalities where available, and wide consultation. NHS England is tracking the impact on maternity and neonatal outcomes based on ethnicity and deprivation.
A central ambition of the delivery plan is to reduce inequalities in access, experience and outcomes for women and babies. This is being delivered through the implementation of Local Maternity and Neonatal Systems equity and equality action plans and advocating a proportionate universalism approach, alongside targeted service models designed to reduce inequalities, including enhanced midwifery continuity of carer and culturally sensitive genetics services for high need areas.
NHS England is also providing training and resources for all maternity and neonatal staff, so they can deliver culturally competent and sensitive care. This includes access to cultural competence training, developed in partnership with the Royal College of Midwives, and provision of clinical training aids to support care for women and babies with black or dark skin. In November 2023, NHS England offered £50,000 funding to each NHS England regional team in England to implement ethnic minority workforce training to upskill staff and promote more equitable experience for service users.
In January 2024, the NHS Race and Health Observatory launched the Learning and Action Network in partnership with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the Health Foundation. The Learning and Action Network will utilise an anti-racism approach to quality improvement to drive clinical transformation and enable system-wide change. It will work with nine healthcare systems to improve maternal and neonatal health outcomes.
Additionally, the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC’s) national maternity inspection programme, which completed in December 2023, looked at how services are addressing inequalities in maternity care through a safety and leadership lens. The CQC will be reporting on their findings from the inspection programme later this year and will include findings relating to inequalities.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield Hallam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that maternity and neonatal safety improvement schemes include a focus on mitigating the effects of inequalities.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
In March 2023, NHS England published its three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services. This sets out how the National Health Service will make maternity and neonatal care more equitable, as well as safer and more personalised.
The three-year delivery plan is based on evidence, including the impact on inequalities where available, and wide consultation. NHS England is tracking the impact on maternity and neonatal outcomes based on ethnicity and deprivation.
A central ambition of the delivery plan is to reduce inequalities in access, experience and outcomes for women and babies. This is being delivered through the implementation of Local Maternity and Neonatal Systems equity and equality action plans and advocating a proportionate universalism approach, alongside targeted service models designed to reduce inequalities, including enhanced midwifery continuity of carer and culturally sensitive genetics services for high need areas.
NHS England is also providing training and resources for all maternity and neonatal staff, so they can deliver culturally competent and sensitive care. This includes access to cultural competence training, developed in partnership with the Royal College of Midwives, and provision of clinical training aids to support care for women and babies with black or dark skin. In November 2023, NHS England offered £50,000 funding to each NHS England regional team in England to implement ethnic minority workforce training to upskill staff and promote more equitable experience for service users.
In January 2024, the NHS Race and Health Observatory launched the Learning and Action Network in partnership with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the Health Foundation. The Learning and Action Network will utilise an anti-racism approach to quality improvement to drive clinical transformation and enable system-wide change. It will work with nine healthcare systems to improve maternal and neonatal health outcomes.
Additionally, the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC’s) national maternity inspection programme, which completed in December 2023, looked at how services are addressing inequalities in maternity care through a safety and leadership lens. The CQC will be reporting on their findings from the inspection programme later this year and will include findings relating to inequalities.