Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Paul Burstow and Henry Smith(13 years, 5 months ago)
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Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)
19. What steps he is taking to improve mental health services.
The Minister of State, Department of Health (Paul Burstow)
May I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer that I gave to the hon. Member for Loughborough (Nicky Morgan)?
Henry Smith
I am grateful for the Minister’s answer to that earlier question. Will he explain more fully exactly how services for those with eating disorders can be enhanced, particularly in the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust area?
Paul Burstow
Yes, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence will update its guidance on eating disorders later this year. The plans already set out in the Health and Social Care Bill mean that eating disorders will be subject to specialised commissioning in future by the NHS Commissioning Board. We believe that, because of the consolidated expertise in matching needs, this will help to drive up standards and enhance quality and consistency across the country. In the hon. Gentleman’s own patch, the assessment service run by Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is certainly an impressive one.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Paul Burstow and Henry Smith(13 years, 11 months ago)
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Paul Burstow
Of course the money will be accountable to Parliament, as it is now. The hon. Lady’s comments reflect an interesting campaign that the Labour party has dreamed up, which is very much to ally itself with the interests of primary care trusts rather than those of patients and ensuring that we improve public services. This Government’s proposals will improve the way in which services are commissioned, deliver better outcomes for patients up and down the country, and deliver the integration across health and social care that the previous Government failed to deliver.
Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)
3. What recent progress he has made on the introduction of GP-led commissioning consortiums.