Asked by: Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 2 March 2015 to Question 224941, what the precise recommendation made by the Clinical Reference Group referred to in that Answer was; whether that recommendation related to (a) in year or (b) ongoing routine commissioning; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Freeman
NHS England has advised that its Neuroscience Clinical Reference Group’s recommendation was to approve the clinical policy to support the routine commissioning of levodopa-carpidopa intestinal gel for advanced Parkinson’s disease and to go out to full public consultation.
The recommendation related to an in year commissioning decision.
Asked by: Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer to Question 224945 of 2 March 2015, what estimate he has made of the number of decisions taken by screening panels which are made in error; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Freeman
NHS England has advised that decisions taken by screening panels are made in accordance with its interim commissioning policy on individual funding requests, which is available at:
www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/cp-03.pdf
Its individual funding request screening panels are skilled, experienced and trained in their role and NHS England does not consider that any decisions are made in error.
Asked by: Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer to Question 224943 of 2 March 2015, whether minutes exist for each meeting of the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group (CPAG) prior to February 2015; if he will publish the agendas of all CPAG meetings undertaken to date; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jane Ellison
NHS England has advised that minutes do exist for each meeting of the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group (CPAG).
NHS England has advised that they intend to routinely publish minutes and the agendas of CPAG meetings in the future, and are considering how to make available minutes of previous meetings.
Asked by: Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer to Question 224953 of 2 March 2015, whether Duodopa was considered for funding by NHS England for routine funding in the 2013-14 financial year.
Answered by George Freeman
NHS England has advised that the draft clinical policy for recommending the funding of Duodopa was presented and considered in 2014-15. Before this time, the commissioning responsibility for Duodopa rested with clinical commissioning groups.
Asked by: Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer to Question 224942 of 2 March 2015, for what reason NHS England requires successful individual funding requests to demonstrate exceptionality against a draft commissioning policy which has yet to be finalised; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Freeman
In the absence of guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, it is for commissioners to make funding decisions on the basis of the evidence available.
NHS England has advised that it considers individual funding requests against published clinical policies.
Asked by: Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's response to freedom of information requests 2014-79 and 2014-2282, what information his Department holds on the reason for sanction in each case reported.
Answered by Mark Harper - Secretary of State for Transport
The information requested is not yet available.
Asked by: Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the number of adverse employment and support allowance sanction decisions broken down by the Summary International Classification of Diseases since January 2014; and what the reason was for each such sanction.
Answered by Mark Harper - Secretary of State for Transport
The information requested is not yet available.
Asked by: Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department has taken to reduce mental health stigma and discrimination as a result of signing up to the Time to Change Pledge.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As a result of signing up to the Time to Change Pledge in February 2014, a Plan of Actions was compiled. The first action was to launch a Mental Wellbeing Network across HM Treasury. This network is made up of approximately 30 members of staff who are an important source to help raise awareness and improve staff’s understanding around mental health and help to rid the associated stigma.
Actions taken:
We have published staff’s own life experiences about how they have coped with poor mental health and how this was dealt with by others.
We have held workshops on mental wellbeing for staff and managers where they can ask questions and find out the help and support available for them to use.
We have had 11 key members of staff trained in Mental Health First Aid.
We have held a Mental Wellbeing Week which included members of staff talking about their own experiences, ways in which you can gain support, help and advice.
Held ‘speed meetings’ on Time to Talk Day where staff were encouraged to spend 5 minutes talking to another person about their own experiences of mental health.
Weekly lunchtime group walks to help mental and physical wellbeing
Run a Time to Change health check on how staff in the Treasury view mental health and how it is dealt with and support available.
Provided staff with stress information packs on Stress Awareness Day.
Published guidance for staff on how to manage their own mental health and for managers on how to manage someone with poor mental health
Publicised Mental Health eLearning available on the Civil Service Learning Portal
We have reminded staff to complete the eLearning Stress Essentials which is mandatory for all staff to complete.
We have given talks to Treasury Groups and leadership teams about mental health and how to manage stress.
In addition, a key member of staff will regularly attend the Time to Change Organisational Peer Learning Events to share ideas and latest news on mental health.
Following this work, we continue to work towards removing the mental health stigma and improve interest in mental wellbeing throughout HM Treasury.
Asked by: Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to reduce mental health stigma and discrimination as a result of signing up to the Time to Change Pledge.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Since signing the Time to Change Pledge in September 2014, we have focussed on raising awareness across our network through promotion of the Action Plan agreed as part of the Pledge. To help facilitate this, we continued to be an active member of the Time To Change Peer Network Group and the recently launched Whitehall wide network to learn and share best practice.
On specific follow-up with staff, the FCO has arranged a number of Stress Management sessions for staff working in our offices in London and Milton Keynes.
The FCO will in future be promoting Mental Health awareness internally as part of our "Good Line Manager" campaign, as well as making staff aware of the range of disability awareness products which are available through Civil Service Learning.
Within the FCO’s Consular Directorate staff training has increased by 30% in the last year to help staff to confidently support customers with mental health needs. We have also focused outreach in overseas Posts to establish what support is available for customers and as a consequence staff knowledge has increased by 14%. We also have a Mind How you Go Travel Info-graphic which is available on our website.
Asked by: Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to reduce mental health stigma and discrimination as a result of signing up to the Time to Change Pledge.
Answered by Norman Lamb
In January 2014, we published Closing the Gap: Priorities for Essential Change in Mental Health. This set out 25 of the most important changes that we want to make in the next few years to improve the lives of people with mental health problems and help reduce health inequalities. This included reducing stigma and discrimination around mental health.
The Department is funding the Time to Change campaign from 2011/12 to 2015/16. This funding enables Time to Change to work with people with experience of mental health problems to challenge attitudes and discrimination; run social marketing campaigns and work with local and regional partners on community-led activity.
In addition, on the 10 October 2014, World Mental Health Day, I issued a challenge to FTSE 100 companies to sign up to Time to Change, highlighting the key role employers play in tackling mental health problems in the workplace and encouraging and supporting people back into work, as well as supporting overall employee wellbeing.
The Department provides Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training for its staff. This course is delivered by Departmental staff who have been trained by MHFA England. The course provides staff with an understanding of a wide range of mental health issues/conditions. It provides staff with skills to feel confident to talk to individuals about mental health and provide assistance on a first aid basis. Through the course, the trainee will also gain knowledge of support services available and be able to signpost to appropriate support, where needed. The course encourages people to talk about mental health and one of its aims is to reduce mental health stigma and discrimination.
The Department takes part in the Time to Change Time to Talk Day. This is advertised on the staff intranet which provides details of the campaign and information on the wider work of Time to Change. Staff drop-in sessions are also held where staff can talk to Health and Wellbeing staff and MHFA trainers about mental health issues.