Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of treatment provisions for people diagnosed with advanced stage Cutaneous T-cell Lymphoma.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
T-cell Lymphomas are recognised as a rare form of cancer that require pan regional arrangements for referral and treatment. Cancer Alliances have pathways in place to support diagnosis as part of their skin cancer pathways. NHS England and NHS Improvement are continuing to work with providers of specialised services to deliver best-quality evidence-based care and treatment for patients living with rare cancers.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the reduction in public health grant on women's access to effective and appropriate contraception.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has mandated local authorities in England to commission comprehensive open access sexual health services, including the provision of free contraception. Contraception is also widely available free of charge through general practice. The Government provides funding to local authorities for their public health responsibilities, including sexual health services, through the public health grant. It is for individual local authorities to decide their spending priorities based on an assessment of local need, including the need for sexual health services taking account of their statutory duties.
The Department secured a Spending Round settlement in 2019 for local government, with the public health grant receiving a welcome increase in real terms in 2020/21. Decisions on future funding will be a matter for the Spending Review.
No specific assessment has been made of the impact of the public health grant on access to contraception.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Sexual and Reproductive Health’s report, ‘Women's Lives, Women's Rights: Strengthening Access to Contraception Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic’, has raised a number of important issues. The recommendations in the report will be considered as part of our upcoming work to develop the sexual and reproductive health strategy.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report entitled Women's Lives, Women's Rights: Strengthening Access to Contraception Beyond the Covid-19 Pandemic, published by the All-party Parliamentary Group on Sexual and Reproductive Health on 10 September 2020, whether he has plans in place to maintain the level of funding for contraceptive outreach services for marginalised and under-served communities.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has mandated local authorities in England to commission comprehensive open access sexual health services, including the provision of free contraception. Contraception is also widely available free of charge through general practice. The Government provides funding to local authorities for their public health responsibilities, including sexual health services, through the public health grant. It is for individual local authorities to decide their spending priorities based on an assessment of local need, including the need for sexual health services taking account of their statutory duties.
The Department secured a Spending Round settlement in 2019 for local government, with the public health grant receiving a welcome increase in real terms in 2020/21. Decisions on future funding will be a matter for the Spending Review.
No specific assessment has been made of the impact of the public health grant on access to contraception.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Sexual and Reproductive Health’s report, ‘Women's Lives, Women's Rights: Strengthening Access to Contraception Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic’, has raised a number of important issues. The recommendations in the report will be considered as part of our upcoming work to develop the sexual and reproductive health strategy.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the reduction in public health grant on access to contraception for (a) women living with an abusive partner, (b) BAME women, (c) women in lower socio-economic groups, (d) women under 18 and (e) other marginalised groups.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has mandated local authorities in England to commission comprehensive open access sexual health services, including the provision of free contraception. Contraception is also widely available free of charge through general practice. The Government provides funding to local authorities for their public health responsibilities, including sexual health services, through the public health grant. It is for individual local authorities to decide their spending priorities based on an assessment of local need, including the need for sexual health services taking account of their statutory duties.
The Department secured a Spending Round settlement in 2019 for local government, with the public health grant receiving a welcome increase in real terms in 2020/21. Decisions on future funding will be a matter for the Spending Review.
No specific assessment has been made of the impact of the public health grant on access to contraception.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Sexual and Reproductive Health’s report, ‘Women's Lives, Women's Rights: Strengthening Access to Contraception Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic’, has raised a number of important issues. The recommendations in the report will be considered as part of our upcoming work to develop the sexual and reproductive health strategy.
Asked by: Pauline Latham (Conservative - Mid Derbyshire)
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 potential merits of reintegrating Public Health England's contraceptive care responsibilities and workflows within the NHS.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The NHS Long Term Plan committed the Government to reviewing the commissioning arrangements for a range of services including sexual and reproductive health, to ensure that they can deliver the best outcomes for the people who need them. The Department confirmed in 2019 that local authorities will continue to be responsible for commissioning sexual and reproductive health services, but that they must work much more closely with the National Health Service to deliver joined-up care for patients and to embed prevention into the full range of health and other public services.
The Department are currently considering a range of options for where Public Health England’s wider public heath functions, including supporting the commissioning and delivery of sexual and reproductive health services, could sit in the future as part of the reform to the public health system. We will be engaging in more detail on these issues and setting out next steps on the reform programme over the coming months.