Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that health and social care professionals are trained in Parkinson’s-related dementia care.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The standard of training for health care professionals is the responsibility of the health care independent statutory regulatory bodies. They set the outcome standards expected at undergraduate level and approve courses and Higher Education Institutions to write and teach the curricula content that enables their students to meet the regulators outcome standards.
Whilst not all curricula may necessarily highlight a specific condition, they all nevertheless emphasize the skills and approaches a health care practitioner must develop in order to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients, including for dementia.
Individual employers across health and social care are responsible for ensuring their staff are trained and competent to carry out their role, and for investing in the future of their staff by providing continuing professional development (CPD) funding. The required training needs are set out in the Dementia Training Standards Framework, which is available at the following link:
https://www.skillsforhealth.org.uk/info-hub/dementia-2015-updated-2018/
The framework was commissioned and funded by the Department, and developed in collaboration with the sector. It sets out the essential knowledge, skills, and expected learning outcomes applicable across the health and care spectrum.
It is applicable to health and social care staff who work with people living with dementia, staff providing direct care and support, and those who provide leadership in transforming care, including social care managers and leaders.
To supplement local National Health Service employer investment for CPD, the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published on 30 June 2023, sets out NHS England’s commitment to continue national CPD funding for nurses, midwives, and allied health professionals. There are a variety of resources available on the NHS England e-learning for health platform, designed to enhance the training and education of the health and social care workforce. This includes a programme on dementia care, and modules in Parkinson’s disease in geriatric medicine.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Spring Budget 2024, whether he has made an estimate of the potential return on investment of (a) violence reduction units, (b) hot spot policing, (c) increasing the capacity of children's homes and (d) the building of 15 new special free schools.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
These measures are part of the Public Sector Productivity Review, which will deliver up to £1.8 billion worth of benefits by 2029.
We have committed £75 million to expand the Violence Reduction Unit model across England and Wales, supporting a prevention-first approach to serious violence. Violence Reduction Units enable local public services such as health boards, schools and police leaders to coordinate their joint strategy to tackle serious violence among young people, preventing violent crime and reducing burdens on healthcare, schools and criminal justice.
As part of the Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan, we committed £66.3 million to scale up hotspot enforcement. From April 2024, hotspot response will be rolled out across every police force area in England and Wales, which will see thousands of additional high visibility patrols in the places most affected by Serious Violence and Anti-Social Behaviour.
An independent evaluation found that in 2022/23, VRUs and hotspot policing prevented 3,220 hospital admissions from violent injury – a statistically significant drop. Please find a link to the evaluation here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/violence-reduction-units-year-ending-march-2023-evaluation-report/violence-reduction-units-2022-to-2023#:~:text=In%202022%2C%20a%20further%202,data%20sharing%20and%20analysis.
On increasing the capacity of children’s homes, the Government announced £165 million of funding over the next 4 years to reduce the reliance of local authorities on costly emergency provision.
Finally, the building of 15 new special free schools through £105 million of investment over the next 4 years will deliver over 2,000 additional special places for children with special education needs and disabilities.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to review planned changes to the Work Capability Assessment to reflect the impact on people with (a) Parkinson's and (b) other long-term conditions.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) assesses individuals against a set of descriptors to determine how their health condition or disability affects their ability to work. The WCA takes into account the functional effects of fluctuating and degenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s. A key principle is that the WCA considers the impact that a person’s disability or health condition has on them, not the condition itself.
Claimants with the most severe health conditions and disabilities whose condition is unlikely to ever improve are no longer routinely reassessed.
From 2025, we are reforming the WCA to reflect new flexibilities in the labour market and greater employment opportunities for disabled people and people with health conditions, whilst maintaining protections for those with the most significant conditions. Claimants who currently have no work-related requirements, except in some very limited circumstances, will not be reassessed or lose benefit because of these changes.
When making decisions on changes to the WCA, we carefully considered over 1300 consultation responses, including from disabled people, people with health conditions, and the organisations that represent and support them. We also engaged directly with clinical experts, employer groups and disability organisations across the country.
With these changes to the WCA criteria, 371,000 fewer people will be assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity by 2028-29 and will receive personalised support to help them move closer to employment. A further 29,000 individuals will be found fit for work by 2028-29 and will receive more intensive support to search for and secure work than would be the case under the current WCA rules. These figures are not based on specific conditions. This is because the WCA considers the impact that a person’s disability or health condition has on their ability to work, not the condition itself.
The department routinely engages with a wide range of organisations that represent and support disabled people and people with health conditions, including people living with Parkinson’s disease.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will meet with Parkinson’s UK and the hon. Member for Bootle to discuss the experience of people with Parkinson’s in the social security system.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) assesses individuals against a set of descriptors to determine how their health condition or disability affects their ability to work. The WCA takes into account the functional effects of fluctuating and degenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s. A key principle is that the WCA considers the impact that a person’s disability or health condition has on them, not the condition itself.
Claimants with the most severe health conditions and disabilities whose condition is unlikely to ever improve are no longer routinely reassessed.
From 2025, we are reforming the WCA to reflect new flexibilities in the labour market and greater employment opportunities for disabled people and people with health conditions, whilst maintaining protections for those with the most significant conditions. Claimants who currently have no work-related requirements, except in some very limited circumstances, will not be reassessed or lose benefit because of these changes.
When making decisions on changes to the WCA, we carefully considered over 1300 consultation responses, including from disabled people, people with health conditions, and the organisations that represent and support them. We also engaged directly with clinical experts, employer groups and disability organisations across the country.
With these changes to the WCA criteria, 371,000 fewer people will be assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity by 2028-29 and will receive personalised support to help them move closer to employment. A further 29,000 individuals will be found fit for work by 2028-29 and will receive more intensive support to search for and secure work than would be the case under the current WCA rules. These figures are not based on specific conditions. This is because the WCA considers the impact that a person’s disability or health condition has on their ability to work, not the condition itself.
The department routinely engages with a wide range of organisations that represent and support disabled people and people with health conditions, including people living with Parkinson’s disease.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to publish details on how the NHS long-term workforce plan will be implemented.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have established a Long Term Workforce Plan Governance Board which will ensure the delivery and review the progress of the Long Term Workforce Plan’s implementation. The modelling NHS England has used in the plan is founded on data, evidence, and analysis and provides a set of broad ranges to measure the potential impact of actions over its 15 year timeframe. We have committed to refreshing the modelling that underpins the plan every two years, or in line with fiscal events.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the return on investment criteria are for prioritising proposals in the next Spending Review.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
At the Spring Budget, the Chancellor announced that the Treasury will put in place a robust and comprehensive strategy for improving public sector productivity at the next Spending Review, putting these improvements at the heart of departmental settlements.
As the Chancellor set out, building on work to date and the £4.2 billion of funding announced at the Budget, relevant departments will develop detailed productivity plans over the coming months ahead of the next Spending Review.
Further decisions will be taken at the Spending Review.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan will include steps to help tackle regional variations in access to Parkinson’s specialist care.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP) sets out the steps the National Health Service and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. It covers the majority of NHS workforce groups, including those working on Parkinson’s disease. The LTWP commits to working closely with systems to consider the best approaches to reviewing the geographical distribution of training posts for wider professional groups.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence next plans to review the entry criteria for its highly specialised technologies programme for the evaluation medicines to treat very rare diseases.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence plans to review the criteria for determining whether a medicine should be routed to its highly specialised technologies programme later this year.