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, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a national minimum fee for fitting long-acting reversible contraception.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a national minimum fee for fitting long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), or to make an assessment of levels of regional variation in the provision of and funding for LARC.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) may commission General Practices to offer LARC as an enhanced service to their local population, in addition to the service provided through the GP contract. It is for ICBs to decide on commissioning arrangements for their area based on an assessment of local need.
Local authorities in England are responsible for commissioning comprehensive, open access sexual and reproductive health services, including the provision of LARC, to meet local demand.
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 the findings of the Government Champion for Personalised Prevention's taskforce on cardiovascular disease.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is considering the recommendations of the Government Champion for Personalised Prevention. There are currently no plans to publish his report.
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 she plans to increase the specialist cardiology workforce in (a) primary and (b) secondary care.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are currently 3,738 full time equivalent doctors working in the specialty of cardiology in the National Health Service in England. This is 666 (21.7%) more than in 2019. Within this there are 1,653 full time equivalent consultants working in the speciality of cardiology, 278 (20.2%) more than in 2019.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP), published by NHS England on 30 June 2023, sets out our aim to double the number of medical school places in England to 15,000 places a year by 2031/32. It also sets out how we will work towards this expansion by increasing places by a third, to 10,000 a year, by 2028/29. The LTWP commits to an adequate growth in foundation placement capacity, as those taking up these new places begin to graduate, and a commensurate increase in specialty training places that meets the demands of the NHS in the future. This will substantially increase the potential pipeline for the cardiologist workforce in primary and secondary care.
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 proportion of (a) paediatric and (b) adult cystic fibrosis centres did not provide at least 85 per cent of their patients with psychological support at their annual review in (i) 2021 and (ii) 2022.
Answered by Will Quince
The information is not available in the requested format.
However, tables showing that the number of centres where the percentage of adult cystic fibrosis patients and paediatric cystic fibrosis patients seen by a clinical psychologist within 12 months prior to the latest annual review was less than 85% in 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 are displayed below.
Adult cystic fibrosis patients seen (e.g. annual review screening, in-patient or out-patient consultation) by a clinical psychologist within 12 months prior to latest annual review:
| 2021/2022 | 2022/2023 |
Centres reporting data for this indicator during the reporting period | 12 | 15 |
Number of centres reporting fewer than 85% of patients had seen a psychologist in the 12 months before their latest annual review | 7 | 10 |
Number of centres reporting that more than 85% of patients had seen a psychologist in the 12 months before their latest annual review | 5 | 5 |
Paediatric cystic fibrosis patients seen (e.g. annual review screening, in-patient or out-patient consultation) by a clinical psychologist within 12 months prior to latest annual review:
| 2021/2022 | 2022/2023 |
Centres reporting data for this indicator during the reporting period | 16 | 18 |
Number of centres reporting fewer than 85% of patients had seen a psychologist in the 12 months before their latest annual review | 11 | 14 |
Number of centres reporting that more than 85% of patients had seen a psychologist in the 12 months before their latest annual review | 5 | 4 |
Source: NHS England Specialised Services Quality Dashboard (SSQD).
SSQD reporting was stood down during the Covid pandemic between April 2020 and March 2022 which may interfere with completeness.
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 his Department is taking to encourage the uptake of flu vaccination across (a) support staff and (b) other professions working in the NHS.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
All providers delivering services under the NHS Standard Contract are contractually responsible for ensuring that all eligible frontline staff in contact with service users are vaccinated for flu. NHS England policy is to ensure all frontline patient facing staff working in Trusts are offered a flu vaccination.
NHS England is making best us of established networks to encourage uptake of flu vaccination by frontline health and care workers. This is being achieved using owned communication channels to target National Health Service and care staff and encouraging stakeholders, employers, and Government departments to share messaging, content and case studies with frontline professionals, their members and service users.
NHS England has developed a set of over 85 creative assets for local sites to use for the current seasonal flu campaign, including an FAQ leaflet and core messages, which have been available to order as print copies from Campaign Resource Centre since August 2023 with digital versions available to download throughout the campaign.
NHS England is also sharing regularly updated messaging, as well as highlighting and sharing best practice with its employer networks and reminding them of their responsibility to ensure staff are physically and mentally fit for work.
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 assessment he has made of the potential impact of an in-service evaluation for spinal muscular atophy in the NHS on (a) patients and (b) patient families outside of the pilot area.
Answered by Will Quince
The UK National Screening Committee reviewed screening for spinal muscular atrophy in June 2023. While acknowledging recent developments, it found that more evidence was needed to assess how screening might work safely in the United Kingdom.
Its recommendation was to develop a new cost effectiveness modelling study for the UK screening context, as well as start scoping in-service evaluation work in live services in the National Health Service in the UK.
Planning is now underway for the modelling and in-service evaluation, which will help to address these uncertainties and unanswered questions. The UK National Screening Committee will continue to engage with spinal muscular atrophy stakeholders to help shape and input into the work and will keep the public updated via blog articles and ongoing stakeholder engagement.
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 assessment he has made of the adequacy of opportunities available to the patient community to input into the (a) design and (b) delivery of the UK National Screening Committee’s upcoming in-service evaluation of spinal muscular astrophy screening in the NHS.
Answered by Will Quince
The UK National Screening Committee reviewed screening for spinal muscular atrophy in June 2023. While acknowledging recent developments, it found that more evidence was needed to assess how screening might work safely in the United Kingdom.
Its recommendation was to develop a new cost effectiveness modelling study for the UK screening context, as well as start scoping in-service evaluation work in live services in the National Health Service in the UK.
Planning is now underway for the modelling and in-service evaluation, which will help to address these uncertainties and unanswered questions. The UK National Screening Committee will continue to engage with spinal muscular atrophy stakeholders to help shape and input into the work and will keep the public updated via blog articles and ongoing stakeholder engagement.
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 assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a permanent newborn screening programme for spinal muscular atrophy on the Government's Life Sciences Vision ambition to make the UK a world leader for (a) access and (b) uptake of new and innovative treatments and technologies.
Answered by Will Quince
The UK National Screening Committee reviewed screening for spinal muscular atrophy in June 2023. While acknowledging recent developments, it found that more evidence was needed to assess how screening might work safely in the United Kingdom.
Its recommendation was to develop a new cost effectiveness modelling study for the UK screening context, as well as start scoping in-service evaluation work in live services in the National Health Service in the UK.
Planning is now underway for the modelling and in-service evaluation, which will help to address these uncertainties and unanswered questions. The UK National Screening Committee will continue to engage with spinal muscular atrophy stakeholders to help shape and input into the work and will keep the public updated via blog articles and ongoing stakeholder engagement.
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 assessment he has made of the potential impact of the UK not having a spinal muscular atrophy screening programme on the development of the UK life science sector.
Answered by Will Quince
The UK National Screening Committee reviewed screening for spinal muscular atrophy in June 2023. While acknowledging recent developments, it found that more evidence was needed to assess how screening might work safely in the United Kingdom.
Its recommendation was to develop a new cost effectiveness modelling study for the UK screening context, as well as start scoping in-service evaluation work in live services in the National Health Service in the UK.
Planning is now underway for the modelling and in-service evaluation, which will help to address these uncertainties and unanswered questions. The UK National Screening Committee will continue to engage with spinal muscular atrophy stakeholders to help shape and input into the work and will keep the public updated via blog articles and ongoing stakeholder engagement.
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 he has made a comparative assessment of health inequalities for babies that have had access to newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy with those that haven't.
Answered by Will Quince
The UK National Screening Committee reviewed screening for spinal muscular atrophy in June 2023. While acknowledging recent developments, it found that more evidence was needed to assess how screening might work safely in the United Kingdom.
Its recommendation was to develop a new cost effectiveness modelling study for the UK screening context, as well as start scoping in-service evaluation work in live services in the National Health Service in the UK.
Planning is now underway for the modelling and in-service evaluation, which will help to address these uncertainties and unanswered questions. The UK National Screening Committee will continue to engage with spinal muscular atrophy stakeholders to help shape and input into the work and will keep the public updated via blog articles and ongoing stakeholder engagement.