Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
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 help tackle the sale of illegal vapes.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is concerned about the worrying rise in illicit and underage vaping, with rates of youth vaping tripling in the last three years. Illicit vapes can contain unknown ingredients, stronger nicotine, and are made available to children through black market channels.
Local enforcement agencies are responsible for ensuring that suppliers and retailers of vapes comply with strict Government regulations. Selling illegal vapes can result in an unlimited fine and even a custodial sentence, as well as imprisonment of up to two years upon conviction.
The Government is significantly increasing investment for our enforcement agencies to tackle these issues. In October 2023 the Prime Minister announced an increase of £30 million per year for enforcement agencies to help stamp out the illicit tobacco and vape trade. This is in addition to the £3 million investment announced in April 2023 to set up a national illicit vapes enforcement unit, aimed at addressing the issue of illegal and underage vaping, which is overseen by National Trading Standards.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Units of Dental Activity have been delivered in Darlington Constituency in each year since 2006; and what the cost of that delivery was in each of those years.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data on the cost of delivery is not centrally held at integrated care board (ICB) level. The following table shows the number of units of dental activity (UDAs) delivered in North East and North Cumbria ICB since 2015/16:
Year | UDAs delivered | Percentage change |
2015/16 | 4,861,964 |
|
2016/17 | 4,782,699 | -1.6% |
2017/18 | 4,579,779 | -4.2% |
2018/19 | 4,974,087 | 8.6% |
2019/20 | 4,685,845 | -5.8% |
2020/21 | 1,446,015 | -69.1% |
2021/22 | 3,461,374 | 139.4% |
2022/23 | 4,163,675 | 20.3% |
Source: NHS England
Notes:
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the current waiting times for CAMHS for children in (a) Darlington, (b) the North East and (c) England; and what steps she is taking to reduce those waiting times.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Since 2018, we have invested an extra £2.3 billion a year to expand mental health services in England, with the aim of enabling two million more people, including 345,000 more children and young people to access mental health support.
We are rolling out mental health support teams to schools and colleges. These now cover around 35% of pupils, and is expected to reach 50% of pupils by March 2025. NHS England is also developing a new waiting time standard for children and their families to start to receive community-based mental health care within four weeks from referral.
Whilst the relevant data is not available at a constituency level, the following table shows the number of referrals for children and young people aged under 18 years old, supported through National Health Service-funded mental health, and waiting times for first contact between September and November 2023 for NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB), North East and Yorkshire Commissioning Region, and England:
Location | Number of referrals | Median waiting time between referral start date and first contact | 90th percentile waiting time between referral start date and first contact |
NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB | 13,085 | 9 days | 174 days |
North East and Yorkshire Commissioning Region | 31,140 | 12 days | 200 days |
England | 179,295 | 13 days | 225 days |
Source: Mental Health Services Data Set, NHS England
Notes:
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
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 support the detection of liver disease in Darlington constituency.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Northern Cancer Alliance (NCA) is supporting services to enable the early detection of liver disease across North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB). More than 80% of patients with liver cirrhosis, a type of liver disease, have been invited to monthly ultrasound surveillance. For 2024/25, the NCA has invested over £200k into trusts across the ICB to help improve their monitoring systems for cirrhosis patients. This investment has also included £30,000 for County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust who will be using their funds to improve systems in relation to call and recall of patients to their six-monthly checks.
The ICB is also enrolled in a Community Liver Health Check pilot in Newcastle, being delivered by the systems Hepatitis C Operational Delivery Networks. This will provide FibroScans in one stop community clinics where patients have relevant blood testing, liver ultrasound and other investigations as required. The pilot has expanded into North Tyneside and when resources allow, they intend to develop clinics elsewhere including Gateshead and Sunderland.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the number of people with type 2 diabetes impacted by the GLP-1 shortage.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Information on the number of people impacted by the glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) shortage is not held by the Department. There continues to be a global supply issue with some GLP-1 receptor agonists, but following the Department’s ongoing engagement with manufacturers, NHS England, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and others operating in the supply chain, the overall supply position has improved, with additional stock being secured to boost availability of these medicines for patients.
We issued updated guidance to healthcare professionals, in the form of a National Patient Safety Alert, on 3 January 2024. This provides advice on how to manage patients requiring these medicines. Our guidance remains clear that GLP-1 receptor agonists that are solely licensed to treat type 2 diabetes should only be used for that purpose and should not be prescribed for weight loss.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much of the £2.3 billion allocated for diagnostics in the Spending Review 2021 was spent on expanding FibroScan rollout in community diagnostic centres.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are currently plans for 12 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) to offer FibroScan testing, of which six are operational. A further six CDCs plan to offer this service by the end of March 2024.
The following CDCs are currently offering FibroScan testing:
- Bexhill CDC in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex;
- New QEII Hospital CDC in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire;
- St Helen’s CDC in St Helen’s, Merseyside;
- Woking CDC in Woking, Surrey;
- Hereford City CDC in Hereford; and
- Andover CDC in Andover, Hampshire.
The following CDCs plan to offer this service by the end of March 2024:
- Bolton CDC in Bolton, Lancashire;
- Ely CDC in Ely, Cambridgeshire;
- Wisbech CDC in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire;
- Gloucestershire Quayside CDC in Gloucester;
- Northampton CDC in Northampton; and
- Queen Mary’s Hospital Roehampton CDC in Roehampton, Surrey.
We do not hold information on how much of the £2.3 billion allocated for diagnostics in the Spending Review 2021 has been spent on expanding the FibroScan rollout in CDCs, as this information is not routinely collected.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2023 to Question 191385 on Liver Diseases: Screening, which 10 community diagnostic centres provide FibroScans; and whether she plans to increase the number of such centres that will provide transient elastography for earlier detection of liver disease in 2024.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are currently plans for 12 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) to offer FibroScan testing, of which six are operational. A further six CDCs plan to offer this service by the end of March 2024.
The following CDCs are currently offering FibroScan testing:
- Bexhill CDC in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex;
- New QEII Hospital CDC in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire;
- St Helen’s CDC in St Helen’s, Merseyside;
- Woking CDC in Woking, Surrey;
- Hereford City CDC in Hereford; and
- Andover CDC in Andover, Hampshire.
The following CDCs plan to offer this service by the end of March 2024:
- Bolton CDC in Bolton, Lancashire;
- Ely CDC in Ely, Cambridgeshire;
- Wisbech CDC in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire;
- Gloucestershire Quayside CDC in Gloucester;
- Northampton CDC in Northampton; and
- Queen Mary’s Hospital Roehampton CDC in Roehampton, Surrey.
We do not hold information on how much of the £2.3 billion allocated for diagnostics in the Spending Review 2021 has been spent on expanding the FibroScan rollout in CDCs, as this information is not routinely collected.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of applications for NHS continuing healthcare funding in (a) Darlington constituency and (b) the rest of England were approved following an appeal.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The most recent data available on Local Resolution and Independent Reviews, which review the eligibility of NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) decisions, is for the second quarter of 2023/24, representing July to September 2023.
For the second quarter of 2023/24 in England, 102 of 554 or 18% of requests for local review of an eligibility decision for CHC were found eligible. For the same time period in England, there were 102 independent review panels carried out. Of those, 17 cases or 17% were determined as fully eligible, and 5 cases or 5% were determined as partially eligible.
NHS England does not collect these data at individual constituency level.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of people diagnosed with dementia in (a) Darlington constituency and (b) the rest of England are in receipt of continuing healthcare as of 8 January 2023.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England does not collect data on how many individuals in receipt of NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) have a diagnosis of dementia. Assessment of CHC eligibility is based on a comprehensive assessment of care needs rather than any specific medical condition, disease or diagnosis.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department plans to take to increase awareness of continuing healthcare funding.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Public information leaflets are already available on the GOV.uk website in English and six additional languages explaining the process used to determine whether someone is eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC), with more information available at the following link:
Any individual being considered for CHC at the screening or referral stage should be provided with this leaflet along with any relevant local information about processes and contact details and arrangements. NHS England has commissioned an Information and Advice Service for CHC from Beacon to provide independent and high-quality support on navigating CHC assessments, resolution and care planning or to begin an appeal. Individuals can also enquire about CHC by contacting their general practitioner or integrated care board. More information on this service is available at the following link:
https://beaconchc.co.uk/how-we-can-help/free-information-and-advice-on-nhs-continuing-healthcare/