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, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the level of access to NHS dentist appointments for veterans when they leave the armed forces.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In July 2022, we announced a package of improvements to the National Health Service dental system, detailed in Our plan for patients. This outlined how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to NHS dental care through several improvements to the 2006 contract. These changes were designed to improve access for all that need it, including veterans.
A key principle of the Armed Forces Covenant is that the Armed Forces community experiences no disadvantage in accessing healthcare. The NHS takes its responsibilities under the Covenant very seriously.
We are working on our Dentistry Recovery Plan which will address how we continue to improve access, particularly for new patients; and how we make NHS work more attractive to ensure NHS dentists are incentivised to deliver more NHS care.
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 adequacy of the level of representation of dentists on regional Integrated Care Boards.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Information is not held centrally on the members of integrated care boards (ICBs), including the level of representation by dentists.
From 1 April 2023, the responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all ICBs across England. This included the transfer of all funding, Units of Dental Activity and the management responsibility for National Health Service dentistry. ICBs are responsible for having local processes in place to involve patient groups, and for undertaking oral health needs assessments, to identify areas of need and determine the priorities for investment.
NHS England has published implementation guidance on effective clinical and care professional leadership within ICBs, which is available at the following link:
As part of the development of local frameworks and wider governance arrangements, system leaders were asked to commit that they ensured that the full range of clinical and professional leaders from diverse backgrounds are integrated into system decision-making at all levels.
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 is taking to provide (a) advice on and (b) services for safe sexual health to people under 25 years of age.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authority commissioned sexual health services (SHSs) play and important role in improving sexual health outcomes and preventing sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including communicating messages about safer sexual behaviours and how to access services. We are providing more than £3.5 billion to local authorities to fund public health services, including SHSs, through the public health grant in this financial year. Individual local authorities are responsible for and well placed to make funding and commissioning decisions about the SHSs that best meet the needs of their local populations, including services for young people.
The National Chlamydia Screening Programme focuses on reducing reproductive harm of untreated infection in young women aged between 15 to 24 years old. The programme has the secondary aims of reducing re-infections and onward transmission of chlamydia and raising awareness of good sexual health and a recent report by the UK Health Security Agency shows testing has increased between 2021 and 2022.
As part of the HIV Action Plan, the Department is investing over £3.5 million to deliver a National HIV Prevention Programme between 2021 and 2024 to raise awareness of HIV, STIs testing and prevention strategies, targeting populations most at high-risk of HIV, including young people. This includes the annual National HIV Testing week, during which HIV testing is promoted and funded for the whole of England.
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, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of assessing the nation's palliative care needs in the context of the obligation on Integrated Care Boards to commission such care.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have not made an assessment. Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning healthcare services which meet the needs of the people for whom they are responsible, including palliative and end of life care needs. NHS England formally oversees ICBs and has a legal duty to annually assess and publish the performance of each ICB. In addition, the Care Quality Commission system assessments provide an independent assurance to the public and Parliament.
NHS England has also begun analysis of the recently submitted ICB Joint Forward Plans against the legal statutory duty to commission services that meet the palliative and end of life care needs of their local populations. This analysis will be used internally to help focus support to ICBs in the implementation of their statutory duty under the Health and Care Act 2022, and will also enable identification of where more targeted support is required.
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 he is taking to support people employed in the hospice sector as part of the NHS Workforce Plan.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning palliative and end of life care services, including from the hospice sector, that meet the needs of their local populations. Most hospices are independent charitable organisations that receive some statutory funding from ICBs. Hospices remain free to develop and adapt their own terms and conditions of employment.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP), published on 30 June 2023, 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. Commitments in the LTWP to increase the healthcare workforce will benefit a range of providers, including those that deliver palliative and end of life care services.
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 he is taking to improve (a) recruitment and (b) retention in the hospice sector.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning palliative and end of life care services, including from the hospice sector, that meet the needs of their local populations. Most hospices are independent charitable organisations that receive some statutory funding from ICBs. Hospices remain free to develop and adapt their own terms and conditions of employment.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP), published on 30 June 2023, 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. Commitments in the LTWP to increase the healthcare workforce will benefit a range of providers, including those that deliver palliative and end of life care services.
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 his Department is taking to support people employed in the hospice sector.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning palliative and end of life care services, including from the hospice sector, that meet the needs of their local populations. Most hospices are independent charitable organisations that receive some statutory funding from ICBs. Hospices remain free to develop and adapt their own terms and conditions of employment.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP), published on 30 June 2023, 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. Commitments in the LTWP to increase the healthcare workforce will benefit a range of providers, including those that deliver palliative and end of life care services.
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 his Department is taking to implement the guidance by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on the use of FibroScan for assessing liver fibrosis and cirrhosis outside secondary and specialist care, published on 7 June 2023.
Answered by Will Quince
Intelligent Liver Function Tests are carried out in laboratories and therefore cannot be done at a Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC). These tests determine whether a fibroscan is required. There are 10 CDCs currently providing ultrasound liver elastography (fibroscan). NHS England has plans to understand the diagnostic pathways for liver disease and how CDCs can further support this. The pathway for assessing liver disease should start with blood tests taken in primary care, with FIB-4 liver tests available at NHS trusts. NHS England has not made an assessment of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on the use of FibroScan for assessing liver fibrosis and cirrhosis outside secondary and specialist care.
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 proportion of Community Diagnostic Centres have diagnostic capacity to provide (a) Intelligent Liver Function Tests, (b) FibroScans and (c) FIB-4 tests to assess fibrosis of the liver.
Answered by Will Quince
Intelligent Liver Function Tests are carried out in laboratories and therefore cannot be done at a Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC). These tests determine whether a fibroscan is required. There are 10 CDCs currently providing ultrasound liver elastography (fibroscan). NHS England has plans to understand the diagnostic pathways for liver disease and how CDCs can further support this. The pathway for assessing liver disease should start with blood tests taken in primary care, with FIB-4 liver tests available at NHS trusts. NHS England has not made an assessment of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on the use of FibroScan for assessing liver fibrosis and cirrhosis outside secondary and specialist care.
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 he is taking to ensure there is equal access to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis across the country.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The HIV prevention drug pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is routinely available in specialist sexual health services throughout the country since March 2020 and we invested more than £34 million in PrEP in 2020/21 and 2021/22. PrEP funding has been fully included within the public health grant since 2022/23 and funds appointments and testing in sexual health services, whilst NHS England covers the costs of the drug itself.
As part of our HIV Action Plan implementation, we are working together with key stakeholders to improve access and equity to HIV PrEP for key population groups. The HIV Action Plan Implementation Steering Group is working to develop a roadmap, based on the PrEP Access and Equity Task and Finish group’s recommendations, to help guide our efforts to improve equitable access to PrEP for key populations, including in settings other than specialist sexual health services. We will consider our response to the recommendations in due course.