Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of funding for research into epilepsy.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The Department funds research into epilepsy via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). There are currently no plans to assess the adequacy of funding for research into epilepsy, however, the NIHR continues to welcome high quality applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including prevention, management, and treatment of epilepsy and the related conditions.
These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to the public and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality. Welcoming applications on epilepsy to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility, both in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.
The NIHR committed £31.5 million of funding to 28 epilepsy research projects in the five years from April 2019 to March 2024. Additionally, over this period, more than 5,000 people were enabled to participate in epilepsy research by the NIHR Clinical Research Network, now the NIHR Research Delivery Network.
The NIHR also works closely with other Government funders, including UK Research and Innovation, which is funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and includes the Medical Research Council, to fund research into epilepsy to improve treatments and prevent poor health outcomes for patients.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
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 the support for out of hours doctors services in (a) Tiverton and Minehead constituency and (b) England.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No such assessment has been made by the Department. The commissioning of out of hours services, and to what extent those services are supported, is the responsibility of local commissioners in partnership with their providers, and in the best interest of their populations.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timetable is to introduce early diagnosis services for osteoporosis.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
On 6 January 2025, NHS England published the new Elective Reform Plan, which sets out a whole system approach to hitting the 18-week referral to treatment target by the end of this Parliament. Further information on the Elective Reform Plan is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/reforming-elective-care-for-patients/
Part of the plan sets out funding to boost bone density scanning capacity, to support improvements in early diagnosis and bone health conditions such as osteoporosis. This will provide an estimated 29,000 extra scans per year.
As announced in the Get Britain Working white paper, we are delivering the joint Department for Work and Pensions, Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England Getting It Right First-Time (GIRFT) Musculoskeletal (MSK) Community Delivery Programme. With a £3.5 million funding boost, GIRFT teams will deploy their proven Further Faster model to work with integrated care board leaders to further reduce MSK community waiting times, including for those with osteoporosis, and improve data, metrics, and referral pathways to wider support services.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the adequacy of funding levels for NHS Dentists in the South West of England; and if his Department will draw up plans on how to use additional funding for the NHS as announced in the Autumn Budget 2024 to provide more dental appointments in the South West of England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
A budget of £3.8 billion for primary, community, and secondary dentistry has been allocated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England for 2024/25, to deliver new initiatives and address the challenges facing National Health Service dentistry. Allocations for 2025/26 will be confirmed shortly, and long-term funding will be considered during phase 2 of the Spending Review, which will set budgets for 2026/27 to 2028/29.
The Government plans to tackle the challenges patients face when trying to access NHS dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments, and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most.
Responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the ICBs across England. For the Tiverton and Minehead constituency, this is the NHS Somerset ICB.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the adequacy of public funding for Devon Hospiccare in Exeter.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Palliative care services are included in the list of services that the integrated care boards (ICBs) in England, including the NHS Devon ICB, under which Devon Hospiscare falls, must commission. This promotes a more consistent national approach and supports commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications.
Whilst the majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services, we recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices like Devon Hospiscare, also play in providing support to people at end of life, and their loved ones.
We do understand that, financially, times are difficult for many voluntary and charitable organisations, including hospices, due to a range of concurrent cost pressures. We will consider next steps on palliative and end of life care, including funding, in the coming months.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of further regulating social care micro-providers.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England. The CQC has powers under the Health and Care Act 2008 to regulate adult social care services, to make sure they provide safe, effective, compassionate, and high-quality care. Where concerns on quality or safety are identified, the CQC uses the regulatory and enforcement powers it has available, and will take action to ensure the safety of people drawing on care and support.
Providers of any size are required to be registered with, and therefore regulated by, the CQC, when they carry out personal care for people who are unable to provide it for themselves because of old age, illness, or disability, as defined in Regulation 2 (Interpretation) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014).
Any amendments to the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 would be subject to the usual Parliamentary process, which would include a public consultation, and thus an opportunity to consider the merits of further regulation of social care providers.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with adult social care providers on the planned level of funding for the (a) NHS and (b) social care in the next four financial years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department holds regular meetings with adult social care stakeholders, including service providers and representative bodies, to discuss key issues and developments, such as the impact of the Budget on the sector.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to implement the recommendations within the Blood Cancer UK report entitled, UK Blood Cancer Action Plan, published on 4 September 2024.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Poole on 11 October 2024 to Question 7389.
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been reported missing from (a) hospitals and (b) other health care settings in each of the last four years for which data is available.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The following table shows a count of patient safety incidents, reported as occurring where the incident category is absconder or missing patient, broken down by care setting, each year from 2020/21 to 2023/24:
Care setting of occurrence | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Acute or general hospital | 13,792 | 15,541 | 17,545 | 13,911 |
Ambulance service | 76 | 64 | 143 | 141 |
Community and general dental service | 6 | 13 | 61 | 1 |
Community nursing, medical and therapy service, including community hospital | 814 | 745 | 801 | 309 |
Community optometry or optician service | 81 | 295 | 284 | 0 |
Community pharmacy | 0 | 1 | 8 | 1 |
General practice | 8 | 3 | 9 | 17 |
Learning disabilities service | 143 | 164 | 143 | 94 |
Mental health service | 10,654 | 11,396 | 13,281 | 7,146 |
Total | 25,574 | 28,222 | 32,275 | 21,620 |
Source: National Reporting and Learning System, NHS England.
Notes:
Asked by: Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat - Tiverton and Minehead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has for the role hospices will play in shifting care into the community.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have committed to develop a 10-Year Health Plan to deliver an National Health Service fit for the future, by driving three shifts in the way health care is delivered. We will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our stakeholders as we develop the plan.
One of the three shifts that the plan will deliver is around the Government’s determination to shift more healthcare out of hospitals and into the community. This includes our commitment to trial neighbourhood health centres, to ensure that patients receive personalised care in the most appropriate setting. Palliative and end of life care services, including hospices, will play an important role in our considerations of the services those centres should host. More information about how they can input into the 10-Year Health Plan is available at the following link: