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 potential implications for his policies the (a) side effects and (b) long-term health implications of the use of clozapine as a medicament.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) regulates medicines and medicinal products and ensures that the product information for each medicines reflects what is known about the medicine and provides information to support safe use and minimise risks. The product information consists of the Summary of Product Characteristics for healthcare professionals and the patient information leaflet supplied in each pack of medicine.
Clozapine was first authorised in 1989 and is now indicated for treatment-resistant schizophrenic patients and in schizophrenia patients who have severe, untreatable neurological adverse reactions to other antipsychotic agents, including atypical antipsychotics. Treatment resistance is defined as a lack of satisfactory clinical improvement despite the use of adequate doses of at least two different antipsychotic agents, including an atypical antipsychotic agent, prescribed for adequate duration.
Clozapine is also authorised to treat psychotic disorders occurring in patients with Parkinson's disease, in cases where standard treatment has failed. Clozapine is associated with several potentially serious side effects which are outlined in the product information, that require monitoring of various aspects of patient’s health to minimise risks including monitoring: white blood cells, blood pressure, heart function, liver function, body weight, glucose, cholesterol, other medication, falls and for signs of infection.
As clozapine is used when other treatments have failed to manage a patient’s condition, careful monitoring is required to minimise the risks to ensure patients are able to receive effective treatment with clozapine.
The safety of clozapine is continuously monitored by the MHRA to ensure the product information reflects what is known about the medicine. The MHRA is in the process of reviewing the blood monitoring requirements and will be seeking views in the summer from patients, patients’ families and healthcare professionals on methods to improve awareness of the risks associated with clozapine and how to manage them.
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 steps his Department is taking to tackle disparities in length of periods of poor health between (a) people in Somerset and (b) the national average.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The United Kingdom faces significant health inequalities, with life expectancy varying widely across and within communities. The Government is committed to building a fairer Britain by tackling the structural inequalities that contribute to poor health, particularly for disadvantaged groups.
The population health priorities in the South West focus on improving population health outcomes and reducing health inequalities and health disparities for inclusion groups. This includes increasing the detection and treatment of people with hypertension, improving the uptake of health checks, increasing the number of people supported to stop smoking, improving the support to people at risk of self-harming, and increasing the number of people affected by long term sickness who are supported back into employment.
The Somerset local authority received £23.1 million in Public Health Grant funding in 2024/25. This provides services such as stop smoking, drug and alcohol treatment, health visiting and school nursing, sexual health, and NHS Health Checks among others, all of which contribute to addressing health inequalities.
In the South West region, assurance and support for inequalities and inclusion is led by the regional health inequalities team, who work as a blended team across both NHS England and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, and who collaborate with national and integrated care system colleagues, including the Directors of Public Health within the region. The health inequalities team supports systems to accelerate the narrowing of gaps in population health outcomes relating to specific South West priorities, and supports the national Core20PLUS5 approach and the implementation of the digital inclusion framework.
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 steps his Department is taking to support people with postural tachycardia syndrome.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Improving health outcomes for people who live with long-term conditions, including postural tachycardia syndrome, is a key part of the Government's mission to build a National Health Service fit for the future.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) publishes guidance on the diagnosis and treatment of long-term conditions for use by healthcare professionals and commissioners. NICE has produced a clinical knowledge summary on the clinical management of blackouts and syncope, which sets out how clinicians should assess and diagnose postural tachycardia syndrome. This was last updated in November 2023 and is available at the following link:
https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/blackouts-syncope/diagnosis/assessment/
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services that meet the needs of their population. The Government expects ICBs to take account of NICE guidelines and other best practice in designing their local 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 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.