Asked by: Rachel Maclean (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps the NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board has taken to (a) commission and (b) deliver services at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board (ICB) is responsible for commissioning services for the local area. The services at Alexandra Hospital are delivered by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.
A wide range of services are delivered at Alexandra Hospital. The trust publishes information on services available at the Alexandra Hospital on its website. The Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB plans to increase the amount of planned elective activity carried out at the Alexandra Hospital, especially in orthopaedics.
Asked by: Rachel Maclean (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to ensure that Alexandra Hospital in Redditch publish updated information on the scope of its services.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board (ICB) is responsible for commissioning services for the local area. The services at Alexandra Hospital are delivered by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.
A wide range of services are delivered at Alexandra Hospital. The trust publishes information on services available at the Alexandra Hospital on its website. The Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB plans to increase the amount of planned elective activity carried out at the Alexandra Hospital, especially in orthopaedics.
Asked by: Rachel Maclean (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to help ensure the return of maternity and children’s services to the Alexandra hospital in Redditch.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
I know that my honourable friend has campaigned tirelessly on this issue on behalf of her constituents.
As a result, she will understand that the decisions about the reconfiguration of services are made locally, following appropriate engagement with people and communities.
However I am pleased to say that by working with the local NHS, we have invested £18 million in the hospital’s operating theatre and secured a long-term workforce pipeline through the Three Counties Medical School.
Asked by: Rachel Maclean (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has issued recent guidance to integrated care boards on its powers to require hospitals to provide (a) maternity and (b) children's services.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Integrated care boards (ICBs) have a statutory duty to commission most healthcare services in the National Health Service for their respective populations in line with their other statutory duties and guidance. This means that ICBs are responsible for evaluating the needs of their local population and then planning and arranging the delivery of healthcare services to meet those needs by working with local providers as well as people and communities.
Asked by: Rachel Maclean (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has provided recent guidance to the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch on publishing information on the services that are provided at its site.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Department has not recently provided such specific guidance. The Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust publishes information on services available at the Alexandra Hospital on its website.
Asked by: Rachel Maclean (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) her Department, (b) NHS England and (c) NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of returning (i) maternity and (ii) children's services to the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch in the context of population (A) trends and (B) needs in the local area.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The reconfiguration of services is a clinically led local decision following appropriate engagement with patients and stakeholders. There are no plans to change the current configuration of services.
There have been significant improvements to children’s and maternity services provided by the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust since the reconfiguration of services. The presence of consultants for children’s services has increased with reduced reliance on agency locums and the Care Quality Commission has improved the rating for maternity services from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’ at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
Asked by: Rachel Maclean (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) her Department, (b) NHS England and (c) NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of the local workforce to provide (i) maternity and (ii) children's services at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The reconfiguration of services is a clinically led local decision following appropriate engagement with patients and stakeholders. There are no plans to change the current configuration of services.
There have been significant improvements to children’s and maternity services provided by the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust since the reconfiguration of services. The presence of consultants for children’s services has increased with reduced reliance on agency locums and the Care Quality Commission has improved the rating for maternity services from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’ at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
Asked by: Rachel Maclean (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of returning (a) maternity and (b) children's services to the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The reconfiguration of services is a clinically led local decision following appropriate engagement with patients and stakeholders. There are no plans to change the current configuration of services.
There have been significant improvements to children’s and maternity services provided by the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust since the reconfiguration of services. The presence of consultants for children’s services has increased with reduced reliance on agency locums and the Care Quality Commission has improved the rating for maternity services from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’ at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
Asked by: Rachel Maclean (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the provision of (a) maternity and (b) children's services in Redditch.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The reconfiguration of services is a clinically led local decision following appropriate engagement with patients and stakeholders. There are no plans to change the current configuration of services.
There have been significant improvements to children’s and maternity services provided by the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust since the reconfiguration of services. The presence of consultants for children’s services has increased with reduced reliance on agency locums and the Care Quality Commission has improved the rating for maternity services from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’ at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
Asked by: Rachel Maclean (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what medical research the Government has funded into bad nerves.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The remit of the NIHR is early translational, that is experimental medicine, clinical and applied health research, and social care research. In 2022/23, the NIHR spent approximately £99 million on research into mental health. In the last 10 years, the NIHR has invested approximately £41.5 million into research specifically focused, or including a focus, on anxiety and/or anxiety disorder. The NIHR is not currently funding any research explicitly focused on ‘bad nerves’. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including mental health.