Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
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 estimate of the number and proportion of working-aged adults that have not received adult social care following an approach to their local authority in the last 12 months.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
A total of 611,590 adults aged between 18 and 64 years old made requests for social care support in 2022/23. Of these, 216,135, or 35.3%, did not receive support from their local authority. Local authorities are responsible for assessing individuals’ care and support needs and, where eligible, for meeting those needs. Where a person is assessed as having eligible care and support needs, the local authority should then carry out a financial assessment to determine what they can afford to contribute towards the cost of meeting their care need. Where individuals do not meet the eligibility threshold, they can get support from their local authorities in making their own arrangements for care services, as set out in the Care Act 2014.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
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 estimate of the number and proportion of working-aged adults that receive adult social care that are (a) self-funded and (b) funded by their (i) local authority and (ii) Integrated Care Board.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data from the adult social care short and long-term collection shows that, as of 31 March 2023, 258,940 people aged 18 to 64 years old were receiving long-term support commissioned via, although not necessarily funded by, their local authority. The Department does not hold data centrally on working age adults who are self-funded, or on integrated care board funded care for working age adults.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
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 help ensure public (a) safety and (b) clarity in the healthcare roles of (i) physician associates and doctors and (ii) other NHS staff.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The introduction of regulation by the General Medical Council (GMC) will provide a standardised framework of governance and assurance for the clinical practice and professional conduct of Anaesthesia Associates (AAs) and Physician Associates (PAs), and make it easier for employers, patients, and the public to understand the relationship between these roles and that of doctors.
Whilst statutory regulation is an important part of ensuring patient safety, it is also achieved through robust clinical governance processes within healthcare organisations, which are required to have systems of oversight and supervision for their staff.
NHS England is working with the relevant professional colleges and regulators to ensure the use of associate roles is expanded safely and effectively, and that they are appropriately supported, supervised, and integrated into multidisciplinary teams. NHS England has written to trusts to remind them of their responsibilities in this area, with further information available at the following link:
We are clear that AAs and PAs are not, and should never be, referred to as medical practitioners, doctors, or consultants. It is the responsibility of professionals and their employers to ensure professional titles are used appropriately. As set out in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidelines, all healthcare professionals directly involved in a patient's care should introduce themselves and explain their role to the patient. The GMC has published interim standards for AAs and PAs in advance of regulation, which make it clear that professionals should always introduce their role to patients and set out their responsibilities in the team.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
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 help support hospital radio stations.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Hospital radio can provide National Health Service patients and visitors with a positive experience at a time when they are feeling vulnerable. NHS trusts work locally with volunteers and organisations to provide this service. Decisions about supporting the service are made most appropriately at a local level.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of NHS England’s Dynamic Support Register policy.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
NHS England published updated policy and guidance on Dynamic Support Registers (DSRs) and Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews (C(E)TRs) on 25 January 2023, for implementation from 1 May 2023. The purpose of the updated policy and guidance is to help ensure that people with a learning disability and autistic people get the right support, to stay well in their communities.
NHS England produced the updated policy and guidance following a process of reviewing the learning since the inception of DSRs and C(E)TRs, including consultation and engagement with people with lived experience. This process included drawing on the findings of the Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board’s review of the deaths of Joanna, Jon, and Ben at Cawston Park in Norfolk, and the subsequent safe and wellbeing reviews for all people with a learning disability and autistic people in mental health hospitals.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
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 monitor the treatment of (a) babies, (b) children and (c) young people by integrated care systems.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Organisations within integrated care systems (ICSs) that hold the commissioning responsibility for children and young people’s services, provide treatment to the whole population, including babies, children, and young people. There are various mechanisms for monitoring the treatment provided by different organisations, for example general practice services, including immunisations, are monitored via General Practice Indicators.
Statutory guidance sets out that all integrated care boards (ICBs) have an Executive Lead for children and young people, and that all ICB Joint Forward Plans include a section on babies, children and young people.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is due to begin assessing ICSs. The Department has asked the CQC, as part of its new scrutiny, to assess whether each ICS is adequately considering health and wellbeing outcomes for babies, children, and young people.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with NHS England about reducing waiting times for children and young people’s access to (a) community paediatric services, (b) occupational therapy and (c) speech and language therapy.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department holds regular meetings with NHS England on timely access to community health services. Addressing waiting times is a priority for both the National Health Service and the Department. In 2023, NHS England asked local systems to develop plans to reduce community waiting lists.
NHS England is working to improve community health services data to better understand waiting lists and identifying actions to reduce waits, including consideration of new pathways to improve effectiveness and productivity.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
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 ensure the national allocation of funding for adult social care reflects (a) the number of autistic adults and (b) their potential level of need.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Public spending on adult social care is funded from both local Government revenue and central Government grants and therefore has to be viewed as part of the wider local Government funding settlement. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is responsible for the financial framework within which local Government operates and for ensuring the sufficiency of local Government funding.
Central Government grants for adult social care are largely distributed using the Adult Social Care Relative Needs Formulae, which are developed by independent researchers to reflect differences in councils’ need for local authority funded social care, to ensure councils funding reflects the relative level of need in their area. These formulae account for a range of factors including population, income and wealth, levels of impairment and availability of unpaid care support.
Local authorities have discretion over how to use their funding to meet the needs of their local population, including those of autistic adults.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
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 estimate of the cost of (a) confining autistic adults in mental health hospitals and (b) meeting needs in the community.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Health and Social Care Committee’s report, The treatment of autistic people and people with learning disabilities, included recommendations in relation to assessing the costs of care and support, and redesigning financial incentives in the healthcare system, for people with a learning disability and autistic people. The Government response to the report and position on the recommendations was published 27 July 2022.
In the response, we noted the wide range of capital and revenue funding sources and the range of support that a person may draw on from multiple services. This makes an assessment of costs practically challenging. The response set out that we are clear there must be credible alternatives to inpatient care so that people can live independent, fulfilled lives in their community, without financial incentives or disincentives which prevent this from happening.
To improve our understanding of funding flows, including any financial incentives or disincentives, the Department commissioned an independent specialist consultancy firm, RedQuadrant, in September 2021 to undertake a rapid review of funding flows associated with Building the Right Support. The work concluded in March 2022 and a report was published in July 2022.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
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 change funding incentives to help ensure that funding follows need for the right support in the community for autistic adults.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Health and Social Care Committee’s report, The treatment of autistic people and people with learning disabilities, included recommendations in relation to assessing the costs of care and support, and redesigning financial incentives in the healthcare system, for people with a learning disability and autistic people. The Government response to the report and position on the recommendations was published 27 July 2022.
In the response, we noted the wide range of capital and revenue funding sources and the range of support that a person may draw on from multiple services. This makes an assessment of costs practically challenging. The response set out that we are clear there must be credible alternatives to inpatient care so that people can live independent, fulfilled lives in their community, without financial incentives or disincentives which prevent this from happening.
To improve our understanding of funding flows, including any financial incentives or disincentives, the Department commissioned an independent specialist consultancy firm, RedQuadrant, in September 2021 to undertake a rapid review of funding flows associated with Building the Right Support. The work concluded in March 2022 and a report was published in July 2022.