Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the Government has for the new public health science campus at Harlow to play a leading role in the UK's preparedness against future pandemics.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The public health science campus at Harlow is not yet operating as a Public Health England facility. The modern state-of-the-art campus will bring the very latest technology and capabilities to support an efficient and effective response to future emergencies and pandemics.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans to promote the Healthy Start scheme via a new communications package to improve uptake when the value of the vouchers increases in April 2021; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of working with (a) food partnerships, (b) public health teams and (c) other local stakeholders to promote that scheme.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
From April 2021 the Healthy Start voucher value will increase from £3.10 to £4.25. We will work closely with Healthy Start beneficiaries, retailers, local authorities and healthcare professionals to prepare for this.
The Healthy Start scheme continues to be promoted through the Healthy Start and Start4Life websites. All eligible beneficiaries receive a letter inviting them to apply for Healthy Start, together with a pre-populated application form.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason there has been a reduction in uptake of the Healthy Start scheme since May 2020.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The number of beneficiaries receiving Healthy Start Vouchers has remained stable over the past year, at around 300,000. All eligible beneficiaries receive a letter inviting them to apply for Healthy Start, together with a pre-populated application form.
On 8 November 2020, it was announced that the value of the Healthy Start voucher in England will rise from £3.10 to £4.25 per week from April 2021. This will provide additional support to pregnant women and families on lower incomes to make healthy food choices.
In addition, we are developing a digital approach to Healthy Start, to make it easier for families to apply for, receive and use Healthy Start benefits.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
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 ensure that care homes in Harlow will receive rapid covid-19 tests.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
All care homes, including those in Harlow, have access to lateral flow device kits and received deliveries in December and January and can now order their own kits.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
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 reduce waiting times for (a) knee and (b) hip replacement surgery.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The recent Spending Review provided £3 billion for 2021/22 to support the National Health Service in tackling the impact of COVID-19. This included £1 billion to tackle long waiting lists and address backlogs by facilitating up to one million extra checks, scans and additional operations such as knee and hip replacement surgery.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when hospitals will resume face-to-face consultations within urology, neurology and dermatology departments during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The resumption of face-to-face appointments for different specialities is dependent on clinical necessity, local circumstances and capacity.
The importance of providing face-to-face appointments for those who need them has been clearly communicated. Virtual consultations have been invaluable in protecting staff and patients from avoidable risk of infection during the pandemic. However, we appreciate that they are not appropriate in all cases and around two-thirds of outpatients are now being seen face-to-face.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
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 youth mental health services.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
We are committed to achieving our NHS Long Term Plan ambitions for service transformation and expansion, backed by investment of £2.3 billion a year to mental health services by 2023/24. The investment will mean that, by 2023/24, an extra 345,000 children and young people aged 0-25 years old will be able to access mental health support via National Health Service-funded mental health services and school- or college-based mental health support teams, if they need them.
Through the Long Term Plan, we will extend current service models to create a comprehensive offer for 0-25 year olds that reaches across mental health services for children, young people and adults. The new model will deliver an integrated approach across health, social care, education and the voluntary sector, such as the evidenced-based ‘iThrive’ operating model which currently covers around 47% of the 0-18 year old population and can be expanded to 25 year olds.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have died by suicide in Harlow constituency compared to the national average in each of the last three years.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The Department does not hold the requested data.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
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 with the Department for Transport to help prevent suicides on the railways.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
The fourth progress report of the cross-Government suicide prevention strategy recognises the importance of reducing access to the means to attempt suicide, including on railways.
Our cross-Government suicide prevention workplan, published by the Department of Health and Social Care in 2019, includes actions led by the Department for Transport to reduce suicides on our railways, such as the Small Talk Saves Lives campaign launched with Samaritans, and work with British Transport Police that brings together local health and social care partners to address identified problem sites.
The Department for Transport continues to meet with the transport industry and stakeholders to discuss best practice in suicide prevention on England’s transport networks.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to make an assessment of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the early diagnosis of leukaemia and the outcomes for people treated for leukaemia since March 2020.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made. The full extent of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on early diagnosis rates or outcomes will not be known until the pandemic is over, and until the data is fully available.
NHS England and NHS Improvement is continuing the roll-out Rapid Diagnostic Centres (RDCs) across the country to bring together diagnostic equipment and expertise. RDCs will initially focus on diagnosing cancers where patients often present with non-specific symptoms, such as blood cancer, and may go to their general practitioner many times before being sent for appropriate tests. RDC compliant pathways should be in place for all patients, including children, by 2023/24.