Asked by: Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department provides information to patients following a (a) stroke or (b) heart attack on the symptoms of vascular dementia.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Department does not provide information to patients following a stroke or heart attack on the symptoms of vascular dementia. Local services in the National Health Service are responsible for providing information to patients following a stroke or heart attack on ways to reduce their risk of vascular dementia.
Asked by: Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information the NHS provides to patients following a (a) stroke and (b) heart attack on the symptoms of vascular dementia.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Local services in the National Health Service are responsible for providing information to patients following a stroke or heart attack on ways to reduce their risk of vascular dementia.
Asked by: Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
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 implications for his policies of the safeguarding adult review report by Allison Sandiford entitled Safeguarding Adult Review: Overview Report: ‘Jessica’, published on 4 April 2023.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
No assessment has been made.
Asked by: Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to provide funding for a network of early support hubs for the provision of mental health support for young people in the forthcoming Major Conditions Strategy.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Further policy detail will be set out in the Major Conditions Strategy Interim Report, later this year. The Government is aware of Early Support Hubs and is working with the sector to understand their role in supporting children and young people but there are currently plans to create a network of hubs across the country. There are currently around 60 hubs in England that feature early intervention and prevention services. They are locally designed and funded and often provide several different services, for example, sexual health clinics or careers advice. Integrated care boards and local authorities work with local partners to understand local needs and commission services on that basis.
Nationally, we are supporting the expansion and transformation of mental health services for children and young people through the NHS Long Term Plan. As part of the accompanying investment of at least an extra £2.3 billion a year by March 2024, an additional 345,000 children and young people will be able to get the mental health support they need. We also provided an additional £79 million for 2021/22 to allow around 22,500 more children and young people to access community mental health services and around 2,000 more to access eating disorder services.
We are making good progress on expanding access year on year. The number of children and young people aged under 18 supported through National Health Service funded mental health with at least one contact with services was 689,621 in the year up to July 2022 compared to 618,537 in the year up to July 2021.
Asked by: Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
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 appointing a commissioner for older people and ageing.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Education)
We have no current plans to make a specific assessment.
Asked by: Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when her Department will publish the 10 year cancer plan.
Answered by Will Quince
On 7 September, the Government confirmed our commitment to publishing a 10 year cancer plan. The plan will be in line with other Government strategies and is being developed following the call for evidence held earlier this year, which received 5,000 responses. Further details will be announced shortly.
Asked by: Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the evidence base is to support the use of fetal analgesia during in-utero surgery for spina bifida from 19 weeks' gestation, but not its use before the termination of a pregnancy at the same gestation.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Department does not set clinical practice. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has considered the issue of fetal pain and awareness in its guidelines ‘The Care of Women Requesting Induced Abortion (Evidence-based Clinical Guideline No. 7)’ and ‘Fetal Awareness: Review of Research and Recommendations for Practice’, which are available at the following links:
https://www.rcog.org.uk/globalassets/documents/guidelines/abortion-guideline_web_1.pdf
https://www.rcog.org.uk/globalassets/documents/guidelines/rcogfetalawarenesswpr0610.pdf
The Royal College is currently reviewing these guidelines to consider the latest evidence on fetal pain and fetal awareness. It has advised that that the difference in approach in the use of fetal analgesia for in-utero surgery for spinda bifida is related to the fetal stress response, which is not related to fetal pain and the need for the fetus to be immobilised during spinal surgery. There is also evidence that the stress response could impact ongoing development of the fetus.
Asked by: Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
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 to review the current 24 week time limit on abortion on the grounds of risk of injury to the physical or mental health of a pregnant woman or any of her children based on the latest science on viability.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
It would be for Parliament to decide whether to make any changes to the law on abortion. As with other matters of conscience, abortion is an issue on which the Government adopts a neutral stance and allows hon. Members to vote according to their moral, ethical or religious beliefs.
Asked by: Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the advice to women to seek medical advice or call an ambulance on 999 if they experience certain complications from medical abortions at home, whether Emergency Departments are recording the complications medical abortions based on whether those pills were taken (a) at home, (b) partially at home, or (c) in a clinic; and whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring Emergency Departments to distinguish between home and in-clinic medical abortion complications.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
This level of detail is not recorded in the Emergency Care Data Set or Hospital Episode Statistics accident and emergency data. The Department acknowledges there are limitations with the abortion complications data that is collected. We are planning to examine with partner organisations how well these systems are working in relation to recording complications arising from abortions and whether improvement is required.
Asked by: Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of assigning family members of clinically vulnerable or disabled relatives who live in care homes, key worker status; and what steps he is taking to bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that vulnerable people have access to support and care from their families.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
New visiting arrangements will start on 8 March. From that date, every care home will be asked to ensure that each resident can receive regular indoor visits from one person whom they have nominated as their single named visitor. In addition, with the agreement of the care home, visitors to residents who need personal care will have access to the same testing and personal protective equipment as care home staff so that they can provide extra support, like help with washing, dressing or eating.