Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospital beds there were in Somerset (a) in 2015 and (b) 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The latest published data shows a total of 1,438 hospital beds in Somerset, in quarter four of 2023/24. This compares to a total of 1,374 hospital beds reported by National Health Service trusts in quarter four of 2014/15.
Data on NHS bed numbers is published by NHS England, and is available at the following link:
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
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 tackle shortages of (a) methylphenidate and (b) other ADHD medications.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Disruptions to the supply of medicines used for the management of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have been primarily driven by issues which have resulted in capacity constraints at key manufacturing sites. The Department has been working hard with industry to help resolve those issues and expedite deliveries to boost supplies of these medicines, as quickly as possible. As a result of our ongoing activity and intensive work, some issues have been resolved. Many strengths of lisdexamphetamine, and all strengths of atomoxetine capsules, are now available. Medicine supply issues remain for some strengths of guanfacine, lisdexamphetamine, and methylphenidate. However, we continue to escalate these issues with the manufacturers to ensure that action is taken to resolve regulatory issues and expedite deliveries. We have been informed that these disruptions should largely be resolved by April or May 2024.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
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 assessment of the potential merits of requiring inspections by the Care Quality Commission to take into account the experience of LGBTQ+ residents in care homes.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Any discrimination in adult social care on the basis of one’s sexual or gender identity, or indeed on the basis of any protected characteristic, is unacceptable. The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace, and in wider society.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspects and assesses care homes and other social care providers for compliance against the fundamental standards embedded in regulation. This includes the requirement, as clearly described in the CQC’s guidance, for providers to do everything reasonably practicable to make sure that people who use the service receive person-centred care, that meets their needs and reflects their personal preferences. As part of this, during an inspection, the CQC will take account of how the service considers a person’s protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.
The CQC has also published its Equality Objectives, which outline how the CQC is taking a preventative approach to LGBTQ+ people experiencing prejudice or abuse, as well as improving the data it collects around equality risks. Finally, the new duty on the CQC to assess local authorities’ delivery of their adult social care duties went live from April this year. CQC assessment of local authorities will increase transparency, and enable people to hold their local authority to account.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
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 assessment of the prevalence of discrimination against LGBTQ+ (a) residents and (b) staff in care homes.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Any discrimination in adult social care on the basis of one’s sexual or gender identity, or indeed on the basis of any protected characteristic, is unacceptable. The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace, and in wider society.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspects and assesses care homes and other social care providers for compliance against the fundamental standards embedded in regulation. This includes the requirement, as clearly described in the CQC’s guidance, for providers to do everything reasonably practicable to make sure that people who use the service receive person-centred care, that meets their needs and reflects their personal preferences. As part of this, during an inspection, the CQC will take account of how the service considers a person’s protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.
The CQC has also published its Equality Objectives, which outline how the CQC is taking a preventative approach to LGBTQ+ people experiencing prejudice or abuse, as well as improving the data it collects around equality risks. Finally, the new duty on the CQC to assess local authorities’ delivery of their adult social care duties went live from April this year. CQC assessment of local authorities will increase transparency, and enable people to hold their local authority to account.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of dental practices stopped providing NHS services in Somerset in the last five years.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The number of dentists who performed National Health Service work in the last five years, as well as the number of dentists who started and stopped NHS work in the Somerset Integrated Care Board in each year, is available at the following link:
We do not hold data on the proportion of dental practices that have stopped providing NHS services in Somerset in the last five years.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she expects the randomised controlled trials to test medicinal cannabis for adults and children with epilepsy to begin; which NHS Trusts will be participating in these trials; how many patients will be involved in the trials; and whether patients will be approached to participate.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Department, via the National Institute for Health and Care Research, is developing a programme of two randomised controlled trials to test the safety and efficacy of medicinal cannabis products to treat epilepsy in adults and children. The trials will start as soon as possible, and results will be published once the trials have been completed and the findings peer reviewed. The trial details are in development.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
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 assessment with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the adequacy of the provision of mental health services in rural areas.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
While there are no plans for a specific assessment, the Government remains committed to supporting rural communities, as set out in its Unleashing Rural Opportunity report, published in June 2023. Since the launch of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee's inquiry into Rural Mental Health in 2021, considerable progress has been made to help ensure access to mental health services in rural areas, as outlined in the Government's response to the committee in November 2023.
Notably, since 2018, we have invested an extra £2.3 billion a year to expand mental health services in England, with the aim of enabling two million more people, including those in rural areas, to access mental health support by March 2024.
Integrated care boards (ICB) are responsible for decisions about the provision of services in their area and on how funding allocations should be used to meet the needs of people in their areas. There are a range of adjustments made in the ICB allocations formula to account for how the costs of providing health care may vary between different types of rural and urban areas. We expect all ICBs to continue to meet the Mental Health Investment Standard, increasing their mental health spend in line with their overall funding allocations.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress she has made with (a) regulatory, (b) research and (c) NHS partners on establishing clinical trials to test the (i) safety and (ii) efficacy of medical cannabis products.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Department, via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), is developing a programme of two randomised controlled trials to test the safety and efficacy of medicinal cannabis products to treat epilepsy in adults and children. The trials will start as soon as possible, and the results will be published once the trials have completed and the findings peer reviewed.
Furthermore, the Government continues to encourage manufacturers to invest in research and has highlighted that public funding is available for high quality applications. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the NIHR can provide applicants with scientific and research advice.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of allowing children to be issued medical cannabis prescriptions on the NHS.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Licensed cannabis-based medicines, that have been proved effective in clinical trials and judged cost-effective by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), are routinely available on the National Health Service, including for people aged over two years old with certain types of epilepsy. However, clinical guidelines from NICE demonstrate a clear need for more evidence to support routine prescribing and funding decisions for unlicensed cannabis-based medicines.
We continue to call on manufacturers to conduct research to prove if their products are safe and effective and we are working with regulatory, research and NHS partners to establish clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of these products.
Asked by: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it remains Government policy to reform the Mental Health Act 1983.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
It remains our intention to bring forward a Mental Health Bill when Parliamentary time allows.
I am incredibly grateful to the Joint Committee on the Draft Mental Health Bill as well as the many experts who have generously given their time.
We will continue to take forward non-legislative commitments to improve the care and treatment of people detained under the Act, including piloting models of Culturally Appropriate Advocacy. These will provide tailored support to people from ethnic minority communities and improve their experience of being treated under the Mental Health Act.