Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
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 NHS mental health services do not exclude anyone because of a neurological diagnosis.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Access to National Health Service mental health services is based on clinical need, including for patients with a neurological diagnosis.
More broadly, we know that too many people with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they need, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health, and that people, including those with a neurological diagnosis, can be confident in accessing high quality mental health support when they need it.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions (a) he and (b) his officials have had with the hospice and end of life care sector on future funding for the sector.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I have met with NHS England to discuss how to reduce inequalities and variation in access to, and the quality of, palliative and end of life care. I also recently met Together for Short Lives and one of the chairs of the Children Who Need Palliative Care All Party Parliamentary Group to discuss children’s palliative and end of life care, and funding was discussed at length at this meeting.
Department officials meet regularly with palliative and end of life care stakeholders, including Hospice UK, Sue Ryder, Marie Curie, and Together for Short Lives. We, alongside key partners NHS England, will continue to proactively engage with our stakeholders, including the voluntary sector and independent hospices, on an ongoing basis, in order to understand the issues they face. We will consider next steps on palliative and end of life care, including funding, in the coming months.
Additionally, we have committed to develop a 10-year plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future, by driving three shifts in the way health care is delivered. We will carefully be considering policies, including those that impact people with palliative and end of life care needs, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our stakeholders as we develop the plan. More information about how to input into the 10-Year Health Plan is available at the following link:
We have been actively encouraging our stakeholders to engage with that process to allow us to fully understand what improvements could be made.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
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 people with Huntington’s disease have a named health professional who can coordinate their care.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England specialised commissioning does not centrally commission dedicated care co-ordinators for Huntington’s Disease within integrated care boards (ICBs). ICBs are responsible for working with their local communities to understand the needs of the local populations and make decisions about how best to commission services that meet those needs, including the treatment of Huntington’s Disease, in partnership with other local commissioners and organisations.
Steps are being taken to improve coordination of care for all rare diseases as a priority under the UK Rare Diseases Framework. England’s Rare Diseases Action Plans detail a range of measures to improve coordination of care. NHS England committed to include the definition of coordination of care in all new and revised services specifications for patients with rare diseases. All highly specialised centres are required to work collaboratively with other providers in the service and have shared care arrangements in place with local hospitals as required. The National Institute of Health and Care Research has commissioned research to provide the evidence needed to operationalise better co-ordination of care for rare diseases in the National Health Service.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will update the NHS website to include (a) hyperinsulinism amongst rare diseases and (b) what to do should you or someone you know exhibit symptoms of hyperinsulinism.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no current plans to update the National Health Service website to include information on hyperinsulinism. There are over 7,000 rare diseases often needing highly specialised input, and so the NHS website is not always the most appropriate platform to disseminate such information.
Congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI) is a rare and complex condition requiring specialised care through a multidisciplinary team led by an expert paediatric endocrinology service. CHI is present from birth, and a child usually starts to show symptoms within the first few days of life, although very occasionally symptoms may appear later in infancy. These patients may not be picked up in hospital after birth and will present often to their midwife or general practitioner with symptoms, and require referral to specialist care later on in infancy. Symptoms can include floppiness, shakiness, poor feeding, sleepiness, and seizures. It is important that anyone who is worried their child may be exhibiting these symptoms seeks urgent medical advice. Ideally, children with suspected CHI should be transferred to a specialist centre.
NHS England commissions this highly specialised service for CHI from three units: Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children; Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital; and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to standardise data systems for prescriptions between (a) health authority areas, (b) the NHS and (c) GP community services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Approximately 95% of all primary care prescriptions are standardised using the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS). The EPS allows prescribers to send prescriptions electronically to a dispenser, such as a pharmacy, nominated by the patient. This makes the prescribing and dispensing process more efficient and convenient for patients and healthcare workers. The EPS is a national service and transcends health authority or integrated care board boundaries, because a prescriber using the EPS can prescribe a prescription that can be dispensed in any pharmacy in England. The EPS can also be used by prescribers in urgent and emergency care, using the NHS 111 or 111 Online services.
The Digital Medicines programme is introducing this capability for secondary care, specifically acute and community hospital trusts and mental health trusts, so National Health Service trusts can implement and use EPS, where clinically and legally appropriate, meaning patients treated in secondary care settings will also be able to receive their medicines from any dispensary in England.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of prisoners diagnosed with Huntington's disease in the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Neither the Department nor NHS England holds the information requested centrally.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
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 introducing a Vape Licensing Scheme.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is concerned about the access of vapes to children, with a quarter of children aged between 11 and 15 years old having ever tried vaping in 2023, and acknowledges that a licensing scheme for the retail sale of vapes could help to strengthen enforcement and support legitimate businesses.
The Government will soon introduce the Tobacco and Vapes Bill which stands to be the most significant public health intervention in a generation. The Bill will put us on track to a smoke-free United Kingdom, helping to reduce 80,000 preventable deaths each year, reduce the burden on the National Health Service and reduce the burden on the taxpayer.
We will set out more details soon.