Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve levels of staff retention of healthcare professionals working in rheumatology services.
Answered by Will Quince
Through the National Health Service priorities and operational planning guidance, systems have been asked to refresh their workforce plans to improve staff retention through a systematic focus on all elements of the NHS People Promise. The People Promise provides a strong focus on creating a more modern, compassionate and inclusive NHS culture by strengthening staff health and wellbeing, promoting equality and diversity, improving leadership and workplace culture and opening up opportunities for flexible working.
NHS England is leading work nationally to strengthen retention across the NHS through its NHS retention programme. This includes supporting organisations to deliver best practice interventions in areas such as staff health and wellbeing, flexible working and menopause support in the workplace. A staff retention guide has been updated and includes information on supporting staff at different stages in their career with a focus on induction, reward and recognition. These initiatives apply across all NHS staff groups, including healthcare professionals working in rheumatology services.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
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 help increase the number of (a) doctors, (b) nurses and (c) Allied Health Professionals entering specialist rheumatology training.
Answered by Will Quince
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Bootle on 30 May 2023 to Question 185980.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
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 increase the (a) number of sports and exercise consultants and (b) access to sports and exercise medicine.
Answered by Will Quince
We have commissioned NHS England to develop a long term workforce plan for the National Health Service for the next 15 years. This plan will help ensure that we have the right numbers of staff, with the right skills, to transform and deliver high quality services fit for the future.
The Department and Sport England have delivered the Moving Healthcare Professionals Programme to enable all healthcare professionals to embed the promotion of sport and physical activity into routine care for the prevention and management of non-communicable diseases.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
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 improve skill discrepancies in primary care to help improve diagnosis, treatment and management of Musculoskeletal health and rheumatic conditions.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
General practitioners (GPs) are responsible for ensuring their own clinical knowledge, including for Musculoskeletal and rheumatic conditions, remains up-to-date and for identifying learning needs as part of their continuing professional development. This activity should include taking account of new research and developments in guidance, such as that produced by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, to ensure that they can continue to provide high quality care to all patients.
All United Kingdom registered doctors are expected to meet the professional standards set out in the General Medical Council (GMC). In 2012 the GMC introduced revalidation which supports doctors in regularly reflecting on how they can develop or improve their practice, gives patients confidence doctors are up to date with their practice and promotes improved quality of care by driving improvements in clinical governance.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the number of (a) rheumatology consultants, (b) rheumatology clinical nurse specialists, (c) specialist rheumatology physiotherapists, (d) psychologists, (e) podiatrists, (f) occupational health therapists and (g) specialist rheumatology pharmacists in England; and what steps he is taking to fill vacancies in those occupations.
Answered by Will Quince
The following table shows the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff, by staff group, working in England, as of February 2023.
Staff group | Number of FTE staff |
Rheumatology Consultants | 695 |
Rheumatology Clinical Nurse Specialists | No data held |
Specialist Rheumatology Physiotherapists | No data held |
Psychologists (Applied Psychology) | 8,399 |
Podiatrists | 2,549 |
Occupational Health Therapists | 16,419 |
Specialist Rheumatology Pharmacists | No data held |
Source: NHS Workforce Statistics
To support the workforce as a whole we have commissioned NHS England to develop a long-term workforce plan for the NHS workforce for the next 15 years. The Government has committed to publishing the Long-Term Workforce Plan shortly, which will include independently verified forecasts for the number of healthcare professionals required in future years, taking full account of improvements in retention and productivity. The long-term NHS workforce plan will look at the mix and number of staff required and will set out the actions and reforms across the NHS that will be needed to reduce supply gaps and improve retention. This plan will help ensure that we have the right numbers of staff, with the right skills to transform and deliver high quality services fit for the future.
On 10 January 2023, Health Education England (HEE) announced that nearly 900 additional medical specialty training posts will be created for this year, including an additional five rheumatology specialty training posts. Rheumatology is a popular specialty with over 95% of training places being filled.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
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 increase access to specialised psychology services for rheumatology patients.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
All local areas are expected to commission NHS Talking Therapies services which provide integrated psychological therapies for people with long-term health conditions including rheumatic conditions. As highlighted in the specialist service specification for rheumatology, a multidisciplinary approach is expected, and rheumatology teams work closely with other specialties, often involving joint clinics, including psychology and psychiatry services.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
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 adequacy of the provision of rheumatology care in Feltham and Heston constituency in the last (a) 12 and (b) 24 months.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made. Rheumatology services are generally commissioned locally by integrated care boards to meet the needs of their population.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
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 provide support for people discharged from hospital to return to their homes.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department’s Hospital Discharge and Community Support Guidance, recommends a discharge to assess, home first approach to hospital discharge. Multi-disciplinary hospital discharge teams and care transfer hubs should work together so that, other than in exceptional circumstances, no one should transfer permanently into a care home for the first time directly following an acute hospital admission.
This guidance is available at the following link:
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people discharged from hospital into the community returned to Accident and Emergency within (a) 24 hours, (b) 48 hours and (c) 72 hours in each of the last twelve months.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
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 inclusion of the NHS social enterprise workforce within NHS Agenda for Change pay scales.
Answered by Will Quince
As National Health Service social enterprises are independent providers, they remain free to develop and adopt the terms and conditions of employment that best help them attract and keep the staff they need. This includes the pay scales that they choose to use and many choose to mirror those of NHS employees on the Agenda for Change contract.