Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of providing certainty of funds to people who (a) receive continuing healthcare funding and (b) have a terminal illness.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
There are no plans to undertake such an assessment, as guidance is in place to ensure an appropriate approach to individuals in this situation. Individuals with a primary health need arising from a rapidly deteriorating condition which may be entering a terminal phase, are eligible for Fast Track NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC). The fast track pathway is designed to ensure that eligible individuals receive appropriate care with minimal delay.
The National Framework on CHC makes clear that integrated care boards (ICBs) should monitor the effectiveness of the care arrangements, and consider whether, and at what point, a reassessment of eligibility is appropriate. Where an individual in receipt of Fast Track NHS CHC is expected to die in the very near future, the ICB should continue to take responsibility for the care package until the end of their life. Fast Track NHS CHC funding should not be removed without eligibility being reconsidered, through the completion of a CHC Decision Support Tool by a multidisciplinary team.
Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
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 making access to Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccinations available to farming and agricultural families that regularly interact with livestock.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination is not usually recommended for people aged over 16 years old, unless the risk of exposure is great. The vaccination can be offered to veterinary staff and those who handle animals or animal materials, for instance abattoir workers, which could be infected with tuberculosis (TB). Based on the current available evidence, only a very small subset of farmers may be at high risk of TB exposure and therefore eligible for vaccination. This does not include farmer’s household contacts or children who would not constitute a risk sufficiently high enough to warrant a recommendation for the vaccine. If the level of risk should increase, then the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation could be asked to review this.
Eligibility for the BCG vaccination as an occupational health vaccine should be based on an individual risk assessment. Those eligible would need to access the vaccine through a private occupational health provider, and may seek further advice from the National Farmers Union. Non-National Health Service providers can charge for this service.
Under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH), all new employees, including farmers, should undergo a pre-employment health assessment, which should include a review of immunisation needs. The COSHH risk assessment will indicate which pathogens staff are exposed to in their workplace, such as bovine TB. Staff considered to be at risk of exposure to pathogens should be offered routine pre-exposure immunisation as appropriate. This decision should also take into account the safety and efficacy of available vaccines.
Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help support applicants for continued healthcare funding who appeal a decision to (a) NHS England and (b) the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
A public information leaflet is on the GOV.UK website in multiple languages, explaining the full process for appealing to NHS England or to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, as well as the eligibility decisions for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC). This leaflet is available at the following link:
CHC guidance, named the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care, states that any individual being considered for CHC at the screening or referral stage should be given a copy of this leaflet, along with any relevant local information about processes and contact details. This guidance is available at the following link:
NHS England has also commissioned a free Information and Advice Service for CHC from Beacon. This service provides independent and high-quality support on navigating CHC assessments and care planning, or to appeal against a decision about CHC eligibility. Further information is available at the following link:
https://beaconchc.co.uk/how-we-can-help/free-information-and-advice-on-nhs-continuing-healthcare/
Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make it her policy to establish walk-in clinics in each Integrated Care Board; and what estimate she has made of the cost of doing so.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The commissioning of establishing local services in the National Health Service is a matter for integrated care boards. The Government has no plans at this time to roll out hubs nationally.
Based upon current schemes which are either operational or under development in England, and assuming a facility floorplan of 3,000 square metres, the construction of a single walk-in hub service would cost £21.4 million in 2024/25 prices. Ongoing running costs for each building could be approximately £2 million to £2.3 million dependent on whether it was operational seven days a week and included wider primary care services such as dentistry.
Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Hughes Report: Options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh, published by the Patient Safety Commissioner on 7 February 2024, whether she has made an assessment of the potential implication for her policies of the provision of financial redress for people harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Government commissioned the Patient Safety Commissioner (PSC) to produce a report on redress for those affected by sodium valproate and pelvic mesh. We are grateful to the PSC and her team for completing this report and our sympathies remain with those affected by sodium valproate and pelvic mesh. The Government is now carefully considering the PSC’s recommendations and will respond substantively in due course.
Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
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 help improve access to NHS menopause services.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The menopause is a priority area within the Women’s Health Strategy. The NHS England National Menopause Care Improvement Programme is working to improve clinical menopause care in England and reduce disparities in access to treatment. NHS England is working with integrated care systems in the Midlands, piloting new guidance to support teams in primary care better to recognise and treat menopause symptoms.
We are investing £25 million in women’s health hubs, so that women can get better access to care for essential services such as menstrual problems, contraception and the menopause.
We have also reduced the cost of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) prescriptions through a bespoke HRT Prescription Prepayment Certificate. More than 500,000 HRT Prescription Prepayment Certificates have now been purchased since the launch on 1 April 2023, meaning women who pay for prescriptions, pay less than £20 for all of their HRT prescriptions for a year. The average saving is estimated to be around £30 a year with total savings of approximately £13 million.
Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of NHS menopause services available in Devon.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
No specific assessment has been made. The menopause is a priority area within the Women’s Health Strategy. The NHS England National Menopause Care Improvement Programme is working to improve clinical menopause care in England, and to reduce disparities in access to treatment. This programme has already delivered training packages for healthcare professionals, and a self-care fact sheet for women. NHS England is also working with integrated care systems in the Midlands, piloting new guidance to support teams in primary care to better recognise and treat menopause symptoms. We are investing £25 million in women’s health hubs nationally, so that women can get better access to care for essential services such as menstrual problems, contraception and the menopause.
The two priority areas for the pilot women’s health hubs in Devon are services for a menopause pathway and improving access to long-acting reversible contraception, including for non-contraceptive reasons such as the menopause.
Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of the costs of social care are funded by the adult social care precept charged by local authorities.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The total value of the precept each year includes all the annual increases set by councils since 2016/17, and the Government does not publish this total. We cannot therefore calculate the proportion of adult social care spend each year funded from the precept. However, the Government publishes the amount raised by the increase in the adult social care precept each year. In 2023/24, councils could increase the precept by up to 2%, raising an estimated maximum of £561 million.
The evidence review for Adult Social Care Reform, published in December 2021, estimated that up to 70% of total adult social care spend is from public sources.
The impact of the social care precept varies across the country, depending upon the decisions that local authorities make about how much precept to levy and how much it needs to spend on adult social care.
Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
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 estimate of the cost to the public purse of setting national pay and conditions terms for social care workers.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Department has no current plans to make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of setting national pay and conditions terms for social care workers. Most care workers are employed by private sector providers who set their pay and terms and conditions, independent of central government.
In the ‘Next steps to put People at the Heart of Care’ we announced our intention to launch a new Care Workforce Pathway for Adult Social Care, which will support development and provide a career structure to the workforce.
Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)
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 estimate of the cost to the public purse of ensuring that patients are always able to see the same GP for each visit.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom
The Government recognises the importance of the relationship between patients and their general practitioner (GP). However, in some cases patients may prefer to see another professional from the wider general practice workforce instead of a specific GP.
While the Government has not made an estimate of the cost of ensuring that patients are able to see the same GP for each visit, all patients must be assigned a named GP. Practices must endeavour to comply with all reasonable requests for a patient to see a particular GP or other healthcare professional for an appointment.