Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to commission research into the (a) adequacy of the support provided and (b) potential merits of providing alternative support to local authorities to help reduce the rate of suicide in high-frequency suicide locations.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Suicide Prevention Strategy 2023 for England is a five-year strategy which sets out the Government’s ambition for suicide prevention, together with over 100 actions that we think will deliver this. High frequency locations are a priority area, and we expect local commissioners to align with this.
The National Institute of Health Research is currently funding a £1.1 million research award to assess the effectiveness of surveillance technologies to prevent suicides at high-risk locations. The purpose of this study is to discern what technology is currently being used, how effective it is in preventing suicides, including understanding any unintended consequences of its use, and possible barriers to effectiveness.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
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 providing additional funding to help reduce the number of suicides in high-frequency suicide locations (a) along the south coast and (b) in the UK.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Suicide Prevention Strategy 2023 for England is a five-year strategy which sets out the Government’s ambition for suicide prevention, together with over 100 actions that we think will deliver this. High frequency locations are a priority area, and we expect local commissioners to align with this.
The National Institute of Health Research is currently funding a £1.1 million research award to assess the effectiveness of surveillance technologies to prevent suicides at high-risk locations. The purpose of this study is to discern what technology is currently being used, how effective it is in preventing suicides, including understanding any unintended consequences of its use, and possible barriers to effectiveness.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
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 support charitable organisations providing mental health services to those in need.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department recognises the valued contribution that mental health and suicide prevention voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations make in supporting people with their mental health.
During the pandemic, we provided £10.2 million of additional funding to support mental health charities, including Samaritans and the Campaign Against Living Miserably, and over £34 million to organisations supporting people who experience loneliness.
More recently, we announced that 79 organisations across the country have been allocated funding through the £10 million suicide prevention grant fund. These organisations, from local, community-led organisations through to national, are delivering a broad and diverse range of activity that will prevent suicides and save lives.
We have also announced that £8 million is being made available for 24 early support hubs across the country, a number of which will be run by voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
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 reduce waiting times for mental health services.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
More and more people are getting support with their mental health thanks to investments made through the NHS Long Term Plan. Unfortunately, demand has risen as the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise in the cost of living on people’s mental health continues to be felt. This means that some people are facing waiting times that are much longer than we would like.
We are providing record levels of investment and increasing the mental health workforce to expand and transform National Health Service mental health services, to expand access and reduce waiting times. Between 2018/19 and 2023/24, NHS spending on mental health has increased by £4.6 billion in cash terms, as compared to the target of £3.4 billion in cash terms set out at the time of the Long Term Plan. The NHS Long Term Plan committed to grow the mental health workforce by an additional 27,000 staff between 2019/20 and 2023/24. We are making positive progress, delivering two-thirds of this, or 17,000 additional staff, by September 2023, with further significant growth expected by the end of this financial year.
The NHS is also working towards implementing five new waiting time measures for people requiring mental healthcare in both accident and emergency and in the community, for both adults, and children and young people. This includes working towards improving the quality of data that we have on waiting times for people requiring mental healthcare, in both accident and emergency and in the community. NHS England began publishing this new data in 2023 to improve transparency and drive local accountability.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
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 allowing NHS patients who require a mobility (a) scooter and (b) other aids to choose the (i) provider and (ii) retailers of those aids.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State does not currently have any plans to make an assessment of either the potential merits of ensuring that adequate training is provided to people with mobility scooters or of the potential merits of allowing National Health Service patients who require mobility scooters or other aids to choose the provider and retailer of those aids.
Mobility scooters are not generally available on the NHS in England. The NHS provides other mobility aids including wheelchairs, walking sticks, and walking frames. Walking frames and some types of walking sticks can be borrowed from the NHS. Advice on how to access these aids is available at the following link:
The Government is supporting the roll-out of a nationwide certified powered wheelchair and mobility scooter assessment and training scheme. Through the Department for Transport Road Safety Research programme, funding has been provided to Driving Mobility, a registered charity with a network of driving assessment centres covering the whole of the United Kingdom. The training scheme that Driving Mobility is providing will train retail and hire businesses to assess the safe driving ability of individuals purchasing a mobility scooter, including NHS patients. The scheme will also provide retailers with information on best practice and recommendations on how to convey safe driving knowledge to individuals purchasing mobility scooters. Short tests will be included in order to judge competency so that extra support can be provided where needed. Driving Mobility launched the scheme in summer 2023.
For NHS patients who require wheelchairs, integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of local wheelchair services and the development of their local wheelchair service eligibility criteria based on the needs of their local population. NHS England is committed to supporting ICBs to implement personal wheelchair budgets. A personal wheelchair budget is a resource available to support people’s choice and provider of wheelchair, either within or outside NHS commissioned services. Since 2 December 2019, people who access wheelchair services, whose posture and mobility needs impact their wider health and social care needs, have a legal right to a personal wheelchair budget. The legal right was created by the National Health Service Commissioning Board and Clinical Commissioning Groups (Responsibilities and Standing Rules) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2019.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
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 ensuring that adequate training is provided to people with mobility scooters.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State does not currently have any plans to make an assessment of either the potential merits of ensuring that adequate training is provided to people with mobility scooters or of the potential merits of allowing National Health Service patients who require mobility scooters or other aids to choose the provider and retailer of those aids.
Mobility scooters are not generally available on the NHS in England. The NHS provides other mobility aids including wheelchairs, walking sticks, and walking frames. Walking frames and some types of walking sticks can be borrowed from the NHS. Advice on how to access these aids is available at the following link:
The Government is supporting the roll-out of a nationwide certified powered wheelchair and mobility scooter assessment and training scheme. Through the Department for Transport Road Safety Research programme, funding has been provided to Driving Mobility, a registered charity with a network of driving assessment centres covering the whole of the United Kingdom. The training scheme that Driving Mobility is providing will train retail and hire businesses to assess the safe driving ability of individuals purchasing a mobility scooter, including NHS patients. The scheme will also provide retailers with information on best practice and recommendations on how to convey safe driving knowledge to individuals purchasing mobility scooters. Short tests will be included in order to judge competency so that extra support can be provided where needed. Driving Mobility launched the scheme in summer 2023.
For NHS patients who require wheelchairs, integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of local wheelchair services and the development of their local wheelchair service eligibility criteria based on the needs of their local population. NHS England is committed to supporting ICBs to implement personal wheelchair budgets. A personal wheelchair budget is a resource available to support people’s choice and provider of wheelchair, either within or outside NHS commissioned services. Since 2 December 2019, people who access wheelchair services, whose posture and mobility needs impact their wider health and social care needs, have a legal right to a personal wheelchair budget. The legal right was created by the National Health Service Commissioning Board and Clinical Commissioning Groups (Responsibilities and Standing Rules) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2019.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
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 regional inequalities in child health.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) leads a range of universal public health interventions and guidance for ages zero to 19 that provide universal support and identify and respond to further needs and safeguarding concerns. We also deliver programmes specifically targeted at particular populations, including the Family Nurse Partnership to support vulnerable young mothers; the Healthy Start scheme to encourage a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies, and young children under four from low-income households; and Mental Health Support Teams in schools.
The Government is investing around £300 million over three years to improve support for families though the joint DHSC and Department for Education Family Hubs and Start for Life programme. Launched in August 2022, the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme is delivering a step change in outcomes for babies, children and their parents and carers in 75 local authorities in England with high levels of deprivation.
In addition, we measure child health outcomes at the regional level through regular surveillance programmes.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of funding (a) alternative therapy methods, (b) art therapy and (c) music therapy to help the mental wellbeing of children and young people.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We have made no such assessment. Integrated care boards and local authorities work with local partners to understand local needs and commission services on that basis.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact on transgender people of delays for specialist gender identity services.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No formal assessment has been made, though NHS England is making important steps to address the increasing demand for specialist gender identity services.
NHS England has increased investment in adult services by approximately 130% over the past five years and increased the number of gender dysphoria clinics in England from seven to 12 with the rollout of five new adult gender pilot clinics since July 2020.
For children's services, NHS England set out its plans to improve services in July 2022 in line with recommendations from the Cass Review Interim Report. Two new Southern and Northern hubs led by five National Health Service trusts are set to be mobilised by April 2024. NHS England plans for there to be a total of 7-8 regional providers supported by a larger clinical workforce once the national transformation programme is complete.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
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 impact of the time taken to receive specialist electric wheelchairs on NHS patients.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the provision and commissioning of local wheelchair services and the development of their local wheelchair service eligibility criteria based on the needs of their local population.
NHS England is taking several steps to reduce regional variation in the quality and provision of National Health Service wheelchairs including any specialist electric wheelchair provision, and to support ICBs to reduce delays in people receiving timely intervention and wheelchair equipment. These include establishing a national wheelchair dataset, developing a national wheelchair tariff, publishing a wheelchair model service specification, and introducing personal wheelchair budgets.
Information on waiting times for specialist electric wheelchairs for NHS patients is not held centrally. Although there is a national data collection for wheelchair services, which includes waiting times data, this does not include specific data on the type of wheelchair provided. We do not currently have any plans to make an assessment of the potential impact of the time taken to receive specialist electric wheelchairs on NHS patients.