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Written Question
IVF
Monday 11th March 2024

Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data her Department holds on the number of children born as a result of IVF treatment in each of the last 10 years.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) publishes annual reports on the number of children born as a result of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), and has a live database containing this information, that can be found on their website. The following table shows the number of live births as a result of IVF treatments, in each of the last 10 years:

Year of treatment

Live births due to IVF treatments

2021

18,523

2020

15,280

2019

21,057

2018

21,236

2017

22,086

2016

21,305

2015

20,801

2014

20,066

2013

19,000

2012

17,967

Source: data is from the HFEA annual report on fertility treatment and the HFEA dashboard.

Note: live births for 2019, 2020, and 2021 are preliminary, and have not yet undergone quality assurance processes, to verify that the data is correctly recorded on the register.


Written Question
Medical Records: Equality
Friday 2nd February 2024

Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her planned timetable is for the publication of the Unified Information Standard for Protected Characteristics; and whether it will be subject to public consultation.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Unified Information Standard for Protected Characteristics Publication Steering Group is reporting to NHS England and the Department this year, which will inform a view on the next steps, including any plans for publication.


Written Question
Community Health Services: Children
Friday 12th January 2024

Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)

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 reduce waiting times in children’s community health services.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We monitor community health services waiting lists for children and young people and hold NHS England to account on actions to reduce waiting times.

NHS England has asked local health systems to develop plans to reduce waiting lists for community health services.

Recognising the waiting times for speech and language therapy, in September 2023, the Department for Education launched 'Early Language Support for Every Child' (ELSEC), with NHS England. ELSEC is a two-year pathfinder programme funding innovative workforce models to improve early identification and support for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs within early years and primary school settings. ELSEC will take place in nine sites across England, one in each Change Programme Partnership. It is running across two academic years from September 2023 to August 2025.

In future more healthcare will be provided in the community, and that is why the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan includes commitments to increase the community workforce, with increases in training places for community nurses and allied health professionals, and a renewed focus on retaining existing staff.


Written Question
Health Services: Children
Thursday 14th December 2023

Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what percentage of funding announced for NHS services in 2023 will be spent on child health services.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

As the financial year has not yet concluded, outturn data on National Health Service spending in 2023/2024 is not yet available. The Government is committed to ensuring that babies, children, and young people are prioritised in integrated care systems, and that the reforms in the Health and Care Act 2022 to improve child health and wellbeing outcomes are delivered on the ground.


Written Question
Health Services: Children
Thursday 14th December 2023

Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)

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 elective backlogs in child health services.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England continues to action the Delivery Plan for Tackling the COVID-19 Backlog of Elective Care, aiming to reduce the number of patients waiting over a year for treatment, including for child health services.

The Department and the National Health Service are committed to ensuring that babies, children, and young people are prioritised in integrated care systems, and that reforms in the Health and Care Act 2022 aiming to improve child health and wellbeing outcomes are delivered on the ground.

To join up work, NHS England has established a National Children and Young People Elective Recovery Delivery Group, bringing together the national Elective Recovery Programme, the Children and Young People’s Transformation Programme and other stakeholders. The group to accelerate progress and ensure the recovery of paediatric services keeps pace with recovery of adult elective care.


Written Question
Department of Health and Social Care: China
Tuesday 21st November 2023

Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether senior officials from her Department have travelled to China since January 2019.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

No senior members of the Department have booked travel to China via the Departments central travel contract between January 2019 and October 2023.

We have assumed that by Senior Officials you mean those that are above the grade SCS1.


Written Question
Midwives: Disciplinary Proceedings
Wednesday 6th September 2023

Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many midwives have been referred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council for (a) disciplinary and (b) competency assessment in the last 12 months.

Answered by Will Quince

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the independent regulator of nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom and nursing associates in England. It sets the standards that registrants must meet to demonstrate that they are capable of practising safely and effectively in those professions.

The NMC does not break down its data into categories of “disciplinary” and “competency” at the point of referral. Although the Department does not collect information on the number of midwives referred to the NMC, the NMC has informed the Department that 175 new concerns regarding midwives were raised with it between 1 July 2022 and 30 June 2023.

Further information on the number of referrals received by the NMC regarding midwives during 2022/23 is available at the following link:


https://www.nmc.org.uk/about-us/reports-and-accounts/fitness-to-practise-annual-report/


Written Question
Travel: Vaccination
Friday 14th July 2023

Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what travel vaccinations GP surgeries are normally required to provide for free; and whether there are circumstances under which a surgery could charge for them.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

The following travel vaccines are available free on the National Health Service from general practice surgeries: polio (given as a combined diphtheria/tetanus/polio jab); typhoid; hepatitis A; and cholera.

These vaccines are free because they protect against diseases thought to represent the greatest risk to public health if they were brought into the country.


Written Question
Medical Records: Children
Tuesday 16th May 2023

Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on the consistent child identifier as set out in Section 179 of the Health and Care Act 2022.

Answered by Neil O'Brien

The Department for Education are leading a cross-Government programme to meet the legislative commitment in the Health and Social Care Act 2022 for the Government to report to Parliament by summer 2023 on its policy on information sharing in relation to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. The report will include a consideration of the use of a consistent child identifier across agencies.

The Child Protection Ministerial Group (CPMG) brings together Ministers from the Department for Education, Department of Health and Social Care, Home Office, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Ministry of Justice to provide oversight of the programme. The CPMG last met in April, and the consistent child identifier was discussed at that meeting.


Written Question
Health Services
Tuesday 16th May 2023

Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to section 179 of the Health and Care Act 2022, whether he is taking steps to support cross-departmental work to prepare the report required under subsection (1); and whether he has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential use of a consistent child identifier to facilitate the sharing of information.

Answered by Neil O'Brien

The Department for Education are leading a cross-government programme to meet the legislative commitment in the Health and Social Care Act 2022 for the Government to report to Parliament by summer 2023 on its policy on information sharing in relation to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. The report will include a consideration of the use of a consistent child identifier across agencies.

The Child Protection Ministerial Group (CPMG) brings together junior Ministers from Department for Education, Department of Health and Social Care, Home Office, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Ministry of Justice to provide oversight of the programme. The CPMG last met in April, and the consistent child identifier was discussed at that meeting.