Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
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 make mental health services more widely available to children and young people in Macclesfield.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Through our Plan for Change, we’re determined to give children and young people, including in Macclesfield, the best start in life. The Government is expanding access to mental health support teams in all schools and colleges to reach all pupils by 2029/30, ensuring that every pupil has access to early support services. More widely, we are investing £26 million in new crisis centres, rolling out young futures hubs, and hiring 8,500 more mental health staff.
Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
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 support for veterans with complex PTSD in Cheshire.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England commissions Op COURAGE, a bespoke integrated veterans’ mental health and wellbeing service. The service provides a fully integrated mental health care pathway for veterans which includes support for veterans with complex post-traumatic stress disorder. People benefit from personalised care plans, ensuring they can access support and treatment both in and out of hours. Op COURAGE is available across England and individuals can contact the service to make an appointment or to ask someone to do this on their behalf. The Op COURAGE North service, run by the Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, covers the Cheshire area.
The Government recognises that not all veterans want to use veteran-specific mental health services and can instead choose to use mainstream National Health Services, such as talking therapies, which are available to both veterans and civilians.
Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
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 reduce the distance people in Macclesfield need to travel for (a) care and (b) specialist treatments.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out our vision for a Neighbourhood Health Service.
The Neighbourhood Health Service will embody our new preventative principle that care should happen as locally as it can, digitally by default, in a person’s home if possible, in a neighbourhood health centre when needed, and only in a hospital if necessary.
This will rebalance our health and care system so that it fits around people’s lives, not the other way round, moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach and giving people more power and choice over the care they receive.
Our aim is to have a Neighbourhood Health Centre in each community that provides easier, more convenient access to a full range of health and care services on people’s doorsteps, bringing together National Health Service, local authority, and voluntary sector services in one building to help create a holistic offer that meets the needs of local populations.
We expect neighbourhood teams and services to be designed in a way that reflects the specific needs of local populations. While the focus on personalised, coordinated care will be consistent, that will mean the service will look different in rural communities, coastal towns, and deprived inner cities.
Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
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 potential impact of losing level seven levy funding to fund apprenticeships on the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Skills England and the Department for Education are reviewing the growth and skills offer, including whether employers will fund Level 7 apprenticeships outside of the levy. Ministers and officials from the Department of Health and Social Care, along with NHS England and other stakeholders across the sector, have been feeding into this review and will continue to work closely to ensure that the National Health Service has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it.
Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the impact of differences in regulations on ear wax removal between registered nurses and non-registered practitioners on patient care.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has not made a formal assessment of the impact of differences in regulations on wax removal between registered nurses and non-registered practioners on patient care. The Department does not have plans to intervene in locally led arrangements for the provision of ear wax removal services. Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning ear wax removal services in local areas in line with the recommendations for ear wax removal as set out in guidance produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NHS England on (a) the timetable for the next review of the Additional Roles Reimbursement scheme and (b) the findings of previous ARRS reviews on GP control of money allocated as part of the scheme .
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) is subject to an annual review as part of the consultation on the GP Contract with the General Practitioners Committee in England, of the British Medical Association. NHS England works closely with the Department to implement any changes identified as part of this process.
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has confirmed that recently qualified general practitioners (GPs) who are employed via the ARRS will continue to be supported through the scheme in 2025/26. The Department and NHS England started the consultation with the General Practitioners Committee in England on the proposed changes to the 2025/26 GP Contract on 19 December 2024. An announcement confirming the changes will be made before April 2025, and will include details of adjustments to the ARRS.
Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
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 publishing details of the GP contract earlier in the year to improve forward planning.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, wrote to general practices on 20 December 2024 to confirm an £889 million uplift to the contract for 2025/26 and set out the proposed areas of reform. The proposed changes to the contract bring about important reforms and make progress towards manifesto commitments. This announcement recognised the benefits in providing reassurance to the sector and supporting forward planning. The final details of the contract will be announced in the usual way following the close of the consultation with the General Practitioners Committee England in Spring 2025.
Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to support a fluoridation scheme in Macclesfield constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no current plans to support a fluoridation scheme in Macclesfield. Public consultation is required on proposals for new, or the expansion of existing, community water fluoridation schemes. The Water Fluoridation (Consultation) (England) Regulations 2022 set out the requirements, and are available at the following link:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2022/1163/contents/made.
Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of vaccine doses that are thrown away due to reaching their expiry date before they could be used.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) manages the central storage and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines for the United Kingdom’s programme. In their published accounts for the financial year 2022/23, the figure was £143.280 million. The following table shows a summary of vaccine related losses for the latest published account:
Description | Amount |
Constructive loss as a result of COVID-19 vaccine expiry due to lower-than-expected use of vaccines compared to those planned for during purchasing. | £127,560,000 |
Constructive loss as a result of lower-than-expected consumption of flu vaccine resulting in the date expiry of this vaccine. | £15,720,000 |
Total | £143,280,000 |
Source: pages 124 to 125 of the UKHSA’s Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23, which is available at the following link:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65c0cf5763a23d000dc821bb/UKHSA-Annual-Report-2022_23-printable_file-2.pdf
Further information regarding vaccine expiry will be published as part of the UKHSA’s Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24.
Asked by: Tim Roca (Labour - Macclesfield)
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 (a) adequacy of the UK Foundation Programme allocation process and (b) potential impact of changes to the UK Foundation Programme allocation process on levels of satisfaction among applicants in 2023.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The allocation process for the UK Foundation Programme this year was changed to a Preference Informed Allocation method. This new process saw applicants being given a computer-generated rank and the removal of the requirement to sit the Situational Judgement Test. The move to the new system aimed to address concerns about the previous system, including that was it was perceived as unfair and stressful for applicants, and that there was lack of standardisation within and across schools. This change was based on extensive stakeholder engagement by the four statutory education bodies in the United Kingdom.
When confirming the move to the new system last year, Health Education England, now part of NHS England, set out that once implemented it would be kept under constant review to make sure it is working well for applicants.
All 9,702 eligible applicants for the 2024 Foundation Programme were allocated to a Foundation School, with 75% of those applicants getting their first preference. This is an improvement on last year when 8,655 applicants were placed and 71% got their first preference.