Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department issues on the training NHS staff should receive on (a) assistance dogs and (b) supporting blind and visually impaired people.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Under the Equality Act 2010, health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged, including disabled people with assistance dogs.
National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers must comply with the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) to meet the communication needs of patients and carers with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss, including blind and visually impaired people. NHS England has completed a review of the AIS to help ensure that everyone’s communication needs are met in health and care provision. The review considered the effectiveness of the current AIS, how the standard is implemented and enforced in practice, and identified recommendations for improvement. The revised standard will be published in due course.
Following publication, NHS England will continue work to support implementation with awareness raising, communication and engagement and updated e-learning modules on the AIS to ensure NHS staff are better aware of the standard and their roles and responsibilities in implementing it. Assistance dogs are not covered within the scope of the AIS.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of blind and visually impaired people were prevented from accessing NHS estates with guide dogs in the last 12 months.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The data requested is not held centrally. Under the Equality Act 2010, health and social care organisations must make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not disadvantaged, including disabled people with assistance dogs. The Act places a duty on service providers to make reasonable adjustments to improve access to premises, buildings and services. This could include allowing the use of assistance dogs so that disabled people have the same access to National Health Service estates.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospital admissions were due to alcohol consumption in each year since 2019-20; and what steps his Department is taking to help tackle this issue.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The following table shows recorded hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions (conditions solely caused by alcohol) and alcohol-related conditions (conditions partially caused by alcohol):
Year | Number of admissions, England, persons | |
Alcohol-specific conditions | Alcohol-related conditions (broad) | |
2022/23 | To be released February 2024 | |
2021/22 | 342,795 | 948,312 |
2020/21 | 347,761 | 814,595 |
2019/20 | 318,596 | 976,423 |
Source: OHID, Local Alcohol Profiles for England.
We have a strong programme underway to address alcohol-related harm, including investing £27 million of funding to establish alcohol care teams in the 25% of hospitals in England with the greatest need. This is expected to prevent a further 50,000 hospital admissions over five years.
We are also working to reduce excess alcohol consumption and associated harm among people who regularly drink above the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines (over 14 units per week) by facilitating substitution of standard strength alcohol with no and low-alcohol alternatives. On 28 September 2023, we launched a consultation on updating our labelling guidance for no and low-alcohol alternatives, to improve clarity of consumer information, and to support innovation in the sector. This will provide greater choice for consumers to help them moderate excess alcohol consumption. More information is available at the following link:
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities on the potential merits of prioritising identification of people who (a) are traditionally reluctant to engage with the health system and (b) may not be easily identifiable as a result of (i) poor health literacy, (ii) digital exclusion, (iii) multiple deprivation and (iv) inequalities conferred by ethnicity.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) is an integral part of the Department. The consideration of inequalities is embedded across OHID and the Department’s work. Our approach will continue to focus on supporting people to live healthier lives, helping the NHS and social care to provide the best treatment and care for patients and tackling health disparities through national and system interventions such as the NHS England Core20PLUS5 programme.
We have published our initial report ‘Major Conditions Strategy: Case for change and our strategic framework’ which identifies the importance of tackling inequalities to improve health outcomes, and is available at the following link:
Core20PLUS5 is a national NHS England approach to inform action to reduce healthcare inequalities at both national and system level. The approach focuses on improving cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory, maternity, and mental health outcomes in the poorest 20 percent of the population, along with ethnic minorities and inclusion health groups. Further information is available at the following link:
The approach has now been adapted to apply to children and young people, with further information available at the following link:
NHS England has recently published a framework for National Health Service action on digital inclusion to help NHS staff enable and encourage greater access to and improved experiences of healthcare, and increased adoption of digital approaches where that is appropriate. The framework can be accessed at the following link:
Inclusion health groups are also known to experience poor health literacy and digital exclusion. On 9 October NHS England also published its inclusion health framework to support the NHS to meet the needs of people in these groups. The framework can be accessed at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/a-national-framework-for-nhs-action-on-inclusion-health/
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with relevant stakeholders on the potential merits of prioritising earlier detection of heart failure as part of the Major Conditions Strategy.
Answered by Will Quince
We have heard from a wide range of stakeholders, and their views are informing the development of the Major Conditions Strategy (MCS). This will include the responses we have received following the call for evidence.
We are engaging across the conditions in the MCS rather than individually; therefore, specific conversations prioritising earlier detection of heart failure have not taken place.
From April 2022, Primary Care Networks have been required to support earlier identification of heart failure and better management of cholesterol to prevent heart failure.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with NHS England on the potential merits of supporting the British Society for Heart Failure-led multi-disciplinary 25in25 initiative.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
There have been no specific discussions with NHS England. Preventing cardiovascular diseases (CVD), including heart failure, is a priority for this government, which is why they are a key part of our upcoming Major Conditions Strategy. The NHS Health Check aims to prevent heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease, and some cases of dementia among adults aged between 40 and 74 years old. The period between April and June this year saw the highest number of NHS Health Checks offered since the programme began in 2013, meaning more people than ever can reduce their CVD risk through the programme.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on reducing the number of NHS cancer waiting time targets; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
In June 2018, the Prime Minister asked for a clinically-led review of National Health Service access standards to ensure they measure what matters most, both in optimising clinical outcomes and to patients. The review was led by Professor Steve Powis, with support from a Clinical Oversight Group, consisting of clinicians and patient group representatives. As part of the process the Department and NHS England also undertook extensive engagement with stakeholders; NHS England received responses from 46 organisations, including hospitals, Cancer Alliances and charities across the country. NHS England also consulted on these changes and responses overall supported the core proposals in the interim report, including the simplification and modernisation of standards.
On 17 August 2023, NHS England announced changes to cancer waiting times standards, rationalising them from 10 standards to three; more specifically, there will be a Faster Diagnosis Standard of a maximum 28-day wait for communication of a definitive cancer/not cancer diagnosis for patients referred urgently or those identified by NHS cancer screening. There will be a maximum 62-day wait to first treatment from urgent general practitioner referral, NHS cancer screening or consultant upgrade. There will be a maximum 31-day wait from decision to treat to any cancer treatment starting for all cancer patients. The Department supports these changes and will amend the relevant statutory regulations in due course, as shared in the Written Ministerial Statement of my Rt. Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, HCWS1001, published on 4 September 2023.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department held discussions with (a) cancer charities and (b) clinicians on changes to NHS cancer waiting time targets.
Answered by Will Quince
In June 2018, the Prime Minister asked for a clinically-led review of National Health Service access standards to ensure they measure what matters most, both in optimising clinical outcomes and to patients. The review was led by Professor Steve Powis, with support from a Clinical Oversight Group, consisting of clinicians and patient group representatives. As part of the process the Department and NHS England also undertook extensive engagement with stakeholders; NHS England received responses from 46 organisations, including hospitals, Cancer Alliances and charities across the country. NHS England also consulted on these changes and responses overall supported the core proposals in the interim report, including the simplification and modernisation of standards.
On 17 August 2023, NHS England announced changes to cancer waiting times standards, rationalising them from 10 standards to three; more specifically, there will be a Faster Diagnosis Standard of a maximum 28-day wait for communication of a definitive cancer/not cancer diagnosis for patients referred urgently or those identified by NHS cancer screening. There will be a maximum 62-day wait to first treatment from urgent general practitioner referral, NHS cancer screening or consultant upgrade. There will be a maximum 31-day wait from decision to treat to any cancer treatment starting for all cancer patients. The Department supports these changes and will amend the relevant statutory regulations in due course, as shared in the Written Ministerial Statement of my Rt. Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, HCWS1001, published on 4 September 2023.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
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 adequacy of the training available on coeliac disease for (a) primary care physicians and (b) other health professionals.
Answered by Will Quince
Individual employers are responsible for ensuring their staff are trained and competent to carry out their role.
The curriculum for general practitioners (GPs) in training, set by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), includes a chapter on gastroenterology that addresses the treatment of coeliac disease.
Additionally, the RCGP has made online resources available on coeliac disease and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidelines for the disease are tested in the Applied Knowledge Test assessment for GP training. NHS England’s training programmes offer educational sessions on the RCGP’s curriculum for common gastroenterological conditions, which include coeliac disease assessment, investigation, and management.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to work with NHS England to provide pharmacists with (a) education and (b) support in the diagnosis of coeliac disease.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
There are no current plans to commission community pharmacy to support diagnosis and treatment of coeliac disease. Diagnosis and the prescription of treatment is within the clinical scope of practice of general practitioners and specialist doctors. Community pharmacies are already commissioned to provide support to patients on making best use of medicines prescribed, as well as to provide advice on self-care and signpost people to other healthcare providers if the pharmacy cannot provide the necessary support or advice.