Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 hospital admissions were due to liver disease in 2022-23.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities publishes liver disease profiles. These provide data on the number and rate of hospital admissions for liver disease in England and local areas. The profiles currently include hospital admissions data up to the financial year ending 31 March 2022.
In the financial year ending 2022, there were 82,290 hospital admissions in England due to liver disease. The profiles do not include the proportion of all hospital admissions that are due to liver disease. Data on hospital admissions is updated regularly in the profiles, and data for the financial year ending 2023 will be published this summer.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to provide additional funding to extend the provision of fracture liaison services to all NHS trusts.
Answered by Will Quince
On 24 January 2023, we announced our plan to publish the Major Conditions Strategy. The Strategy will focus on six major groups of conditions, including musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders such as osteoporosis.
We have now published our initial report ‘Major Conditions Strategy: Case for change and our strategic framework’. It sets out what we have learned so far, and shares what we plan to focus on next to develop the final strategy.
For MSK conditions, it sets out that we will look to aim to improve services where medical treatment is necessary. Together with NHS England, we will explore supporting the further provision of fracture liaison services. This could include identifying people at risk of further osteoporotic fragility fracture and implementing strategies to reduce the risk of future fracture, including falls, and mortality.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the reasons for which the drafting process for NICE guidelines on haemochromatosis was paused in April 2023.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department has made no such assessment. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) reviewed its guidelines portfolio in May 2023 to identify topics that it thinks will add the most value to the health and care system, considering key factors such as clinical benefit, cost effectiveness, the potential to increase productivity and support workforce issues and the potential to address health inequalities. As a result, NICE identified several topics, including the guidance on haemochromatosis, where work will stop for the time being to allow focus on key priorities. NICE consulted on the scope for the guideline on haemochromatosis in January 2023 but has not published the final scope.
These topics will be reconsidered by NICE’s new Prioritisation Board that is being established by its Chief Medical Officer, and as work to establish the prioritisation board progresses, more information on timescales will become available. NICE will make further information available on its website once topics have been reprioritised.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the scope of draft NICE guidelines on haemochromatosis with regards to (a) known forms of haemochromatosis and (b) pathogenic variants attributable to other genetic mutations associated with iron overload.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department has made no such assessment. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) reviewed its guidelines portfolio in May 2023 to identify topics that it thinks will add the most value to the health and care system, considering key factors such as clinical benefit, cost effectiveness, the potential to increase productivity and support workforce issues and the potential to address health inequalities. As a result, NICE identified several topics, including the guidance on haemochromatosis, where work will stop for the time being to allow focus on key priorities. NICE consulted on the scope for the guideline on haemochromatosis in January 2023 but has not published the final scope.
These topics will be reconsidered by NICE’s new Prioritisation Board that is being established by its Chief Medical Officer, and as work to establish the prioritisation board progresses, more information on timescales will become available. NICE will make further information available on its website once topics have been reprioritised.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 monitor the potential impact of changes in NHS cancer waiting time targets on patients in Bath constituency.
Answered by Will Quince
The information is not held in the format requested, as cancer waiting time data is not collected by constituency. Cancer waiting time data by provider, commissioner or at a national level is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 reduce the number of NHS Cancer waiting time targets; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department has taken steps to work with NHS England to reduce the number of cancer waiting time targets within the National Health Service. Following a review of cancer waiting times standards by Professor Sir Steve Powis, and a consultation last year, clinical experts in the NHS recommended modernising and simplifying cancer waiting time standards to focus on three outcome-based standards. On 17 August 2023, NHS England announced changes to cancer waiting times standards; 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.
These standards will give clinicians greater flexibility to adopt new technologies such as remote image review and artificial intelligence, and avoid disincentivising modern working practices such as one-stop shops and straight-to-test. 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: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) referral and (b) risk assessment criteria will be for referring women to women’s health hubs in order to access Fracture Liaison Services.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In July 2023 we announced that the £25 million investment in women’s health hubs is being distributed to every integrated care board (ICB), with each ICB receiving £595,000 in total over 2023/24 and 2024/25. ICBs have been asked to use the funding to establish or expand one women’s health hub, including working with their local authority commissioners and within their system.
It is important that services are provided in a way that best meets population needs and reduces health inequalities, and ICBs will determine which specific services their hub will offer. To support ICBs to establish women’s health hubs, we have published a cost-benefit analysis, and a core specification. The core specification sets out which services ICBs could consider incorporating into their hub model, either in terms of provision or signposting. Osteoporosis assessment and care, for example DEXA (bone density) scanning or fracture liaison services is included in the core specification as an area for consideration.
Further information on women’s health hubs was published on GOV.UK in July 2023 at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/womens-health-hubs
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the referral pathways will be for women to access women’s health hubs in order to benefit from Fracture Liaison Services.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In July 2023 we announced that the £25 million investment in women’s health hubs is being distributed to every integrated care board (ICB), with each ICB receiving £595,000 in total over 2023/24 and 2024/25. ICBs have been asked to use the funding to establish or expand one women’s health hub, including working with their local authority commissioners and within their system.
It is important that services are provided in a way that best meets population needs and reduces health inequalities, and ICBs will determine which specific services their hub will offer. To support ICBs to establish women’s health hubs, we have published a cost-benefit analysis, and a core specification. The core specification sets out which services ICBs could consider incorporating into their hub model, either in terms of provision or signposting. Osteoporosis assessment and care, for example DEXA (bone density) scanning or fracture liaison services is included in the core specification as an area for consideration.
Further information on women’s health hubs was published on GOV.UK in July 2023 at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/womens-health-hubs
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Government announcement of 8 March 2023, what proportion of the £25 million allocated for the creation of women’s health hubs will be invested in Fracture Liaison Services.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In July 2023 we announced that the £25 million investment in women’s health hubs is being distributed to every integrated care board (ICB), with each ICB receiving £595,000 in total over 2023/24 and 2024/25. ICBs have been asked to use the funding to establish or expand one women’s health hub, including working with their local authority commissioners and within their system.
It is important that services are provided in a way that best meets population needs and reduces health inequalities, and ICBs will determine which specific services their hub will offer. To support ICBs to establish women’s health hubs, we have published a cost-benefit analysis, and a core specification. The core specification sets out which services ICBs could consider incorporating into their hub model, either in terms of provision or signposting. Osteoporosis assessment and care, for example DEXA (bone density) scanning or fracture liaison services is included in the core specification as an area for consideration.
Further information on women’s health hubs was published on GOV.UK in July 2023 at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/womens-health-hubs
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of women’s health hubs will provide Fracture Liaison Services.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In July 2023 we announced that the £25 million investment in women’s health hubs is being distributed to every integrated care board (ICB), with each ICB receiving £595,000 in total over 2023/24 and 2024/25. ICBs have been asked to use the funding to establish or expand one women’s health hub, including working with their local authority commissioners and within their system.
It is important that services are provided in a way that best meets population needs and reduces health inequalities, and ICBs will determine which specific services their hub will offer. To support ICBs to establish women’s health hubs, we have published a cost-benefit analysis, and a core specification. The core specification sets out which services ICBs could consider incorporating into their hub model, either in terms of provision or signposting. Osteoporosis assessment and care, for example DEXA (bone density) scanning or fracture liaison services is included in the core specification as an area for consideration.
Further information on women’s health hubs was published on GOV.UK in July 2023 at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/womens-health-hubs