Found: study and produced a report showing how ageism exists in access to, and provision of, mental health

Found: We believe the following actions are required: Public health services: Older people should be able to

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of the budget of NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS funded Nursing Care is spent on pensioners.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England does not collect data on how much NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) and National Health Service-funded Nursing Care funding is spent on ‘pensioners’, defined here as someone who is in receipt of a pension. Determination of CHC eligibility is based on a comprehensive assessment of care needs rather than any specific medical condition, disease or diagnosis.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to (1) prevent ill health, and (2) promote staying healthy, among older people.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We work to support the health needs of, and prevent ill health in, older people through a variety of action. This includes the NHS Health Check, which detects people at risk of developing cardiovascular disease in later life, and an ambitious prevention agenda to tackle the most common preventable diseases among older people. For example, encouraging people in mid-life to stop smoking, reduce their alcohol consumption and improve their diet to help reduce the risk of developing dementia, disability and frailty in later life.

The Government will also publish a Major Conditions Strategy which will set out a strong and coherent policy agenda that sets out a shift to integrated, whole-person care. The Strategy will tackle conditions that contribute most to morbidity and mortality across the population in England including cancers, cardiovascular disease, including stroke and diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, dementia, mental ill health and musculoskeletal conditions. An interim report will be published in the summer.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government why the NHS Health Check is not being offered to people over 74.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

A person aged 75 years old or over is not eligible for an NHS Health Check because they can request a health check from their accountable general practitioner. This is a requirement of NHS England’s Standard General Medical Services Contract.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what was the average cost to the public purse of the provision of health and social care for people aged (a) 65 to 79 and (b) 80 and above in the latest period for which data was available.

Answered by Will Quince

The information requested is not held centrally. Age cost curves are available for integrated care board-commissioned health services rather than overall health expenditure and unit costs for social care are available for over-65-year-olds, but not more granular age bands.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the joint statement made by various organisations on 21 March which called for a Commissioner for Older People and Ageing for England; and what plans they have to meet with representatives of the relevant organisations.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We have no current plans to make a specific assessment as the needs of older people and healthy ageing are covered by the NHS Health Check and an ambitious prevention agenda to reduce individuals’ risk of ill health later in life.

We continue to engage a wide range of organisations on healthy ageing and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities is taking targeted actions to tackle the most common preventable diseases, improving access and uptake of prevention services, and embedding prevention across health and care. For example, encouraging people in mid-life to stop smoking, reduce their alcohol consumption and improve their diet to help reduce the risk of developing dementia, disability and frailty in later life.

Finally, the Government recently announced that it will publish a Major Conditions Strategy which will set out a strong and coherent policy agenda that sets out a shift to integrated, whole-person care. The Strategy will tackle conditions that contribute most to morbidity and mortality across the population in England: cancers; cardiovascular disease, including stroke and diabetes; chronic respiratory diseases; dementia; mental ill health; and musculoskeletal conditions. An interim report will be published in the summer.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of their levels of preparedness for the predicted increase in the older population.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

There have been changes in the trends of ill health among older people. For example, we know that it is becoming more common for people to spend their later years with multiple health conditions. The percentage of people aged over 65 years old with two or more health conditions is projected to increase from 54% in 2015 to 68% in 2035. We can reduce the risk of developing conditions by adopting healthier behaviours throughout the course of life, and evidence shows that the earlier in life we make healthy changes, the more we reduce the risk of conditions in later life.

We are focusing on the major conditions which contribute to early mortality and reduce years of good health, and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities is taking targeted actions to tackle the most common preventable diseases, improving access and uptake of prevention services, and embedding prevention across health and care. We are delivering an ambitious programme of work to create a healthier environment to help people achieve and maintain a healthy weight and supporting the recovery and modernisation of the NHS Health Check programme to detect and manage conditions early. Furthermore, the Government announced on 24 January 2023 that it will publish a Major Conditions Strategy, which will set out a strong and coherent policy agenda that sets out a shift to integrated, whole-person care. An interim report will be published in the summer.

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 trends in the level of referrals of people aged over 65 to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme since 2019.

Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education

The following table shows the number of referrals of people aged over 65 years old to Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services. The data shows a decline in referrals from 2020/21 due to the impact of the pandemic as many people aged over 65 years old were more likely to be isolating. While complete data for 2021/22 is not yet available, the number of referrals is now increasing.

Source: Psychological Therapies, Annual Reports on the use of IAPT services, NHS Digital

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 effect of deferring checks for the early warning signs of strokes, cancers, diabetes and other illnesses for people aged over 75 on the level of long-term demand on hospitals in the NHS in England.

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

Following the emergence of the Omicron variant, measures were announced to increase general practice capacity and financial support to deliver an expanded vaccine programme. This includes allowing general practices to defer routine annual health checks for patients aged 75 years old and over until April 2022, where clinically appropriate. However, we continue to encourage people to come forward if they feel unwell and have any symptoms associated with cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and other conditions.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that older people are able to access health checks on request.

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

Practices must ensure that each of its registered patients is assigned a named general practitioner (GP). For registered patients aged 75 years old and over, the named GP is required to respond to the patient’s needs in a timely manner and ensure the patient receives a routine health check if requested where the patient has not received one in the previous 12 months.

In response to updated advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation on 3 December 2021, measures were announced to increase capacity in general practice to deliver an expanded COVID-19 vaccine programme. This includes allowing practices to defer routine annual health checks for new patients and patients aged 75 years old and over until April 2022, where practices consider this clinically appropriate. GP practices should continue to meet the reasonable needs of all registered patients, including those aged 75 years old and over. This includes providing necessary appointments and referrals.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what input they had into the NHS Surge and Triage briefing paper drawn up by NHS England in 2016 following a pandemic planning exercise which discussed the withdrawal of hospital care from elderly patients in the event of a severe flu pandemic.

Answered by Lord Kamall

The draft 2016 briefing paper was developed by NHS England and NHS Improvement for clinical deliberation and discussion with the then Chief Medical Officer.