Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that intensive therapy unit patients have access to rehabilitative therapies on their discharge from hospital.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Rehabilitation, and therapy-led reablement, are critical in ensuring that patients discharged on intermediate care pathways from acute settings receive appropriate support to recover.
As set out in the hospital discharge and community support guidance, local authorities and integrated care boards should ensure that, where appropriate, they commission rehabilitation, including therapy-led reablement, for those who need it.
Every acute hospital now has access to a care transfer hub. These hubs bring together professionals from the National Health Service and social care to ensure that patients with more complex needs have in place the most appropriate support package for their safe discharge.
Asked by: Keir Mather (Labour - Selby and Ainsty)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of adding medications related to (a) asthma and (b) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the NHS prescription charge exemption list.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
While the Government’s policy remains, that there are no plans to review the list of medical conditions that entitle someone to apply for a medical exemption certificate, there are extensive arrangements currently in place in England to ensure that prescriptions are affordable for everyone, including for those with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Approximately 89% of prescription items are dispensed free of charge in the community in England, and there is a wide range of exemptions from prescription charges already in place for which those with heart disease may be eligible. Eligibility depends on the patient’s age, whether they are in qualifying full-time education, whether they are pregnant or have recently given birth, or whether they are in receipt of certain benefits or a war pension.
People on a low income can apply for help with their health costs through the NHS Low Income Scheme. The scheme provides income related help to people who are not automatically exempt from charges, but who may be entitled to full or partial help if they have a low income and savings below a defined limit.
To support those with greatest need who do not qualify for an exemption or the NHS Low Income Scheme, Prescription Prepayment Certificates (PPCs) are available. PPCs allow people to claim as many prescriptions as they need for a set cost, with three month and 12 month certificates available, which can be paid for in instalments.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of increased rates of breastfeeding on cost savings for the NHS.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The public health benefits of breastfeeding for child and maternal health are significant and well established. Research published in the British Medical Journal suggests that increasing breastfeeding rates, both in terms of duration and exclusivity, is likely to generate substantial cost savings to the National Health Service, although the actual amounts saved will depend on the extent of this increase.
Through the Family Hubs and Start for Life Programme, we are investing £50 million to increase the range of specialist support, which is enabling more parents to access face-to-face and virtual support whenever they need it. One of the objectives of the programme is to improve the evidence base around the impact of breastfeeding interventions, and the specific combination of interventions that are effective in different circumstances. This is expected to strengthen the case for further, more widespread investment in the future.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help support (a) hospice and (b) other end-of-life services.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of the Health and Care Act 2022, the Government added palliative care services to the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission, promoting a more consistent national approach, and supporting commissioners in prioritising palliative and end of life care.
The majority of palliative and end of life care is provided by National Health Service staff and services. However, we also recognise the vital part that voluntary sector organisations, including hospices, play in providing support to people at end of life, and their families. Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing NHS services. The amount of funding hospices receive is dependent on many factors, including what other statutory services are available within the ICB footprint. Charitable hospices provide a range of services which go beyond that which statutory services are legally required to provide, and consequently, the funding arrangements reflect this.
To support ICBs, NHS England has published statutory guidance and service specifications for both adults and children. NHS England has also commissioned the development of a palliative and end of life care dashboard, which brings together relevant, all age local data in one place. The dashboard helps commissioners understand the palliative and end of life care needs of both adults and children in their local population, enabling ICBs to put plans in place to address and track the improvement of health inequalities.
NHS England has also funded seven strategic clinical networks for palliative and end of life care. These networks support commissioners in the delivery of outstanding clinical and personalised care for people in the last years of life, and reduce local variation.
At a national level, NHS England has confirmed it will renew the Children and Young People’s hospice funding for 2024/25, again allocating £25 million of grant funding for children’s hospices, using the same prevalence-based allocation approach as in 2022/23 and 2023/24. The Government has provided £60 million of additional funding to help deliver the one-off payments to over 27,000 eligible staff employed on dynamically linked Agenda for Change contracts by non-NHS organisations, including some hospices.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make it her policy to commission an independent review of the Commission on Human Medicines’ Expert Working Group’s report on Hormone Pregnancy Tests.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We remain hugely sympathetic to the families who believe that they have suffered as a result of using Hormone Pregnancy Tests. We have no plans to set up an independent review to examine the findings of the Expert Working Group. In the interests of transparency, all evidence collected and papers considered by the Expert Working Group were published in 2018, along with full minutes of its discussions. Details of conflicts of interests, and how these were managed, were also published.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of capacity in district nursing on the timeliness of patient discharge from hospital in 2023.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Between the end of March 2023 and the end of March 2024, the number of supported discharges for patients assessed as no longer meeting the criteria to reside has increased by 17% for patients on pathway 1. Pathway one is for patients returning to their usual place of residence with new or additional health or social care needs. Packages of post-discharge support for these patients may include support from district nurses.
We recognise the importance of increasing district nursing capacity. Through the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan we aim to increase training places for district nurses by 150% by 2031/32. As of January 2024, there were 4,295 full-time equivalent district nurses working in community services in NHS trusts and other core organisations in England, this is 0.5% fewer than in 2019.
Asked by: Helen Grant (Conservative - Maidstone and The Weald)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress her Department has made on increasing access to dentists in Maidstone and the Weald constituency.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the 24 months to June 2023, 496,306 adults were seen by a National Health Service dentist in Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB). This figure is 12% higher than the year before, where 444,190 adults were seen by an NHS dentist, in the 24 months to June 2022.
On 7 February 2024, we published Faster, simpler, and fairer: our plan to recover and reform NHS dentistry, which is backed by £200 million and will fund approximately 2.5 million additional appointments. The plan sets out our actions to improve dental access for patients across the country to address the challenges facing NHS dentistry, including in Maidstone and the Weald.
A new patient premium is supporting dentists in taking on new patients, and a new marketing campaign will help everyone who needs an NHS dentist in finding one. We have further supported dentists by raising the minimum Units of Dental Activity rate to £28 this year, making NHS work more attractive and sustainable.
From 1 April 2023, the responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to all ICBs across England. Kent and Medway ICB is responsible for having local processes in place to identify areas of need, and determine the priorities for investment across the ICB area.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of vaping on the health of pregnant women; and whether she plans to take steps to encourage pregnant women to stop vaping.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our health advice on vaping is clear, if you smoke, it is better to vape, but if you don’t smoke, you should never vape. Evidence to date suggests vaping is less harmful than smoking. Research funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research finds that pregnant women who vaped, when compared to women who used Nicotine Replacement Therapy, were twice as likely to quit, and that both approaches were safer than smoking. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-01808-0
To help pregnant smokers quit smoking, the Government is providing up to £10 million of investment over 2023/24 and 2024/25 via a financial incentives scheme. This evidence-based intervention, supported by behavioural support, will encourage pregnant women to quit smoking, and remain smokefree throughout pregnancy and beyond, helping to improve the health and wellbeing of both mother and baby.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to provide mental health support for the dental workforce.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan commits the National Health Service to supporting staff health and wellbeing, and asks integrated care systems to develop plans to support NHS staff in maintaining their mental health.
The NHS dental workforce is also able to access the NHS Practitioner Health Service. NHS England is in the process of reviewing the service as part of a wider review into its mental health and wellbeing offer to all staff, including the dental workforce.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS Inpatient Detox units there are by location.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are eight NHS inpatient detoxification units in England. They are listed below:
Guys and St Thomas NHS Trust (London),
Bridge House, Kent and Medway NHS Trust (Maidstone, Kent),
Dame Carol Black Unit, Midlands Foundation NHS Trust (Fareham, Hampshire),
Acer Unit, Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (Bristol),
Edward Myers Unit, Staffordshire Combined NHS Trust (Stoke),
New Beginnings, Rotherham, Doncaster, South Humber Foundation NHS Trust (Doncaster), Chapman Barker Unit, Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Trust (Manchester),
Topaz Ward, Essex Partnership NHS Trust (Chelmsford, Essex).