Correspondence Oct. 15 2024
Committee: Preterm Birth CommitteeFound: We are determined to learn lessons from investigations and reports on maternity and neonatal services
Oct. 15 2024
Source Page: Code of practice (Northern Ireland) for the authorisation and exercise of stop and search powers relating to sections 43, 43a, 43c and 47a of, and schedule 6b to, The Terrorism Act 2000Found: Police services may provide this information by training or briefing. 8.3 Officers should be reminded
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government at what point in September the respiratory syncytial virus vaccine for infants and those aged 75 to 80 was made available in the South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board area.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination programmes for pregnant women to protect newborns and adults aged between 75 and 79 years old began in England on 1 September 2024.
Supplies of RSV vaccines were available for all general practices (GPs) and maternity services in England to order, including those in the South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board area, from 1 August 2024, to allow pre-positioning of vaccine stock in the National Health Service in advance of the national programmes going live in September.
The South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board supported the national timelines and promoted the programmes extensively, with GPs and maternity services administering RSV vaccines to eligible groups from the 1 September. While a small number of GPs in Sheffield have experienced delays in starting the RSV programmes, all have now placed supply orders and are offering bookings for those who are eligible to get vaccinated.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of primary care practices in Sheffield did not have availability of the respiratory syncytial virus vaccine by 20 September.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination programmes for pregnant women to protect newborns and adults aged between 75 and 79 years old began in England on 1 September 2024.
Supplies of RSV vaccines were available for all general practices (GPs) and maternity services in England to order, including those in the South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board area, from 1 August 2024, to allow pre-positioning of vaccine stock in the National Health Service in advance of the national programmes going live in September.
The South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board supported the national timelines and promoted the programmes extensively, with GPs and maternity services administering RSV vaccines to eligible groups from the 1 September. While a small number of GPs in Sheffield have experienced delays in starting the RSV programmes, all have now placed supply orders and are offering bookings for those who are eligible to get vaccinated.
Asked by: Adam Thompson (Labour - Erewash)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) progress can be monitored on all maternity safety improvement schemes and (b) all schemes can be effectively evaluated to assess impact.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Improving safety and outcomes for women and babies is central to NHS England’s three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services, which is built on recommendations from recent maternity safety inquiries and specifically addresses the key themes they raised. The plan includes measures to determine success that will be used to monitor outcomes and progress in achieving key objectives in the plan. To facilitate monitoring against the key objectives, NHS England published technical guidance which includes information to provide clarity on the data sources and indicator construction for these measures.
There are a number of measures in place to monitor progress of maternity safety improvement schemes, including the perinatal quality oversight model (PQOM). The PQOM provides a structure with clear lines of responsibility and accountability for addressing and escalating quality and safety risks at a trust, integrated care board, regional, and national level.
The Maternity Safety Support Programme provides dedicated and intensive support to trusts that require additional support. Maternity improvement advisors work closely with trusts to develop tailored maternity improvement plans and monitor progress. NHS England undertook an evaluation of the programme this year and they are currently exploring where improvements can be made.
Oct. 11 2024
Source Page: School workforce census: guidesFound: CTCs), academies, free schools, pupil referral units , Multi Academy Trusts (MATs) and at Children’s Services
Found: , modernising services and improving customers’ experience. ❷ Improve services, tackle fraud, error
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Leeds (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report Infant Mortality in England published by Health Equity North in August; and what assessment they have made of the ethnic disparities in infant mortality rates in England set out in that report.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is unacceptable that infant mortality figures are rising, and that there are stark inequalities in outcomes for babies. The Government is committed to ensuring all mothers and babies received safe, personalised and compassionate care.
A key objective in NHS England’s Three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services is to reduce inequalities for all in maternity access, experience and outcomes, seeking to improve equity for mothers and babies. The plan includes the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle which provides maternity units with guidance and interventions to reduce stillbirths, neonatal brain injury, neonatal death, and preterm birth and includes initiatives to reduce inequalities. The bundle has been rolled out across England to all trusts with full implementation by 104 out of 120 providers. All local maternity and neonatal systems have published Equity and Equality actions plans to tackle inequalities for women and babies from ethnic minorities and those living in the most deprived areas, tailored to the needs of the local area. A copy of the delivery plan is attached.
The Government is currently piloting a training programme to help avoid brain injury in childbirth to improve safety for mothers and their babies. If successful, national rollout is expected to commence next year.
Asked by: Baroness Northover (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to resolve the issues highlighted in the Care Quality Commission’s National review of maternity services in England, 2022–2024, including those concerning workforce planning and recruitment.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) National Review of maternity services in England 2022 to 2024 shines a light on the serious issues that exist within maternity services.
The Government is taking the findings and recommendations made in the CQC’s report seriously and has committed to ensuring that trusts failing on maternity care are robustly supported into rapid improvement, whilst training thousands more midwives and setting an explicit target to close the Black and Asian maternal mortality gap.
The Government will continue to work with the National Health Service as it delivers its 3-year maternity and neonatal plan to grow the maternity workforce, develop a culture of safety, and ensure women receive safe, compassionate care.
Oct. 10 2024
Source Page: Complying with seafarer wage requirementsFound: This includes services between the UK and the Crown Dependencies.