Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with stakeholders on tackling shortages of atorvastatin.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There have been supply issues with atorvastatin, but as a result of our work to manage those issues, including engaging with alternative suppliers to cover supply gaps in order to meet demand, they have now been resolved.
The medicine supply chain is highly regulated, complex, and global. Supply disruption is an issue which affects the United Kingdom, as well as other countries around the world. There can be a variety of causes, including manufacturing issues, problems with access to raw ingredients, and sudden spikes in demand.
Whilst we can’t always prevent supply issues, the Department has well-established tools and processes to manage them, in order to mitigate risks to patients. We work closely with the pharmaceutical industry, NHS England, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and others operating in the supply chain to help ensure patients continue to have access to suitable medicines when supply is disrupted.
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 she is taking to improve NHS England's handling of complaints made by (a) staff, (b) patients and (c) carers.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
On complaints made by patients and carers, we have worked closely with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on their work to develop the NHS Complaint Standards. These standards set out how National Health Service organisations that handle NHS complaints, such as NHS England, should approach complaint handling to ensure they are handled and resolved effectively.
On complaints made by staff, NHS England has published information about how people can speak to NHS England’s Freedom to Speak Up Team. Whilst there is a network of over 1,000 local Freedom to Speak Up Guardians across healthcare in England to support staff in speaking up, the information published by NHS England makes it clear that staff across the NHS can speak up to NHS England about anything that gets in the way of patient care, or affects their working life. My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care speaks regularly to NHS England about its performance, responsibilities, and activity, including complaints.
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 is she taking to address defensive culture in the handling of NHS complaints.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We have worked closely with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on their work to develop the NHS Complaint Standards, which set out how organisations providing services in the National Health Service should approach complaint handling. The standards place a strong focus on several aspects of complaint handling to avoid defensiveness, including emphasising the importance of actively listening and demonstrating a clear understanding of what the main issues are for the complainant, as well as the outcomes they seek, being thorough and fair, and identifying suitable ways to put things right for people.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 adequacy of the availability of NHS provision for the diagnosis of ADHD in (a) Oxfordshire and (b) England.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessment and treatment, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance. The NICE guideline on ADHD does not recommend a maximum waiting time from referral for an assessment of ADHD to the point of assessment or diagnosis. The Department has not made a specific assessment of the availability of National Health Service provision for the diagnosis of, or treatment of, ADHD in Oxfordshire.
In respect of the adequacy of ADHD service provision nationally, in December 2023, NHS England initiated a rapid piece of work to consider ADHD service provision within the NHS. The initial phase of work identified challenges, including with current service models and the ability to keep pace with demand. Following this initial review, NHS England is establishing a new ADHD taskforce alongside the Government, to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The new taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, and to help provide a joined up approach in response to concerns around rising demand.
Alongside the work of the taskforce, NHS England has announced that it will continue to work with stakeholders to develop a national ADHD data improvement plan, carry out more detailed work to understand the provider and commissioning landscape, and capture examples from local health systems which are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services, to ensure best practice is captured and shared across the system.
In respect of the availability of NHS provision for the treatment of ADHD nationally, the Department is aware of, and taking action to address, disruptions to the supply of medicine used for the management of ADHD. Disruptions to the supply of medicines have been primarily driven by issues which have resulted in capacity constraints at key manufacturing sites. Nationally, the Department has been working hard with industry to help resolve those issues as quickly as possible. As a result of our ongoing activity, some issues have been resolved. However, we know that there continue to be disruptions to the supply of some other medicines, including methylphenidate and guanfacine. The latest information we have received from manufacturers is that these should largely be resolved by May 2024 and October 2024, respectively.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
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 adequacy of the availability of NHS provision for the treatment of ADHD in (a) Oxfordshire and (b) England.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessment and treatment, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance. The NICE guideline on ADHD does not recommend a maximum waiting time from referral for an assessment of ADHD to the point of assessment or diagnosis. The Department has not made a specific assessment of the availability of National Health Service provision for the diagnosis of, or treatment of, ADHD in Oxfordshire.
In respect of the adequacy of ADHD service provision nationally, in December 2023, NHS England initiated a rapid piece of work to consider ADHD service provision within the NHS. The initial phase of work identified challenges, including with current service models and the ability to keep pace with demand. Following this initial review, NHS England is establishing a new ADHD taskforce alongside the Government, to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The new taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, and to help provide a joined up approach in response to concerns around rising demand.
Alongside the work of the taskforce, NHS England has announced that it will continue to work with stakeholders to develop a national ADHD data improvement plan, carry out more detailed work to understand the provider and commissioning landscape, and capture examples from local health systems which are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services, to ensure best practice is captured and shared across the system.
In respect of the availability of NHS provision for the treatment of ADHD nationally, the Department is aware of, and taking action to address, disruptions to the supply of medicine used for the management of ADHD. Disruptions to the supply of medicines have been primarily driven by issues which have resulted in capacity constraints at key manufacturing sites. Nationally, the Department has been working hard with industry to help resolve those issues as quickly as possible. As a result of our ongoing activity, some issues have been resolved. However, we know that there continue to be disruptions to the supply of some other medicines, including methylphenidate and guanfacine. The latest information we have received from manufacturers is that these should largely be resolved by May 2024 and October 2024, respectively.
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 steps she is taking to eliminate (a) cervical and (b) other cancer caused by human papillomavirus.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, alongside routine screening, is key to protecting people against strains of HPV that can cause some cancers including cervical, anal, head and neck cancer.
The NHS Cervical Screening Programme (CSP) provides all women and people with a cervix between the ages of 25 and 64 years old with the opportunity to be screened routinely, to detect certain types of HPV infection which cause 99.7% of cervical cancer. An in-service evaluation is being commissioned by the National Institute for Health and Care Research to determine whether HPV self-sampling could be used to improve the NHS CSP.
The HPV vaccination is offered to all adolescents in Year 8 of school, and catch-up vaccinations are available to those up to 25 years old, those born on or after 1 September 2006, for both females and males who may have missed vaccination under the schools’ programme, providing an additional failsafe. The HPV vaccination is also recommended to gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, up to and including those aged 45 years old.
NHS England’s vaccination strategy sets out a range of ambitions to improve uptake across the National Health Service’s vaccination programmes. This includes building on existing work and delivery to develop implementation plans for how HPV vaccinations, alongside cervical screening and pre-cancer treatment, can help achieve the NHS ambition to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and Penge)
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 reduce (a) assessment and (b) diagnosis waiting times for ADHD.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
It is the responsibility of integrated care boards to make appropriate provision available, to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. The NICE’s guidelines for ADHD diagnosis and management aim to improve the diagnosis of ADHD, as well as the quality of care and support people receive. The NICE’s guidelines do not recommend a maximum waiting time standard for ADHD diagnosis, either from referral for an assessment to receiving an assessment, a diagnosis, or a first contact appointment.
There is, at present, no single, established dataset that can be used to monitor waiting times for the assessment or treatment for ADHD nationally. The Department is exploring options to improve data collection and reporting on ADHD assessment waiting times, to help improve access to ADHD assessments in a timely way and in line with the NICE’s guideline. In support of this, the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Policy Research Programme has commissioned a research project to provide insights into local ADHD diagnosis waiting time data collection.
NHS England is establishing a new ADHD taskforce alongside the Government, to improve care for people living with the condition. The new taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the National Health Service, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, and help provide a joined up approach in response to concerns around rising demand for assessments and support.
Alongside the work of the taskforce, NHS England has announced that it will continue to work with stakeholders to develop a national ADHD data improvement plan, carry out more detailed work to understand the provider and commissioning landscape, and capture examples from local health systems who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services, to ensure best practice is captured and shared across the system.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with relevant stakeholders on tackling shortages of Etoricoxib.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is aware that a supplier of etoricoxib 60 milligram tablets is experiencing a supply issue. We have been working with that supplier to address the issue, and resupply is expected in early May 2024. We have worked with alternative suppliers to ensure they can cover the gap in the market in the meantime.
The medicine supply chain is highly regulated, complex, and global. Supply disruption is an issue which affects the United Kingdom, as well as other countries around the world. There can be a variety of causes, including manufacturing issues, problems with access to raw ingredients, and sudden spikes in demand.
Whilst we can’t always prevent supply issues, the Department has well-established tools and processes to manage them, in order to mitigate risks to patients. We work closely with the pharmaceutical industry, NHS England, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and others operating in the supply chain to help ensure patients continue to have access to suitable medicines when supply is disrupted.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with relevant stakeholders on tackling shortages of Ezetimibe.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is aware of supply issues affecting several Ezetimibe suppliers. We are engaging with these suppliers to address the issues, and are working with alternative suppliers to ensure supplies remain available.
The medicine supply chain is highly regulated, complex, and global. Supply disruption is an issue which affects the United Kingdom, as well as other countries around the world. There can be a variety of causes, including manufacturing issues, problems with access to raw ingredients, and sudden spikes in demand.
Whilst we can’t always prevent supply issues, the Department has well-established tools and processes to manage them, in order to mitigate risks to patients. We work closely with the pharmaceutical industry, NHS England, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and others operating in the supply chain to help ensure patients continue to have access to suitable medicines when supply is disrupted.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made a recent assessment of the effectiveness of the help us, help you campaign.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No recent assessment has been made. In 2020 NHS England launched the Help Us, Help You (HUHY) campaigns, a major public information campaign to persuade the public to seek urgent care and treatment when they needed it. The HUHY campaign strategy is designed to address the underlying barriers to cancer diagnosis, including multifaceted fears and a lack of body vigilance, along with the lack of knowledge of cancer symptoms, to encourage people to present earlier.
On 8 January 2024, NHS England relaunched the HUHY campaign for cancer, designed to increase earlier diagnosis of cancer by reducing barriers to seeking earlier help, as well as increasing body vigilance and knowledge of key red flag symptoms. This campaign addresses barriers to people coming forward with suspected signs of cancer in general, and is not specific to screening or cervical cancer.
We are seeing continued high levels of urgent cancer referrals, which suggests the HUHY campaigns continue to be effective. Over 12,000 urgent referrals were seen for suspected cancer per working day in February 2024, compared to approximately 9,000 in January 2020.