Written Evidence Nov. 29 2023
Inquiry: Men's healthFound: IMH0059 - Men's health Centre for Longitudinal Studies, University College London Written Evidence
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
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 tackle liver disease in the North East.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Northern Cancer Alliance is supporting services to enable the early detection of liver disease across the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care System (ICS). More than 80% of patients with liver cirrhosis, a type of liver disease, have been invited to monthly ultrasound surveillance. This investment has also included £30,000 for the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust who will be using their funds to improve systems in relation to call and recall of patients to their six-monthly checks.
Liver disease has several causes and can be associated with alcohol use or being overweight. The Government is investing significant amounts year on year in alcohol treatment through our 10-year drug strategy. In 2024/2025 the North East will receive a further £27 million, beyond funding provided by the Public Health Grant. Partners are also using a whole system approach to develop a healthy weight and treating obesity strategy for the North East and North Cumbria.
The Department is supporting people with alcohol dependency through the Drug Strategy and NHS Long Term Plan by facilitating more people in need of treatment into local authority commissioned alcohol treatment services. Additional treatment and recovery funding, made available through the Drug Strategy, can also be used to increase capacity for screening for liver fibrosis in treatment settings and to establish effective referral pathways into treatment for liver disease.
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 help tackle childhood obesity.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are delivering an ambitious programme of work to create a healthier environment, to help people achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Regulations on out of home calorie labelling for food sold in large businesses, including restaurants, cafes, and takeaways, came into force in April 2022. Restrictions on the placement of products high in fat, sugar, or salt in key selling locations came into force on 1 October 2022. We will be implementing restrictions on the sale of less healthy products by volume price, for instance three for two offers, and will introduce restrictions on the advertising of less healthy products before 9:00pm on television. We will also be implementing restrictions on paid for online advertising for less healthy products, from 1 October 2025.
We are working with the food industry to ensure it is easier for the public to make healthier choices, and make further progress on reformulation. In addition, the Food Data Transparency Partnership will help enable and encourage food companies to voluntarily demonstrate progress on the healthiness of their sales.
We are also supporting more than three million children through the Healthy Foods Schemes, and helping schools boost physical activity to help children maintain a healthy weight and good overall health through the Primary School PE and Sport Premium and the School Games Organiser Network. In addition, local authorities and the National Health Service provide weight management services and the NHS Health Check Programme, to support their communities in achieving and maintaining a healthier weight.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of high rates of childhood obesity on future diabetes rates; and what assessment they have made of the impact that this will have on the NHS's future spend on diabetes.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has data from national diabetes audits showing the increasing numbers of young people being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes over the past five years. NHS England knows that 93.5% of children with Type 2 diabetes that are under the care of paediatric diabetes units are overweight or obese, with a body mass index above the 85th centile after correction for age and gender.
Core20PLUS5 – Children and Young People includes diabetes as a key clinical area and has two key areas of clinical focus, namely to increase access to real time continuous glucose monitoring and insulin pumps for children and young people in the most deprived quintiles and from ethnic minority backgrounds, and increase the proportion of children and young people with Type 2 diabetes receiving all the care processes recommended in guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
Key diabetes health metrics, such as blood glucose levels, are poorest in young adults aged between 19 and 25 years old. To address this age-related health inequality, 15 ‘Transition and Young Adult’ pilots were established by the NHS Diabetes Programme in 2022-2025 to test models of care for young adults with diabetes and those transitioning from paediatric to adult diabetes services. The pilots will be evaluated to inform the evidence base on how to best deliver care and improve outcomes for this group.
Written Evidence Apr. 25 2024
Inquiry: Devolution of employment supportFound: Obesity: The UK faces a growing obesity problem, driven by factors such as sedentary lifestyles,
Mentions:
1: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington (Con - Life peer) This perspective has singularly failed to curb rising levels of obesity and dietary ill-health. - Speech Link
2: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green - Life peer) That is now demonstrably obvious in all the health dimensions, whether obesity or height. - Speech Link
3: Lord Allan of Hallam (LD - Life peer) be resolved within a sensible framework, just as they are in other areas, such as banking and online services - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Christine Jardine (LD - Edinburgh West) can cause serious complications, potentially at great cost to individuals, but also to the national health - Speech Link
2: Christine Jardine (LD - Edinburgh West) services are facing with growing costs. - Speech Link
3: Andrew Stephenson (Con - Pendle) I recognise that health is a largely devolved matter. - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: McArthur, Liam (LD - Orkney Islands) The next portfolio is national health service recovery, health and social care. - Speech Link
2: Whittle, Brian (Con - South Scotland) Apart from its impact on personal wellbeing, obesity is also a significant drag on our economy. - Speech Link
3: Matheson, Michael (SNP - Falkirk West) local national health service boards should ensure that general practitioner services continue to be - Speech Link
4: Matheson, Michael (SNP - Falkirk West) We are, of course, investing in primary care services. - Speech Link
Written Evidence Apr. 24 2024
Inquiry: Preterm BirthFound: Women who had more recent care with mental health services were at higher risk of having a pre-term
Oral Evidence Mar. 11 2024
Inquiry: Preterm BirthFound: Interestingly, in the light of what my colleague has just said about overweight and obesity, there