Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
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 help improve the quality of care provided to (a) adults and (b) children with cerebral palsy in (a) Shropshire, (b) Telford and (c) Wrekin.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Adult and paediatric cerebral palsy services in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin are commissioned by the local integrated care board (ICB). Whilst there are no specific programmes of work connected to cerebral palsy within the ICB's existing improvement programme, as the ICB updates its Integrated Care System Strategy and Joint Forward Plan, it will be developing its clinical strategies across all patient services, including for cerebral palsy.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
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 all people with cerebral palsy in England receive (a) regional specialised support services, (b) clear care pathways and (c) annual patient reviews on the NHS.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The majority of services for people with cerebral palsy are commissioned locally by integrated care boards which are best placed to make decisions according to local need.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published guidance on care and support for adults with cerebral palsy to support healthcare professionals and commissioners. The guidance recommends service providers develop pathways which allow patients with cerebral palsy to access specialist neurology services and include an offer of an annual review of a patient’s clinical and functional needs.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
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 the effectiveness and role of the NICE guidance for Tourette’s Syndrome and other neurological disorders.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
No specific assessment has been made. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published guidelines on a range of neurological disorders, including epilepsy, cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis. It has also published a guideline and quality standard for the recognition and referral of suspected neurological conditions. NICE guidelines represent best practice which healthcare professionals are expected to take fully into account in the treatment of individual patients.
NICE has not published a guideline on Tourette’s Syndrome. Decisions on the topics where NICE will develop guidelines are based on factors such as the evidence base and clinical need. A topic selection oversight group at NICE considers topics for guideline development on this basis. Clinical guideline topics prioritised through this process are formally referred to NICE by NHS England and NHS Improvement.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people with (a) cerebral palsy and (b) other communication needs from birth who would benefit from the use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices; and how many with such communication needs have access to those devices and appropriate training in their use in each region.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Information on the number of people or by diagnosis type who would benefit from the use of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) services is not held centrally. NHS England and NHS Improvement commission services for patients requiring specialised assessment and/or equipment. However, the majority of patients are seen within local speech and language services. The NHS England and NHS Improvement commissioning budget for specialised AAC services is approximately £19 million.
The standard of training for health care professionals is the responsibility of the health care independent statutory regulatory bodies such as the General Medical Council, the General Dental Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Health and Care Professions Council, which are independent statutory bodies. The knowledge and use of AAC forms part of the pre-registration learning curriculum for speech and language therapists.
Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to make Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy surgery fully available on the NHS; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
NHS England routinely commissions selective dorsal rhizotomy palsy, for patients who meet certain criteria, in five hospitals across England with known expertise and recent clinical experience for this procedure.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how he plans to use the Government’s response to the Early years’ healthy development review consultation to help improve health outcomes for children with (a) cerebral palsy and (b) other neuro disabilities.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
NHS England and NHS Improvement will be meeting in due course to consider the recommendations to improve early detection and treatment pathways for cerebral palsy set out in the report.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will use the digitisation of the red book from April 2023 to improve data collection on babies and children with (a) cerebral palsy and (b) other neuro disabilities.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Personal Child Health Record is constantly under review, overseen by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. NHS England has advised that there are currently no plans to establish a national register of children with cerebral palsy. NHS England and NHS Improvement will be meeting in due course to consider the recommendations to improve early detection and treatment pathways for cerebral palsy set out in the report, ‘Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment’, published by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cerebral Palsy in March 2021.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if the Government will use the digitization of the red book to facilitate the creation of a national cerebral palsy register by April 2023.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Personal Child Health Record is constantly under review, overseen by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. NHS England has advised that there are currently no plans to establish a national register of children with cerebral palsy. NHS England and NHS Improvement will be meeting in due course to consider the recommendations to improve early detection and treatment pathways for cerebral palsy set out in the report, ‘Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment’, published by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cerebral Palsy in March 2021.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021, what plans he has to assign each family an independent partner within their child development team or from a specialist voluntary provider who is a qualified professional with knowledge of cerebral palsy and who is able to provide monitoring, in-reach, information, and support to the family and help them to refer to and co-ordinate services.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Local delivery models of Child Development Teams vary and local authorities are encouraged to use the national commissioning guidance. The skill mix in any given area will vary depending on local needs, as this is because it should be led by health needs of a population and geographical areas. We will continue to work with the Local Government Association, professional bodies, and locally through Public Health England centres, to share evidence and guidance that allows councils to make the best decisions to meet local need.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021, if he will put in place three additional universal health visiting contacts at (a) three to five weeks, (b) three months and (c) three and half years to increase the opportunity for early detection of children with cerebral palsy and refer those children with early signs of that condition to specialised care pathways.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Five mandated health reviews for children aged 0 to five years old are offered to all families. However, mandated reviews are not the full extent of the health visiting service offer and additional contacts and reviews are considered where health visiting teams could respond to a family’s identified needs. Health visitors utilise their clinical judgement and can refer children to a specialist teams to assess for cerebral palsy if needed.