Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
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 strengthen maternity and neonatal care for people in North East Somerset & Hanham.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The University Hospitals Bristol and Weston Trust (UHBW), the North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT), and the Royal United Hospitals NHS Trust (RUH) provide maternity services for North East Somerset and Hanham.
Steps taken at UHBW and NBT include: a well-established Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP) that replicates national guidance; achieving full compliance against all 10 maternity safety actions for the second year running; good progress against ‘Saving Babies Lives’ Version 3; and working to reduce inequalities in maternity and neonatal care through collaboration with the Race and Health Observatory and Black Maternity Matters anti-racism training for perinatal staff.
Steps taken at RUH include robust oversight of perinatal quality improvement projects as part of NHS England’s ‘Savings Babies Lives’ care bundle, including the smoke-free pregnancy incentive voucher scheme, and working with families through initiatives such as the MNVP.
At a national level, Baroness Amos is leading a rapid, national, independent investigation into National Health Service maternity and neonatal services to help us to understand the systemic issues behind why so many women, babies, and families experience unacceptable care. The Government is also setting up a National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, chaired by my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. The taskforce will take forward the recommendations of the investigation to develop a new national action plan to drive improvements across maternity and neonatal care.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
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 support the (a) health and (b) wellbeing of the NHS workforce (i) on the Isle of Wight and (ii) in Hampshire.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The health and wellbeing of all National Health Service staff is a top priority. Local employers across the NHS have in place existing arrangements for supporting staff, including occupational health provision, employee support programmes, and a focus on healthy working environments. At a national level NHS staff have access to the SHOUT helpline for crisis support alongside the Practitioner Health service for more complex mental health and wellbeing support, including trauma and addiction.
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, at a national level, we will roll out Staff Treatment hubs to ensure all staff have access to enhanced occupational health support, with a focus on mental health and musculoskeletal services.
To further support this ambition, we are working with the Social Partnership Forum to introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment, covering issues such as access to healthy meals, support to work healthily and flexibly, and tackling violence, racism, and sexual harassment in the workplace.
Asked by: Brendan O'Hara (Scottish National Party - Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will ensure equality of esteem and equal treatment in design, evaluation and implementation of UK-funded programmes in Palestine and Israel; and whether school textbooks in Israel and Palestine will be reviewed for racism and discriminatory content.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the statement made by the Foreign Secretary on the Middle East on 18 November, where support for Palestinian institutions was discussed. We will update the House in due course on any further developments.
Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following analysis by the Royal College of Nursing showing an increase in complaints about racism at work, what steps they are taking to address the increase in racism and discrimination in the health service.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Any form of racism or discrimination is unacceptable and has no place in our National Health Service.
Action is being taken to address racism and discrimination in the NHS, including an urgent review of antisemitism, other forms of racism, and the oversight and regulation of healthcare professionals. The NHS is also strengthening mandatory anti-racism training across the NHS.
Additionally, as set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment which will include reducing violence against staff and tackling racism and sexual harassment. They will underpin the NHS Oversight Framework and act as an early warning signal for the Care Quality Commission.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the department has to improve retention of level 3 staff within the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, the Government is committed to making the National Health Service the best place to work, by supporting and retaining our hardworking and dedicated healthcare professionals.
To support this ambition, the Government plans to introduce a new set of standards for modern employment by April 2026. The new standards will reaffirm our commitment to improving retention by tackling the issues that matter to staff including promoting flexible working, improving staff health and wellbeing, and dealing with violence, racism, and sexual harassment in the NHS workplace.
NHS England is already leading work nationally through its retention programme to drive a consistent, system-wide approach to staff retention across NHS trusts. This ensures trusts have access to proven retention strategies, data-driven monitoring, and can foster a more stable, engaged, productive, and supported workforce.
Regarding pay, the Government remitted the Pay Review Bodies on 22 July and published its written evidence on 30 October, with the target of getting uplifts into the pockets of health workers early next year.
Earlier this year, my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care was also able to accept the vast majority of recommendations that were produced from the non-pay work from the 2023 Agenda for Change deal. This covers work on a variety of issues including job evaluation and tackling violence and aggression against staff. NHS organisations are now in the process of implementing these recommendations.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
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 support NHS staff working in Newton Abbot constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The health and wellbeing of all National Health Service staff is a top priority. Local employers across the NHS have in place arrangements for supporting staff including occupational health provision, employee support programmes, and a focus on healthy working environments. At a national level, NHS staff have access to the SHOUT helpline for crisis support alongside the Practitioner Health service for more complex mental health and wellbeing support, including trauma and addiction.
As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will roll out Staff Treatment hubs to ensure all staff have access to high quality occupational health support, including for mental health. To further support this ambition, we will work with the Social Partnership Forum to introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment, covering issues such as access to healthy meals, support to work healthily and flexibly, and tackling violence, racism and sexual harassment in the workplace.
Asked by: Warinder Juss (Labour - Wolverhampton West)
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 impose penalties on NHS Trusts who fail to tackle (a) racism and (b) racial discrimination.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Any form of racism or discrimination is unacceptable and has no place in our National Health Service.
Action is being taken to address racism and discrimination in the NHS including an urgent review of antisemitism, other forms of racism and the oversight and regulation of healthcare professionals. The review will consider how regulators address complaints of antisemitism and other forms of racism from a complaint being raised, to investigation and fitness to practice proceedings. The review will also consider how greater transparency can be brought to regulatory processes, including General Medical Council investigations and Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service decision making on antisemitism and other racism complaints.
Additionally, as set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment which will include reducing violence against staff and tackling racism and sexual harassment. They will underpin the NHS Oversight Framework and act as an early warning signal for the Care Quality Commission.
Asked by: Warinder Juss (Labour - Wolverhampton West)
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 tackle (a) racism and (b) racial discrimination in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Any form of racism or discrimination is unacceptable and has no place in our National Health Service.
Action is being taken to address racism and discrimination in the NHS, including an urgent review of antisemitism, other forms of racism, and the oversight and regulation of healthcare professionals. The NHS is also strengthening mandatory anti-racism training across the NHS.
Additionally, as set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment which will include reducing violence against staff and tackling racism and sexual harassment. They will underpin the NHS Oversight Framework and act as an early warning signal for the Care Quality Commission.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has provided any (a) grants, (b) contracts and (c) other funding to (i) Stand Up to Racism, (ii) Unite the Union,(ii) Migrants Organise, (iv) the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, (v) the Refugee Council and (vi) Care4Calais since 2020; and how much funding was provided to each for what purposes.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Home Office made grant payments to the Refugee Council totalling £ 3.2m for the purpose of Children’s Advisory Projects to support Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) through the asylum process., with a further £ 215,244 for Asylum Seeker Mental Health and Wellbeing Grant to provide assistance to vulnerable adult asylum seekers.
The figures represent budgeted values which may not have been spent in full.
Since 2020 the Home Office has provided contract and other funding payments to the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants totalling £47,015.
Further, the Home Office provided contract and other funding to the Refugee Council totalling £8,026,673 for the same time period.
Information on purpose has been withheld and related contracts as it would only be available at disproportionate cost.
Outside of Home Office funding, for the period FY 21/22 to FY 24/25 inclusive Home Office facilitated £5.37m of EU financed AMIF Integration Funding to the Refugee Council.
Asked by: Lord Moraes (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 Royal College of Nursing's analysis that there has been a 55 percent increase over the last three years in nurses facing racist incidents at work; and what assessment they have made of the reason for this increase.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Any form of racism or discrimination is unacceptable and has no place in our National Health Service.
NHS Staff Survey data shows that disabled staff, staff from an ethnic minority background, and staff with other protected characteristics face greater challenges when it comes to abuse, bullying, harassment, and career progression.
Recent incidents of antisemitism and racism in the health service have drawn stark attention to problems of culture and in the healthcare professional regulatory system. Action is being taken to address these issues, including an urgent review of antisemitism, other forms of racism, and the oversight and regulation of healthcare professionals. The NHS is also strengthening mandatory anti-racism training across the NHS. Additionally, as set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will introduce a new set of staff standards for modern employment which will include reducing violence against staff and tackling racism and sexual harassment. They will underpin the NHS Oversight Framework and act as an early warning signal for the Care Quality Commission.