Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 increase adult social care capacity in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has made up to £8.6 billion available in additional funding over this financial year and next, to support adult social care and discharge. This includes nearly £2 billion being made available to local authorities over two years through the Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund, which is specifically designed to support increased adult social care capacity. Local authorities can choose to use the funding to increase fee rates paid to adult social care providers, increase adult social care workforce capacity and retention, and reduce adult social care waiting times. Lincolnshire County Council received a total of just over £13 million through this fund in 2023/24, and are set to receive nearly £15 million in 2024/25. This is in addition to the broader funding that is available to Lincolnshire to spend on adult social care.
Asked by: Matt Warman (Conservative - Boston and Skegness)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the cost to (a) the public purse and (b) social care providers of increasing pay for staff in the social care sector by 65p per hour.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has previously estimated that the cost to the public purse of raising minimum pay in adult social care to the National Living Wage plus 65p is approximately £600 million per year. This includes direct care staff only and excludes ancillary staff.
This estimate does not include the additional costs of higher pay which would be borne by the group of at least 221,000 ‘self-funders’ in care homes and using community care who pay for their own care.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average (a) daily cost per adult held in the emergency department and (b) length of stay was in that department in the latest period for which data is available in each acute trust within the Lancashire and South Cumbria integrated care system boundary.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information is not available in the format requested. NHS England published the general and acute length of bed stay data for 2022/23, with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The length of stay in an adult intensive care unit hospital bed and an elderly care hospital bed is not collected centrally by the Department, or published by NHS England. NHS England publishes the median total time spent in accident and emergency, from arrival to admission, transfer, or discharge, and again with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The information requested on average daily costs by acute trust and integrated care system is not collected centrally by the Department.
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 ensure the early identification of public health risks in care homes.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Guidance on how to prevent and control infections in adult social care settings was updated and published in January 2024. This helps providers prepare for and manage a range of potential infections in care homes, and signposts to health protection teams who can provide further support locally when required. The UK Health Security Agency tracks outbreaks of infections in care homes, and is developing new information systems to improve this process.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average (a) daily cost is per adult elderly care hospital bed and (b) length of stay was in those beds in the latest period for which data is available in each acute trust within the Lancashire and South Cumbria integrated care system boundary.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information is not available in the format requested. NHS England published the general and acute length of bed stay data for 2022/23, with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The length of stay in an adult intensive care unit hospital bed and an elderly care hospital bed is not collected centrally by the Department, or published by NHS England. NHS England publishes the median total time spent in accident and emergency, from arrival to admission, transfer, or discharge, and again with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The information requested on average daily costs by acute trust and integrated care system is not collected centrally by the Department.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average (a) daily cost is for an adult intensive care unit hospital bed and (b) length of stay was in those beds in the latest period for which data is available in each acute trust within the Lancashire and South Cumbria integrated care system boundary.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information is not available in the format requested. NHS England published the general and acute length of bed stay data for 2022/23, with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The length of stay in an adult intensive care unit hospital bed and an elderly care hospital bed is not collected centrally by the Department, or published by NHS England. NHS England publishes the median total time spent in accident and emergency, from arrival to admission, transfer, or discharge, and again with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The information requested on average daily costs by acute trust and integrated care system is not collected centrally by the Department.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average (a) cost per adult and (b) length of stay was for an acute hospital bed day in each acute trust within the Lancashire and South Cumbria integrated care system in the 2022-2023 financial year.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information is not available in the format requested. NHS England published the general and acute length of bed stay data for 2022/23, with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The length of stay in an adult intensive care unit hospital bed and an elderly care hospital bed is not collected centrally by the Department, or published by NHS England. NHS England publishes the median total time spent in accident and emergency, from arrival to admission, transfer, or discharge, and again with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The information requested on average daily costs by acute trust and integrated care system is not collected centrally by the Department.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average (a) cost per adult and (b) length of stay was for an acute hospital bed day in the Lancashire and South Cumbria integrated care system in the 2022-2023 financial year.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information is not available in the format requested. NHS England published the general and acute length of bed stay data for 2022/23, with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The length of stay in an adult intensive care unit hospital bed and an elderly care hospital bed is not collected centrally by the Department, or published by NHS England. NHS England publishes the median total time spent in accident and emergency, from arrival to admission, transfer, or discharge, and again with data available at trust level but not an integrated care system level, which is available at the following link:
The information requested on average daily costs by acute trust and integrated care system is not collected centrally by the Department.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had discussions with (a) NICE and (b) Bristol Myers Squibb on restarting the NICE appraisals process for luspatercept (Reblozyl).
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Departmental officials regularly discuss a range of issues with colleagues in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), including on access to medicines such as luspatercept (Reblozyl). The Department has had no discussions with Bristol Myers Squibb on this specific topic.
Luspatercept has a licence in the United Kingdom for the treatment of adult patients with transfusion-dependent anaemia due to very low, and low and intermediate-risk myelodysplastic syndrome with ring sideroblasts, who had an unsatisfactory response to, or are ineligible for, erythropoietin-based therapy. The NICE had to terminate its appraisal of luspatercept for treating anaemia caused by myelodysplastic syndromes because the manufacturer did not provide an evidence submission. The NICE will review this decision if the company decides to make a submission.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he made an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of increasing funding for (a) social care and (b) the Better Care Fund in the Spring Budget 2024.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Chancellor and Chief Secretary hold regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on spending priorities for fiscal events.
The government has now made available up to £8.6bn in additional funding over this financial year and next to support adult social care and discharge. This includes £500m announced in January which has specifically been made available to support local authorities with the cost of social care in 2024-25 in response to representations from local government stakeholders. This funding will enable local authorities to buy more care packages, help people leave hospital on time, improve workforce recruitment and retention, and reduce waiting times for care.