Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
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 that there is nationwide post-diagnosis cancer support.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Long Term Plan outlines that, where appropriate, every person diagnosed with cancer will have access to personalised care. This includes a care plan and appropriate health and wellbeing information and support.
NHS England is supporting adults experiencing cancer with access to NHS Talking Therapies (previously named IAPT) mental health services, which provide evidence-based psychological therapies for people with anxiety disorders and depression.
In 2022/23, Cancer Alliances mapped out locally-driven improvements in psychosocial support provision, work which will continue in 2023/24.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support people with arthritis.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The majority of services for those with arthritis are commissioned locally by integrated care boards, who are best placed to support people with arthritis. The forthcoming Major Conditions Strategy will cover musculoskeletal health, including arthritis, and combine the Department’s key commitments in mental health, cancer, dementia and health disparities into a single strategy.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
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 that patients diagnosed with ovarian cancer can access high-quality mental health and wellbeing support.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England have asked Cancer Alliances to map out and identify any gaps in psychosocial support provision as part of the 2022/23 planning guidance and are supporting adults experiencing cancer with access to Adult Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme mental health services, which provide evidence based psychological therapies for people with anxiety disorders and depression.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that blood cancer patients can access mental health support in (a) Enfield, Southgate constituency and (b) England.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Long Term Plan states that, where appropriate, every person diagnosed with cancer will have access to personalised care, including a needs assessment, an individual care plan and information and support for their health and wellbeing.
The National Health Service is supporting adults experiencing cancer with access to The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) mental health services, which provides evidence based psychological therapies for people with anxiety disorders and depression.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of effect that puberty blockers have on the (1) mental, and (2) physical, development of patients when given to them as children.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues are used in line with granted medical authorisations and ‘off label’ to treat several medical conditions in children and young people. These include precocious puberty, some forms of cancer, gender dysphoria and endometriosis.
The Department is supporting a review led by Dr Hilary Cass into the gender identity services provided to children and young people, including the use of hormone treatments. Dr Cass has recommended that the National Health Service consider establishing a formal research programme which would prospectively enrol young people where the use of puberty blockers is being considered and follow their development into adulthood. NHS England supports this recommendation and will work with the National Institute for Health and Care Research to design and commission the necessary research protocol.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Royal College of Physician Census 2021, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the size of the NHS workforce relative to patient demand.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No specific assessment has been made. However, the Department has commissioned Health Education England (HEE) to review long term strategic trends for the health and regulated social care workforce to ensure the appropriate skills and behaviours are available to deliver high standards of care.
In addition, the Department has commissioned NHS England to develop a long term plan for the workforce, including assessments of supply and demand. The outcomes of this plan will be available in due course. We are also considering workforce implications within forthcoming strategies, including cancer, maternity and mental health services.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the finding of the Royal College of Physicians’ 2021 census on the proportion of advertised consultant posts in England and Wales that went unfilled in 2021, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the size of the NHS workforce relative to patient demand.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No specific assessment has been made. However, the Department has commissioned Health Education England (HEE) to review long term strategic trends for the health and regulated social care workforce to ensure the appropriate skills and behaviours are available to deliver high standards of care.
In addition, the Department has commissioned NHS England to develop a long term plan for the workforce, including assessments of supply and demand. The outcomes of this plan will be available in due course. We are also considering workforce implications within forthcoming strategies, including cancer, maternity and mental health services.
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 he is taking to assess the workforce requirements for clinical specialisms in the NHS.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We have no plans to make a specific assessment. However, the Department has commissioned Health Education England to review long term strategic trends for the health and regulated social care workforce. This will ensure the appropriate skills and behaviours are available to deliver high standards of care. In addition, we have commissioned NHS England to develop a long term plan for the workforce, which will assess supply and demand. The outcomes will be available in due course. We are also considering the workforce implications within a number of forthcoming strategies including cancer, maternity and mental health services.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Royal College of Physicians’ 2021 consultant census finding that 52 per cent of advertised consultant posts in England and Wales went unfilled, what recent assessment he has made of the size of the NHS workforce relative to patient demand.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department has commissioned Health Education England to review long term strategic trends for the health and regulated social care workforce. This will ensure that we have the appropriate skills and behaviours in the workforce to deliver high standards of care and meet patient demand. In addition, we have asked NHS England to develop a long term plan for workforce, which will include assessments of supply and demand. The outcomes of this plan will be available in due course. We are also considering workforce requirements within a number of forthcoming strategies including cancer, maternity and mental health services.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the availability of mental health support for young people who receive a cancer diagnosis.
Answered by James Morris
While no recent assessment has been made, NHS England and NHS Improvement have asked Cancer Alliances to review mental health provision for those affected by cancer, including young people.
The NHS Long Term Plan states that, where appropriate, all those diagnosed with cancer should receive a personalised care and support plan. Teenage and young adult cancer services are responsible for ensuring access to specialist psychological and appropriate psycho-social support for patients during cancer therapy and follow up care.