Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that NHS providers comply with the Accessible Information Standard.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Crawley on 1 December 2023 to Question 2857.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to improve health outcomes for children with cystic fibrosis.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Rt. hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings on 17 November 2023 to Question 1009.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many times his Department answered Named Day written parliamentary questions stating that it would not be possible to answer a question within the usual time period, in the last 12 months.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department provides a holding reply as a courtesy to hon. Members if a Named Day written parliamentary question is not expected to be answered on the named date. In the period 1 November 2022 to 31 October 2023, the Department received a total of 2,980 Named Day questions, out of which we issued 1,115 holding replies of the nature specified by the hon. Member.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to support local authorities with housing vulnerable elderly citizens in (a) Romford and (b) England.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer my Hon Friend to my answer to Question UIN 201711 on 23 October 2023. This is part of the £2 billion of funding committed to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over three years.
The right housing can play a vital role in delivering improved wellbeing and health, and greater independence, for many older people. It is for local authorities such as London Borough of Havering in Romford to plan for the right housing options, working with local partners, based on the needs of older people locally.
The £11.5 billion Affordable Homes programme (2021-26) (England) includes delivery within the programme of new supply of supported and sheltered housing. This is alongside other investment in specialist housing for older and disabled people with personal care needs, through the Department for Health and Social Care.
The Government has established an independent Older People’s Housing Taskforce to look at how a greater choice of housing might be provided for older people. The year-long Taskforce launched in May 2023 and the Government is looking forward to receiving its final recommendations in 2024.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to support local authorities with housing vulnerable homeless families in (a) Romford and (b) England.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
I refer my Hon Friend to my answer to Question UIN 201711 on 23 October 2023. This is part of the £2 billion of funding committed to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over three years.
The right housing can play a vital role in delivering improved wellbeing and health, and greater independence, for many older people. It is for local authorities such as London Borough of Havering in Romford to plan for the right housing options, working with local partners, based on the needs of older people locally.
The £11.5 billion Affordable Homes programme (2021-26) (England) includes delivery within the programme of new supply of supported and sheltered housing. This is alongside other investment in specialist housing for older and disabled people with personal care needs, through the Department for Health and Social Care.
The Government has established an independent Older People’s Housing Taskforce to look at how a greater choice of housing might be provided for older people. The year-long Taskforce launched in May 2023 and the Government is looking forward to receiving its final recommendations in 2024.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on reducing the number of NHS cancer waiting time targets; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
In June 2018, the Prime Minister asked for a clinically-led review of National Health Service access standards to ensure they measure what matters most, both in optimising clinical outcomes and to patients. The review was led by Professor Steve Powis, with support from a Clinical Oversight Group, consisting of clinicians and patient group representatives. As part of the process the Department and NHS England also undertook extensive engagement with stakeholders; NHS England received responses from 46 organisations, including hospitals, Cancer Alliances and charities across the country. NHS England also consulted on these changes and responses overall supported the core proposals in the interim report, including the simplification and modernisation of standards.
On 17 August 2023, NHS England announced changes to cancer waiting times standards, rationalising them from 10 standards to three; more specifically, there will be a Faster Diagnosis Standard of a maximum 28-day wait for communication of a definitive cancer/not cancer diagnosis for patients referred urgently or those identified by NHS cancer screening. There will be a maximum 62-day wait to first treatment from urgent general practitioner referral, NHS cancer screening or consultant upgrade. There will be a maximum 31-day wait from decision to treat to any cancer treatment starting for all cancer patients. The Department supports these changes and will amend the relevant statutory regulations in due course, as shared in the Written Ministerial Statement of my Rt. Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, HCWS1001, published on 4 September 2023.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department held discussions with (a) cancer charities and (b) clinicians on changes to NHS cancer waiting time targets.
Answered by Will Quince
In June 2018, the Prime Minister asked for a clinically-led review of National Health Service access standards to ensure they measure what matters most, both in optimising clinical outcomes and to patients. The review was led by Professor Steve Powis, with support from a Clinical Oversight Group, consisting of clinicians and patient group representatives. As part of the process the Department and NHS England also undertook extensive engagement with stakeholders; NHS England received responses from 46 organisations, including hospitals, Cancer Alliances and charities across the country. NHS England also consulted on these changes and responses overall supported the core proposals in the interim report, including the simplification and modernisation of standards.
On 17 August 2023, NHS England announced changes to cancer waiting times standards, rationalising them from 10 standards to three; more specifically, there will be a Faster Diagnosis Standard of a maximum 28-day wait for communication of a definitive cancer/not cancer diagnosis for patients referred urgently or those identified by NHS cancer screening. There will be a maximum 62-day wait to first treatment from urgent general practitioner referral, NHS cancer screening or consultant upgrade. There will be a maximum 31-day wait from decision to treat to any cancer treatment starting for all cancer patients. The Department supports these changes and will amend the relevant statutory regulations in due course, as shared in the Written Ministerial Statement of my Rt. Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, HCWS1001, published on 4 September 2023.
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, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the backlog of people waiting for an autism assessment.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Rt Hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells on 8 September 2023 to Question 195909.
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, what steps his Department is taking to help support (a) children and (b) young adults that receive an autism diagnosis.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for York Outer on 12 September 2023 to Question 197738.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 reduce the number of NHS Cancer waiting time targets; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department has taken steps to work with NHS England to reduce the number of cancer waiting time targets within the National Health Service. Following a review of cancer waiting times standards by Professor Sir Steve Powis, and a consultation last year, clinical experts in the NHS recommended modernising and simplifying cancer waiting time standards to focus on three outcome-based standards. On 17 August 2023, NHS England announced changes to cancer waiting times standards; more specifically, there will be a Faster Diagnosis Standard of a maximum 28-day wait for communication of a definitive cancer/not cancer diagnosis for patients referred urgently or those identified by NHS cancer screening. There will be a maximum 62-day wait to first treatment from urgent general practitioner referral, NHS cancer screening or consultant upgrade. There will be a maximum 31-day wait from decision to treat to any cancer treatment starting for all cancer patients.
These standards will give clinicians greater flexibility to adopt new technologies such as remote image review and artificial intelligence, and avoid disincentivising modern working practices such as one-stop shops and straight-to-test. The Department supports these changes and will amend the relevant statutory regulations in due course, as shared in the Written Ministerial Statement of my Rt. hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, HCWS1001, published on 4 September 2023.