Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2024 to Question 8607 on Mental Health Services: Waiting Lists, if she will provide this data by NHS provider.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The information requested is shown in the attached tables.
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, what steps her Department is taking to engage with accredited (a) counsellors and (b) psychotherapists to reduce waiting times for mental health services.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
To deliver the mental health commitments in the NHS Long Term Plan and help reduce waiting times, our aim is to grow the mental health workforce nationally by an additional 27,000 professionals by March 2024.
Accredited counsellors and psychotherapists constitute a significant proportion of the NHS Talking Therapies workforce. A collaborative campaign to encourage accredited counsellors and psychotherapists to apply to work in NHS Talking Therapies services has been developed by NHS England with several of the counselling and psychotherapy professional bodies. These professionals are a vital part of our mental health workforce and are fully integrated within it, delivering National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommended psychological therapies for depression.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of referrals to NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services waited less than (a) two, (b) four, (c) six and (d) 19 weeks to begin treatment by NHS provider in each quarter between 2021 and 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The following table shows the counts and proportions of referrals finishing a course of treatment in the quarter who accessed services, which also indicates starting treatment, up to six and 18 weeks after the referral was received:
Period | Count of finishing referrals that accessed services within 6 weeks | Percentage of all finishing referrals that accessed services within 6 weeks | Count of finishing referrals that accessed services within 18 weeks | Percentage of all finishing referrals that accessed services within 18 weeks |
January-March 2021 | 146,030 | 92.7 | 155,475 | 98.7 |
April-June 2021 | 157,886 | 92.6 | 168,354 | 98.8 |
July-September 2021 | 156,033 | 91.8 | 167,953 | 98.8 |
October-December 2021 | 145,607 | 90.6 | 158,229 | 98.5 |
January-March 2022 | 146,002 | 89.3 | 160,893 | 98.4 |
April-June 2022 | 148,586 | 88.9 | 164,638 | 98.5 |
July-September 2022 | 154,384 | 88.8 | 171,022 | 98.4 |
October-December 2022 | 145,220 | 89.3 | 159,521 | 98.1 |
January-March 2023 | 153,064 | 90.2 | 166,886 | 98.3 |
April-June 2023 | 149,428 | 90.0 | 163,593 | 98.5 |
July-September 2023 | 153,145 | 89.2 | 168,553 | 98.1 |
Source: NHS Digital
Notes:
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of excluding ADHD spend from Mental Health Investment Standard money and Mental Health service development funding on (a) waiting lists and (b) ICB core funding.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No such assessment has been made. We expect integrated care boards to continue to meet the Mental Health Investment Standard so that investment in mental health services increases in line with their overall increase in allocation for that year. All but one of the integrated care boards met the Mental Health Investment Standard in 2022/23.
Asked by: Lord Hay of Ballyore (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of mental health services available for Armed Forces across the UK; and whether they plan to make further changes.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
All Service personnel have access to mental health support throughout their career, including medical and non-medical services. This includes, but is not limited to, preventative support such as wellbeing services, digital content, access to trained mental health first aiders, interventional support, and appointments with clinical staff.
For Armed Forces personnel requiring mental healthcare, the Defence Medical Services (DMS) provides a responsive, flexible, accessible, and comprehensive treatment service. This is available in the UK and overseas firm base (non-deployed, permanent locations) and on operations as required. The Defence Mental Health Service (DMHS) supports the provision of mental healthcare that is available through Primary Care facilities and is configured to provide community-based mental health care in line with national best practice.
Work is ongoing within DMS to reshape mental health provision to reduce waiting lists and support patients by providing fully integrated, safe, effective, and efficient mental healthcare.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
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 increase rates of early arthritis diagnosis.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is working to ensure and improve early diagnosis of people with arthritis, as well as treatment and care in England, through the Getting it Right First Time rheumatology programme. The programme published a national report on rheumatology in 2021, which makes a series of recommendations to support equitable and consistent access to diagnostic tests. Additionally, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced a range of guidance to support early diagnosis of conditions including rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.
NICE’s quality standard on rheumatoid arthritis in people aged 16 years old or over [QS33] states that adults with suspected persistent joint inflammation, known as synovitis, in more than one joint, or the small joints of the hands and feet, should be referred to rheumatology services within three working days of presenting in primary care.
Quality standards are important in setting out to patients, the public, commissioners, and providers what a high-quality service should look like in a particular area of care. Whilst providers and commissioners must have regard to NICE quality standards in planning and delivering services, they do not provide a comprehensive service specification and are not mandatory.
The Department has not made any assessment of the impact of waiting times for elective care on the mental health of people with arthritis. Cutting waiting lists is one of the Government’s top priorities. We are making good progress on tackling the longest waits, to ensure patients get the care they need when they need it.
To support the health of people with arthritis while they are waiting for elective treatment, NHS England has worked with Versus Arthritis on their Joint Replacement Support Package, which makes the case for local health systems, working with local communities and the voluntary sector, to deliver a support package to help to meet the needs of people with arthritis who are on surgery waiting lists. This includes mental health support to help people to manage their pain and any associated depression and anxiety.
More generally, we have made it clear to local commissioners that we expect NHS talking therapies to be integrated into physical healthcare pathways. Our NHS Long Term Plan commits to an additional £2.3 billion a year for the expansion of mental health services by 2024, so that an additional two million people can access National Health Service-funded mental health support.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's webpage entitled Diagnosis and referral of inflammatory arthritis, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of people with suspected inflammatory arthritis who receive referral to rheumatology services within three working days.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is working to ensure and improve early diagnosis of people with arthritis, as well as treatment and care in England, through the Getting it Right First Time rheumatology programme. The programme published a national report on rheumatology in 2021, which makes a series of recommendations to support equitable and consistent access to diagnostic tests. Additionally, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced a range of guidance to support early diagnosis of conditions including rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.
NICE’s quality standard on rheumatoid arthritis in people aged 16 years old or over [QS33] states that adults with suspected persistent joint inflammation, known as synovitis, in more than one joint, or the small joints of the hands and feet, should be referred to rheumatology services within three working days of presenting in primary care.
Quality standards are important in setting out to patients, the public, commissioners, and providers what a high-quality service should look like in a particular area of care. Whilst providers and commissioners must have regard to NICE quality standards in planning and delivering services, they do not provide a comprehensive service specification and are not mandatory.
The Department has not made any assessment of the impact of waiting times for elective care on the mental health of people with arthritis. Cutting waiting lists is one of the Government’s top priorities. We are making good progress on tackling the longest waits, to ensure patients get the care they need when they need it.
To support the health of people with arthritis while they are waiting for elective treatment, NHS England has worked with Versus Arthritis on their Joint Replacement Support Package, which makes the case for local health systems, working with local communities and the voluntary sector, to deliver a support package to help to meet the needs of people with arthritis who are on surgery waiting lists. This includes mental health support to help people to manage their pain and any associated depression and anxiety.
More generally, we have made it clear to local commissioners that we expect NHS talking therapies to be integrated into physical healthcare pathways. Our NHS Long Term Plan commits to an additional £2.3 billion a year for the expansion of mental health services by 2024, so that an additional two million people can access National Health Service-funded mental health support.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 19 July 2023 to Question 193651 on Arthritis: Mental Health, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of waiting times for elective care on the mental health of people with arthritis.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is working to ensure and improve early diagnosis of people with arthritis, as well as treatment and care in England, through the Getting it Right First Time rheumatology programme. The programme published a national report on rheumatology in 2021, which makes a series of recommendations to support equitable and consistent access to diagnostic tests. Additionally, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced a range of guidance to support early diagnosis of conditions including rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.
NICE’s quality standard on rheumatoid arthritis in people aged 16 years old or over [QS33] states that adults with suspected persistent joint inflammation, known as synovitis, in more than one joint, or the small joints of the hands and feet, should be referred to rheumatology services within three working days of presenting in primary care.
Quality standards are important in setting out to patients, the public, commissioners, and providers what a high-quality service should look like in a particular area of care. Whilst providers and commissioners must have regard to NICE quality standards in planning and delivering services, they do not provide a comprehensive service specification and are not mandatory.
The Department has not made any assessment of the impact of waiting times for elective care on the mental health of people with arthritis. Cutting waiting lists is one of the Government’s top priorities. We are making good progress on tackling the longest waits, to ensure patients get the care they need when they need it.
To support the health of people with arthritis while they are waiting for elective treatment, NHS England has worked with Versus Arthritis on their Joint Replacement Support Package, which makes the case for local health systems, working with local communities and the voluntary sector, to deliver a support package to help to meet the needs of people with arthritis who are on surgery waiting lists. This includes mental health support to help people to manage their pain and any associated depression and anxiety.
More generally, we have made it clear to local commissioners that we expect NHS talking therapies to be integrated into physical healthcare pathways. Our NHS Long Term Plan commits to an additional £2.3 billion a year for the expansion of mental health services by 2024, so that an additional two million people can access National Health Service-funded mental health support.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time was for patients to have (a) an assessment and (b) a first appointment with an NHS Talking Therapies therapist after being seen by a GP in each (i) clinical commissioning group between January 2021 and August 2023 and (ii) integrated care system area in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
A table is attached that shows latest available information.
Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time for (a) access to NHS Talking Therapies, (b) an assessment and (c) first appointment with a therapist after seeing a GP was in each Clinical commissioning group in the last 12 months; and what the average waiting time for each was in each Integrated care system area in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
A table is attached that shows latest available information.