Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her policy is on establishing a national policy for neurogenic bowel cancer; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure adequate care is available for people who need it.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has no plans at present to establish a national policy on neurogenic bowel disorder. To help ensure that patients with neurogenic bowel receive timely and appropriate care, NHS England has developed a range of guidance, including its Excellence in Continence Care guidance. NHS England has also published a service specification for spinal cord injury services, which makes specific reference to bowel care. It outlines that patients with spinal injury should be provided with advice and care by specialist nursing staff in specialist fields, including in the field of bladder and bowel management. In addition, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines on faecal incontinence set out the care that patients with neurogenic bowel should receive, including a neurological bowel management programme.
No estimate has been made of the cost to the National Health Service of a lack of specialist bowel care for patients with neurogenic bowel disorders. Nor has an estimate been made of the costs incurred by the diagnosis and treatment of pressure sores, resulting from inadequate care and other secondary complications.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the (a) cost to the NHS of lack of specialist bowel care for patients with neurogenic bowel disorders and (b) additional costs incurred by (i) diagnosis and treatment of pressure sores resulting from inadequate care and (ii) other secondary complications.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has no plans at present to establish a national policy on neurogenic bowel disorder. To help ensure that patients with neurogenic bowel receive timely and appropriate care, NHS England has developed a range of guidance, including its Excellence in Continence Care guidance. NHS England has also published a service specification for spinal cord injury services, which makes specific reference to bowel care. It outlines that patients with spinal injury should be provided with advice and care by specialist nursing staff in specialist fields, including in the field of bladder and bowel management. In addition, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines on faecal incontinence set out the care that patients with neurogenic bowel should receive, including a neurological bowel management programme.
No estimate has been made of the cost to the National Health Service of a lack of specialist bowel care for patients with neurogenic bowel disorders. Nor has an estimate been made of the costs incurred by the diagnosis and treatment of pressure sores, resulting from inadequate care and other secondary complications.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the absence of special provisions in the NHS to provide routine diagnostic tests such as mammograms and cervical smears to women who are paralysed following a spinal cord injury and are wheelchair bound complies with the Equality Act 2010.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Equality Act 2010 and the Health and Social Care Act 2012, National Health Service screening providers have a legal duty to make sure screening services are accessible to everyone, including people with one or more protected characteristics.
NHS England is committed to improving the accessibility of the screening programmes it commissions under the Public Health Services (S7a) agreement, particularly for under-served groups in society such as those with disabilities. Contractually, providers of NHS screening services are required to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that their services are accessible for people with disabilities.
Services make reasonable adjustments within the constraints of equipment, to ensure that disabled people are offered the opportunity to have screening, however there may be situations where this is not possible. Providers will deal with these on a case-by-case basis and offer an alternative approach as necessary.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure that routine diagnostic tests, such as mammograms and cervical smears, are made available on the NHS to women who are paralysed following spinal cord injury and are wheelchair bound.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Equality Act 2010 and the Health and Social Care Act 2012, National Health Service screening providers have a legal duty to make sure screening services are accessible to everyone, including people with one or more protected characteristics.
NHS England is committed to improving the accessibility of the screening programmes it commissions under the Public Health Services (S7a) agreement, particularly for under-served groups in society such as those with disabilities. Contractually, providers of NHS screening services are required to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that their services are accessible for people with disabilities.
Services make reasonable adjustments within the constraints of equipment, to ensure that disabled people are offered the opportunity to have screening, however there may be situations where this is not possible. Providers will deal with these on a case-by-case basis and offer an alternative approach as necessary.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
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 improve bowel care for people with spinal cord injuries.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
To support improved bowel care for people with spinal cord injury (SCI) NHS England has published a service specification setting out what providers must have in place to deliver SCI services. This includes specialist multidisciplinary teams providing advice and care in bowel management, including promoting and manging continence.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people living with a spinal cord injury in England.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that NHS patients can access spinal implants to help paralysed patients walk again.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Spinal cord injury services are directly commissioned by NHS England and services are provided by spinal cord injuries centres. There is no current policy in development for spinal implants. However, where a spinal implant is considered clinically appropriate, a clinical lead would submit a request in the usual way.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to reply to correspondence from the hon. Member for Hemel Hempstead of 19 April 2021, case no MP68181, on specialist services for spinal cord injury.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We replied to the hon. Member on 15 September 2021.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how long each person in hospital with a spinal chord injury has been in that setting.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of acute spinal cord injury (SCI) patients referred for treatment in a SCI centre, by injury, since March 2020.
Injury type | Number of patients |
High Tetraplegia | 573 |
Low Tetraplegia | 404 |
High Paraplegia | 335 |
Low Paraplegia | 369 |
Cauda Equina | 350 |
Total | 2,031 |
Source: National Spinal Cord Injury Database
The average length of stay of patients who are currently in a SCI centre is 72.8 days.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have sustained a spinal cord injury since March 2020, by level of injury.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of acute spinal cord injury (SCI) patients referred for treatment in a SCI centre, by injury, since March 2020.
Injury type | Number of patients |
High Tetraplegia | 573 |
Low Tetraplegia | 404 |
High Paraplegia | 335 |
Low Paraplegia | 369 |
Cauda Equina | 350 |
Total | 2,031 |
Source: National Spinal Cord Injury Database
The average length of stay of patients who are currently in a SCI centre is 72.8 days.