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, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of using AI to generate treatment formulation in acute care settings.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is funding the AI in Health and Care Award. This has provided £123 million to 86 artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to test and evaluate some of the most promising AI technologies likely to meet the aims set out in the NHS Long Term Plan. Some of these trials are testing the effectiveness of AI technologies that could assist clinicians with treatment formulation. The evidence generated could lead to the rapid adoption of these technologies.
AI technologies that assist clinicians in developing treatment plans for stroke patients are already proving to be effective. They have been shown to half the time it takes for stroke patients to receive treatment and triple the number of stroke patients living independently following a stroke. These tools are currently deployed in 92% of stroke units in England.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
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 assessment of the adequacy of support available for patients recovering from a stroke in west London.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The national service model for an Integrated Community Stroke Service (ICSS) was published in February 2022. It sets out the transfer of care of stroke survivors from hospital, and provides home-based stroke rehabilitation through a specialist multidisciplinary team structure. It provides an integrated seven days per week service, providing early supported discharge, high-intensive and needs-based community stroke rehabilitation and disability management
NHS England have developed a plan to address gaps in intensity community stroke therapy within the West London boroughs of Ealing and Hounslow and community services, including critical Early Supported Discharge teams within the borough of Harrow. NHS England plan to have common community stroke service offers across North West London for 2024/25.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she is taking steps to increase the number of physiotherapy appointments available to patients who have had a stroke.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Provision of physiotherapy as part of stroke rehabilitation is a key part of the stroke care pathway as outlined in NHS England’s National Stroke Service Model and the national service model for an integrated community stroke service (ICSS).
Plans are in place to increase access to rehabilitation closer to home. This includes the £200 million Discharge Fund, a commitment to digital rehabilitation for those who would benefit from it, and access to physiotherapy in community settings as part of the ‘Delivery plan for recovering urgent and emergency care services’, which was published earlier this year. This is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/delivery-plan-for-recovering-urgent-and-emergency-care-services/
The Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme (SSNAP) reported that the number of patients accessing community stroke services has risen from 39,655 in 2018/19 to 47,152 in 2022/23.
NHS organisations have been asked to ensure that adequate space is allocated to functions such as physiotherapy, so that such services can operate efficiently.
Asked by: Taiwo Owatemi (Labour - Coventry North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of night work on (a) the level of risk of diagnosis with diabetes, (b) the level of risk of diagnosis with cardiovascular disease and (c) other health outcomes.
Answered by Will Quince
We have made no such assessment.
The Major Conditions Strategy will set out how we intend to tackle conditions that contribute most to morbidity and mortality across the population in England which include cancers; cardiovascular disease, including stroke and diabetes; chronic respiratory diseases; dementia; mental ill health; and musculoskeletal conditions.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the increased cost of living on life expectancy.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have made no assessment of the impact of the cost of living on life expectancy.
However, the Government is providing total support of over £94 billion over 2022/23 and 2023/24 to help households and individuals with the rising cost of living, one of the largest support packages in Europe.
On 24 January 2023, we announced our plan to publish the Major Conditions Strategy (MCS). This strategy will explore how we can tackle the key drivers of ill-health in England. It will focus on six major groups of conditions, namely cancers, mental health, cardiovascular disease (including stroke and diabetes), dementia, chronic respiratory diseases and musculoskeletal disorders, that account for approximately 60% of ill-health and early death in England.
Related to the MCS, the Department has worked closely with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to understand the inequalities in mortality involving common physical health conditions including cancers, cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney disease, dementia, diabetes and respiratory diseases. The Department has also previously worked with the ONS to estimate the number of people with cardiovascular or respiratory conditions living in poverty in England.
Asked by: Matt Hancock (Independent - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the effectiveness of preventive healthcare (a) programs and (b) interventions at (i) increasing average life expectancy and (b) reducing the incidence of preventable diseases in the last 10 years; and whether his Department has conducted research on the effectiveness of individual preventive healthcare (A) programs and (B) interventions.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Department is taking action to improve healthy life expectancy (HLE), improve average life expectancy (LE) and reduce incidence of preventable disease. We monitor the impact of our programmes and interventions on their target metrics, and we are working towards understanding their impact on HLE as part of our work to drive progress on our Levelling Up health mission.
On 24 January 2023, we announced our plan to publish the Major Conditions Strategy. This strategy will explore how we can tackle the key drivers of ill-health in England. The strategy will focus on six major groups of conditions, namely cancers, mental health, cardiovascular disease (including stroke and diabetes), dementia, chronic respiratory diseases, and musculoskeletal disorders, that account for approximately 60% of ill-health and early death in England.
There is a wide range of published research and evidence on preventative healthcare interventions, which informs both the development of policy and advice issues to health services including by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. In 2017, PHE published the Health Economics Evidence Resource, available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-economics-evidence-resource
This summarised the evidence on the cost-effectiveness of various prevention interventions used by local authorities.
Through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the Department has funded research on preventative healthcare interventions. For example, the NIHR Health and Social Care Delivery Research Programme funded study ‘What happens after an NHS Health Check? A survey and realist review’ has recently reported. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including preventative healthcare interventions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. NIHR funded research is published in its journals library which is available at the following link:
https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment his Department has made of levels of excess deaths in (a) 2023 and (b) the 2015-2019 average. what assessment he has made of the potential links between excess deaths and age; and what the most common causes of excess deaths are in people under 50.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
There are several organisations producing estimates of excess deaths using different methods. Excess deaths are the difference between registered deaths and the number expected each week.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) reports monthly on Excess Mortality in England and English regions, and more information is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/excess-mortality-in-england-and-english-regions
OHID’s expected deaths are based on the trend in mortality rates in England for the five years 2015 to 2019. Estimates of excess deaths are therefore not available for the pre-pandemic period using the same methodology. OHID estimates take change in population size and ageing into account.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) also publishes weekly estimates of excess deaths, which are available at the following link:
ONS expected deaths are based on a simple five-year average of deaths registered each week in previous years. For deaths in 2023, the five-year average is based on deaths in 2017 to 2019 and 2021 to 2022.
In the weeks ending 6 January 2023 to 29 September 2023, OHID estimates that there have been 23,001 excess deaths in England, 6% more deaths than expected. Over this period, there were only three weeks that did not have any excess deaths, namely the weeks ending 10 March 2023, 14 April 2023, and 7 July 2023.
Additionally, over the same period, ONS estimates that there have been 24,292 excess deaths in England which, like OHID’s estimate, is 6% higher than expected. However, ONS figures show that seven weeks over the period did not have excess deaths, these being the weeks ending 10 and 17 February 2023, 14 April 2023, 21 and 28 July 2023, 29 September 2023, and 6 October 2023.
Numbers of excess deaths generally increase with age and OHID estimates that excess deaths in England over this same period above were highest in those aged 85 and over, specifically 6,955 deaths. However, the relative excess was highest in the 50 to 64 age group where excess deaths were 14% higher than expected, specifically 5,278 deaths.
Of the causes of death which OHID routinely report on, deaths involving cardiovascular diseases including heart disease and stroke, and acute respiratory diseases including flu and pneumonia had the highest numbers of excess deaths for those aged under 50 in England in January to June 2023. Data for later months are not available.
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 he has had discussions with NHS England on the potential merits of supporting the British Society for Heart Failure-led multi-disciplinary 25in25 initiative.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
There have been no specific discussions with NHS England. Preventing cardiovascular diseases (CVD), including heart failure, is a priority for this government, which is why they are a key part of our upcoming Major Conditions Strategy. The NHS Health Check aims to prevent heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease, and some cases of dementia among adults aged between 40 and 74 years old. The period between April and June this year saw the highest number of NHS Health Checks offered since the programme began in 2013, meaning more people than ever can reduce their CVD risk through the programme.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
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 help tackle health inequalities.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Government is committed to its levelling up mission to narrow the gap in Healthy Life Expectancy by 2030 and increase Healthy Life Expectancy by five years by 2035. Our approach will continue to focus on supporting people to live healthier lives, helping the National Health Service and social care to provide the best treatment and care for patients and tackling health disparities through national and system interventions such as the NHS’s Core20PLUS5 programme.
On 24 January 2023, we announced our plan to publish the Major Conditions Strategy. This strategy will explore how we can tackle the key drivers of ill-health in England to improve healthy life expectancy, as well as reduce pressure on the NHS and reduce ill-health related labour market inactivity. The strategy will focus on six major groups of conditions, namely cancers, mental health, cardiovascular disease (including stroke and diabetes), dementia, chronic respiratory diseases, and musculoskeletal disorders, that account for approximately 60% of ill-health and early death in England.
We have published our initial report ‘Major Conditions Strategy: Case for change and our strategic framework’ which identifies the importance of tackling inequalities to improve health outcomes, and is available at the following link:
Our intention is to publish the Major Conditions Strategy in early 2024.
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, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of research trials on the link between vascular dementia and high blood pressure.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
While no specific assessment has been made, we recognise that high blood pressure is one of a number of modifiable risk factors for dementia, as identified in ‘Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2020 report of the Lancet Commission’.
The Department’s Neurology & Dementia Intelligence Team undertook an analysis of an anonymised sample primary care database in 2017, to provide an understanding of the types of comorbidities that people with a formal diagnosis of dementia lived with, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dementia-comorbidities-in-patients/dementia-comorbidities-in-patients-data-briefing
The analysis found that 44% of people with dementia were also found to have a diagnosis of hypertension, while this increased to 55% of people living with vascular dementia. A diagnosis of stroke or transient ischaemic attack is at least twice as likely in patients with vascular dementia (35%) than in all other forms of dementia.
The Government has announced that it will publish a Major Conditions Strategy covering six conditions, including dementia. The Major Conditions Strategy will set out a strong and coherent policy agenda with a shift to integrated, whole-person care, and will cover prevention, diagnosis and long-term treatment and care.
The Government spent over £413 million on dementia research from 2017/18 to 2021/22. In our 2019 manifesto we committed to double funding for dementia research. We will double funding for dementia research to £160 million per year by 2024/25. This will span all areas of research, from causes and prevention to treatment and care, delivering evidence to help prevent, diagnose and treat dementia, enabling the best possible care and quality of life for people with dementia.