Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to increase access to thrombectomy treatment for stroke patients.
Answered by Will Quince
Thrombectomy is available in 24 centres in England. The National Health Service is committed to bringing about a tenfold increase in the delivery of mechanical thrombectomy from 1% to 10%. Progress has been made, with latest data showing that 3.3% of patients are receiving a thrombectomy following a stroke.
NHS England are taking steps to increase access to thrombectomy treatment for stroke patients by expanding access, with six centres currently offering 24/7 services, eight services currently providing extended hours and the remainder offering in-hours or a limited service. All thrombectomy providers and integrated stroke delivery networks are actively working to provide access to 24/7 services across England.
In addition, NHS England have worked with the General Medical Council in approving the thrombectomy curriculum and credentials to support non-interventional neuroradiologists to conduct thrombectomy and increase the number of thrombectomies that can be delivered.
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 steps his Department is taking to advise patients of the impact of lower blood sugar levels on the risk of heart disease.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Government continues to support delivery of the NHS Health Check, England’s flagship cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention programme. The aim of the programme is to prevent heart disease, stroke, diabetes, kidney disease, and some cases of dementia among adults aged 40 to 74 years who receive an invite for a check once every five years. The check assesses seven of the top risk factors for CVD and this includes a blood glucose test to assess for risk of diabetes. The result of the full check will then be used to support individuals to understand their results in relation to their risk of CVD and to provide them with personalised behaviour change advice on lowering their risk.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
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 improve access to treatment for people who have had a stroke.
Answered by Will Quince
The National Stroke Service Model, published by NHS England in May 2021, articulates optimal evidenced-based stroke care. Patients are expected to be seen by a stroke specialist clinician within 60 minutes of arrival and have their treatment plan determined.
From 1 April 2021, 20 Integrated Stroke Delivery Networks (ISDNs) were established giving full coverage across England. ISDNs include all key stakeholders across the system including providers, commissioners, clinicians and patient representative across the whole stroke pathway.
ISDNs are responsible for delivering optimal stroke pathways, based on best evidence, which ensures that more people who experience a stroke receive high-quality specialist care, from pre-hospital, through to rehabilitation and life after stroke.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
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 potential impact of patients not being hospitalised at the nearest hospital on the (a) well-being and (b) finances of their families; and whether his Department plans to localise specialist services.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made a specific assessment on the impact on patients of where they are hospitalised. There are well documented benefits for patients of being treated in specialist centres of excellence, for instance, for stroke care.
NHS England and integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning and ensuring healthcare needs of local communities are met.
If a patient is referred to hospital or other National Health Service premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostic tests, eligible patients can claim a refund of reasonable travel costs under the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS).
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
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 potential impact of patients not being hospitalised at the nearest hospital on their (a) well-being and (b) recovery.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made a specific assessment on the impact on patients of where they are hospitalised. There are well documented benefits for patients of being treated in specialist centres of excellence, for instance, for stroke care.
NHS England and integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning and ensuring healthcare needs of local communities are met.
If a patient is referred to hospital or other National Health Service premises for specialist NHS treatment or diagnostic tests, eligible patients can claim a refund of reasonable travel costs under the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS).
Asked by: Lord Clement-Jones (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the artificial intelligence (AI) applications funded to date under the NHS AI Lab's AI in Health and Care Awards; and how much each developer has received to date.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The AI in Health and Care Award has provided £123 million to 86 AI technologies over three funding rounds. The Award is accelerating the testing and evaluation of the most promising AI technologies likely to meet the aims set out in the NHS Long Term Plan.
These are live in more than 340 primary care networks and 40% of National Health Service acute trusts in England. The AI solutions are helping patients by supporting stroke diagnosis, cancer screening, cardiovascular monitoring and managing disease at home.
The AI in Health and Care Award will not be considering any more funding applications, and all projects are set to complete either before or by 2025. The full list of the 86 projects and the developers granted funding from the AI in Health and Care Award is available in an online-only format on NHS England’s website.
The funding allocated to projects that applied in the first two funding rounds is available in an online-only format at the Contracts Finder on GOV.uk. The funding provided to the nine projects for round three will be made available on the same website later this year.
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, whether his Department is taking steps to increase access to implantable cardiac monitors in (a) Enfield North constituency, (b) the London Borough of Enfield and (c) London.
Answered by Will Quince
NHS England has assessed that there are no issues with patients accessing implantable cardiac monitors with these devices being used successfully by patients across England and within the Enfield North constituency, the London Borough of Enfield and London.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published guidance in September 2020 on the use of implantable cardiac monitors. National Health Service trusts are currently using such devices in stroke prevention throughout England.
It is for local integrated care systems to determine the appropriate cardiac monitoring devices for their populations commissioners.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to include proposals to tackle the socioeconomic causes of health inequalities in the Major Conditions Strategy.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Strategy’s approach will be rooted in the best understanding of the evidence to tackle the major conditions which contribute to the burden of disease in England, namely Cancers; Cardiovascular diseases, including stroke and diabetes; Chronic respiratory diseases; Dementia; Mental ill health and Musculoskeletal disorders.
These areas account for around 60% of total Disability Adjusted Life Years in England. Tackling them is critical to achieving our manifesto commitment of gaining five extra years of Healthy Life Expectancy by 2035, and our levelling up mission to narrow the gap in Healthy Life Expectancy in the least and most deprived areas by 2030 which should take account of socio-economic factors.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
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 (a) causes of excess deaths in the last three years and (b) implications for his policies of those causes.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Department will continue to monitor and report on levels of excess deaths. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities regularly publishes estimates of excess mortality in England. They adjust for population growth and ageing. This provides further insight on the causes of death driving the excess mortality. A combination of factors has contributed to excess deaths, including high flu prevalence, the ongoing challenges of COVID-19 and health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.
On 24 January 2023, the Government announced that it will publish a Major Conditions Strategy, and an interim report will be published later in the summer. The strategy will set out a strong and coherent policy agenda that sets out a shift to integrated, whole-person care. The strategy will tackle conditions that contribute most to morbidity and mortality across the population in England, including, cancers, cardiovascular disease, including stroke and diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, dementia, mental ill-health and musculoskeletal conditions.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
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 patients are admitted to a specialist stroke bed within 72 hours of a stroke.
Answered by Will Quince
It is not possible to provide data of how many and what proportion of patients are admitted to a specialist stroke bed within 72 hours of a stroke, as that metric is not measured by NHS England.
NHS England Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme showed that between January to March 2023 showed that 96.8% or 14,759 patients arrived at hospital within 72 hours of onset of symptoms of stroke. The median time from onset of symptoms to arrival at a stroke unit was 11 hours and eight minutes.
91.9% of patients went to a stroke unit as the first admitting ward, being admitted with a median of four hours and 55 minutes from arrival at the hospital.