Asked by: Alberto Costa (Conservative - South Leicestershire)
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 implications for its policies of recent data published by the Office of National Statistics on excess deaths.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities works alongside the Office for National Statistics to understand excess deaths. A combination of factors has contributed to these 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 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: 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 he is taking steps to support the development of artificial intelligence in brain imaging.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department is funding the AI in Health and Care Award which has provided £123 million to 86 artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The Award was created to accelerate the testing and evaluation of some of the most promising AI technologies that can support clinicians.
One of the areas supported by the AI Award is brain imaging. We are currently evaluating the Brainomix e-Stroke Suite, a CE-marked set of tools that uses artificial intelligence methods to interpret acute stroke brain scans, and helps doctors make the right choices about treatment and the need for specialist transfer of patients. E-stroke suite is currently deployed in nine stroke networks in the United Kingdom. We are also funding the first real world testing of Qure.ai’s qER, a triage and notification AI tool that prioritises head CT scans with critical abnormalities such as a bleed, fracture, mass effect or midline shift for priority review by a radiologist and Icometrix’s icobrain which uses AI on MRI scans to track the progress of multiple sclerosis.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to (1) prevent ill health, and (2) promote staying healthy, among older people.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We work to support the health needs of, and prevent ill health in, older people through a variety of action. This includes the NHS Health Check, which detects people at risk of developing cardiovascular disease in later life, and an ambitious prevention agenda to tackle the most common preventable diseases among older people. For example, encouraging people in mid-life to stop smoking, reduce their alcohol consumption and improve their diet to help reduce the risk of developing dementia, disability and frailty in later life.
The Government will also publish a Major Conditions Strategy which 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. An interim report will be published in the summer.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
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 importance of Stroke Recovery Services to stroke survivors and their families.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Long Term Plan, published on 7 January 2019, made an assessment of improving stroke services, including better stroke rehabilitation services and increased access to specialist stroke units.
Following that assessment, the Integrated Community Stroke Service (ICSS) model published in February 2022, coordinates 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.
The National Health Service has a robust audit process to monitor and improve acute stroke care within the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme. This data is regularly reviewed and informs the programme’s priorities and plays a pivotal role in supporting quality improvement.
Asked by: Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department provides information to patients following a (a) stroke or (b) heart attack on the symptoms of vascular dementia.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not provide information to patients following a stroke or heart attack on the symptoms of vascular dementia. Local services in the National Health Service are responsible for providing information to patients following a stroke or heart attack on ways to reduce their risk of vascular dementia.
Asked by: Sally-Ann Hart (Conservative - Hastings and Rye)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information the NHS provides to patients following a (a) stroke and (b) heart attack on the symptoms of vascular dementia.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local services in the National Health Service are responsible for providing information to patients following a stroke or heart attack on ways to reduce their risk of vascular dementia.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the data published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities entitled Excess Mortality in England, published on 12 May 2023, if he will commission an investigation into the reasons for trends in the level of (a) unexpected deaths from cardiovascular causes and (b) extra deaths in people under the age of 64 in last 12 months.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Department has no plans to commission an investigation into the excess deaths in England in the last 12 months but will continue to monitor and report on levels of excess deaths. A combination of factors has contributed to an increase in the number of 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 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. Interventions set out in the strategy will aim to alleviate pressure on the health system, as well as support the Government’s objective to increase healthy life expectancy and reduce ill-health related labour market inactivity.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will conduct an investigation into the excess deaths in England in the last 12 months.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Department has no plans to commission an investigation into the excess deaths in England in the last 12 months but will continue to monitor and report on levels of excess deaths. A combination of factors has contributed to an increase in the number of 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 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. Interventions set out in the strategy will aim to alleviate pressure on the health system, as well as support the Government’s objective to increase healthy life expectancy and reduce ill-health related labour market inactivity.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the joint statement made by various organisations on 21 March which called for a Commissioner for Older People and Ageing for England; and what plans they have to meet with representatives of the relevant organisations.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have no current plans to make a specific assessment as the needs of older people and healthy ageing are covered by the NHS Health Check and an ambitious prevention agenda to reduce individuals’ risk of ill health later in life.
We continue to engage a wide range of organisations on healthy ageing and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities is taking targeted actions to tackle the most common preventable diseases, improving access and uptake of prevention services, and embedding prevention across health and care. For example, encouraging people in mid-life to stop smoking, reduce their alcohol consumption and improve their diet to help reduce the risk of developing dementia, disability and frailty in later life.
Finally, the Government recently announced that it will publish a Major Conditions Strategy which 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: cancers; cardiovascular disease, including stroke and diabetes; chronic respiratory diseases; dementia; mental ill health; and musculoskeletal conditions. An interim report will be published in the summer.
Asked by: Baroness Barker (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how the Major Conditions Strategy will promote the importance of integrated physical and mental health treatment for people with long-term conditions such as diabetes and Parkinson's Disease.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Major Conditions Strategy will tackle groups of 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.
Dementia, rather than other neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s Disease, has been identified because it is the leading cause of death in women and the second biggest cause of death for men.