Mental Health Services: Young People Kate Green (Stretford and
Urmston) (Lab) 1. What assessment he has made of the availability
of mental health services for young people.(905772) The Secretary
of State for Health and Social Care (Sajid Javid) We are committed
to ensuring that everyone with mental health needs has timely
access to support and treatment. We remain committed to the
expansion in mental health services in the NHS long-term plan,
which should see...Request free trial
Mental Health Services: Young People
(Stretford and Urmston)
(Lab)
1. What assessment he has made of the availability of mental
health services for young people.(905772)
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care ()
We are committed to ensuring that everyone with mental health
needs has timely access to support and treatment. We remain
committed to the expansion in mental health services in the NHS
long-term plan, which should see 345,000 more children accessing
services by 2023-24. To accelerate that expansion, we have
provided an additional £79 million this year in recognition of
the impacts of the pandemic.
The NHS long-term plan promises a
“new approach to…mental health services for people aged
18-25”.
Could the Secretary of State set out in detail how university
mental health and wellbeing services will work seamlessly with
NHS mental health services so that students in need of support do
not fall through the cracks?
The hon. Lady raises a very important point, especially as this
week is Eating Disorders Awareness Week. Sadly, as she and many
other hon. Members will know, eating disorders have increased
significantly over the past couple of years.
Last year, during the pandemic, we published a mental health
recovery action plan with an additional £500 million of funding,
a minimum of £13 million of which was dedicated to young people
between the ages of 18 and 25, particularly to help with the
transition from children’s to adult mental health services. My
hon. Friend the Minister for Care and Mental Health has been in
talks with the Department for Education and has a meeting soon to
discuss what more action we can take collectively.
(North West Leicestershire)
(Con)
Has my right hon. Friend made any specific assessment of the
effect of the covid-19 lockdown restrictions on children’s mental
health and general wellbeing?
I can tell my hon. Friend that we have and that that assessment
continues. Sadly, as he will know, we have seen a significant
increase in mental health referrals, especially for young people,
over the past two years. The extra support that we have provided
through the action plan and the £500 million of funding is
helping, but I am afraid that there will be some long-term
challenges created by the pandemic. We are very much looking at
what more we can do.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister.
(Tooting) (Lab)
I echo the words of solidarity with Ukraine that many colleagues
have shared in recent days.
There are stark inequalities in children’s mental health
services, from the postcode lottery of whether a child is ever
seen after a referral to the luck-of-the-draw results of eating
disorder treatment. Children from black and mixed-race
backgrounds make up 11% of the population, but account for a
staggering 36% of those detained in the highest-level mental
health units. However, just 5% of those who access routine
children’s mental health services are black. That is
unacceptable—something clearly is not working.
Labour will put a mental health support hub in every community
and a specialist mental health staff member in every school. What
are the Government going to do?
I think we all agree, across the House, about the importance of
mental health services, especially for younger people. As for
what the Government are doing, before the pandemic there was
already a commitment to increase funding for mental health
services in the NHS’s long-term plan by an additional £2.3
billion a year. On top of that, there has been the response
during the pandemic, with the mental health recovery action plan
and the additional £500 million that I referred to a moment ago.
When it comes to children’s mental health services, there is £79
million included, which will pay for an extra 22,500
referrals.
NHS Capacity
(Bexleyheath and Crayford)
(Con)
2. What steps his Department is taking to increase NHS
capacity.(905773)
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care ()
We have worked with the NHS to expand virtual wards and establish
a new national discharge taskforce to safely maximise patient
discharge and free up beds. We have also announced a delivery
plan for tackling the covid-19 backlog of elective care, which
sets out our clear vision for how an additional £8 billion will
be spent over the next three years to help the NHS to recover and
expand elective services.
I thank my right hon. Friend for that information. As we look
beyond the pandemic, our priority must be tackling the NHS
waiting list. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the record
number of doctors and nurses working in our NHS shows that the
Government are putting the NHS on the best possible footing to
meet the challenges ahead?
I absolutely agree with my right hon. Friend. Let me take this
opportunity once again to thank everyone who has been working in
the NHS, especially for all that they have done during the
pandemic. We are continuing to invest in the workforce through
our 50,000-person expansion in the nurse programme, and we
already have 44,000 more full-time employees in healthcare
settings than we had this time last year, including 4,600 more
doctors and 11,100 more nurses.
(North Shropshire) (LD)
The lack of capacity in accident and emergency departments and
other healthcare services is a major contributor to the ongoing
ambulance waiting time crisis in my constituency. Will the
Secretary of State meet me and representatives of the West
Midlands ambulance service—as I have repeatedly asked him to
do—to help to resolve the crisis?
The hon. Lady is right to raise this matter. As she will know,
owing to the pressures of the pandemic we have seen significant
challenges for ambulance services throughout the country. Just a
few days ago I met the head of the West Midlands ambulance
service to discuss some of the issues, and also how the extra
funding that we provided over the winter—some £55 million of
support for ambulance services—is helping.
(Forest of Dean) (Con)
May I press the Secretary of State on how the increases in NHS
capacity will be maintained over the medium term? His own
Department has forecast that waiting lists may hit 9 million or
10 million in the next couple of years. The Government also have
a plan to take the extra funding coming from the increase in
national insurance and the health and social care levy out of the
NHS to fund our long-term social care plans. How are the two to
be reconciled?
As my right hon. Friend will know, when I presented the NHS’s
elective recovery plan for the covid-19 backlog in the House a
couple of weeks ago, I made it clear that we expect waiting lists
to rise before they fall. That is because some 10 million people
stayed away during the pandemic, and we want as many as possible
of those who want and are able to come forward to do so. At the
same time, the NHS will be massively increasing its activity, in
new ways and with new funding. It is essential for there to be
much greater integration between the NHS and social care, and we
set our plans in detail in the White Paper published last
week.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister, .
(Bristol South) (Lab)
The Government seem to think that there is some kind of magic
staffing tree, but there is no increase in capacity, no elective
recovery and no fixing of social care without an immediate and
ambitious workforce plan. We have legislation in this place, and
we have seen a tsunami of White Papers, but none of that includes
a credible workforce plan. Given the estimated 93,000 NHS
vacancies and more than 110,000 vacancies in social care, when
will we have that plan?
The hon. Lady has just stood up and said that there is no
increase in capacity. I am afraid she was probably not listening
a few minutes ago when I said that in the last year the number of
people working in the health service had increased by 44,000, and
that we had 11,000 more nurses and nearly 5,000 more doctors. As
for a plan, the hon. Lady may know that I have already asked the
NHS to work on a long-term plan—a 15-year workforce plan. If she
really wanted a new workforce plan, she should have thought about
how we could fund it, and should not have voted against the
increase in spending that the Government proposed.
(Bury North) (Con)
On the subject of NHS capacity, data released by NHS Digital
shows that NHS Bury clinical commissioning group had the lowest
number and also the lowest percentage of face-to-face GP
appointments in England in January 2022. Only 37% of Bury
appointments are face-to-face, which is clearly unacceptable and
unfair to my constituents. Will my right hon. Friend agree to
meet me to find solutions to this serious problem?
It is a serious issue, and I will of course meet my hon. Friend
to discuss it further. He may be interested to know that over the
winter the Government provided an additional £250 million in a
winter access fund for primary care services throughout the
country. That has certainly helped to increase the number of
face-to-face appointments, although the omicron wave made the
process more challenging. As my hon. Friend suggests, it should
ultimately be for patients to choose how they want to be
seen.
Ethnic Inequalities in Healthcare
(Walsall South) (Lab)
3. What assessment he has made of the implications for his
policies of the NHS Race and Health Observatory’s February 2022
report on “Ethnic Inequalities in Healthcare”.(905775)
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care ()
Addressing the disparities discussed in that report is one of my
key priorities. We are already making progress in crucial areas
such as increasing covid-19 vaccine take-up among ethnic minority
groups. To go further, we also plan to publish a health
disparities White Paper later this year that will set out
impactful measures designed to address disparities and their
causes, including those linked to ethnicity.
I thank the Secretary of State for his response. I hope he will
ensure that he implements all the conclusions of that report. He
is aware of the McLean review into the senior leadership of the
Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, who have now annexed the Walsall
Manor Hospital. Can he say what he will do to ensure that all
those working in the NHS and using the NHS are treated with
equality and transparency, starting with the Manor?
The right hon. Lady is absolutely right to raise this issue. This
is one of the most important issues and one of the biggest
longer-term challenges to face the NHS. I welcome the report and
I will be taking it very seriously. She will know that I have
commenced action on ethnic disparities in healthcare. For
example, I have asked for an investigation, headed by Dame
Margaret Whitehead, into potential bias in medical devices. The
right hon. Lady is also right to raise the importance of
inequality of treatment, and I will shortly have more to say on
that.
(Enfield North) (Lab)
This report is damning. The evidence shows that, over a decade of
Conservative Government, we have not seen any significant change.
Ethnic minority patients continue to receive poorer care because
of their race at every stage of their life. The Tories have had
12 years to act. Why have they failed to do so?
The reason this report exists is that the Government want to see
this kind of work being done by an independent organisation so
that we can address these types of disparities and issues. There
have been ethnic disparities in our health service for decades,
sadly, under successive Governments, and it is this Government
who are doing something about it. I have already referred to the
medical devices review. Earlier this week, the Under-Secretary of
State for Health and Social Care, my hon. Friend the Member for
Lewes (), set out the maternity
disparities taskforce, and we will have a lot more to say on this
when we publish our forthcoming White Paper.
Covid-19 Lateral Flow Tests
(Glenrothes) (SNP)
4. What recent discussions he has had with the devolved
Administrations on ending free-of-charge covid-19 lateral flow
tests.(905776)
(Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
(SNP)
8. What recent discussions he has had with the devolved
Administrations on ending free-of-charge covid-19 lateral flow
tests.(905780)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social
Care ()
In advance of the living with covid announcement on 21 February,
ministerial colleagues discussed our living with covid strategy
with the devolved Administrations. Officials were also in regular
touch to understand the approach being taken by each
Administration and any implementation issues.
Happy St David’s day to the people of Wales. The views of the
Welsh Government—and of three of the four Governments of these
islands—on this question are very clear. The Government in here
appear to be in a minority of one, yet again. When someone takes
a lateral flow test and reports a result, it does not do them any
good at all, but it can have significant benefits for their
friends, family and close contacts. When the results are reported
in sufficiently large numbers, that can have significant wider
public health benefits. With that in mind, what assessment has
the Minister made of the likely reduction in the number of daily
tests being taken if people have to pay for them, and how does
that compare with the advice from all the UK’s chief medical
officers on the level of background asymptomatic testing that is
advisable to give us the quickest possible warning of the next
wave of a new variant of covid?
As the Prime Minister announced last week, free tests will
continue until April. He also stated that if the SNP in Scotland
wished to continue to offer free tests after that date, it is
certainly at liberty to do so. I am proud that, because of the
amazing success of the vaccination programme, covid rates are
coming down, hospitalisations are coming down and deaths are
coming down. It is because of that that we can now live with
covid and reduce the ongoing expense of testing and bring it to a
proportionate and manageable scenario.
Scottish taxpayers paid their contribution towards the provision
of free lateral flow tests. Scotland is allocated its share of UK
debt, yet we are supposed to believe that covid support is
somehow at the benevolence of the UK Government. Now we see the
UK Government, again, making a decision that directly affects
Scotland because we have a fixed budget. The Minister says the
SNP Government can continue to provide free lateral flow tests,
but is it not the case that Scotland needs its own borrowing
powers so that it has much more fiscal responsibility and the
proper levers of power?
As far as I am aware, and I am pretty sure I am right, the
Scottish Government already have tax-raising powers, so perhaps
they could use them in this instance.
(Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
(SNP)
The Department of Health and Social Care asked the Treasury for
£5 billion to continue testing, which was refused, yet it has
been revealed that the UK Treasury has effectively written off
£4.3 billion given to fraudsters during the pandemic. Does the
Minister think it is wrong to write off losses that have enriched
fraudsters while refusing to support the continuation of free
testing?
I assure the House that the Treasury has not written off
anything.
Covid-19: Pharmaceutical Interventions
(Penistone and Stocksbridge)
(Con)
5. What steps he is taking to build covid-19 defences through
pharmaceutical interventions.(905777)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social
Care ()
Vaccines remain our best line of defence against covid-19. NHS
staff and volunteers in our world-leading vaccination programme
continue to work tirelessly, and I am sure the House thanks all
of them. The offer of first, second and booster doses is always
open. It is never too late to get jabbed.
We were the first country in the world to begin rolling out oral
antivirals in the community, as part of a range of NHS antiviral
and therapeutic treatment options to give us another line of
defence. We are working hard to identify further safe and
effective treatments through Government-funded national
trials.
It was announced last month that covid vaccinations will be
offered to healthy five to 11-year-olds, and the Joint Committee
on Vaccination and Immunisation calculates that 2 million
children in this age group will need to be vaccinated to prevent
one intensive care unit admission, so any serious side effects
occurring at a rate of more than one in 2 million would
constitute a net harm. Given that reports of serious side
effects, such as myocarditis, from other countries significantly
exceed that rate, and given the lack of long-term safety data for
the new vaccine, how confident are the Government that the
vaccination of healthy five to 11-year-olds will do more good
than harm?
We carefully considered and accepted the advice of the JCVI that
the health benefits to five to 11-year-olds of a single dose of
the covid-19 vaccine are greater than the potential health risks.
I reassure the House that this is a non-urgent offer, and our
priority is to continue vaccinating the most vulnerable.
NHS Managers: Performance and Efficiency
(Huddersfield)
(Lab/Co-op)
6. What steps he is taking to help ensure high standards of
performance and efficiency for managers in the NHS.(905778)
The Minister for Health ()
The NHS is recognised as one of the most efficient health
services in the world. Between 2010 and 2018, productivity in the
NHS grew faster than in the wider economy. However, there is
always room to do more. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of
State has commissioned a review led by Dame Linda Pollard and
General Sir Gordon Messenger to explore health and social care
leadership and management, including the drivers of performance
and efficiency, and they will report back later this year.
Mr Sheerman
We have learned today that innocent children are being killed in
Ukraine. I could not get the Ukrainian colours, but I am wearing
my UNICEF tie.
We have brilliant nurses, doctors and support staff, but too
often the management of hospitals is not as good as it should be
to support them. The Topol review should be kept alive, but we
should also make sure that the training of managers is of the
utmost importance. A recent survey of the world’s best hospitals
had only one British hospital in the top 100: Guy’s and St
Thomas’s. Does the Minister agree that this is not good
enough?
Possibly at some risk to my political prospects, I find myself in
agreement with the hon. Gentleman on the importance of good and
effective leadership. Of course I join him in his remarks about
Ukraine.
I highlight that 84% of our NHS workforce are either clinically
trained or are directly providing clinical support to clinicians,
but it is also important that we recognise the importance and
value of the administrators and managers who support the team.
That is why we need the best people in those roles, and it is why
my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has commissioned the
review led by two extremely eminent people. We are determined to
continue driving up the quality and standards of management in
the NHS.
Locum Doctors and Nurses
(Tatton) (Con)
7. If he will make an estimate of the percentage of (a) doctors
and (b) nurses being paid locum rates in the latest week for
which figures are available.(905779)
The Minister for Health ()
In NHS hospital trusts to date in 2021-22, there have been on
average 14,826 full-time-equivalent agency nurses and 4,621
medical and dental FTE agency staff. It is hard to draw direct
percentage comparisons given different methodologies for
measuring such percentages, but my understanding is that overall
about 3% of nursing shifts and about 1.5% of doctors’ shifts in
hospitals are filled by locums or agency staff.
Can we get greater clarity on that information and have it held
centrally, given that wages are such a large proportion of the
NHS budget? It is essential to know how many hours are paid at
the higher locum rate to ensure value for money for the extra
billions of pounds that the Government are putting into the NHS
to get waiting lists down and for social care.
I am grateful to my right hon. Friend, who is tireless in her
determination to ensure value for money for her and all of our
taxpayers’ pounds, particularly in this space. We continue to
work hard to drive down agency and locum spend, focusing instead
on both bank staff and our full-time recruitment, on which the
Secretary of State has set out the success that we have been
having. Since 2015, we have controlled agency spend through price
caps and procurement frameworks. However, she is absolutely
right, and we want to see more full-time NHS employed staff
working at NHS rates in our trusts.
Health Outcomes: Public-Private Partnerships
(Bootle) (Lab)
9. Whether his Department is taking steps to help improve health
outcomes through the implementation of public-private
partnerships.(905781)
The Minister for Health ()
Throughout the pandemic, partnerships between the public and
private sectors have been vital in securing the resources to
protect public health. As one element of that partnership,
independent sector providers, for example, delivered almost 7
million episodes of care for NHS patients between April 2020 and
December 2021 according to hospital episode statistics data. We
continue to support the partnership approach more broadly as part
of our plans both to tackle the backlog of elective care and to
improve broader health outcomes.
I thank the Minister for that response. As he is aware, the
national diet and nutrition survey has shown that average intakes
of dietary fibre in the United Kingdom are well below recommended
levels and less than a quarter of those of countries such as
Denmark, where the Government work across industry on a
public-private partnership basis to boost wholegrain intakes.
What consideration has the Minister given to implementing such an
initiative in the United Kingdom to provide a much-needed boost
in fibre intakes among the public?
The hon. Gentleman makes a typically sensible and reasonable
point. Government advice on a healthy balanced diet is
encapsulated in the UK’s national food model, the “Eatwell
Guide”. It includes advice on incorporating fibre into the diet
through fruit and vegetables, bread, rice and pasta. We set
nutritional standards for catering in all Government Departments
and related organisations to improve the nutritional content of
food served, including increasing fibre. I agree that it would be
helpful to increase intakes of fibre in our diet, guided
appropriately by clinical and medical advice, and a key element
of achieving that is working with industry.
Motor Neurone Disease Research
(Wycombe) (Con)
10. What his timescale is for awarding the £50 million funding
for targeted motor neurone disease research through specific
scientific programmes proposed by MND charities.(905782)
The Minister for Care and Mental Health ()
Researchers can apply right now to the National Institute for
Health Research and UK Research and Innovation to access the £50
million of funding. The timescale for spending the money depends
on the research applications received. The £50 million over five
years is a minimum commitment, and we hope to spend much more
than that on research in this vital area. We are working with the
motor neurone community to help it effectively access the
committed funding and to boost MND research even further.
Mr Baker
The Minister has made a positive announcement in the course of
the last few months, and this is an important repetition, but
there seems to be a slight miscommunication going on because
organisations are telling me that they are not sure where the
co-ordination is coming from. May I invite her to meet me and the
coalition of patients and researchers to try to nail down exactly
what is happening, in a spirit of good faith?
I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend. I have also met some of
the campaigners and researchers in this area, and the head of our
research arm, so that we are clear. The support we are providing
to the community includes a new £4 million MND partnership. That
will bring the research community together so that they can pool
resources and expertise to leverage that funding further, and
ensure that they put forward strategic applications.
Children with Epilepsy: Treatments
(Edinburgh West) (LD)
11. If his Department will make an assessment of the long-term
impacts of use of (a) benzodiazepines and (b) other opioids on
children being treated for acute forms of epilepsy.(905783)
The Minister for Care and Mental Health ()
Benzodiazepines are an important medicine in the treatment of
severe cases of certain types of epileptic conditions in
children. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
continues to monitor the safety of treatment with
benzodiazepines. Opioids are not authorised to treat children for
acute forms of epilepsy.
Benzodiazepines are not appropriate for all children, and the
Secretary of State has been instrumental in approving medicinal
cannabis for use by children with epilepsy. I recently visited a
medicinal cannabis farm in the borders of Scotland, which is
poised to make an important contribution to the pharmaceutical
industry in this country. Given the economic benefits, and the
moral imperative of helping those children who can only benefit
from medicinal cannabis, will the Minister say what steps the
Government will take to make it available on NHS
prescriptions?
The National Institute for Health Research welcomes funding
applications for research into any aspect of human health,
including epilepsy, and we would welcome those pharmaceutical
companies coming forward to partake in trials. The NIHR and the
NHS will support a programme of two randomised control trials
into epilepsy, which will compare medicines containing
cannabidiol, and CBD plus tetrahydrocannabinol and a placebo.
This is a pioneering area of research, and I am aware that NHS
England and NIHR are working closely to get those trials started
as soon as possible.
Regional Health Inequalities
(Kingston upon Hull East)
(Lab)
12. What steps his Department is taking to tackle regional health
inequalities including waiting times for NHS
treatment.(905784)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social
Care ()
We are determined to address the many health disparities that
exist across England, particularly in areas such as maternity.
Last week I was pleased to announce the maternity disparities
taskforce. It aims to tackle the difference in outcomes for
pregnant women based on their race and background, which we want
to end.
The problem is that the Government talk a good scrap, but their
record on health inequalities is utterly deplorable. Before the
pandemic, 4.5 million people were waiting for treatment on NHS
lists, and 5,000 people in Hull were waiting for treatment at
Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill. Why is someone who lives in
east Hull more than twice as likely to be waiting for more than
12 months on an NHS waiting list?
While I recognise that the waiting times in Hull are some of the
highest in the country, I am sure the hon. Gentleman will welcome
the investment that the Government are putting into his
constituency to change that. The Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill
Hospitals have £60 million of funding, and his own hospital
recognises that it will provide some of the most modern
facilities in the country. That includes £2.8 million for new
respiratory wards, £1.6 million for new specialist theatre
facilities, and £1.1 million for oxygen resilience wards,
ensuring that his local hospital is able to tackle some of those
health disparities.
(Don Valley) (Con)
In addition to regional disparities, will the Minister look into
disparities between men and women’s health? Men die four years
earlier than women on average, 75% of suicides are by men, and
during the time taken for oral questions, one man will die from
prostate cancer. Through my work as chair of the all-party group
on issues affecting men and boys, we have taken evidence that
points to the need for a men’s health strategy. The Government
have done much over the years to reduce the gender pay gap. Will
the Minister help me to reduce the gender age gap?
I absolutely take the point that my hon. Friend makes around the
disparity in life expectancy between those in the most and the
least deprived areas, which is greater for men. We will be
publishing the health disparities White Paper, and we will focus
on any disparities, including those that affect men.
(Denton and Reddish)
(Lab)
The Minister’s answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston
upon Hull East () was quite frankly
unbelievable. The fact is that waiting lists are projected to
continue increasing year on year. NHS data shows huge regional
inequalities in waiting times. Across the river, at Guy’s and St
Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, over 70% of patients are being seen
within 18 weeks, but in University Hospitals Birmingham NHS
Foundation Trust just 38% of patients are being seen in that
time. That is not levelling up, so exactly when do the Government
plan on getting a grip on those health inequalities?
I am disappointed that the hon. Gentleman is not happy with the
investment going into Hull that will try to tackle some of those
disparities, because we recognise that there are waiting
lists.
They are going up.
I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman realises that there has
been a pandemic for two years. The Government have committed
funding for elective recovery. We are investing in those areas
that are in greatest need in the country, including Hull. I am
sure that the residents of Hull welcome the investment that the
Government are making in their hospital.
New Health Centre: Maghull
(Sefton Central) (Lab)
13. What plans he has for capital investment in a new health
centre at Maghull in Sefton Central constituency.(905785)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social
Care ()
Following the recent spending review, the next round of projects,
including those from Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, are being
considered, and local health systems should receive confirmation
of their funding envelope for 2022-23 shortly.
In November 2018, the then Health Minister, the hon. Member for
Winchester (), told me that building a new
health centre in Maghull was a priority for NHS England, but the
estates and technology transformation fund has closed and the
funding for Maghull has not been approved by the Government. Can
the Minister confirm that the Government still agree that a new
health centre, as opposed to what she mentioned before, which is
a mental health facility, is needed in Maghull? Can she also tell
me what the funding arrangements are in the absence of the
estates and technology transformation fund?
I take the hon. Gentleman’s point, and of course he will lobby
for more investment in his constituency. As I said, the funding
envelope will be announced shortly, and it will be for his local
area to decide how it spends that.
Waiting List Times: Non-consultant Led Services
(Rotherham) (Lab)
15. If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of
requiring mandatory reporting of waiting list times for
non-consultant led services in NHS mental health
trusts.(905788)
The Minister for Care and Mental Health ()
NHS England and NHS Improvement have been field testing waiting
time standards across 35 different local pilot initiatives.
Through that clinically led review, we hope to understand the
merits of introducing them. NHS England and NHS Improvement
published the outcome of a consultation on those standards on 22
February, just over a week ago. We will work with them now on the
next steps for the proposed measures.
I am very interested in what the Minister says, and I would be
really interested to see the review, but in Rotherham the waiting
time for children’s neurodevelopmental assessments is 200 weeks.
That is almost four years of a young life. Consultant led NHS
services are required to report waiting times against the 18 and
52 week standard, but neurodevelopmental assessments having no
such requirements means that the political will is not there to
challenge. Will the Minister please look into putting the
resources necessary into children’s mental health so that no
child, wherever they are, goes without that support?
I thank the hon. Lady for her question. She raises an incredibly
important point. As a Government, we are determined to tackle
long autism diagnosis waiting times. We are investing £2.5
million as part of the NHS long-term plan to test and implement
the most effective ways to reduce autism diagnosis waiting times
for children and young people across England. That is vital,
because we know that the earlier children get the support, the
better the outcomes are for them. We are absolutely determined to
work on this, but the diagnosis pathways are sometimes quite
complex.
Early Medical Abortion: Telemedicine Service
(Romsey and Southampton
North) (Con)
16. What plans his Department has to take steps to permanently
implement the telemedicine service for early medical
abortion.(905790)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social
Care ()
The Government will end the temporary approval put in place at
the beginning of the pandemic. We have extended the temporary
approval for six months until midnight on 29 August 2022. From
that point, abortion services for early medical abortion will
return in line with pre-covid regulatory requirements. As with
any healthcare service, this measure will be kept under
review.
Can my hon. Friend explain how the decision to end telemedicine
for early medical abortion supports women who responded to the
Department’s own consultation, how it works in line with the
Royal College of General Practice, the Royal College of
Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and the Royal College of
Midwives, and what the dangers are in ignoring their advice when
pulling together a women’s health strategy?
The temporary approval was put in place during the pandemic to
address a specific and acute medical need to reduce the risk of
transmission of covid-19. It was recognised that without it,
significant numbers of women would not have been able to safely
access abortion services. Thanks to the success and impact of the
national vaccination programme, the situation is now very
different. In making this decision, the Secretary of State has
considered all the risks and benefits regarding the temporary
approval.
Child Mental Health In-patient Provision: Derbyshire
(Chesterfield) (Lab)
17. What assessment he has made of the adequacy of child mental
health in-patient provision in Derbyshire.(905791)
The Minister for Care and Mental Health ()
We want to ensure that more children and young people can access
appropriate support in their community, and that those who
require in-patient cases are treated as close to home as
possible. The East Midlands Provider Collaborative is responsible
for commissioning tasks for tier 4 in-patient children and
adolescent mental health services, including for Derbyshire. It
has implemented strategies to ensure the most efficient use of
in-patient beds, including a review of the types of beds required
by east midlands patients.
Mr Perkins
My constituent Stephen Jones wants what the Minister wants, but
when his daughter required in-patient child mental health
facilities she was forced to go to Stoke to receive them. He had
a 70-mile journey every time he wanted to see her, which was
obviously very expensive and also just impossible to do. It meant
that his daughter’s mental health got worse, because she felt
that she had been abandoned by her own family, putting the whole
family under pressure. In addition, if people do not receive
universal credit, they get no support with the financial impact.
Will the Minister tell us more about how we can ensure that
children’s mental health is not exacerbated by the inability to
access services locally?
The hon. Gentleman raises a very important point. Clearly, these
are distressing enough times without having that commute and
those travel arrangements on top of that, but sometimes the
services are highly specialised. We are trying to get the right
blend between access to highly specialised in-patient services
and making sure that we increase community efforts. We have been
working very hard to ensure that there are more community
efforts, but we have also invested £10 million more in capital
for more beds to make sure people can get treatment closer to
home.
Support for Young Carers
(Putney) (Lab)
18. What assessment the Government have made of the adequacy of
support for young carers.(905793)
The Minister for Care and Mental Health ()
We have introduced significant changes to support for young
carers, with statutory entitlements to young carers’ assessments
from April 2015. Local authorities are held to account for such
assessments and support through the social care inspection
framework. Further, as we set out in our adult social care White
Paper, we will amend the school census at the earliest
opportunity to include young carers, allowing us to establish a
wealth of evidence on this cohort.
I welcome more information being found out about young carers,
because this is a hidden health crisis. A constituent came to see
me. She is a young person now and has been a young carer for many
years. The impact on her educational attainment, physical health
and mental health has been devastating. There are 800,000 young
carers in the UK, with 800 of them in Wandsworth where support
services have been slashed. Does the Minister recognise the
impact of that unpaid child labour and does she have a plan to
tackle it?
Very much so. Young people should be protected from inappropriate
and excessive caring responsibility, and adult and children’s
services need to work together better. We recognise, though, the
lack of hard data and evidence on outcomes for young carers. That
is where we are and that is why we have made the commitment, with
the Department for Education, to amend the school census. We
intend to introduce that as early as 2022-23 and each year
thereafter. The data will be collected at primary school and
secondary school, so we will be able to look at all kinds of
outcomes for this particular cohort and take actions.
Kettering General Hospital
(Kettering) (Con)
19. If he will ensure that the NHS new hospital programme team
complete approval processes by summer 2022 to allow the
preparation of the full business case for the redevelopment of
Kettering General Hospital by the local NHS trust.(905794)
The Minister for Health ()
The joint DHSC and NHSE/I—NHS England and NHS Improvement
—programme team is working closely with all schemes in the
programme, including Kettering, on how and when new hospitals
will be built across the decade. That is to maximise the
potential benefits that the programme’s approach can bring for
all the new hospitals. We will continue to support all trusts in
the programme, including Kettering, to ensure that there is the
swift approval of all business cases—including, in this case, for
early enabling works—but that will always be in line with due
process to ensure that there is value for money, as my hon.
Friend would expect.
Mr Hollobone
I thank the hospitals Minister very much for his visit to
Kettering General Hospital on 17 February. Specifically, can we
have feedback from the new hospital team on the strategic outline
case for the hospital by the end of April, so that the hospital
can submit its outline business case for the next stage in
July?
It was a pleasure to visit my hon. Friend’s constituency. He is a
forceful advocate for that constituency and for his hospital, as
indeed—if I may slightly crave your indulgence, Mr Speaker—was
the late . Today is the day that
Southend-on-Sea officially becomes a city, so I just wanted to
shoehorn that into the record. On my hon. Friend’s point, we will
do everything we can to expedite the approval of business cases
while ensuring that due process is followed to make sure that
there is value for money.
NHS Dentistry
(South East Cornwall)
(Con)
20. What steps his Department is taking to increase provision of
NHS dentistry.(905795)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social
Care ()
There are three ways in which we are increasing dental provision.
First, we are increasing dental activity levels to 85%, as
infection controls now allow us to. The second way is through the
£50 million access fund, which will increase appointments by
350,000, and we encourage local commissioners to apply for that
funding. Finally, we are reforming the contract, which, for too
long, has resulted in a perverse disincentive for dentists.
Mrs Murray
I thank my hon. Friend for that answer, but my constituents are
telling me that there are no places available with NHS dentists
in my constituency. Will the Government now make that a priority
following the covid pandemic?
I thank my hon. Friend for all her hard work on campaigning for
more dental appointments for her constituents. I believe that she
met the Secretary of State last night to push him further on
this. Her local area has an allocation of £4.7 million from the
£50 million fund, and I encourage her to speak to her local
commissioners to make use of that allocation. We are also looking
at improving dental training so that we can get more dentists
into her area.
(York Central)
(Lab/Co-op)
Since dentistry was debated just a few weeks ago, another 10,000
of my constituents have received letters to tell them that they
will have to go private. They are already waiting for five years
to get an appointment. When will they actually get to see a
dentist, or are they expected to have poor teeth?
I am not sure where those constituents’ letters have come from,
but if a contract has been handed back and that is the reason for
the letter, the local commissioners should be looking for new
providers, so I am very happy to meet the hon. Lady and her
commissioners to see what is going on to make that happen.
Topical Questions
(Colne Valley) (Con)
T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental
responsibilities.(905762)
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care ()
I share the horror and disgust of almost everyone in this House,
this country and the whole world at the unprovoked, unjust and
unjustifiable invasion of Ukraine by President Putin last week.
That appalling act has created a humanitarian emergency and we
are looking at every opportunity to give the people of Ukraine
the support that they so urgently need.
On Sunday night we sent almost 50,000 items of medical supplies
to Poland via air for onward transport to Ukraine. I can inform
the House that another plane departed at 7 o’clock this morning
with more supplies, including medical equipment and personal
protective equipment. We have all been in awe of the bravery and
heroism shown by the Ukrainian people. Rest assured, we all stand
with them shoulder to shoulder in their hour of need.
On behalf of my constituents with blood cancer, will the
Secretary of State please consider providing free asymptomatic
testing for the close contacts of immunocompromised people?
We will keep under review the testing offer that we will provide
over the coming weeks and months. We continue to consider whether
any changes are necessary, but as we learn to live with covid we
will target our free asymptomatic testing offer on vulnerable
people. That includes, of course, those who are
immunocompromised. Such individuals will also be eligible for
antiviral treatments through a free priority PCR test
service.
(Ilford North) (Lab)
I associate myself and everyone on the Opposition Benches with
the Secretary of State’s remarks and warmly welcome the support
that the Government are providing to the people of Ukraine and
the Ukrainian army. We all stand with the people of Ukraine in
their fight for freedom and democracy.
Turning to matters closer to home, the Secretary of State asked
the Chancellor for £5 billion to cover essential covid
costs—ongoing covid costs—and he came away with nothing, so where
will the cuts now fall in the NHS budget?
We must all learn to live with covid. The Government have been
very clear about that, and we set out a very detailed plan. As
infections fall, cases fall and rates of hospitalisation for
covid fall, which means we can now have this type of plan. It is
a properly funded plan that focuses on vaccines, treatments and
targeted testing, and that builds in resilience should there be
future variants of concern. It is right that this plan is funded
by the Department because it is our No. 1 health priority.
Hang on a minute. So one minute the Secretary of State is asking
for £5 billion from the Treasury, and the next minute he has
found the money within the Department. Either he was trying to
pull a fast one on the Treasury, because he had the money he
needed, or he has not got the money he wanted and therefore the
cuts are going to fall within existing budgets. Members do not
need to take my word for it; it was reported in The Times that
the Health Secretary threatened that, if he did not get the
funding, it would mean delaying investment in social care, fewer
elective surgeries and cuts to the hospital building programme.
Having, I think, not tried to pull a fast one on the Chancellor,
is he now pulling a fast one on patients, and is it not really
the patients who are going to pay the price for his failed
negotiations?
First, the hon. Gentleman should not believe everything he reads
in the press. We would think he knew that by now. As I said, when
it comes to funding our plan for living with covid, it is right
that it continues to be the No. 1 priority of my Department to
keep this virus at bay and that it is funded by the Department.
When it comes to funding, this is the hon. Gentleman who, with
all his colleagues, voted against extra funding when he was given
the opportunity.
(Crawley) (Con)
T5. I welcome the record funding that is going into our NHS and
also the plans to catch up with appointments and treatments that
were delayed because of the covid-19 pandemic. Can my right hon.
Friend say a little bit more about how he will increase the
number of face-to-face GP appointments available to my Crawley
constituents and, indeed, people across the country?(905767)
My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise this. NHS England has
already given clear guidance to all GP practices that they must
provide face-to-face appointments alongside remote consultations.
Patients’ input into the type of consultation they want should be
sought by all practices and their preferences should be
respected.
(Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
(SNP)
The Scottish Government have now confirmed their initial aid for
humanitarian support to Ukraine of £4 million, as well as medical
supplies. They are keen to work with aid agencies and other UK
nations to get support to where it is most needed as soon as
possible. What discussions has the Secretary of State had with
his Cabinet colleagues on boosting urgent medical equipment
provision to Ukraine from the UK and on guaranteeing access for
doctors to the country?
The hon. Gentleman raises a very important point, and he will be
pleased to know that the UK was one of the first countries in the
world to provide medical aid. As I mentioned a moment ago, one
flight left on Sunday night and one left this morning, and there
will be many more, I hope. I welcome the work of the Scottish
Government and their offer, and we will certainly work together
in making sure that aid reaches the people who need it.
(North Devon) (Con)
T6. Devon’s community hospitals and minor injury units, such as
the Tyrrell in Ilfracombe, have been unable to open fully for
some time. Would my hon. Friend consider extra help where it is
needed to enable them to reopen, because although adding extra
capacity is welcome, using what we have effectively is surely
essential?(905768)
The Minister for Health ()
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her question. The minor
injuries units at Ilfracombe and Bideford have been temporarily
closed since March 2020 due to the pandemic, to allow skilled
staff to be redeployed to the emergency department at North Devon
District Hospital to meet clinical needs. The Northern Devon
Healthcare NHS Trust continues to work with the local CCG to
ensure planning for safe staffing levels for the temporary
reconfiguration and for permanent solutions. Were anything to be
made permanent, it would of course have to go through the local
authority health overview and scrutiny committee. No such
referral has been made, and this remains temporary.
(Newport East) (Lab)
T2. Happy St David’s day, Mr Speaker. Physician associates in my
constituency, who play a vital role in the NHS, want to hear from
the Government when long-awaited regulations that will allow them
to take on more responsibility and play an even greater role in
our NHS will come forward. Can the Secretary of State update the
House and will he meet me and constituents to discuss
this?(905763)
First, I wish a happy St David’s day to the hon. Member and all
those celebrating. I would be happy to meet her on this issue.
The Government greatly value the role of physician associates.
She knows that they bring new talent to the NHS and act in an
enabling role, where they can help healthcare teams with their
workload. Physician associates will be regulated by the General
Medical Council, and the Department has consulted on draft
legislation on just how to do that.
(Southport) (Con)
T7. I recently met Specsavers to discuss how patient choice
should be promoted by making all routine community services
patient self-referrals, especially when that can free up GPs’
time by not using them as administrative gatekeepers. Will the
Secretary of State commit to meeting me to discuss how we can
increase GP capacity using such measures?(905769)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social
Care ()
I am very interested in hearing proposals on patient
self-referral. I am happy to meet my hon. Friend. From a cancer
perspective, we are also potentially looking at self-referrals
for skin diagnosis for possible skin cancer and for breast lumps,
because we want to reduce waiting times and increase GP
capacity.
Alex Davies-Jones (Pontypridd) (Lab)
T3. Dydd Gŵyl Dewi hapus to you, Mr Speaker, and the whole
House. The Minister should be aware of my long-fought campaign to
improve how IVF add-ons are marketed to people who are longing
for a baby. These add-ons, such as embryo glue or assisted
hatching, often have limited success rates and cost thousands of
pounds on top of an already expensive procedure. The system
simply needs more regulation, so will she commit to meeting me to
discuss this important issue further?(905764)
I am happy to meet the hon. Lady. She raises a very important
point that affects people who are desperate to try for
children.
(Sevenoaks) (Con)
T8. I thank the Secretary of State for the extremely welcome news
that he will introduce a licensing regime for non-surgical
cosmetic interventions. This is a huge step forward for women’s
health, and one that I have campaigned for over many years, along
with many across the House. I am absolutely delighted. Can he
inform us how the proposed licensing regime will keep pace with
the rapidly changing landscape of these treatments?(905770)
First, I pay tribute to my hon. Friend and to my right hon.
Friend the Member for Romsey and Southampton North () for all the work they have
done on this most important of issues. Over the past few months,
we have all heard in this House some horrific examples of
botched, non-cosmetic procedures scarring people for life. No
longer will that be allowed. We will be introducing a licensing
regime for such procedures. The details of the regime will be set
out in regulations, meaning that it will be flexible, agile and
change in response to changes in the cosmetics industry.
(Chesterfield) (Lab)
T4. The response from the hon. Member for Lewes () to the question from my
right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull North ( ) on health inequalities gives
me no confidence that the Government have a plan to address these
inequalities at all. She says that we have had a pandemic—of
course we have, but the point is that it has happened everywhere.
What does it say about this Government’s priorities that waiting
times are escalating to a far greater extent in more deprived
communities than they are in the more affluent communities that
the Tories are so happy to represent?(905766)
I can only reiterate that we have a laser focus on this issue,
and that is why we will be bringing forward the health
disparities White Paper. I also point the hon. Gentleman to the
NHS’s approach of the Core20PLUS5, where it is targeting the most
deprived 20% of the population in five clinical priority areas:
maternity, severe mental illness, chronic respiratory disease,
early cancer diagnosis and hypertension. We will deliver on
resolving disparities issues.
(South West Surrey) (Con)
Today is the first day of Brain Tumour Awareness Month. The
Secretary of State kindly wrote to me in January when my mother
died from a brain tumour, and Baroness , who was much loved on all
sides of the House, also died from a brain tumour. Given that it
is the biggest cause of cancer death for the under-40s, and we
still do not really know what causes them, does he agree that
this should be a priority for research, so that we understand as
much about brain tumours as about other cancers?
I once again express my condolences to my right hon. Friend for
his loss. He is absolutely right to raise this issue and the need
for more research. That is one of the reasons why, back in 2018,
we announced £40 million of extra research funding over the next
five years. I can tell him that some £9 million of that has
already been committed to 10 projects. In addition, the Brain Matrix is an exciting
new trials platform that will give people with brain cancer
access to trials of treatments that are best suited for their
individual tumours.
(East Renfrewshire)
(SNP)
T9. According to the Royal College of Obstetricians and
Gynaecologists, less than 3% of medical research funding in the
UK is focused on women-specific diseases such as endometriosis
and polycystic ovary syndrome. They are serious conditions, but
too little is known about them and we do not hear enough about
them, especially polycystic ovary syndrome. The failure to
increase research funding is holding back women’s outcomes and
experiences. What are the UK Government doing to increase the
priority given to research funding for both those
conditions?(905771)
The hon. Lady raises an important point. She is right that women
are under-represented in clinical research and are waiting far
too long for diagnoses of conditions such as endometriosis. The
women’s health strategy will be published very shortly and I
think that she will be pleased with some of its recommendations
to drive improvements forward.
(Buckingham) (Con)
I am grateful to the Minister for Health for giving his time over
recent months to hear the case for an exciting and innovative new
health centre for the village of Long Crendon in my constituency,
as proposed by the parish council and action group. Will he
update the House on where we are with finding funding to help the
construction of the project?
My hon. Friend is, as ever, persistent and tenacious in his
advocacy of Long Crendon’s surgery plans; not only at the
Dispatch Box but whenever he runs into me around this place, it
is often the first thing on his lips. I will continue to work
with him on the surgery bid and I encourage him to continue to
work with his local NHS systems.
(Kingston upon Hull North)
(Lab)
Will the Secretary of State meet me as chair of the all-party
parliamentary group on sexual and reproductive health in the UK?
Can I bring along the Royal College of Obstetricians and
Gynaecologists, the Royal College of Midwives, the Royal College
of General Practitioners, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and
the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare to explain why
the decision to remove telemedicine is wrong for women in this
country?
Yes.
(Loughborough) (Con)
A dental practice in Shepshed has informed me that its NHS
contract has changed little since 2006. Can the contracts and
value of units of dental activity for treatment be increased to
focus on prevention, rather than treatment alone?
I absolutely agree; my hon. Friend hits the nail on the head of
why we are seeing such problems in dentistry. We have started
negotiations on the dental contract and are working with the
British Dental Association. The UDA has to be reformed as part of
that: it is a perverse disincentive that turns dentists away from
providing NHS services. I will keep her updated on our
progress.
(Strangford) (DUP)
I thank all the Ministers for their responses. What steps have
been taken to work with the Education Secretary to provide a
higher number of places for medical students containing a golden
handshake that allows for no student loan repayment or fees on
condition that they stay in the NHS for a set time?
It is an important question on the workforce. The hon. Gentleman
will know that over the last two years we have removed the cap on
medical places and we have the highest number of doctors and
dentists in training ever. It is right to think about what more
we can do, however, and we are having active discussions with the
Secretary of State for Education to see what can be done.
(Batley and Spen) (Lab)
On the issue of children’s mental health, does the Minister agree
that children with ADHD and autism have found the last two years
even more stressful than usual? A cross-departmental approach is
long overdue to ensure that their needs are adequately met.
The Minister for Care and Mental Health ()
The hon. Lady is absolutely right, which is why we are working
cross-departmentally to bring forward a mental health strategy.
It is also why we have put in place mental health recovery
funding specifically for the recovery from the pandemic, which
has had a terrible effect on children’s mental health.
(Inverclyde) (SNP)
The Secretary of State is on record saying:
“Making medicinal cannabis available on prescription will benefit
the lives of ill patients currently suffering in silence. There
is nothing harder than seeing your loved ones in pain”.
Since he said that, there have been three prescriptions for
medical cannabis on the NHS. They are important, because they set
a legal and medical precedent that it can happen, and it can
happen now. Currently, however, if I can afford it, I can buy it,
but if I cannot, I cannot. When will he address that anomaly?
The hon. Gentleman will know that for medicines to be generally
available on the NHS, they have to be deemed safe and effective
by the independent medical regulator. That requires trials to
take place and that is where the focus should be. Those who want
those medicines to be more easily available should encourage the
companies that produce them to have trials and the NHS will
support them in doing so.
(South Shields) (Lab)
Chloe Rutherford and Liam Curry from South Shields were
tragically murdered in the Manchester Arena terror attack. Their
parents’ pain is unimaginable and constant. After sitting through
hours of the inquiry, they have been told that, in just two days’
time, the registration of their precious children’s deaths will
be done not by them, but by a stranger. Apparently that is
standard practice for mass casualty events. These grieving
parents are being denied this final act for their children.
Please can the Secretary of State explain why, and urgently
intervene?
Of course I would be very happy to meet the hon. Lady. It is a
very important issue that she has raised. I also send my
condolences to the parents of Chloe and Liam.
(Upper Bann) (DUP)
The right decision was taken by this Government last week in
confirming that the temporary telemedicine at-home abortion pill
should cease. I commend the Government for that decision. Given
that more than 10,000 women have ended up in hospital in the year
2020 after taking a first abortion pill, can my hon. Friend
confirm that the Government will follow through on that
decision?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social
Care ()
As we clearly stated, the decision has been made to end the
temporary approval, which means that face-to-face consultations
and taking the first pill in a healthcare setting returns to
England from 30 August 2022. As I said earlier, all healthcare
services are kept under review as evidence and information
emerge.
(St Albans) (LD)
Since the NHS was created, it has been governed by the principle
that services are free at the point of use, and, of course, the
Secretary of State has a duty to protect that. Many of my
constituents want to know whether the Government’s decision to
start charging for covid tests marks a departure from that
founding principle.
Clearly, that is one of the most important principles of the NHS
and it will not change. It is right, though, that when we look at
living with covid, we target testing on those who are most
vulnerable or who are in vulnerable settings. That is the right,
proportionate and balanced approach.
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