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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase the number of acute adult psychiatric beds for patients.

Nicola Blackwood

The Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Commission on Adult Psychiatric Care – “Old Problems, New Solutions” highlighted a need to develop effective alternatives to inpatient care, rather than to increase the number of acute psychiatric beds.

We are investing over £400 million up to 2020 in crisis resolution and home treatment teams as a safe alternative to hospital. We invested £33 million in 2014/15 in early intervention in psychosis services and we have introduced waiting times for mental health to improve timely access to treatment, starting with psychological therapies and early intervention in psychosis.

However, we are clear that increasing effective alternatives must also ensure that a mental health bed is always available if someone needs it.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support his Department (a) provides and (b) facilitates for people who are diagnosed with autism.

David Mowat

Revised statutory guidance for local authorities and National Health Service organisations to support implementation of the Adult Autism Strategy was issued in 2015 and reiterated requirements and expectations for staff including care workers who work with people who have autism. In 2016/17, the Department is providing approximately £23.3 million in funding to Skills for Care for the training and development of the adult social care workforce. Skills for Care has developed a comprehensive suite of standards and qualifications to help workers develop the skills and knowledge they need to support people who use services, including those with autism.

Support for people who are diagnosed with autism is provided and facilitated at a local level by local authorities, the NHS, and schools and colleges when the person is still in education. An adult diagnosed with autism has, under the Care Act 2014, a right to an assessment of needs and, where relevant, a carer’s assessment. Adults who subsequently do not qualify for social care support should receive information on what other support may be available. A child who is diagnosed with autism may be eligible for special educational support in school; where a child’s special educational needs require an Education, Health and Care plan, the local authority and clinical commissioning group must work together to commission services jointly across education, health and social care.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what standard his Department has set for the number of dental practices required per head of population.

David Mowat

NHS Dentistry is commissioned by NHS England following a local oral health needs assessment undertaken in partnership with Local authorities and other partner organisations. Local services are then commissioned to meet local needs, NHS England determines how best to use its resources to meet this need.

NHS dental services are commissioned by NHS England through contracts with independent providers. These contracts are set on the basis of the oral health needs assessment, which identifies the level of dental need for a particular community and pays particular attention to access to local dental services and the dental health of the local population. There is considerable variation in oral health across England and so there are no national standards for the number of dental practices per head of population.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what funding his Department provides to support new NHS dental practices in areas with inadequate provision.

David Mowat

NHS Dentistry is commissioned by NHS England following a local oral health needs assessment undertaken in partnership with Local authorities and other partner organisations. Local services are then commissioned to meet local needs, NHS England determines how best to use its resources to meet this need.

NHS dental services are commissioned by NHS England through contracts with independent providers. These contracts are set on the basis of the oral health needs assessment, which identifies the level of dental need for a particular community and pays particular attention to access to local dental services and the dental health of the local population. There is considerable variation in oral health across England and so there are no national standards for the number of dental practices per head of population.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase the number of eye clinic liaison officers.

David Mowat

The Government fully appreciates the impact that sight loss can have on a person’s life and the importance of information being available for those newly diagnosed with sight loss, including signposting patients to appropriate support and rehabilitation services.

Eye clinics and their staffing, including eye clinic liaison officers, are commissioned and funded by individual clinical commissioning groups on the basis of local assessments of need.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to implement the recommendations of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Commission on Acute Adult Psychiatric Care in its report, entitled Old problems, new solutions, published in February 2016.

Nicola Blackwood

The Department of Health welcomed the publication of the Royal College of Psychiatrist’s Commission on Acute Adult Psychiatric Care: “Old Problems, New Solutions”. The Department and NHS England have already started to implement some of the key recommendations of the Commission including:

― Announcing a national ambition to eliminate inappropriate out of area treatments;

― Investing £400 million in crisis resolution and home treatment teams as a safe alternative to hospital;

― Designing referral to treatment standards for acute mental health care, identifying effectives pathways of care and clinically appropriate maximum waiting times for treatment by 2020;

― Introducing capital schemes to improve the availability of supported housing and working with the Department for Communities and Local Government to address housing and health issues throughout 2016; and

― Working with NHS Improvement to address Mental Health Delayed Transfers of Care.

NHS England accepted the independent Mental Health Taskforce’s recommendation to publish a response to the Commission’s report at the end of 2016/17, which will set out in more detail how we are implementing its recommendations.