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  • David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Anderson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the increase in excess winter mortality rates in North East England in the winter of 2014-15.

    Jane Ellison

    The increased excess deaths in 2014-15 coincided with the circulation of a strain of flu, A(H3N2), that particularly affects older people. Cold snaps and other respiratory infections may also have contributed to an increase in excess mortality. There was evidence also that the flu vaccine provided reduced protection due to some drift of the circulating A(H3N2) virus.

    These observations were not unique to the United Kingdom, with 14 other European countries also reporting an increase in excess mortality. Throughout the last decade, there has generally been a good match between the strains of flu in the vaccine and those that subsequently circulate, highlighting the importance of flu vaccination for at risk groups, including older people and also the childhood flu vaccine programme, which when rolled out, aims to provide protection for both children, but also the general population.

    Public Health England has no such data available for North East England.

  • David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many commissioning policies were developed through the NHS England Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group in (a) 2014 and (b) 2015.

    George Freeman

    In 2014 NHS England published five clinical commissioning policies and policy statements for the routine of commissioning of new treatments, drugs or devices for specialised commissioning.

    In 2015 (up to November 2015), 38 such clinical commissioning policies and policy statements were published.

    Decisions for the 2015/16 commissioning round were due to be made in 2014 but this process was deferred to 2015 pending the outcome of public consultation on process.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2016 to Question 20190, if he will make it his policy to collect centrally the number of (a) young carers accessing Children and Adolescene Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and (b) children provided with young carers assessments following contact with CAMHS.

    Alistair Burt

    This Government has no plans to collect this data centrally. The Government’s focus remains on promoting and supporting proper and effective multi-agency working and whole family approaches to assessment and support.

    This Government is committed to delivering the vision set out in Future in mind and is driving forward the transformation of children and young people’s mental health services to improve access and make services more widely available across the country so that, where possible, children can access high-quality support locally including vulnerable children which includes young carers.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2015 to Question 19356, if he will make it his policy to collect information on the proportion of people identified as having experienced child abuse who are diagnosed with a mental health condition as a young person or adult.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government is fully committed to providing support for anyone who needs it, including those who have suffered child abuse, and aims to improve the data on prevalence of child sexual abuse so that commissioners are better able to ensure the most appropriate services are available. This includes improving available data on the prevalence of child abuse and related mental health issues, using the population-wide children and adolescent mental health survey, as well as a data collection specifically on the prevalence of child sexual abuse starting in certain targeted services.

  • David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish NHS England’s decision making criteria for the assessment of highly specialised technologies.

    George Freeman

    NHS England is currently developing a refined process for the prioritisation of proposed new investments in specialised services and highly specialised services.

    This continues to be worked up, including formation of potential criteria and weighting. NHS England is aiming to begin using this process in June 2016. The process will be made public once complete.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the changes to personal injury law and procedure announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 on the level of costs and changes for treatment for personal injury resourced by the NHS; and if he will make a statement.

    Dominic Raab

    The Government received and analysed data from numerous sources when formulating the announcement in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement. We will continue to work with a wide range of stakeholders including other Government departments, solicitors and insurers in taking forward the new reform package. The Government will consult on the detail of these measures in due course. The consultation will be accompanied by an impact assessment.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of local authority funding reductions on the provision of transport for vulnerable adults.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department does not collect data on how much is spent by local authorities on vulnerable adult transport.

    Social care is a key priority for this Government. This is why, against the context of tough public sector finances; we have taken steps to protect social care services. As announced in the Spending Review, the Government is giving local authorities access to £3.5 billion of new support for social care by 2019/20.

    This means local government has access to the funding it needs to increase social care spending in real terms by the end of the Parliament.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what training and professional development is given to (a) doctors, (b) nurses and (c) mental health professionals on managing their own stress levels.

    Ben Gummer

    It is the responsibility of the professional regulators to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricula to ensure newly qualified healthcare professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care. This may include training on conflict resolution, empathy, mental self-care and managing own stress.

    Health Education England has a leadership role in ensuring the service continues to invest in the ongoing education and training of all staff and a shared responsibility for investing in continuing professional development to promote service innovation and transformation. However, employers are ultimately responsible for continuing professional development of their employees.

    Employers also have a responsibility to ensure the wellbeing of their staff.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what training and professional development is given to (a) doctors, (b) nurses and (c) mental health professionals on (i) conflict resolution, (b) methodical empathy and (iii) mental self-care.

    Ben Gummer

    It is the responsibility of the professional regulators to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricula to ensure newly qualified healthcare professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care. This may include training on conflict resolution, empathy, mental self-care and managing own stress.

    Health Education England has a leadership role in ensuring the service continues to invest in the ongoing education and training of all staff and a shared responsibility for investing in continuing professional development to promote service innovation and transformation. However, employers are ultimately responsible for continuing professional development of their employees.

    Employers also have a responsibility to ensure the wellbeing of their staff.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-07.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many psychiatric nurses were in post in each financial year since 2010-11.

    Ben Gummer

    Psychiatric nurses are not identified separately in the Health and Social Care Information Centre’s (HSCIC) workforce statistics. Area of Work, which is identified, is purely the area, function or specialty where the work activity takes place. The attached table shows the number of nurses within the psychiatry area of work from September 2010 to September 2015, the midpoint of the financial year. The data is sourced from the HSCIC’s monthly workforce statistics.