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  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many and what proportion of clinical commissioning groups have (a) had their transformation plans approved by NHS England and received funding and (b) been told their transformation plans need further work.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England have received and successfully assured Local Transformation Plans for children and young people’s mental health that cover every clinical commissioning group (CCG) in England. All CCGs will receive the funding allocation agreed through the assurance process by the end of December.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds 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

    This information is not held centrally.

    The Department with its partners are taking forward a series of actions set out in ‘Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation’ March 2015 to create a culture where the health service and medical professionals are spotting the signs of child sexual abuse and exploitation early and are supported in sharing information with others, which includes improving available data on the prevalence of child abuse using the population-wide children and adolescent mental health survey.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to raise awareness of female genital mutilation among mental health professionals.

    Jane Ellison

    As part of its £3 million national Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Prevention Programme, the Department is developing staff training and awareness materials on FGM focusing on the mental health and wellbeing of FGM survivors.

    To increase health professionals’ awareness of this complex area, the Department has commissioned Health Education England to develop specialist FGM mental health e-learning, which will be provided free to all NHS professionals. Existing mental health training materials are also being updated by Health Education England to support awareness and recognition by health professionals of the impact of FGM on mental health.

    A ministerial roundtable with senior stakeholders was held on 29 October 2015 to discuss this issue. The Department is working with specialist mental health professionals and professional bodies to consider how best to support commissioners to ensure that mental health services are able to meet the needs of FGM survivors.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what reports NHS England has produced on progress in achieving parity of esteem for mental health.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England and the Department jointly published Achieving Better Access to Mental Health Services by 2020 in October 2014. This publication recognised that a key element of achieving parity across mental and physical health care depends on enabling people to have timely access to evidence-based and effective care, and set out a clear vision for the development of access and waiting time standards in mental health including introduction of the first set of standards on early intervention in psychosis and psychological therapies, as well as signalling new investment in liaison mental health services in acute hospitals.

    NHS England’s Five Year Forward View set out a clear commitment to a more equal response across mental and physical health and achieving genuine parity of esteem by 2020.

    In support of this objective, NHS England’s latest planning guidance, Forward View into Action: planning for 2015-16, includes an expectation that clinical commissioning groups’ (CCG) spending on mental health services in 2015-16 should increase in real terms, and grow by at least as much as each CCG’s allocation increase to support the ambition of parity between mental and physical health.

    NHS England has commissioned an independent Mental Health Task Force to produce a five-year mental health strategy, for improved access and outcomes in all settings, to be published in the New Year.

  • Norman Lamb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Norman Lamb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on the roll-out of liaison and diversion services; and what timetable he has set for completion of the business case for completing the national roll-out of those services.

    Alistair Burt

    Liaison and diversion services are currently available to approximately 50 per cent of the population in England.

    Further rollout is conditional upon completing business case approvals. The business case approval process is underway and we hope that this process will be completed early in 2016.

  • Neil Gray – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Neil Gray – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Gray on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people who died by suicide were social security claimants in (a) the UK and (b) Scotland in each of the last three years.

    Alistair Burt

    The data requested is not collected centrally.

  • Derek Twigg – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Derek Twigg – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Twigg on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to promote compliance by clinical commissioning groups with the NICE Quality Standard on Autism.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department issued new statutory guidance in March this year for local authorities and National Health Service organisations to support the continued implementation of the 2010 Autism Strategy, as refreshed by its 2014 Think Autism update. This sets out what people seeking an autism diagnosis can expect from local authorities and NHS bodies.

    The Department has also discussed with NHS England the difficulties that people on the autistic spectrum can have in getting an appropriate diagnosis in a timely manner. With support from the Department, NHS England and the Association of Directors of Social Services will undertake a series of visits to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to discuss good practice in meeting the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Quality Standard 51 Autism, and those that do not, with the aim of supporting more consistent provision. The Quality Standard, which applies to children, young people and adults, recommends that there should be a maximum of three months between a referral and a first appointment for a diagnostic assessment for autism. We expect the NHS to be working towards meeting the recommendations.

    We understand that NHS Halton CCG is working on improvements to the paediatric neurological pathway which incorporates children with autism. This will see the Child Development Centre (CDC) in Halton become a single access point of assessment for the most complex children. It is expected that the CDC will ensure that the first appointment for a child referred to them is well within the three months recommended by NICE.

    The service commissioned by Halton CCG will also comply with NICE guidelines by ensuring that the appropriate mix of clinicians is available for a multi-disciplinary assessment, which also includes Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

    In regard to adults, NHS Halton CCG is currently meeting its statutory requirements with autism by purchasing a diagnostic service on a cost per case basis from our provider of mental health services, 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. The CCG is working with other partners who receive the same service from the same provider with a view to pooling resources to commission a diagnostic and post diagnostic service.

  • David Tredinnick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Tredinnick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Tredinnick on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the Government plans to undertake its public consultation on whether or not homeopathic products should be available through NHS prescriptions; and what estimate he has made of the likely cost of that consultation to the public purse.

    Alistair Burt

    We are currently considering whether or not homeopathic products should continue to be available through National Health Service prescriptions. A consultation on proposals will commence early in the new year. The consultation will be undertaken by the Department utilising on-line tools such as the governmental digital platform gov.uk. We do not anticipate any additional external costs.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will implement the recommendations made in the Independent Cancer Taskforce’s new Cancer Strategy.

    Jane Ellison

    The Independent Cancer Taskforce published its report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes, in July this year. It identified improving support for people living with and beyond cancer, and improving long-term quality of life as high priorities.

    NHS England is currently working with partners across the health system to determine how best to take forward the recommendations of the Taskforce report. A cross-system Cancer Transformation Board, chaired by the new National Cancer Director, Cally Palmer, will be established to oversee implementation of the strategy, and will have its first meeting in early 2016. The Transformation Board will formulate more detailed plans for implementation of the report’s recommendations based on the final outcome of the spending review. More details will be available in early 2016.

  • Geraint Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Geraint Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geraint Davies on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with Health Education England to ensure that the number of speech and language therapy student commissions for 2016-17 is sufficient to meet demand.

    Ben Gummer

    Health Education England (HEE) has been established to ensure the National Health Service has access to the right numbers of staff, at the right time and with the right skills. In doing so, HEE works with key external stakeholders to develop its National Workforce Plan for England which sets out the number of training places it will commission in the year ahead. HEE will formally publish the National Workforce Plan for 2016-17 in January 2016.

    The National Workforce Plan for England 2015-16 outlines that commissions for Speech and Language Therapists has increased since 2014-15 by 3.7%.

    Ministers hold regular discussions with HEE on a broad range of workforce supply issues. The Government issues an annual Mandate to HEE setting its priorities for the coming year. HEE’s performance against the Mandate deliverables are monitored through regular accountability meetings.