The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether there is a team within his Department with specific responsibility for children and young people’s mental health.
Alistair Burt
Yes, there is a team within the Department with specific responsibility for those areas of policy on children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing for which the Secretary of State for Health is accountable.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many and what proportion of clinical commissioning groups increased their spending on children and young people’s mental health as a proportion of their overall budget in 2015-16; and how many are forecast to increase such spending in 2016-17.
Alistair Burt
For 2015-16 we do not hold details on the increase in spend by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) on children and young people’s mental health. However a detailed and robust assurance process was set up and 123 Local Transformation Plans to improve children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing at local level were submitted to NHS England during 2015-16. This process covered every CCG in England. An assurance process was established with detailed financial tracking arrangements to ensure that the additional money was spent for the purposes intended and that locally determined key performance indicators are being met. No funding was allocated without full assurance in place.
For 2016-17 we are currently collecting planned spend on mental health services as part of NHS England financial planning processes. Programme level spend, including children and young people’s mental health spend, will be monitored routinely throughout the year and any adverse variances from agreed plans will be escalated through the routine financial reporting.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times the Mental Capacity Act 2005 has been found to have been wrongly applied to exclude a relative of a resident from visiting a care home.
Alistair Burt
The information requested is not collected centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his Department’s policy is on forced evictions from care homes.
Alistair Burt
It is for providers of care to decide if they are no longer able to meet a person’s needs, or whether, for example for reasons of safety, it might be appropriate for a person to be prevented from visiting a care home.
Such decisions should be taken according to individual circumstances and with regard to the terms of agreements and/or contracts between providers and purchasers or commissioners of care.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many relatives have been banned from visiting family members resident in local authority-funded care homes in each year since 2010.
Alistair Burt
The information requested is not collected centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what statutory reasons (a) a resident of a care home may be evicted and (b) a relative of a person in a care home may be banned from visiting; and what evidence must be provided in each such case.
Alistair Burt
It is for providers of care to decide if they are no longer able to meet a person’s needs, or whether, for example for reasons of safety, it might be appropriate for a person to be prevented from visiting a care home.
Such decisions should be taken according to individual circumstances and with regard to the terms of agreements and/or contracts between providers and purchasers or commissioners of care.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will introduce a human rights charter for care homes; and if he will make a statement.
Alistair Burt
There are no plans to introduce a human rights charter. Local authorities are public authorities and are subject to the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA). They must take account of the HRA in their contracting arrangements, including those with care providers.
The HRA applies to the relationship between individuals and public authorities and is not intended to apply directly to purely private arrangements. However, section 73 of the Care Act 2014 is explicit that care providers which are regulated by the Care Quality Commission in England, or by equivalent bodies in the rest of the United Kingdom, are exercising a public function for the purposes of the HRA when providing care and support, arranged or funded in whole or in part by local authorities.
Those purchasing care privately have rights of legal challenge against a provider via their contract or through criminal or tort law.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Baron on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his Department’s news story of 13 September 2015, entitled From 2020, people with suspected cancer will be diagnosed faster, by what date he expects tailored recovery packages to be available for (a) all cancer patients and (b) patients with rarer cancers.
Jane Ellison
In its report Achieving World Class Cancer Outcomes: A Strategy for England 2015-2020 (July 2015), the independent Cancer Taskforce called for an acceleration of the commissioning and provision of services to support people affected by cancer to live as healthy and as happy lives as possible. Over the last few years, NHS England has been working with Macmillan Cancer Support to roll out the Recovery Package, which describes a set of actions that ensure that the individual needs of all people going through cancer treatment and beyond, including rare cancers, are met by tailored support and services. By working through a Recovery Package, patients and clinicians assess patients’ holistic needs and plan appropriately for their care and support, they ensure that a treatment summary is sent between a patient’s hospital and their general practitioner (GP), that they are appropriately followed up by their GP, and can attend health and wellbeing events for patients and carers.
In September 2015, the Department announced that by 2020, the 280,000 people diagnosed with cancer every year will benefit from a tailored recovery package. In April 2016, NHS England published guidance on the commissioning of these services to support people living with and beyond cancer, and will continue to support both Sustainability and Transformation Plan footprints and clinical commissioning groups to put this guidance into action.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps his Department has taken to (a) improve the provision of care for patients with lung disease and (b) increase funding for research into lung diseases.
Jane Ellison
Respiratory disease is specifically covered in the NHS Outcomes Framework and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published Quality Standards for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and lung cancer setting out the markers of high-quality, cost-effective care.
Expenditure by the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) on research relating to respiratory disease has increased from £15.7 million in 2009/10 to £25.5 million in 2014/15 (the latest available figure).
The NIHR has launched a new, open competition for biomedical research centre funding from April 2017 to March 2022. In this competition, a number of clinical areas of particular strategic importance to the health of patients are highlighted including respiratory disease.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Menzies on 2016-05-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to support innovation in assistive technology for use by people with dementia.
Jane Ellison
Dementia is a key priority for the Government. That is why in February 2015, the Prime Minister launched his Challenge on Dementia 2020. The Government will implement the Prime Minister’s Challenge in full to make sure that dementia care, support, awareness and research are transformed by 2020.
As part of the 2020 Challenge, we want to see greater provision of innovative and high quality dementia care, delivered in a way that is personalised and appropriate to the specific needs of the person with dementia, their family and carers. This includes providers incorporating new ideas including technology solutions into everyday practice. We also want to see research on assistive technologies and assisted living, including research on how information and communication technologies can best help people with dementia and carers.
The Department and NHS England recently launched seven ‘Test Bed Sites’ in England. These sites will evaluate the real world impact of technologies, testing them together with innovations in how the NHS services are delivered, to improve health and care outcomes. Three of the Test Beds will have a focus on dementia.
A number of programmes have been launched to support usage of technology for the benefit of people including those with dementia and their carers. These include:
– The Technology Enabled Care Services (TECS) Programme;
– A TECS resource for Commissioners; and
– The Small Business Research Initiative Healthcare and Regional Innovation Fund initiative.