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  • Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Jess Phillips – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jess Phillips on 2016-02-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre is taking to protect children and young people from grooming through social media sites.

    Karen Bradley

    The National Crime Agency’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Command leads, supports and coordinates the law enforcement response to the threat from child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) which has been designated one of the highest priority crime threats facing the UK.

    CEOP Command works closely with social media companies, and law enforcement agencies in the UK and overseas, to identify victims and pursue offenders engaged in grooming children on the internet. CEOP Command has developed a comprehensive education programme, called Thinkuknow, which provides targeted advice to children, parents and carers, including on how to use social media safely.

    In 2014/15, over 3 million children saw the NCA’s Thinkuknow educational material. Further detail on the Thinkuknow campaign can be found online at: www.thinkuknow.co.uk

  • 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 2016-02-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 24145, what support a hospital is expected to provide to people appointed as attorneys to make decisions about property and affairs of people detained under the Mental Health Act 1983.

    Alistair Burt

    There are no specific guidelines as to what support hospitals should provide to an individual holding a Lasting Power of Attorney for another individual detained under the Mental Health Act 1983. However, when appointed as an attorney, individuals are registered by the Office of the Public Guardian who make them aware of their responsibilities to act in accordance with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). A range of support materials are available on operation of the MCA and hospitals should have an appointed MCA lead person who can help disseminate advice and best practice.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-02-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that the NICE guidelines on prescribing anti-depressants for children will be reviewed following the findings of the recent Nordic Cochrane Centre study, published in the British Medical Journal in January 2016, that use of these medications doubled the risk of suicide in people under the age of 18.

    George Freeman

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has processes in place to consider whether to update its guidance in light of significant new evidence.

    NICE has advised that it is immediately reviewing the relevance of the Nordic Cochrane Centre study to its guideline on ‘depression in children and young people: identification and management’

    www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg28

    and will update the guidance if required.

    “

  • 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 2016-02-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2016 to Question 25105, when he expects the new resource for businesses on addressing mental health issues to be available.

    Alistair Burt

    It is anticipated that the guidance will be published in spring 2016.

  • 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 2016-02-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance is issued to (a) mental health professionals and (b) GPs on the relationship between vitamin B12 and depression-like symptoms.

    Alistair Burt

    The issuing of clinical guidance to healthcare professionals is the responsibility of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and the relevant Royal Colleges and professional associations.

    General practitioners (GPs) are usually the first health professional an individual will see when in contact with health services. GPs should be familiar with the signs, symptoms and complications, including psychiatric abnormalities, of vitamin B12 deficiency and with the methods for diagnosing and treating it. Guidance is available from sources commonly consulted by GPs, including Clinical Knowledge Summaries and Patient.co.uk.

  • 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 2016-02-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many women have taken their own lives in the first year after the birth of their child in each of the last five years.

    Alistair Burt

    This information is not collected centrally.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the ownership of (a) Richmond House and (b) Wellington House under an Islamic bond has affected any activity of his Department.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department’s activity has not been affected by the establishment of an Islamic bond on its premises in Richmond House and Wellington House.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department has paid out in compensation to (a) internal and (b) external claimants in each year since 2010.

    Alistair Burt

    The value of compensation payments made in each year since 2010* is outlined in the table below.

    Year Compensation paid

    Value of compensation paid to external claimants

    Value of compensation paid to internal claimants

    2014/15

    £211,000

    £173,750

    2013/14

    £3,648

    £0

    2012/13

    £17,825

    £250

    2011/12

    £0

    £0

    2010/11

    £0

    £0

    *2015/16 data is still being audited and will be available when the final accounts are published later this year.

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

    David Simpson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2016-02-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to implement the recommendation of the National Screening Committee, made in January 2016, on making non-invasive prenatal testing for Down’s syndrome available to expectant mothers.

    Ben Gummer

    The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has recommended that non-invasive prenatal testing for Down’s syndrome should be introduced as an additional test into the NHS Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme as part of an evaluation. Ministers are currently considering this important recommendation from the UK NSC which has the potential to transform antenatal care.

  • 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 2016-02-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2016 to Question 24674, what steps he is taking to ensure that trained specialist mental health staff are available to support mothers in every birthing unit by 2017; if he will provide an interim progress report on that work; and how he plans to assess whether that objective has been achieved by 2017.

    Alistair Burt

    Health Education England (HEE) has a mandate commitment to ensure that trained specialist mental health staff are available to support mothers in every birthing unit by 2017.

    Formal arrangements are in place between the Department and HEE to review performance on a regular basis. These include reports on progress against mandate commitments and quarterly accountability meetings between the Department’s senior officials and the HEE chief executive and executive directors.

    The HEE Perinatal Mental Health programme aims to ensure that the maternity workforce has access to the right, skills and knowledge that will enable them to provide high quality perinatal mental health care from prevention through to treatment for women throughout pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period. This includes partnership working with stakeholders, including the Royal College of Midwives to meet the multi professional education and training requirements.

    At local level, it is for employers to ensure that staff have received appropriate perinatal mental health training to enable them to deliver high quality care and support to mothers during pregnancy and the first year after birth.