Tag: Baroness Greengross

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Greengross on 2015-11-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what policy the NHS has about protecting the mental health of its workforce.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England’s recent announcement "A healthy NHS workforce", aims to raise staff awareness and understanding of mental health issues and ensure staff have access to help, support and treatment when they need it.

“A healthy NHS workforce” includes, for example, line manager training and, providing NHS staff rapid access to talking therapies. This is currently being tested as part of the Healthy Workforce programme led by NHS England.

NHS Employers is working with NHS England and Public Health England on improving NHS staff health and wellbeing. They offer extensive information and tools for managers to support their employees who are demonstrating signs of mental health problems, or returning to work following periods of sickness absence.

These resources, which are only available online, can be found at the following link:

www.nhsemployers.org/your-workforce/retain-and-improve/staff-experience/health-work-and-wellbeing/protecting-staff-and-preventing-ill-health/supporting-line-managers/managers-guide-on-supporting-workplace-mental-health/supporting-staff-who-are-experiencing-mental-health-problems

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Greengross on 2015-11-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how many NHS employees have attempted, or committed, suicide in each year between 2009 and 2014.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Government has not assessed how many National Health Service employees have attempted, or committed, suicide in each year between 2009 and 2014. The Department does not collect this information centrally.

However, the Department is not complacent and commissions NHS Employers to support trusts to improve the physical and mental health and wellbeing of their employees, which is the responsibility of employers across the NHS in England.

NHS Employers is working with NHS England and Public Health England on NHS England’s recently announced “A healthy NHS workforce", a commitment in its Five Year Forward View “which includes increasing awareness of and addressing mental health issues affecting NHS staff”. A copy of the announcement is attached.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Greengross on 2015-11-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to address the stigma of mental health problems amongst healthcare workers.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Government included in its Mandate to NHS England an objective for them to “make partnership a success”. This includes “championing the Time to Change campaign to raise awareness of mental health issues and reduce stigma, including in the NHS workforce”.

In taking this forward, NHS England recently announced the "A healthy NHS workforce" initiative. This aims to raise staff awareness and understanding of mental health issues, helping to ensure they have access to help, support and treatment when they need it. A copy of the announcement is attached.

“A healthy NHS workforce” includes, for example, line manager trainingand, providing NHS staff rapid access to talking therapies. Thisis currently being tested as part of the Healthy Workforce programme led by NHS England.

In addition, NHS Employers have launched the How are you feeling NHS? toolkit. This has been developed with NHS staff to help bridge a gap in understanding and enable them to: talk openly and regularly about their emotional health; assess the impact emotional wellbeing has on themselves, their colleagues and patients, and help with action planning to enable more good days than bad. The online only resource can be found at:

www.nhsemployers.org/your-workforce/retain-and-improve/staff-experience/health-work-and-wellbeing/protecting-staff-and-preventing-ill-health/how-are-you-feeling-nhs-toolkit

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Greengross on 2015-11-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many days were lost through the sickness of healthcare workers in each year between 2009 and 2014.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The number of days lost through the sickness of healthcare workers between 2009 and 2014 were:

England	Full Time Equivalent Days Lost to Sickness Absence (includes non-working days)	Full Time Equivalent Days Available (includes non-working days)	Sickness Absence Rate
2009-10	16,745,315	380,199,666	4.40%
2010-11	15,947,054	383,278,845	4.16%
2011-12	15,555,507	377,908,880	4.12%
2012-13	15,947,518	376,187,354	4.24%
2013-14	15,385,468	378,691,376	4.06%
2014-15	16,423,722	386,388,483	4.25%

Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre

The Government does not record the cost incurred by the National Health Service due to days lost through the sickness of healthcare workers.

Employers are responsible for reducing the days lost through sickness of their staff. The Department supports the NHS by commissioning NHS Employers to provide trusts with advice, guidance and good practice on improving NHS staff health and wellbeing which is available on an online only resource at:

www.nhsemployers.org/your-workforce/retain-and-improve/staff-experience/health-work-and-wellbeing/protecting-staff-and-preventing-ill-health/supporting-line-managers/managers-guide-on-supporting-workplace-mental-health/supporting-staff-who-are-experiencing-mental-health-problems

NHS Employers is also working with NHS England and Public Health England on a £5 million initiative to improve NHS staff health announced in its Five Year Forward View. A copy of the ‘A healthy NHS workforce’ announcement is attached.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Greengross on 2015-11-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what cost was incurred by the NHS due to days lost through the sickness of healthcare workers in each year between 2009 and 2014.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The number of days lost through the sickness of healthcare workers between 2009 and 2014 were:

England	Full Time Equivalent Days Lost to Sickness Absence (includes non-working days)	Full Time Equivalent Days Available (includes non-working days)	Sickness Absence Rate
2009-10	16,745,315	380,199,666	4.40%
2010-11	15,947,054	383,278,845	4.16%
2011-12	15,555,507	377,908,880	4.12%
2012-13	15,947,518	376,187,354	4.24%
2013-14	15,385,468	378,691,376	4.06%
2014-15	16,423,722	386,388,483	4.25%

Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre

The Government does not record the cost incurred by the National Health Service due to days lost through the sickness of healthcare workers.

Employers are responsible for reducing the days lost through sickness of their staff. The Department supports the NHS by commissioning NHS Employers to provide trusts with advice, guidance and good practice on improving NHS staff health and wellbeing which is available on an online only resource at:

www.nhsemployers.org/your-workforce/retain-and-improve/staff-experience/health-work-and-wellbeing/protecting-staff-and-preventing-ill-health/supporting-line-managers/managers-guide-on-supporting-workplace-mental-health/supporting-staff-who-are-experiencing-mental-health-problems

NHS Employers is also working with NHS England and Public Health England on a £5 million initiative to improve NHS staff health announced in its Five Year Forward View. A copy of the ‘A healthy NHS workforce’ announcement is attached.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Greengross on 2016-04-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 21 March (HL7044), why the current section 7a public health functions agreement does not include key deliverables for the provision of pneumococcal vaccination to severely immunocompromised children aged at least five years and adults, as recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation in July 2013.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The 2016-17 Section 7A public health functions agreement specifies key deliverables in relation to new or changed programmes that are being introduced within 2016-17.

The provision of pneumococcal vaccination to severely immunocompromised children aged at least five years and adults, as recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation in July 2013, is reflected in the relevant service specification for the existing pneumococcal immunisation programme and within the document Immunisation against Infectious Diseases (‘the Green Book’). The Green Book is published on the GOV.UK website in an online only format.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Greengross on 2016-05-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 26 April (HL7576), why the current section 7a public health functions agreement does not include performance indicators for the provision of pneumococcal vaccination to severely immunocompromised children aged at least five years and adults, as recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation in July 2013.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The performance indicators included in the 2016-17 S7A public health functions agreement do not reflect every activity which is carried out under the agreement.

As I stated in my answer of 26 April, the provision of pneumococcal vaccination to severely immunocompromised children aged at least five years and adults, as recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation in July 2013, is reflected in the relevant service specification for the existing pneumococcal immunisation programme and within the document Immunisation against Infectious Diseases (‘the Green Book’). The Green Book is published on the GOV.UK website in an online only format.

A copy of the service specification on the pneumococcal immunisation programme is attached.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Greengross on 2015-10-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what will be the total amount available under the Disability Facilities Grant fund in 2016–17.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

Helping disabled people to live independently in their own homes for longer through adaptations remains a key priority for this Government. The Government will have invested just over a billion pounds into the Disabled Facilities Grant between 2011-12 and 2015-16. This has delivered around 200,000 adaptations to the homes of disabled people. Future funding for the Disabled Facilities Grant is a matter for the Spending Review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Greengross on 2015-10-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when there will be further announcements regarding the future development of the Disability Facilities Grant.

Baroness Williams of Trafford

Helping disabled people to live independently in their own homes for longer through adaptations remains a key priority for this Government. The Government will have invested just over a billion pounds into the Disabled Facilities Grant between 2011-12 and 2015-16. This has delivered around 200,000 adaptations to the homes of disabled people. Future funding for the Disabled Facilities Grant is a matter for the Spending Review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Greengross on 2014-05-06.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) non-cancer and (2) cancer-based lymphoedema and lipoedema patients were identified by the National Health Service in each of the last three years; how many such patients were treated by the National Health Service in each of the last three years; and what was the cost of those treatments.

Earl Howe

Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data does not separately identify those cases of lymphoedema that are associated with cancer from those that are not, and is unable to identify cases of lipoedema as there is no coding available for this condition, based on the tenth revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD).

Further to this, HES data is not linked to costing information and therefore this information cannot be provided.

In the following table we have provided the number of finished admission episodes (FAEs) for patients with a primary diagnosis of lymphoedema from 2010-11 to 2012-13.

Year	FAE
2010-11	1,887
2011-12	2,026
2012-13	2,099

Note:

An FAE is the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission