Tag: Luciana Berger

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many new specialised mental health beds have been commissioned since April 2013; and if he will make a statement.

Nicola Blackwood

Since April 2013, NHS England has commissioned an additional 65 specialist mental health beds. These were: 56 child and adolescent mental health services ‘Tier 4’ beds; seven perinatal mental health beds; and two adult medium secure mental health beds.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will publish an autism care pathway.

David Mowat

NHS England is due to publish data from the Clinical Commissioning Group Improvement and Assessment Framework. These data, include indicators on mental health and learning disabilities that relate to the objectives set out in the mandate to NHS England. My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health will publish his Annual Assessment of NHS England, including progress against the mandate objectives, at the end of this financial year. The 2017-18 mandate to NHS England, including agreed future objectives for NHS England, will be published in due course.

The ‘Think Autism’ Adult Autism Strategy for England set out a clear, cross-Government programme of action, developed with people with autism to improve lives, reduce premature mortality and reduce the health gap for people with autism. This would be achieved through better access to healthcare for people with autism and by making improvements to services. In January 2016, a cross-Government Report on progress on implementation of the Think Autism Strategy was published which set out new recommendations for going forward.

The Department is represented on the Study Steering Committee for the SHAPE (Supporting adults with High-functioning Autism and Asperger syndrome) project. This is a national study led by the Social Policy Research Unit at the University of York. Stage 1 of the project aims to describe and map provision of autism services in England which fulfil the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s description of a Specialist Autism Team. A report will be published shortly including information about the service models and care pathways which different localities have implemented.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what equality impact assessment his Department has carried out on its proposals to reform the junior doctor contract.

Ben Gummer

NHS Employers will conduct a full impact assessment once the final proposals are developed.

Individual employers are also obliged under equalities legislation to ensure all their staff receive equal pay for work of equal value, which the new contract proposals will support by linking pay increases to responsibility.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons the number and proportion of people receiving consultant-led mental health treatment within 18 weeks of referral is not recorded centrally; and what plans he has record such information.

Alistair Burt

The number and proportion of people receiving consultant-led mental health treatment is recorded within the monthly consultant-led referral to treatment waiting times collection, but is not separately identifiable. Data are separately identifiable for 18 high volume specialties, but most mental health treatment is not consultant-led.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on implementing the aspirations in NHS England’s report entitled, The Future in Mind, published in October 2012.

Alistair Burt

Children and young people’s mental health is a priority area for this Government and it is committed to delivering the vision set out in Future in Mind, the report published jointly by the Department and NHS England in March 2015. This is supported by an additional investment of £1.4 billion over the next five years.

Progress has been made on many of the key proposals set out in Future in Mind. One key proposal in Future in Mind is that Local Transformation Plans for Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing should be produced covering the full spectrum of mental health issues. Plans covering all clinical commissioning groups areas in the country are currently being assured by NHS England’s regional teams. Funding will be released subject to satisfactory assessment.

Work is in progress to strengthen the capacity and capability of workforce and to improve data and information in order to deliver the vision set out in Future in Mind by 2020. In addition, the Children and Young People’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme is continuing to be rolled out across the country.

Progress has also been made on making help and support to children and young people available online through the launch of an online hub for children and young people on the NHS Choices website and further investment made into a campaign to reduce stigma and discrimination as proposed in Future in Mind.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many incident response units for the mass decontamination of members of the public there are in England which could be used in the event of a CBRNE attack; and how many such units are able to be deployed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Greg Clark

The Fire and Rescue Service provide a mass decontamination response capability on behalf of the Ambulance Service, which is deployable 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as part of the DCLG New Dimensions Programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will ensure the needs of children who have been abused are considered when allocating the £1.25 billion for Child and Adolescent Mental Health services over the next five years.

Alistair Burt

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.

This transformation programme, backed by additional investment of £1.25 billion and an extra £150 million to improve eating disorders, allocated over the next five years, will deliver a step change in the way children and young people’s mental health services are commissioned and delivered.

All clinical commissioning groups, working closely with their partners, were asked to develop and submit Local Transformation Plans (LTPs) to transform their local offer for children and young people’s mental health. Plans must cover the whole spectrum of services from prevention to intervention for emerging or existing mental health problems and address the full spectrum of need, including children who have been abused and/or exploited. LTPs should also demonstrate that services have been designed with children and young people and their families, and meet the needs of their local population of children.

LTPs covering all local areas were submitted in October 2015 and are currently being assured by NHS England’s regional teams.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that friends and family of people who have died by suicide receive a copy of the publication Help is at Hand from Public Health England.

Alistair Burt

Help is at Hand is available on the ‘Support after Suicide’ website and to order on the Department’s orderline. Public Health England is working with the voluntary sector and local areas to make sure there is effective distribution.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to collect information centrally on how many specialist midwives have been trained in mental health.

Ben Gummer

The Department does not have any plans to collect this information.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how he plans to hold to account clinical commissioning groups whose transformation plans do not include key performance indicators or estimated costs.

Alistair Burt

As part of improving transparency, all Local Transformation Plans must be published locally and made widely available.

NHS England’s guidance Local Transformation Plans for Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing – Guidance and support for local areas is explicit about the need to promote equality and address health inequalities, and states that plans should ‘address the full spectrum of need including children and young people who have particular vulnerability to mental health problems for e.g. those with learning disabilities, looked after children and care leavers, those at risk or in contact with the Youth Justice System, or who have been sexually abused and/or exploited’.

The assurance process requires local areas to evidence how they are meeting the needs of vulnerable groups including looked after children and children who have experienced abuse.

An analysis of Local Transformation Plans has been commissioned and will include a thematic review of how the mental health needs of children and young people in vulnerable groups have been addressed.

As set out in the guidance for Local Transformation Plans an integral part of the locally developed Children and Young People’s Mental Health Transformation Plans includes a tracking template that sets out local progress milestones and financial spend. This tracker will be used as the basis for assurance assessment in 2015/16 and from 2016/17 onwards progress on local transformation will become part of the mainstream planning assurance process.

Local Transformation Plansrequire all key partners in a local area to agree how best to meet the mental health needs of children and young people in their local populations. 122 Local Transformation Planshave been developed that cover all 209 clinical commissioning groups.

The assurance process for Local Transformation Plans for Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing was undertaken by NHS England regional teams and included assurance against each plan of standard self-assessment and tracker templates to enable a comparison of plans against objective success criteria.

NHS England have commissioned a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the Local Transformation Plans, in order to support policy makers, local commissioners and services to understand and use the data that is contained within the plans to drive further improvements. Local Transformation Plans will be reviewed from a narrative, analytical and financial perspective, with thematic reviews carried out in key focus areas that align with Future in mind principles.