Tag: Luciana Berger

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-04-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people with severe and enduring mental health problems are (a) eligible for and (b) receiving social care.

Alistair Burt

Health and Social Care Information Centre’s Short and Long Term Support data shows that the number of people accessing long term adult social care support during the year to 31 March 2015 with the primary support reason of “Mental Health Support” was 110,000.

A further 6,000 new clients with the primary support reason of “Mental Health Support” received short term adult social care support to maximise independence.

The data shows the number of people local authorities have considered as eligible for social care support.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to define a target for the number of out-of-area placements for non-specialist mental health care.

Alistair Burt

In April 2016, the Government announced a national ambition to eliminate inappropriate out of area treatments for adult acute inpatient care as a result of local acute bed pressures by 2020/21 at the latest. We expect areas to put in place local action plans and achieve year on year reductions from 2016/17.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the number of drop-in sexual health clinics in (a) Liverpool, Wavetree constituency, (b) Merseyside and (c) England operational in each year since 2010.

Jane Ellison

The Department does not collect this information. Since April 2013, local authorities have been responsible for commissioning most sexual health interventions and services as part of their wider public health responsibilities, including open access sexually transmitted infection services and contraception services for everyone present in their area.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-09-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many full-time equivalent mental health inspectors are employed by the Care Quality Commission.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Care Quality Commission currently employs 130 full-time equivalent mental health inspectors.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-09-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many meetings and on what dates he has had meetings with NHS Improvement on Southern Health since the start of 2016.

Mr Jeremy Hunt

Oversight of National Health Service trusts is primarily the responsibility of NHS Improvement (NHSI). I meet regularly with the Chief Executive of NHSI, as I do with a number of senior leaders. Our discussions cover a variety of issues that fall under NHSI’s remit including the progress of trusts that are subject to regulatory support.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of a moratorium on the commissioning of new specialised mental health services on patient access to mental health care; and if he will make a statement.

Nicola Blackwood

NHS England is reviewing the provision of specialised beds for adult secure mental health services, tier 4 child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and perinatal mental health services. NHS England is expected to start a procurement process soon to ensure that the provision of mental health beds across the country supports improved access and care close to home where possible.

Since 2013 NHS England has continued to commission additional specialised mental health beds to provide further capacity in areas where it is required. This has included 56 tier 4 CAMHS beds, seven perinatal mental health beds and two medium secure mental health services beds.

The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health made recommendations for improving the commissioning of inpatient specialised mental health services, including national commissioners working more closely with local commissioners to better meet the needs of local populations.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce the rates of premature mortality as a result of (a) suicide and (b) epilepsy experienced by people with autism.

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 2016-01-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2015 to Question 19338, how the effect of the Equality Act 2010 on service provision in the NHS is monitored.

Jane Ellison

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), a statutory body established under the Equality Act 2006, is the regulator of the public sector equality duty (PSED). The EHRC works with National Health Service bodies as public authorities to encourage, guide, monitor and regulate activity on the public sector equality duty, including the extent to which NHS service provision is meeting the requirements of the equality duty.

NHS England hosts the Equality and Diversity Council (EDC) and thereby helps to support organisations to meet the PSED, through initiatives and levers such as the Equality Delivery System (EDS2) and the development of information standards to enable consistent monitoring of access, experience and outcomes from healthcare across protected groups. The EDC has also committed to develop workforce equality standards across the protected groups.

The Care Quality Commission includes equality in its inspection regime and forthcoming waves of inspection will specifically include EDS2.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what consultation the NHS England Vanguard programme has undertaken with mental health clinicians in order to ensure that there is integrated care for the pilot sites’ registered populations.

Alistair Burt

Providing improved care for people with long term mental health conditions is a key priority for the Five Year Forward View New Models of Care programme. NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Mental Health, Dr Geraldine Strathdee, has been consulted regularly as the programme has developed.

Vanguard sites were selected following an open and rigorous process to ensure chosen sites addressed key criteria including, where appropriate, mental health. This involved several stages of evaluation and selection workshops where mental health clinicians, other clinicians, patients and other key stakeholders (including those representing mental health e.g. MIND) were able to influence the decision making process.

A workshop focusing specifically on mental health was held for the urgent and emergency care vanguards on 5 October 2015. This was chaired by Dr Strathdee. Representatives of vanguard sites discussed their plans for investment in all-age psychiatric liaison services and the development of crisis services. They also agreed to share plans for improving mental health services across all vanguards.

The vanguards are setting up a regular forum on mental health to share learning and good practice.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to address the higher incidence of mental illness among young LGBT people.

Alistair Burt

In line with guidance published by NHS England in August, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have produced Local Transformation Plans (LTPs) for children and young people’s mental health with their local partners as proposed in Future in Mind. These include plans for how CCGs will ensure that the needs of all vulnerable groups are met locally, including the needs of those with protected characteristics. This includes Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) children and young people. In addition, the guidance issued by NHS England in August made specific reference to the need to promote equality and address health inequalities in the LTPs.

While Future in Mind did not specifically mention LGBT teens as a vulnerable group, the Vulnerable Groups and Inequalities Task and Finish group Report, one of four task and finish group reports published alongside Future in Mind, did specifically mention and consider LGBT children and young people.

CCGs have a legal duty to have regard to tackling health inequalities including inequalities in mental health when planning how they will commission services.