Tag: Luciana Berger

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 33901, if he will make it his policy to collect such information in future.

Alistair Burt

The Government is committed to improving perinatal mental health services, so that women are able to access the care they need at the right time and close to home.

NHS Digital (formerly the Health and Social Care Information Centre) is starting to collect information about perinatal mental health services in the new Mental Health Services Dataset and this will increase the amount of data about women’s contact with a range of mental health services during pregnancy and in the first year after birth. We expect that some initial data on perinatal mental health will be available later this year. We will use this initial information to refine how data on perinatal mental health is collected going forward.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, in which 15 areas the joint training programme to support lead contacts in mental health services and schools has been tested.

Alistair Burt

The Mental Health Services and Schools Link Pilots is testing a named single point of contact in 255 schools across 22 pilot areas and in local child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), meaning more joined up working between schools and health services. There are more pilot sites than originally proposed as NHS England had more funding available than anticipated.

This has been backed by £3 million of government funding. These areas are listed below with indications of those with more than one clinical commissioning group (CCG):

– East Riding of Yorkshire

– Bedfordshire

– Camden

– Brighton

– Gloucester

– Waltham Forest

– Walsall

– Birmingham (covering three CCGs)

– Tower Hamlets

– Chiltern (covering two CCGs)

– Hammersmith & Fulham

– Wigan

– Somerset

– Tameside and Glossop

– Salford

– Haringey

– Sunderland

– Chiltern 2 (Aylesbury Vale)

– Hampshire

– Halton

– East and North Hertfordshire

– Sheffield

– South and East Cheshire (two CCGs)

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 1 February 2016 to Question 24630, for what reasons the thematic review of how the mental health needs of children and young people in vulnerable groups have been addressed as part of the Local Transformation Plan analysis has not been published.

Alistair Burt

Over 1,300 documents have been considered as part of NHS England’s thematic review of the Local Transformation Plans to ensure they align with the Future in Mind principles to improve children and young people’s mental health. This has required time to ensure that all the thematic reviews, including the report on vulnerable groups, are in an accessible format.

NHS England is preparing for publication and the thematic reviews will be available shortly.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the potential benefits to mental health patients of treatments offered by Care Farms.

Alistair Burt

There has not been any assessment specifically of the benefits of care farms for people with mental health illness.

However, there is much evidence on the benefit of taking part in nature-based activities and animal-assisted therapy which is known to significantly reduce stress, anxiety, depression and generally improve well-being in people with a range of mental health problems and other conditions such as dementia.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-07-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure that research with European research partners into mental health continues after the result of the referendum on the EU.

Joseph Johnson

The Government recognises the importance of our research base, which is why we have protected the science budget in real terms from its current level of £4.7 billion for the rest of the parliament.

The referendum result has no immediate effect on the right of researchers to apply to or participate in EU research programmes. While the UK remains a member of the EU, current EU arrangements continue unchanged. UK participants, including those researching mental health issues, can continue to apply to programmes in the usual way. The future of UK access to these programmes will be determined as part of a wider discussion with the EU.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-09-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the tunnel and bridge tolls in Merseyside on the (a) finances, (b) employment levels, (c) employment choices and (d) road travel habits of residents of Liverpool, Wavertree.

Andrew Jones

Tolling levels for the Mersey Tunnels and the future Mersey Gateway Crossing are the responsibility of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and Halton Borough Council respectively. Any assessment of the local impact of these tolls is therefore a matter for these bodies rather than this Department. The Department’s assessment of the business case for the Crossing included a consideration of the overall impacts effects of tolling levels on road users and showed that the new Crossing will reduce congestion and improve journey times for users. This assessment was not disaggregated to the level of individual local areas.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the proportion of the population affected by (a) foetal alcohol syndrome and (b) foetal alcohol spectrum disorder in each region of England in each year since 2010.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Department has made no estimate of the proportion of the population affected by Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) or Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) in England, regionally or locally.

The diagnosis for babies born with FAS may not be made easily at birth, and problems may present only later in childhood, for example at school. Estimates for the incidence of FASD are still more uncertain and relate to the lack of consensus on diagnostic criteria for these conditions.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to paragraph 2.12 of the Government’s mandate to NHS England for 2016-17, published in January 2016, what progress his Department has made on meeting the commitment to reduce the health gap between people with (a) autism, (b) mental health problems and (c) learning disabilities and the population as a whole.

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 2015-11-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 26 October 2015 to Question 12901, on mental health services, whether the figures in that Answer include children and young people.

Alistair Burt

The figures set out in the answer of 26 October 2015 to Question 12901 include children and young people. The number of times people aged under 18 were taken to police custody as a place of safety under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act fell from 256 in 2013/14 to 161 in 2014/15 (37% reduction)^[1].

[1] National Police Chief’s Council: http://news.npcc.police.uk/releases/fall-in-use-of-police-custody-for-those-in-mental-health-crisis

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that CCGs do not reduce expenditure on mental health budgets to cover deficits in the acute hospital sector.

Alistair Burt

NHS England has made a requirement of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in the planning guidance for 2015/16, The Forward View Into Action: Planning Guidance for 2015/16, that each CCG’s spending on mental health services in 2015/16 should increase in real terms, and grow by at least as much as each CCG’s overall funding allocation increase.

CCGs are required to submit their spending plans and their annual accounts to NHS England. NHS England reviews spending, including for mental health, through the CCG assurance process.