Tag: Luciana Berger

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what systems and controls are in place for the recording, monitoring and oversight of the use of force and restraint on children and adolescents receiving psychiatric in-patient care.

Alistair Burt

From 1 January 2016 mental health providers will be required to record all incidents of restraint involving children and young people in their returns to the Health and Social Care Information Centre. As with other health and care services, the Care Quality Commission is responsible for monitoring practice in inpatient children and adolescent psychiatric services.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the effects of zero-hour and uncertain hour contracts on the mental health of people holding such contracts.

Alistair Burt

The Department has no plans to make any such assessment.

Research undertaken by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found that, compared to the average employee, zero hours contract workers are just as satisfied with their job (65% versus 63%) and happier with their work-life balance (62% versus 58%).

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many and what proportion of clinical commissioning groups have (a) had their transformation plans approved by NHS England and received funding and (b) been told their transformation plans need further work.

Alistair Burt

NHS England have received and successfully assured Local Transformation Plans for children and young people’s mental health that cover every clinical commissioning group (CCG) in England. All CCGs will receive the funding allocation agreed through the assurance process by the end of December.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to publish statistics on the number of (a) young carers accessing children and adolescence mental health services (CAMHS) and (b) children provided with young carers assessments following contact with CAMHS.

Alistair Burt

The number of young carers accessing Children and Adolescence Mental health Services (CAMHS) and the number of children provided with young carers assessments following contact with CAMHS will not be published as this data is not collected centrally.

Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), working with local partners, have submitted Local Transformation Plans (LTPs) to transform their local offer for children and young people’s mental health. These 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 the most vulnerable, such as young carers.

NHS England have received and successfully assured LTPs that cover every clinical CCG in England. This assurance process requires local areas to evidence how they are meeting the needs of vulnerable groups which may include young carers. Young adult carers are unlikely to be covered by these LTPs as these are generally the responsibility of adult mental health services. All CCGs will have received the funding allocation agreed through the assurance process by the end of December (published in January).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in England and Wales are on long-term prescriptions of more than four weeks for benzodiazepines.

Alistair Burt

The National Health Service Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) has advised that, in December 2015, it initiated a project to improve the storage of transaction level prescription data, including the age of patients and to enhance reporting capability against this data. The NHS BSA anticipates having the capability to provide patient level prescription information towards the end of the 2016-17 financial year. This should contain primary care prescribing information for the full range of medicines, including anti-depressants.

This should also allow the reporting on long-term prescriptions for medicines, including benzodiazepines, which is not currently possible.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many and which health (a) trusts and (b) services (i) Jane Cummings, (ii) Dame Barbara Hakin, (iii) Paul Baumann, (iv) Karen Wheeler and (v) Ian Dodge have visited in each year since their appointments to the board of NHS England; and on what dates each such visit was held.

George Freeman

This information is not held by the Department. NHS England has advised that this information is not routinely collected and it could only be collated and provided at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the funding for health measures and services referred to by the Prime Minister in his speech of 11 January 2016, on life chances, will be derived from invest to save measures.

Ben Gummer

The £30 million of funding to tackle drug and alcohol dependency is part of the larger £80 million fund announced by the Chancellor in the Spending Review, to catalyse new local solutions to complex and expensive social issues through Social Impact Bonds.

Funding for the remaining mental health measures and services is derived from the additional funding announced in the Autumn Statement 2014 and March Budget 2015 to support children and young people’s mental health and eating disorders services, and in November 2015 as part of the Department’s overall Spending Review settlement.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which organisation is responsible for the personal property of people detained under the Mental Health Act 2007.

Alistair Burt

Individuals over the age of 18 who are detained under the Mental Health Act 1983, and who have the mental capacity to do so, can appoint an attorney to make decisions about their property and affairs, including financial matters.

Attorneys or deputies may also be appointed under the Mental Capacity Act to make decisions in relation to the property or affairs of a person subject to the Act who lacks capacity. In these situations, the Court of Protection will appoint an individual or authority to perform this role.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2016 to Question 25549, if he will have discussions with the Secretary of State for (a) Work and Pensions, (b) Communities and Local Government and (c) other Government departments on proposed changes to housing benefit for tenants in supported housing; and if he will make an estimate of the number of people likely to be affected by the proposed change.

Alistair Burt

Shortly, we will be engaging colleagues across Government on the proposed changes to housing benefit. As the cross-Government lead, the Department for Work and Pensions is coordinating any work to understand the likely impact of the reforms.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to implement the recommendations for Government of the report, entitled Old Problems, New Solutions: Improving acute psychiatric care for adults in England, published on 9 January 2016.

Alistair Burt

We are currently considering the report’s recommendations and work is already underway to address the issues it raises.

The draft Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) improvement and assessment framework will require CCGs to monitor and reduce out of area treatments, with reductions from 2016/17.

Additionally, NHS England is planning a significant programme on acute care in 2016/17 for both in-patient and home treatment.