Tag: Luciana Berger

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 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.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what analysis his Department has undertaken to assess the effect of the proposed changes on the standard of support from university specialist mental health mentoring provision and the effect this could have on at-risk students.

Joseph Johnson

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have clear responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to support students, including those with mental health conditions. It is for the HEI to determine what welfare and counselling services they need to provide to their students.

In addition, Disabled Students Allowances (DSAs) are available to meet the additional costs of study-related support needs, where the needs of the student cannot be met by the institution by way of a reasonable adjustment.

A new quality assurance framework is being developed for support that is funded by DSAs, so as to provide assurance on both quality and financial matters. The quality assurance framework will be in place in 2016. All support workers will be required to meet quality standards in order to be funded through DSAs. Discussions with stakeholders regarding new mechanisms for the selection of non-medical help support providers are already underway.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2015 to Question 17516, how many of the 756 training places were occupied by existing NHS psychological therapists.

Alistair Burt

Health Education England does not collect data on how many training places were filled by existing National Health Service psychological therapists.