Tag: Luciana Berger

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 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions (a) he and (b) officials in his Department have had with the Department for Work and Pensions on the time taken to discharge patients from mental health inpatient care due to delays in the payment of benefits.

Alistair Burt

There have been no discussions between the Department and the Department for Work and Pensions at either ministerial or official level about the time taken to discharge patients from mental health inpatient care due to delays in the payment of benefits.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-10-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to prepare for the introduction of the waiting time standards for eating disorder services by 2020.

Alistair Burt

NHS England and the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health published on 3 August 2015, a commissioning guide for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) that will set out how to implement the access and waiting time standard for children and young people with an eating disorder.

The standard is for treatment to be received within a maximum of four weeks from first contact with a designated healthcare professional for routine cases and within one week for urgent cases. In cases of emergency, the eating disorder service should be contacted to provide support within 24 hours.

The guidance is supported by £30 million of recurrent funding, which NHS England has already distributed to CCGs.

The ability of services to meet this standard will be monitored in 2016. The standard will be refined for implementation from 2017–18. From 2017, NHS England will set a minimum proportion of young people referred for assessment or treatment that are expected to receive treatment within the standard’s timeframe. Data collected in 2016 will help inform incremental percentage increases, with the aim of 95% of patients being treated within the standard’s timescale by 2020.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what public information campaigns his Department funds on perinatal mental illness; and how much such campaigns cost.

Alistair Burt

Perinatal mental illness is an important topic area covered by the Start4life NHS Information Service for Parents (ISP) which is led by Public Health England. The service includes information about health and wellbeing and includes short videos on how to spot the signs of perinatal mental illness and how to seek further help.

Advice is also included in emails at key stages of pregnancy and post birth for both parents.

The Start4Life ISP was developed as a universal NHS-branded resource to help provide support and advice for expectant and new parents. The service provides regular emails and text messages during pregnancy and for the first three years of a child’s life.

The total Start4life ISP programme budget in 2014/15 was £2 million and in 2015/16 it is £2.3 million. This is used to promote a range of relevant health messages for new parents and parents to be through the Information Service for Parents, the Start4Life website and other channels including materials for healthcare professionals to use with families, online advertising and social media.

Information is also available online via NHS Choices and can be found here:

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/feeling-depressed-after-birth.aspx

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-10-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of support provided by the third sector in supporting people with eating disorders.

Alistair Burt

The Department has not made a formal assessment, but we greatly value the role of the voluntary sector in providing support for children and young people with mental health needs, and work closely with a number of leading charities at a national level and throughout the system.

NHS England is responsible for the approval and assurance of clinical commissioning group (CCG) plans for locally-commissioned services, including services for people with eating disorders.

In line with guidance published by NHS England in August, CCGs have produced Local Transformation Plans (LTPs) for children and young people’s mental health with their local partners, including those in the voluntary sector, in line with the proposal in Future in mind. The deadline for receipt of these LTPs was 16 October and they are now being considered by NHS England.