Tag: Luciana Berger

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 (a) Liverpool, Wavertree constituency, (b) Liverpool, (c) the Liverpool City Region and (d) England.

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, if he will make it his policy to include in the Government’s mandate to NHS England for 2017-18 an explicit requirement to reduce premature mortality among 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, how many Band 7 NHS psychologists were employed in each year since 2010-11.

Ben Gummer

The attached table shows the number of Band 7 clinical psychology staff employed in the National Health Service in England each year from September 2010 to September 2015. The figures are taken from the NHS hospital and community health services monthly workforce statistics, which are published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.

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 9 November 2015 to Question 14919, what decisions have been made on how to spend the remaining funds that was allocated for perinatal mental health for 2015-16; and whether NHS England plans to spend the full £15 million allocation by the end of 2015-16.

Alistair Burt

The Budget in March 2015 and the Spending Review in November 2015 both recognised perinatal mental health services as a priority area for additional investment.

On 11 January the Government set out an additional £290 million which will be made available over the next five years to 2020/21 to invest in perinatal mental health services. This builds on the initial investment announced at the Spring Budget, making a total investment from 2016/17 to 2020/21 of £350 million. This new funding, together with the recommendations of the forthcoming report of the independent Mental Health Taskforce, will enable NHS England to design a broader transformation programme to build capacity and capability in specialist perinatal mental health services, with the aim of enabling women in all areas of England to access NICE-concordant care by 2020/21.

In the context of this planned broader programme, NHS England anticipates spending up to £5 million of the original 2015/16 funding of £15 million in this financial year, to lay the foundations for this longer-term work through targeted funding of activities to build capacity in specialist services. This will include, for example, a £1 million investment in strengthening clinical networks across the country. It is also expected to include providing national and regional benchmarking data and analytical support to regions, and developing clinical leadership capacity. Additional work will support both the development of specialist Mother and Baby Units in those regions identified as most in need of new services, and training and developing the perinatal workforce to build skills and capabilities within specialist teams.

NHS England will work with partners over the coming months to develop the new programme for improving specialist perinatal mental health services. This will include setting detailed plans for how the additional investment will be targeted over the period to 2020/21.

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 17 December 2015 to Question 20082, what the (a) dates, (b) locations and (c) organisations of the 19 visits and meetings referred to in that Answer were.

Alistair Burt

Details of the 19 visits to or meetings with mental health trusts undertaken by Simon Stevens and Sir Bruce Keogh since their appointments as Chief Executive and Medical Director respectively are given on the attached table Details of meetings with and visits to mental health trusts undertaken by Simon Stevens and Sir Bruce Keogh since their appointments as Chief Executive and Medical Director respectively of NHS England.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2015 to Question 14466, if he will publish the minutes of the 21 October 2015 meeting of the Ministerial Board on Deaths in Custody.

Andrew Selous

The next meeting of the Ministerial Board on Deaths in Custody, which I will chair, will take place on 1 March 2016. The minutes of the Board held on 21 October 2015 will be agreed by members at that meeting and then published.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will respond to the Cabinet Office funded report relating to early deaths among people with mental health problems.

Alistair Burt

We know that people with severe mental illness can die 15-20 years earlier than the general population and that for too long this particular health inequality has had insufficient attention paid to it. We have committed NHS England through the NHS Mandate to take action to reduce premature death for people with mental illness. We are also investing more than ever before in mental health services, we have put into legislation that mental health should have equal priority to physical health and we are improving access to services by implementing the first ever waiting times for mental health services.

We will consider the findings of the report and respond in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of provisions in place to provide psychological treatments for victims of FGM.

Jane Ellison

As part of its £3 million Female Genital Mutilation Prevention Programme, the Department is actively looking at the provision of mental health and wellbeing services for FGM survivors.

A ministerial roundtable with senior stakeholders was held on 29 October 2015 to discuss this issue. The Department is working with specialist mental health professionals and professional bodies to evidence the needs of FGM survivors, and will consider how best to support commissioners to ensure FGM survivors can access existing mental health services that are able to meet their individual needs.

The Department has also commissioned specialist FGM mental health e-learning and we are also updating existing mental health training materials to support awareness and recognition by health professionals of how FGM may impact mental health.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of provision of mental health services for children who have been abused.

Alistair Burt

This Government is committed to delivering the vision set out in Future in mind and is driving forward the transformation of children and young people’s mental health services.

This transformation programme, backed by additional investment of £1.4 billion allocated over the next five years, will deliver a step change in the way children and young people’s mental health services are commissioned and delivered.

All clinical commissioning groups, working closely with their partners, were asked to develop and submit Local Transformation Plans (LTPs) to transform their local offer for children and young people’s mental health. 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 children who have been abused and/or exploited. LTPs should also demonstrate that services have been designed with children and young people and their families, and meet the needs of their local population of children.

LTPs, covering all local areas, were submitted in October 2015 and are currently being assured by NHS England’s regional teams.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November to Question 17518, what steps he plans to take to increase the course completion rate for people who are referred to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme.

Alistair Burt

We are working closely with NHS England on all issues related to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme, which includes reducing dropout rates. The Department is currently in conversation with NHS England to determine the causes of dropouts.

The table in answer to Question 17518 includes all referrals who did not finish a course of treatment, this would include those that drop out but also includes those who do not complete treatment for other reasons including those who were not suitable for IAPT treatment, those who are moved or referred elsewhere and those that declined the offer of treatment.