The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tracey Crouch on 2014-04-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, from what date the statutory duty of candour will be implemented; and if he will make a statement.
Norman Lamb
We announced, in ‘Hard Truths’ the Government’s response to the Mid Staffordshire public inquiry, that “subject to Parliamentary approval from 2014 every organisation registered with the Care Quality Commission will be expected to meet a new duty of candour”.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tracey Crouch on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of dementia awareness training in the health and social care sector; and if he will make a statement.
Dr Daniel Poulter
The Government’s Mandate to Health Education England (HEE), published in May 2013, included the following deliverables:
– All National Health Service staff who look after patients with dementia can have foundation level dementia training; and
– 100,000 NHS staff will have received foundation level training by 31 March 2014.
The latest data available from HEE shows that over 108,000 NHS staff had completed Tier 1 dementia awareness training by 14 October 2013.
The Department has commissioned a number of projects on dementia education and training for health and social care staff and is working closely with its Workforce Advisory Group on dementia to consider the effectiveness of this work.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tracey Crouch on 2014-04-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of children in (a) Chatham and Aylesford constituency, (b) Kent and (c) England were diagnosed as overweight in each year since 2005.
Jane Ellison
Data on childhood obesity are not collected at consituency level but at local authority level. Chatham falls within the Unitary Authority boundary of Medway and Aylesford falls within the District Authoity boundary of Tonbridge and Malling. The data has been presented for these Local Authority organisations as an approximate for the levels of childhood obesity in the Chatham and Aylesford constituency.
The proportion of children classified as overweight in Chatham and Aylesford constituency (represented by Medway and Tonbridge and Malling respectively), Kent and England as measured by the National Child Measurement Programme 2006/07 to 2012/13 is shown in the table below.
Prevalence (%) of overweight (including obese) among children aged 4-5 (Reception) and 10-11 (Year 6) years
|
England |
Kent |
Tonbridge and Malling |
Medway |
|||||
|
Reception |
Year 6 |
Reception |
Year 6 |
Reception |
Year 6 |
Reception |
Year 6 |
|
|
2006/07 |
22.9 |
31.7 |
22.7 |
30.9 |
19.6 |
27.8 |
20.5 |
34.6 |
|
2007/08 |
22.6 |
32.6 |
22.6 |
30.3 |
20.9 |
29.3 |
17.9 |
35.9 |
|
2008/09 |
22.8 |
32.6 |
23.0 |
32.5 |
20.5 |
32.7 |
25.3 |
34.1 |
|
2009/10 |
23.1 |
33.4 |
23.8 |
32.8 |
21.9 |
28.1 |
23.9 |
34.3 |
|
2010/11 |
22.6 |
33.4 |
22.9 |
33.3 |
29.1 |
32.6 |
24.2 |
33.3 |
|
2011/12 |
22.6 |
33.9 |
21.7 |
32.7 |
19.0 |
33.1 |
23.8 |
34.0 |
|
2012/13 |
22.2 |
33.3 |
21.7 |
32.7 |
20.9 |
31.3 |
23.3 |
32.7 |
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tracey Crouch on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that numbers of community children’s nurses meet future demand; and if he will make a statement.
Dr Daniel Poulter
The Secretary of State has delegated to Health Education England (HEE) the responsibility for delivering a better health and healthcare workforce for England. HEE plans and develops the workforce to ensure a secure workforce supply for the future, balancing need against demand. HEE’s Workforce Plan, published in December 2013, confirmed an increase of 31 (1.4%) in education and training commissions for children’s nurses for 2014-15.
The local education and training boards, which are sub-committees of HEE, work with local providers, including employers, to contribute to HEE’s overall future workforce plan. It is the responsibility of employers to ensure they have the right staff, with the right skills to deliver high quality care, which includes supporting their continuing professional development.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tracey Crouch on 2014-04-28.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the level of mental illness in (a) the West Kent Clinical Commissioning Group area, (b) the Medway Clinical Commissioning Group area, (c) Kent and (d) England in each of the last five years.
Norman Lamb
Information on the levels of mental illness in the West Kent Clinical Commissioning Group area, the Medway Clinical Commissioning Group area, Kent and England is not held centrally.
All local authorities are required to develop and publish a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) – an analysis of the current and future health and care needs of the local population – and a Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy (JHWS) to address these needs.
JSNAs and JHWSs form the basis of National Health Service and local authorities’ own commissioning plans, across health, social care, public health and children’s services. Local health and social care commissioners are expected to develop their commissioning plans in line with any relevant JSNA or JHWS, and must be able to justify any parts of their plans which are not consistent.
The JSNA process therefore offers valuable opportunities to drive improvement in meeting the needs of local people with mental health needs. However, the Department has not highlighted any care group or area of need over another as this would risk undermining the purpose of JSNAs being an objective, comprehensive and most importantly – a locally-owned process.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tracey Crouch on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many children of what age have spent three months or more continuously in hospital in each local health authority in each of the last five years.
Dr Daniel Poulter
Information is not available by local health authority. The attached table gives information by strategic health authority (SHA) of the number of children (by age bands) up to 18 years who have spent more than three months in hospital in the last five years for which information is available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tracey Crouch on 2014-05-06.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people have been awarded a war disablement pension for mesothelioma since 1996.
Anna Soubry
I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 7 May 2014 (Official Report, columns 165w-166w). The Ministry of Defence are unable to provide the number of individuals awarded a War Disablement Pension (WDP) for Mesothelioma since 1996 in the time scale requested. However, as at 31 March 2013, 50 individuals were in receipt of a WDP for a recorded condition of Mesothelioma.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tracey Crouch on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect on NHS service provision for seriously ill children and their families of the specialist senior nurses posts funded by the charity Well Child.
Dr Daniel Poulter
We have not made any central assessment of this role. We are aware of the valuable work which Well Child does, and we were able to support Well Child with a grant in 2010-11 from the £19 million we made available for funding local schemes to support children’s palliative care services.
We understand that Well Child funds each nurse for a period of three years after which time the individual National Health Service health provider commits to continue the post. Each nurse is employed and managed by the local healthcare trust in which they work and therefore it would seem that the providers would be best placed to comment on the impact they have made.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tracey Crouch on 2014-06-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps to ensure that cancer awareness and awareness of cancer symptoms is covered in schools.
Elizabeth Truss
Teaching about cancer awareness is important for all young people and schools may include cancer awareness as part of their personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education. The PSHE Association has produced a suggested programme of study as guidance for teachers, and continues to highlight other sources of expertise.
Schools may also teach about cancer awareness in other areas of the curriculum, for example, the science curriculum requires pupils to learn about the effects of drugs on their bodies, and the importance of physical education. In design and technology, schools may highlight the importance of nutrition and a healthy diet.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tracey Crouch on 2014-04-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure NHS staff have the appropriate training to communicate effectively and compassionately with patients at difficult times in the diagnosis and treatment process; and if he will make a statement.
Dr Daniel Poulter
The content and standard of healthcare professional training is the responsibility of healthcare regulators, which are independent statutory bodies. They have the general function of promoting high standards of education and co-ordinating all stages of education to ensure that students and newly qualified professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes essential for professional practice.
The Government has mandated Health Education England (HEE) to provide national leadership on education, training and workforce development in the National Health Service. HEE will work with stakeholders to influence training curricula as appropriate.
The Government has announced a series of actions that demonstrate its commitment to creating a culture of openness, candour, learning and accountability in an NHS which puts compassion at its heart. These include placing compassionate care at the heart of the training and recruitment of NHS staff; implementing the Compassion in Practice strategy for nursing and midwifery; and a new care certificate for healthcare assistants.