Cerebral Palsy: Children

Department of Health and Social Care written question – answered at on 27 April 2021.

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Photo of Greg Smith Greg Smith Conservative, Buckingham

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021.

Photo of Greg Smith Greg Smith Conservative, Buckingham

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021, what steps he is taking to work in partnership with NHS England and devolved health bodies to develop a high-quality, standardised national surveillance programme for preterm babies and infants who are at high risk of diagnosis of cerebral palsy.

Photo of Greg Smith Greg Smith Conservative, Buckingham

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021, if his Department will establish fully mapped out, costed and funded national care pathways between primary care and secondary and tertiary multidisciplinary centres of excellence for children with cerebral palsy and their families.

Photo of Greg Smith Greg Smith Conservative, Buckingham

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021, what steps he is taking to fund and ringfence streamlined pathways for children at risk of neurodisability.

Photo of Greg Smith Greg Smith Conservative, Buckingham

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021, if his Department will take steps to ensure that health authorities are required to implement the NICE Guidelines and Quality Standard as a minimum standard for the prompt referral of children with Cerebral Palsy to expert multidisciplinary teams.

Photo of Greg Smith Greg Smith Conservative, Buckingham

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that all care pathways include agreed and audited quality standards.

Photo of Greg Smith Greg Smith Conservative, Buckingham

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021, if he will ensure that referral-to-treatment timescales for cerebral palsy are tightened and minimised to facilitate rapid intervention at the earliest possible stage for a child.

Photo of Greg Smith Greg Smith Conservative, Buckingham

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021, if he will ensure that all families of children with cerebral palsy have access to expert services provided by the private or voluntary sectors in the event of inadequate provision or lengthy waiting times in the statutory sector for assessment and intervention.

Photo of Greg Smith Greg Smith Conservative, Buckingham

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021, if he will provide specific training for (a) GPs, (b) community paediatricians, (c) health visitors, (d) social workers and (e) other non-specialist health professionals to identify the early signs of cerebral palsy and associated neurodisabilities in infants.

Photo of Greg Smith Greg Smith Conservative, Buckingham

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021, what steps he is taking to improve systems of data collection on the incidence, diagnosis, medical history, developmental needs and outcomes of children with cerebral palsy.

Photo of Greg Smith Greg Smith Conservative, Buckingham

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021, if he will create a national cerebral palsy register.

Photo of Helen Whately Helen Whately Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

No specific assessment has been made of these recommendations at this stage. However, NHS England and NHS Improvement will be meeting later in April to consider the report.

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