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  • Andrea Jenkyns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrea Jenkyns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrea Jenkyns on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to page 23 of the final report of the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, published in May 2016, what steps his Department is taking to address the low level of adherence to proper hand hygiene in hospitals and other care settings.

    Ben Gummer

    Auditing to improve hand hygiene and ensuring appropriate use of technology are important local responsibilities which contribute to improving the quality of care. However, tackling healthcare associated infections is complex and requires a strong patient safety system that integrates cleanliness, infection prevention and control and antibiotic use and addresses them all.

    To help the National Health Service improve infection prevention and control we continuously review and enhance national measures, systems and guidance. For example, reducing infections is part of the Guidance for the NHS on Sustainability and Transformation Plans. Antimicrobial resistance was added to Public Health England’s (PHE) Fingertips data system in April to enable easier monitoring and benchmarking against other organisations. PHE’s Rapid Review Panel assesses new products and technologies aiming to reduce infections and in addition the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including hygiene.

    The NIHR also supports research infrastructure in the NHS including Diagnostic Evidence Co-operatives which generate evidence on diagnostic medical devices that have the potential to lead to improvements in healthcare services and the quality of life of NHS patients. Two of these, based at Imperial and Newcastle, focus part of their work on clinical areas relevant to infection.

  • Andrea Jenkyns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrea Jenkyns – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrea Jenkyns on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to page 23 of the final report of the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, published in May 2016, what steps his Department is taking to address the substantial evidence gaps relating to effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of new technologies for improving hygiene.

    Ben Gummer

    Auditing to improve hand hygiene and ensuring appropriate use of technology are important local responsibilities which contribute to improving the quality of care. However, tackling healthcare associated infections is complex and requires a strong patient safety system that integrates cleanliness, infection prevention and control and antibiotic use and addresses them all.

    To help the National Health Service improve infection prevention and control we continuously review and enhance national measures, systems and guidance. For example, reducing infections is part of the Guidance for the NHS on Sustainability and Transformation Plans. Antimicrobial resistance was added to Public Health England’s (PHE) Fingertips data system in April to enable easier monitoring and benchmarking against other organisations. PHE’s Rapid Review Panel assesses new products and technologies aiming to reduce infections and in addition the Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including hygiene.

    The NIHR also supports research infrastructure in the NHS including Diagnostic Evidence Co-operatives which generate evidence on diagnostic medical devices that have the potential to lead to improvements in healthcare services and the quality of life of NHS patients. Two of these, based at Imperial and Newcastle, focus part of their work on clinical areas relevant to infection.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with NHS Supply Chain on that organisation’s decision on the choice of urine drainage bags available through the NHS Core List Programme.

    George Freeman

    The NHS Supply Chain Core List Programme was developed in collaboration with NHS Business Services Authority and the Department. The Core List aims to achieve best value by reducing the range of like-for-like products that the National Health Service purchases. This allows the NHS to commit to larger volumes of a smaller range of products which in turn allows suppliers to provide improved prices to the NHS as greater economies of scale in manufacturing can be achieved.

    Items identified as ‘Core List’ have been reviewed and assessed by a selection of industry specialists, clinical advisors and customers. Products not included in the NHS Core List are not discontinued and are therefore still available for purchase via the wider NHS catalogue offered by NHS Supply Chain.

    Ultimately, decisions with regard to which urine drainage bag to purchase lies with the procurement team for each individual NHS trust.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department plans to implement the National Screening Committee’s recommendations on introducing (a) the Faecal Immunochemical Test into the bowel screening programme and (b) HPV as the primary test in the cervical screening programme.

    Jane Ellison

    Ministers have accepted the UK National Screening Committee’s (UK NSC) recommendation on replacing the guaiac Faecal Occult Blood test with the Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) in the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme. Following the change to FIT we expect that around 200,000 more people per year will take up the opportunity to be screened as part of the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme in England. This has the potential to save hundreds more lives by detecting bowel cancer earlier. Public Health England is responsible for the leadership of the NHS Screening Programmes and will oversee the change to the programme in partnership with NHS England.

    Ministers are currently considering the UK NSC’s recommendation that human papillomavirus testing should replace the currently used cytology test as primary screening for cervical disease.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the National Screening Committee’s recommendations for the bowel and cervical screening programmes; and whether he plans to support those recommendations

    Jane Ellison

    Ministers have accepted the UK National Screening Committee’s (UK NSC) recommendation on replacing the guaiac Faecal Occult Blood test with the Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) in the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme. Following the change to FIT we expect that around 200,000 more people per year will take up the opportunity to be screened as part of the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme in England. This has the potential to save hundreds more lives by detecting bowel cancer earlier. Public Health England is responsible for the leadership of the NHS Screening Programmes and will oversee the change to the programme in partnership with NHS England.

    Ministers are currently considering the UK NSC’s recommendation that human papillomavirus testing should replace the currently used cytology test as primary screening for cervical disease.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has assessed the effect on (a) patients and (b) patient choice of centralised procurement.

    George Freeman

    ‘Centralised procurement’ can sometimes be used to refer to the services of NHS Supply Chain. NHS Supply Chain offers a procurement and logistics service to all National Health Service trusts in the United Kingdom under a central service contract on behalf of NHS Business Services Authority.

    There is currently no centralised procurement model mandated to the NHS by the Department, and as such no assessment has been made as to an effect on patients or patient choice. NHS trusts may choose to utilise the service offering of NHS Supply Chain, or choose an alternative. It is for NHS trusts to make their own choices with regard to products and services they purchase; therefore it is for individual trusts to assess any impact on patients and patient choice.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many junior doctors were employed by the NHS in (a) London and (b) England in each of the last five years.

    Ben Gummer

    The information is shown in the following table:

    Doctors in Training as at 30 September between 2011 and 2015 in England and London.

    Year

    England

    London

    2011

    50,059

    11,684

    2012

    50,318

    11,902

    2013

    51,013

    11,985

    2014

    51,686

    12,136

    2015

    51,308

    11,830

    Source: Health & Social Care Information Centre

    Notes: The figures include Specialty Registrars, Core Medical Training, Core Dental Training, Foundation Doctor Years 1 and 2.

  • Stephen Pound – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Stephen Pound – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Pound on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will re-open the consultation on pharmacy dispensing models and displaying prices on medicines that closed on 17 May 2016 in order to allow respondents to take into account revised information on the safety profile of hub and spoke dispensing models.

    Alistair Burt

    The consultation on changes to medicines legislation including on ‘hub and spoke’ dispensing did not rely on any specific safety profile of hub and spoke dispensing. Instead, the consultation document specifically asked consultees to provide evidence on the issue. Nevertheless, the responses to the consultation have raised issues around removing the bar on ‘hub and spoke’ dispensing between retail pharmacies that are not part of the same business that the Department would like to explore in more detail with stakeholders’ representatives before progressing any legislation. It does not now envisage changes to the legislation on this issue commencing on 1 October 2016.

  • John Baron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    John Baron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Baron on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of whether the NHS Constitution’s commitment to provide a comprehensive service available to all, irrespective of gender, is consistent with a policy of not providing an HPV vaccination programme for boys.

    Jane Ellison

    The NHS Constitution’s principle of a comprehensive service, available to all, does not mean that boys are automatically eligible to receive the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination because eligibility for the programme is based on expert advice. The Government is advised on immunisation matters by the independent expert committee, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which provides evidence-based advice.

    The NHS Constitution states that people have the right to receive the vaccinations that the JCVI recommends that they should receive under an NHS-provided national immunisation programme. The JCVI has not yet recommended the introduction of an HPV vaccination programme for boys. It is currently considering this issue and its advice is expected in 2017.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-05-25.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effects on public health of changes in the number of paramedics employed by the London Ambulance Service.

    Ben Gummer

    We are advised by London Ambulance Service NHS Trust (LAS) that during 2015/16 it recruited 717 frontline staff. In doing so, LAS achieved its recruitment target and filled all its available frontline posts.

    We understand that LAS has put in place a number of measures to help it support and retain staff. These measures include updating the vehicle fleet and re-launching the trust’s learning and development function. LAS has also established a new clinical team leader role, with 50% of the role devoted to supporting staff.

    Demand on the service has increased significantly over the past five years. During March 2016, demand was the highest on record for patients with serious and life threatening illnesses. LAS continues to work to improve services for patients by focusing on reducing demand, recruiting more staff and supporting staff to work more efficiently.