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  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to reduce health inequalities.

    Jane Ellison

    Reducing health inequalities is a priority for this Government.

    We are acting to reduce health inequalities by addressing the social causes of ill health, promoting healthier lifestyles for all and tackling differences in outcomes of NHS services, all underpinned by legal duties.

    We have taken an evidence-based, strategic approach to reducing health inequalities, based on sound governance, accountability and good partnership working and are moving towards greater use of metrics and measurement taking more account of the action taken to respond to the latest evidence, data and trends. This approach is reflected across the health system and beyond with NHS England and Public Health England (PHE) playing their part.

    Achieving measureable and sustained reductions in health inequalities is integral to the Department’s Shared Delivery Plan 2015-20, and reflected in the Government’s mandate to NHS England, the NHS Constitution, NHS England’s Five Year Forward View, PHE’s Evidence into Action and supporting strategic and business plans at national and local level. NHS England’s Business Plan for 2016/17 prioritises closing the gap for groups experiencing poorer health outcomes, a poorer experience of, and access to, healthcare. PHE is supporting local and national efforts to address health inequalities by providing knowledge and intelligence, and evidence-informed tools and advice.

    The 2012 Health and Social Care Act introduced new duties on the Secretary of State, NHS England, clinical commissioning groups and Monitor to have regard to the need to reduce health inequalities in decision-making and carrying out functions. We have also made having regard to the need to reduce health inequalities a condition of the public health grant to local authorities.

  • Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tom Blenkinsop – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve health outcomes in the North East.

    Jane Ellison

    Under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 statutory duties, Public Health England (PHE) works with local authorities to improve the health of local populations and provide services including drug and alcohol misuse as well as sexual health services.

    PHE works very closely with local authorities, and are undertaking a number of projects in the North East to improve health and address health inequalities.

  • Henry Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Henry Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey 2015 on the proportion of blood cancer patients who visited their GP more than twice before being referred to secondary care for diagnosis; and what support and guidance his Department has provided to GPs to enable them to identify the symptoms of blood cancer.

    Jane Ellison

    It is important that people with cancer have the best possible experience throughout their cancer pathway and are treated with dignity and respect.

    The independent Cancer Taskforce published its report Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes – A Strategy for England 2015-2020 in July 2015, and identified a key priority of establishing patient experience as being on a par with clinical effectiveness and safety. In May 2016 the National Cancer Transformation Board published Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes: Taking the Strategy Forward outlining the detailed steps being taken to make this a reality.

    In September 2015, the Government announced that by 2020, the 280,000 people diagnosed with cancer every year will benefit from a tailored recovery package. The packages will be individually designed to help each person, including those with blood cancer, live well beyond cancer. In April 2016 NHS England published guidance for commissioners on commissioning and implementing the recovery package effectively.

    In order to continue to support general practitioners (GPs) to identify patients whose symptoms may indicate cancer and urgently refer them as appropriate, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published an updated suspected cancer referral guideline in June 2015. The guideline includes new recommendations for haematological cancers. NICE noted that more lives could be saved each year in England if GPs followed the new guideline, which encourages GPs to think of cancer sooner and lower the referral threshold. Following publication of the updated guideline, the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) has worked in collaboration with Cancer Research UK (CRUK) on a programme of regional update events for GPs to promote the new guideline. RCGP and CRUK have also worked to develop three summary referral guidelines for GPs to enable them to adopt the guideline. These are available at:

    www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/learning-and-development-tools/nice-cancer-referral-guidelines

    “

  • Henry Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Henry Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to raise public awareness of blood cancer and other cancers for which symptoms can be non-specific and have similarities to other benign conditions.

    Jane Ellison

    Public Health England’s (PHE) Be Clear on Cancer campaigns are designed to raise the public’s awareness of specific cancer symptoms, encourage people with those symptoms to go to the doctor and diagnose cancer at an earlier stage. These campaigns are delivered by PHE in partnership with the Department and NHS England.

    The decision on which cancers should be the focus of ‘Be Clear on Cancer’ campaigns is informed by a steering group, whose members include primary and secondary care clinicians, and key voluntary sector organisations.

    A number of factors are taken into account when deciding which campaigns to develop and run, with one of the main criteria being the scope to save lives through earlier diagnosis and whether the cancer has a clear early sign or symptom that the general public can act upon should it arise. There are a number of cancers, including those for which symptoms can be non-specific, which are not covered by ‘Be Clear on Cancer’ specifically.

  • Henry Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Henry Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey 2015 on the proportion of blood cancer patients that understood the explanation given to them at diagnosis; and if he will take steps to increase support for such patients at the point of diagnosis.

    Jane Ellison

    It is important that people with cancer have the best possible experience throughout their cancer pathway and are treated with dignity and respect.

    The independent Cancer Taskforce published its report Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes – A Strategy for England 2015-2020 in July 2015, and identified a key priority of establishing patient experience as being on a par with clinical effectiveness and safety. In May 2016 the National Cancer Transformation Board published Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes: Taking the Strategy Forward outlining the detailed steps being taken to make this a reality.

    In September 2015, the Government announced that by 2020, the 280,000 people diagnosed with cancer every year will benefit from a tailored recovery package. The packages will be individually designed to help each person, including those with blood cancer, live well beyond cancer. In April 2016 NHS England published guidance for commissioners on commissioning and implementing the recovery package effectively.

    In order to continue to support general practitioners (GPs) to identify patients whose symptoms may indicate cancer and urgently refer them as appropriate, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published an updated suspected cancer referral guideline in June 2015. The guideline includes new recommendations for haematological cancers. NICE noted that more lives could be saved each year in England if GPs followed the new guideline, which encourages GPs to think of cancer sooner and lower the referral threshold. Following publication of the updated guideline, the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) has worked in collaboration with Cancer Research UK (CRUK) on a programme of regional update events for GPs to promote the new guideline. RCGP and CRUK have also worked to develop three summary referral guidelines for GPs to enable them to adopt the guideline. These are available at:

    www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/learning-and-development-tools/nice-cancer-referral-guidelines

    “

  • Tommy Sheppard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tommy Sheppard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tommy Sheppard on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to paragraph 2.1(5) of the Principles for maintaining continuity of care when moving across borders within the United Kingdom, published in March 2015, what mechanism would be used to resolve or arbitrate on a disagreement between local authorities relating to the moving of an adult’s care package from one UK country to another.

    Alistair Burt

    The “Principles for maintaining continuity of care when moving across borders within the United Kingdom” provide a framework for local authorities to support adults with care and support who move between countries in the United Kingdom without having their care interrupted.

    Adhering to the principles should reduce the potential for disagreement, however, where disagreements do arise, the Department and the Devolved Administrations would expect the parties to act reasonably and to make full efforts to resolve the dispute between themselves through constructive dialogue, cooperation and communication, including the timely sharing of information, and focussing on the well-being of the adult. The timely and effective resolution of disputes is in the interest of all parties, not least, the adult in question.

    It is not possible to be definitive about which authority a cross-border continuity of care matter should be pursued with because it will depend on the facts and the nature of the issue. The adult may wish to approach their own local authority in the first instance. However where an issue raised with an authority falls within the remit of the other, the principle that the authorities should work together and share information should apply.

  • Tommy Sheppard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tommy Sheppard – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tommy Sheppard on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Principles for maintaining continuity of care when moving across borders within the United Kingdom, published in March 2015, whether an adult with a care package who needs to raise a cross-border moving issue should raise that issue with the local authority they are leaving or the one they are moving to.

    Alistair Burt

    The “Principles for maintaining continuity of care when moving across borders within the United Kingdom” provide a framework for local authorities to support adults with care and support who move between countries in the United Kingdom without having their care interrupted.

    Adhering to the principles should reduce the potential for disagreement, however, where disagreements do arise, the Department and the Devolved Administrations would expect the parties to act reasonably and to make full efforts to resolve the dispute between themselves through constructive dialogue, cooperation and communication, including the timely sharing of information, and focussing on the well-being of the adult. The timely and effective resolution of disputes is in the interest of all parties, not least, the adult in question.

    It is not possible to be definitive about which authority a cross-border continuity of care matter should be pursued with because it will depend on the facts and the nature of the issue. The adult may wish to approach their own local authority in the first instance. However where an issue raised with an authority falls within the remit of the other, the principle that the authorities should work together and share information should apply.

  • Amanda Solloway – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Amanda Solloway – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Amanda Solloway on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that adequate funding is directed to local mental health bodies to reduce waiting times for child mental health care.

    Alistair Burt

    In total the Government has made available an additional £1.4 billion over the course of this Parliament to support significant transformation in children and young people’s mental health so that there is easy access to the right support from the right service when it is needed.

    The key mechanism in delivering this transformation programme, as set out in the Future in Mind report, are the Local Transformation Plans (LTPs) that all clinical commissioning groups covering all local areas have produced. These plans should meet the needs of all the local population and cover the full spectrum of services needed to ensure that children and young people can access services when they need to.

    NHS England’s Local Transformation Planning guidance issued in August 2015 and the robust assurance process around it, backed by a programme of regional and national support, are in place to ensure that the additional money will be spent for the purposes intended and that locally determined key performance indicators will be met. NHS England will continue to support local areas to refresh their LTPs to take and merge into the wider Sustainability and Transparency Planning process.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the local management structure is of the NHS in West Sussex.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS Improvement advises that the following National Health Service organisations operate in West Sussex and each has its own management structure:

    ― Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust:

    https://www.bsuh.nhs.uk/about-us/

    ― Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation:

    http://www.westernsussexhospitals.nhs.uk/your-trust/about/plans-strategies/

    ― Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust:

    http://www.qvh.nhs.uk/about-us/

    ― Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust:

    http://www.sussexcommunity.nhs.uk/downloads/services/about-us.pdf

    ― Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust:

    http://www.sussexpartnership.nhs.uk/about-us

    ― South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust:

    http://www.secamb.nhs.uk/about_us.aspx

    ― Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust:

    http://www.surreyandsussex.nhs.uk/about-us/about-the-trust/

    ― Coastal West Sussex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG):

    http://www.coastalwestsussexccg.nhs.uk/about-cwsccg

    ― Crawley CCG:

    http://www.crawleyccg.nhs.uk/about-us/

    ― Horsham and Mid Sussex CCG:

    http://www.horshamandmidsussexccg.nhs.uk/about-us/

    “

  • Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nicholas Soames – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2016-06-27.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what local organisation is accountable for the operation of the NHS in (a) Mid Sussex, (b) West Sussex and (c) Brighton.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England advises that there is not one single organisation accountable for the operation of the National Health Service in Mid Sussex, West Sussex or Brighton. Instead, each of the NHS organisations in these areas is accountable for the different operational aspects of the provision of NHS services.

    NHS England further advises that it commissions a comprehensive health service for patients in this area along with the Coastal West Sussex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG); Crawley CCG; Horsham and Mid Sussex CCG; and Brighton and Hove CCG.