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  • Helen Grant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Helen Grant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Grant on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the UN Secretary General’s report on Children and Armed Conflict, published on 2 June 2016, what steps he is taking to engage with (a) the Saudi-led coalition and (b) his counterparts in the UN Security Council on the listing in that report of the Saudi-led coalition.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are aware of the UN Secretary General’s annual report on Children in Armed Conflict which was published on 2 June. We note the announcement by the UN Secretary General on 6 June that removed the listing of the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition from the report’s annex, pending the conclusion of a joint review by the UN and Saudi Arabia on the cases and numbers cited in the text. We welcome co-operation between the UN and Saudi Arabia to look in to this matter.

  • Helen Grant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Helen Grant – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Grant on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for the UN Security Council’s policies on children and armed conflict of the delisting of the Saudi-led coalition in the UN Secretary General’s report on Children and Armed Conflict, published on 2 June 2016.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We are aware of the UN Secretary General’s annual report on Children in Armed Conflict which was published on 2 June and included a section outlining the impact of the conflict in Yemen on children. We consider all these reports very carefully. We note the announcement by the UN Secretary General on 6 June that removed the listing of the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition from the report’s annex, pending the conclusion of a joint review by the UN and Saudi Arabia on the cases and numbers cited in the text. We welcome co-operation between the UN and Saudi Arabia to look in to this matter. The UK Government continues to support the work of the United Nations on Children and Armed Conflict.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the US State Department on changes to the US visa waiver programme affecting people who have visited Iraq since 2011.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    While US immigration processes are a matter for the US authorities, we have raised with the US administration the importance of clearly communicating changes to their immigration policy. We remain in close contact with the US Embassy in order to avoid inconvenience to British nationals travelling to the US.

    The Secretary of State for Home Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) raised migration issues with Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson in Washington on 17 February.

  • Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Patrick Grady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with the UN Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect on alleged violence against ethnic groups in Gambia.

    James Duddridge

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not held recent discussions with the UN Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect on alleged violence against ethnic groups in The Gambia. However, we fully endorse the statement of the UN Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide, released on 10 June, in which he condemned inflammatory rhetoric by President Jammeh, and called for the rights of all populations of The Gambia to be respected. We regularly press the government of The Gambia at senior levels to protect the human rights of all its people.

    Our Ambassador to The Gambia recently has discussed the situation in the country with the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for West Africa and with UN representatives in Banjul. We and our partners will continue to monitor the situation closely, particularly the protection afforded to different ethnic groups.

  • Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many vacancies for (a) paramedics and (b) doctors there are in the East Midlands Ambulance Service.

    Ben Gummer

    The information requested is not held centrally. It may be available directly from East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to introduce mandatory data collection on hospital-initiated postponement or cancellation of ophthalmology follow-up appointments.

    Alistair Burt

    All follow-up appointments should take place when clinically appropriate. It is for clinicians to make decisions on when they see patients, in line with their clinical priority, and patients should not experience undue delay at any stage of their referral, diagnosis or treatment. The appropriate interval for follow up appointments will vary between different services or specialties, and between individual patients, depending on the severity of their condition.

    To ensure that patients are seen at the appropriate time, NHS England’s guidance, “Recording and reporting referral to treatment waiting times for consultant-led elective care” is clear that when patients on planned lists are clinically ready for their care to commence and reach the date for their planned appointment, they should either receive that appointment or be transferred to an active waiting list. At that point, a waiting time clock will be started and their wait reported in the relevant statistical return.

    Hospital episode statistics contain details of all outpatient appointments at National Health Service hospitals in England and commissioned by the NHS from independent sector organisations in England. The recording of a primary diagnosis and postponed or cancelled appointments is not mandatory within the outpatient commissioning data set and there are no plans to make it so.

    Data is not, therefore, available on the number of cancelled or postponed follow up appointments for patients with age-related macular degeneration, central retinal vein occlusion and diabetic macular oedema.

    No assessment has been made of the effect of hospital-initiated postponement or cancellation of ophthalmology follow-up appointments on patients’ sight. However, officials have met with the Clinical Council for Eye Health Commissioning and are considering their concerns.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase capacity for (a) new and (b) follow-up appointments in ophthalmology clinics.

    Alistair Burt

    The need for ophthalmology outpatient clinics will be determined locally by clinical commissioning groups who will then commission the care, normally from National Health Service trusts.

    The most recent NHS workforce statistics for trusts and clinical commissioning groups, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre on 22 June 2016, shows that since May 2010, there are now 264 more doctors with a specialty of ophthalmology; this includes a 27% increase in the number of consultants.

  • Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients waited more than (a) one, (b) two, (c) three and (d) four hours for an ambulance in the East Midlands in (i) 2013-14, (ii) 2014-15 and (iii) 2015-16.

    Ben Gummer

    The information requested is not held centrally. It may be available directly from East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tulip Siddiq – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many follow-up appointments for patients with a primary diagnosis of (a) age-related macular degeneration, (b) central retinal vein occlusion and (c) diabetic macular oedema were cancelled or postponed by the NHS in each of the last three years.

    Alistair Burt

    All follow-up appointments should take place when clinically appropriate. It is for clinicians to make decisions on when they see patients, in line with their clinical priority, and patients should not experience undue delay at any stage of their referral, diagnosis or treatment. The appropriate interval for follow up appointments will vary between different services or specialties, and between individual patients, depending on the severity of their condition.

    To ensure that patients are seen at the appropriate time, NHS England’s guidance, “Recording and reporting referral to treatment waiting times for consultant-led elective care” is clear that when patients on planned lists are clinically ready for their care to commence and reach the date for their planned appointment, they should either receive that appointment or be transferred to an active waiting list. At that point, a waiting time clock will be started and their wait reported in the relevant statistical return.

    Hospital episode statistics contain details of all outpatient appointments at National Health Service hospitals in England and commissioned by the NHS from independent sector organisations in England. The recording of a primary diagnosis and postponed or cancelled appointments is not mandatory within the outpatient commissioning data set and there are no plans to make it so.

    Data is not, therefore, available on the number of cancelled or postponed follow up appointments for patients with age-related macular degeneration, central retinal vein occlusion and diabetic macular oedema.

    No assessment has been made of the effect of hospital-initiated postponement or cancellation of ophthalmology follow-up appointments on patients’ sight. However, officials have met with the Clinical Council for Eye Health Commissioning and are considering their concerns.

  • Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gloria De Piero – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2016-06-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had in recent months with (a) Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and (b) Nottingham University Hospitals Trust on potential financial support from his Department to cover the costs of Sherwood Forest’s PFI arrangements.

    George Freeman

    The Department has not received an application for Private Finance Iinitiative financial support associated with the proposed Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust long term partnership.

    The Department has taken part in a brief initial discussion with Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust’s advisors and NHS Improvement in relation to the process, timescales and other relevant issues associated with the long term partnership. However financial plans for the long term partnership have not yet been put forward to the Department to enable formal financial discussions.