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

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to make electrical stimulation treatment for sight loss available through the NHS.

    David Mowat

    Clinical commissioning groups are responsible for commissioning health care services to meet the needs of their local populations.

    There is no National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance on the use of electrical stimulation for the treatment for sight loss. Where NICE guidance does not exist on a particular treatment, it is for local National Health Service commissioners to make funding decisions based on an assessment of the available evidence and on the basis of an individual patient’s clinical circumstances.

    NHS commissioners are required to have in place clear and transparent arrangements for local decision-making on the funding of treatments and for considering exceptional funding requests.

  • Paul Beresford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paul Beresford – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Beresford on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the funding provided by Health Education England for dental foundation training to facilitate access to the dental performers list; and if he will make a statement.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    All graduates of United Kingdom dental schools secured a place on the dental foundation training scheme in 2014 and 2015. Information for 2016 will be made available by Health Education England once confirmed. Foundation Training requires selection on merit but this year, as in the last two years, the scheme rules prioritise applicants who have graduated from UK dental schools.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had since the last meeting of the National Autism Programme Board on increasing accountability for improving outcomes for autistic people within NHS England and on creating a new role of National Clinical Director for autism.

    David Mowat

    Since the meeting of the cross government Autism Programme Board on 16 June 2016, discussions with NHS England have focused on taking forward the actions agreed to improve diagnostic waiting times and outcomes for people with autism. The National Autistic Society and the report of the Westminster Commission on Autism have both suggested that NHS England create a new role of National Clinical Director for autism, and this is a matter for NHS England to consider.

    The Autism Programme Board at its last meeting also considered current and possible future sources of autism data. The Board asked that further consideration be given to this issue and for the Department to report back to them before their autumn meeting. This work is on-going.

  • Bob Blackman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Bob Blackman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Blackman on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what data exists about the proportion of excess mortality in lower socioeconomic status groups due to smoking-related diseases; whether the forthcoming tobacco control strategy for England will contain measures to address that issue; and when he expects to publish the next tobacco control strategy for England.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The independent review into health inequalities in England undertaken by Professor Sir Michael Marmot culminated in the publication in 2010 of Fair Society, Healthy Lives. The review identified the most effective evidence-based strategies for reducing health inequalities in England and made the following recommendation:

    “Tobacco control is central to any strategy to tackle health inequalities as smoking accounts for approximately half of the difference in life expectancy between the lowest and highest income groups. Smoking-related death rates are two to three times higher in low-income groups than in wealthier social groups.”

    The new tobacco control plan is currently being developed and Ministers will decide on an appropriate publication date in due course.

  • Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what procedures are in place to safeguard patient transport services if a private provider of such a service goes into administration.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    It is the primary responsibility of commissioners to ensure continuity of commissioned services through contracting and contingency planning. Where a provider is considered hard to replace in the event of failure, its services can be designated as Commissioner Requested Services. This requires the provider to obtain a provider licence, if not otherwise required to hold a licence, and places the provider in NHS Improvement’s financial oversight regime for private providers of essential NHS services.

  • Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the number of occasions on which bailiffs have seized operational equipment from private providers of NHS services; what the details are of each such occasion; and what steps his Department takes to prevent this happening.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Department does not hold this information. The National Health Service body commissioning a service from the private sector should ensure that adequate safeguards are in place to ensure access to essential operational equipment in the event of one of its suppliers getting into financial difficulties.

  • Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect on NHS services of private providers of those services entering into administration or suffering serious financial difficulty; and what contingency provisions he has put in place to mitigate such effects.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    It is the primary responsibility of commissioners to ensure continuity of commissioned services through contracting and contingency planning. Where a provider is considered hard to replace in the event of failure, its services can be designated as Commissioner Requested Services. This requires the provider to obtain a provider licence, if not otherwise required to hold a licence, and places the provider in NHS Improvement’s financial oversight regime for private providers of essential NHS services.

  • Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions Ministers in his Department have had with Sussex clinical commissioning groups about patient transport service provider Langfords going into administration.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    This is a matter for local commissioners.

    NHS England has confirmed that Coperforma, holder of the non-emergency Patient Transport Service (PTS) contract for Sussex, informed High Weald Lewes Havens Clinical Commissioning Group (HWLH CCG) on 16 June 2016 that a receiver had been appointed for VM Langfords – transport provider sub-contracted to deliver PTS in East and West Sussex. A number of South East Coast Ambulance Services (SECAmb) staff had been transferred to VM Langfords employment.

    HWLH CCG met with Coperforma on 17 June 2016 and was assured that a plan was already in place for additional transport capacity to mitigate any loss of capacity that this situation may cause.

    HWLH CCG is working closely with Coperforma and the unions (Unison and GMB) to work through the implications for ex SECAmb staff, to ensure the processes followed are in keeping with employment legislation and good practice and that the impacts on service delivery are kept to a minimum.

    There have been no discussions between Ministers in the Department and Sussex CCGs about PTS provider VM Langfords going into administration.

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Cheryl Gillan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to support the Department of International and European Affairs of the German Ministry of Health’s draft resolution on sepsis for the World Health Assembly General Assembly meeting in 2017.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The Department is committed to improving diagnosis and management of sepsis and has a wide programme of work underway. We will consider the German Ministry of Health’s draft resolution to the World Health Assembly in due course.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Virendra Sharma – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2016-07-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether NHS England published all of the recommendations made in June 2016 by its Clinical Priorities Advisory Group relating to the medical interventions in the Cancer Programme of Care listed in Appendix 3 of NHS England’s paper on Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)-HIV Prevention, published in May 2016.

    David Mowat

    NHS England has published all of the recommendations made by the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group (CPAG) which relate to interventions in the Cancer Programme of Care, listed in Appendix 3 of NHS England’s paper on Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)-HIV Prevention.

    The majority of recommendations were published in June 2016, except those that CPAG had already considered (as in-year service developments) in early 2016. This includes policies relating to chemotherapy drugs and everolimus to treat angiomyolipomas, which were included in the PrEP paper in error.