The below Parliamentary question was asked by Poulter on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many UK medical students entered undergraduate training in each year since 2000.
Mr Philip Dunne
Information on the number of United Kingdom medical students is not held centrally; this is collected by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Thomas on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recommendations in the UN High Level Panel on Access to Medicines report, published in September 2016, on stimulating research and development in underfunded areas and improving access to medicines; whether he has plans to take those recommendations forward; and if he will make a statement.
David Mowat
The Department for International Development leads on this area and the Department of Health has not made an assessment.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations his Department has made to the Government on the potential effect on health of restricting television advertising for unhealthy food on programming likely to be watched by children.
Nicola Blackwood
Evidence shows that current restrictions on the advertising of less healthy food and drink in the United Kingdom are amongst the toughest in the world.
The Department worked with other Government Departments in developing the recently launched Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Action. The policies in the plan are informed by the latest research and evidence, including from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition report Carbohydrates and Health, Public Health England’s evidence package Sugar reduction: the evidence for action, debates in this House and various reports from key stakeholders including the Health Select Committee.
Copies of Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Action, Carbohydrates and Health and Sugar reduction: the evidence for action are available at:
“
The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Davies on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress his Department has made on increasing the ability of GP practices in North Wales to attract locums since the Government responded to the Third Report of the Welsh Affairs Committee of Session 2014-15, HC 404, on Cross-border health arrangements between England and Wales.
David Mowat
The ability of general practitioner practices in North Wales to attract locums is a matter for the Welsh Government, since health and health services are devolved subjects.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Poulter on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the career destinations of doctors who completed foundation training in August 2016 were.
Mr Philip Dunne
The UK Foundation Programme Office collects data on the intended career destinations of second year foundation doctors who have completed their foundation training.
The information for doctors who completed foundation training in August 2016 is not yet available.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Mann on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many complaints his Department received in relation to vaccination against human papilloma virus in each month of 2016.
Nicola Blackwood
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) collects reports of suspected side effects to vaccines and medicines via the Yellow Card Scheme. It is important to note that a report of a suspected side effect does not necessarily mean the vaccine or medicine was the cause of the reported event, and coincidental illness can also be a factor. Such reports remain under continual review by the MHRA in order to detect possible new risks.
The MHRA has received 198 United Kingdom spontaneous suspected adverse reaction reports temporally-associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine between 1 January 2016 and 9 October 2016. Table 1 below provides a breakdown of these reports by month.
|
Month |
Number of reports |
|
January |
16 |
|
February |
22 |
|
March |
24 |
|
April |
23 |
|
May |
33 |
|
June |
26 |
|
July |
15 |
|
August |
7 |
|
September |
32 |
|
October to date (9 October 2016) |
0 |
More than 9 million doses of HPV vaccine have been given in the UK, with close to 90% of eligible teenagers vaccinated. As with all vaccines, safety remains under continual review, and HPV vaccine has a very good safety record.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Goodman on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on work permits and immigration rules for EU citizens working in the NHS, health and pharmaceutical industries after the UK leaves the EU.
David Mowat
My Rt. hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Health and the Home Secretary meet regularly.
Department of Health officials and Home Office officials are working together with officials at the Department for Exiting the European Union to ensure that the workforce implications for the National Health Service and care sectors are considered as part of the discussions around leaving the EU.
The Secretary of State for Health and the Prime Minister have made it clear that they wish for EU citizens, including those working in the NHS, health and pharmaceutical industries to remain in the United Kingdom post-Brexit.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure consistency of provision in the quality of care in mental health services across England.
Nicola Blackwood
Mental health is one of the six core clinical areas to be covered by NHS England’s new CCG Improvement and Assessment Framework. NHS England is working to ensure that this will provide as broad a view as possible of how well commissioners are supporting and driving improvement in mental health.
A dashboard for mental health will be published this autumn, containing a set of standard indicators to articulate progress in mental health services at a national level and allow benchmarking of services across the country.
NHS England will continue to ensure that mental health is represented within the full suite of levers and incentives at its disposal including Commissioning for Quality and Innovation payment framework (CQUINs), Quality Premium, the NHS Standard Contract and within the design of new models of care. The Technical Guidance for NHS planning covering 2017/18 and 2018/19 that accompanied the publication of the main NHS Planning Guidance earlier this autumn included a number of draft proposals for specific mental health CQUINs:
– Improving services for people with Mental Health needs who present to A&E;
– Improving physical health care for people with Severe Mental Illnesses; and
– Improving transitions for children and young people.
The Quality Premium is based on measures that cover a combination of national and local priorities, and on delivery of the fundamentals of commissioning. The Premium is paid to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in 2018/19 and 2019/20 reflects the quality of the health services commissioned by them in 2017/18 and 2018/19. There will be six mandated indicators including a mental health indicator.
Mental health service providers are responsible for the consistency and quality in the services that they provide. Services in England are regulated by the Care Quality Commission which introduced a new regulation and inspection regime in 2014. CCGs are expected to increase their spending on mental health in line with overall growth in their baseline allocations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve the process for GPs referring patients to mental health services.
Nicola Blackwood
NHS England is aware that some general practitioners (GPs) experience difficulties with access to secondary mental health services. In line with the recommendations of the Mental Health Taskforce, NHS England mental health team is working to introduce a suite of evidence based treatment pathways spanning the main mental health conditions and covering the journey from referral to treatment and through to recovery. These will help to ensure that GPs have the information they need to refer people swiftly to the right services, offering the right treatment for their particular mental health needs. Pathways and associated standards have already been introduced for common mental health disorders Psychological Therapies services, first episode psychosis and community-based eating disorder services for children and young people.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2016-10-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to implement the changes to funding for community pharmacies, announced in December 2015.
David Mowat
We have consulted on these proposals and are continuing to engage with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee. The responses received have, and will continue to be, considered very carefully so we make sure we get it right for patients, the public, the National Health Service and pharmacy.
We are aiming to implement the package from December 2016.