The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of changes in productivity in community pharmacies in each year since 2005.
David Mowat
We have made no assessment of productivity in community pharmacies.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the likely effect of proposed changes to pharmacy funding on home delivery of NHS prescriptions.
David Mowat
The Government’s proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond, on which we have consulted, are being considered against the public sector equality duty, the family test and the relevant duties of my Rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health, under the National Health Service Act 2006.
Our assessments include consideration of the potential impacts on the adequate provision of NHS pharmaceutical services, including the supply of medicines, access to NHS pharmaceutical services, supplementary hours, non-commissioned services, individuals with protected characteristics, impacts on other NHS services, health inequalities, individuals with restricted mobility and access to healthcare for deprived communities.
An impact assessment will be completed to inform final decisions and published in due course.
Our proposals are about improving services for patients and the public and securing efficiencies and savings. We believe these efficiencies can be made within community pharmacy without compromising the quality of services or public access to them.
Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive. We are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared with others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.
We want a clinically focussed community pharmacy service that is better integrated with primary care and public health in line with the Five Year Forward View. This will help relieve the pressure on general practitioners and accident and emergency departments, ensure better use of medicines and better patient outcomes, and contribute to delivering seven day health and care services.
The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England, Dr Keith Ridge has commissioned an independent review of community pharmacy clinical services. The review is being led by Richard Murray, Director of Policy at The King’s Fund. The final recommendations will be considered as part of the development of clinical and cost effective patient care by pharmacists and their teams.
NHS England is also setting up a Pharmacy Integration Fund to support the development of clinical pharmacy practice in a wider range of primary care settings, resulting in a more integrated and effective NHS primary care patient pathway.
The rollout of the additional 1,500 clinical pharmacists announced by NHS England will help to ease current pressures in general practice by working with patients who have long term conditions and others with multiple medications. Having a pharmacist on site will mean that patients who receive care from their general practice will be able to benefit from the expertise in medicines that these pharmacists provide.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the most recent rating by the Care Quality Commission was of each Ambulance Trust.
Mr Philip Dunne
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England. Following an inspection the CQC rate providers on a four point scale running from outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate. In addition to an aggregate rating at a provider level, the CQC produces ratings for individual services and locations. The CQC has provided the following information:
The CQC began its new inspection approach in September 2013. Since then the CQC has undertaken a comprehensive first rating inspection at all National Health Service trusts it committed to; non-specialist acute trusts, community trusts, mental health trusts, ambulances and specialist acute trusts. The deadlines for each were met, namely, March 2016 for acute non-specialists and June 2016 for the other commitments. As all inspections for ambulance trusts have been completed, the majority of inspection reports have been published. Those that are not yet published are undergoing the factual accuracy process and will be published by the end of 2016.
The table below sets out the 10 NHS ambulance trusts that are registered with CQC, their overall rating (where applicable) and the date the inspection report was published.
Registered ambulance trusts1 with overall rating under new inspection regime where applicable (as at 11 October 2016)
|
Provider Name |
Latest overall rating |
Publication date |
|
Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust |
Requires improvement |
21 August 2015 |
|
London Ambulance Service NHS Trust |
Inadequate |
27 November 2015 |
|
East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust |
Requires improvement |
10 May 2016 |
|
East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust |
Requires improvement |
9 August 2016 |
|
South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust |
Good |
20 September 2016 |
|
South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust |
Inadequate |
29 September 2016 |
|
South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust |
Requires improvement |
6 October 2016 |
|
North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust |
Report not yet published |
To be confirmed |
|
North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust |
Report not yet published |
To be confirmed |
|
West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust |
Report not yet published |
To be confirmed |
1 Registered NHS Healthcare Organisation providers and active NHS Healthcare Organisation locations with primary inspection category of Ambulance Service. Ratings supplied are the overall for the trust, not that specific to Patient Transport Services. In addition, one trust, Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, has a rating for Patient Transport Services but is excluded from the data supplied because it is not an ambulance trust.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to replace or renew the National Stroke Strategy, published in December 2007.
David Mowat
The strategy remains valid and implementation of it continues. There are, therefore, no current plans to renew the national stroke strategy. Action is being taken to ensure the progress made on stroke continues. This includes:
– ongoing work in virtually all parts of the country to organise acute stroke care to ensure that all stroke patients, regardless of where they live or what time of the day or week they have their stroke, have access to high quality specialist care;
– publication of the Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Outcomes Strategy in 2013, which includes many stroke specific strategic ambitions;
– a CVD expert forum, hosted by NHS England, to coordinate delivery of the work which was initiated in the CVD Outcomes Strategy; and
– NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Stroke works with the Strategic Clinical Networks, clinical commissioning groups, voluntary agencies and individual providers to support better commissioning and provision of stroke care.
More generally, the NHS Five Year Forward View recognises that quality of care, including stroke care, can be variable and that patients’ needs are changing and new treatment options are emerging. The Five Year Forward View sets out high level objectives to address these issues.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps he has taken to put in place the Government’s commitment to parity of esteem between mental health treatment and physical health treatment.
Nicola Blackwood
The Government welcomed the publication of the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health and Future in Mind to transform mental health services by 2020. The recommendations in these reports represent a significant step forward in achieving parity of esteem between mental and physical health. We continue to work with NHS England and other arm’s length bodies to embed the recommendations set out in these reports into our national policies and we are committed to reporting regularly and transparently on our progress.
These reports are supported by additional investment for mental health of over £2 billion up to 2020. We will be holding NHS England to account through the NHS Mandate to ensure that we deliver the commitments set out in these reports.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what provision is available to help people with multiple sclerosis access the care and support they need.
David Mowat
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance Multiple sclerosis: management of multiple sclerosis in primary and secondary care, updated in October 2014, sets out best practice on the diagnosis, treatment, care and support of people with multiple sclerosis (MS). The guidance makes a range of recommendations on the drug based treatments for MS, but also highlights the importance of involving professionals who can meet the needs of the patient in the best way, such as physiotherapists and occupational therapists.
NHS England commissions specialised neurological services nationally to meet the needs of patients with complex neurological conditions such as MS. NHS England has published a service specification setting out what providers must have in place to deliver specialised neurological care. This supports equity of access to high quality services for patients wherever they live. Although much of the routine care people with MS receive will be provided by local primary, community and secondary care services via local clinical commissioning groups, elements of their care may be provided by specialists subject to their needs. Specialised neurological care can include access to specialist nurses, orthoptists, dieticians and speech and language therapists, psychologists, continence and pain relief services, services provided jointly with specialists in rehabilitation medicine, spasticity management services and clinics for the assessment for and monitoring of disease modifying therapies.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the recommendation of the Independent Cancer Taskforce report, Achieving World-Class cancer outcomes: a strategy for England 2015-2020, published in July 2015, what progress has been made on developing the future shape and skill mix of the cancer workforce; and when he plans to publish a review into the cancer workforce.
David Mowat
Supported by Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support, Health Education England (HEE) has been leading on the independent Cancer Taskforce recommendation that it should work with NHS England, charities and others to develop a vision for the future shape and skills mix of the workforce required to deliver a modern, holistic patient-centred cancer service.
HEE has completed an initial cancer workforce baseline review that has been shared and discussed with key stakeholders, including the National Cancer Advisory Group, which has wide representation from cancer charities, medical Royal Colleges and others. The review is regularly updated with emerging intelligence from Sustainability and Transformation Plan areas on the workforce they require to deliver the cancer service challenge.
In addition, HEE is leading on a major piece of work to address the workforce challenges in transforming cancer services, which includes a skills mix review. It has agreed an approach with key stakeholders for the review and will be working through Local Workforce Action Boards, Vanguards and Cancer Alliances, to understand the skills mix needed for emerging cancer service models. HEE will report back on this work in March 2017.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with the relevant departments in the devolved administrations on ensuring the maximisation of treatment for life limiting conditions under best practice across the UK.
David Mowat
There have been no recent discussions between the Department and the devolved administrations on ensuring the maximisation of treatment for life limiting conditions under best practice across the United Kingdom. Whilst the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) meets regularly with other UK CMOs to discuss issues of mutual interest, this issue has not been specifically raised.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of relative levels of productivity in community pharmacies and other primary care professions in each year since 2015.
David Mowat
We have made no assessment of productivity in community pharmacies.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Barron on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of proposed reductions in the level of community pharmacy funding on the adequacy of provision of pharmaceutical advice and reassurance to members of the public.
David Mowat
The Government’s proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond, on which we have consulted, are being considered against the public sector equality duty, the family test and the relevant duties of my Rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health, under the National Health Service Act 2006.
Our assessments include consideration of the potential impacts on the adequate provision of NHS pharmaceutical services, including the supply of medicines, access to NHS pharmaceutical services, supplementary hours, non-commissioned services, individuals with protected characteristics, impacts on other NHS services, health inequalities, individuals with restricted mobility and access to healthcare for deprived communities.
An impact assessment will be completed to inform final decisions and published in due course.
Our proposals are about improving services for patients and the public and securing efficiencies and savings. We believe these efficiencies can be made within community pharmacy without compromising the quality of services or public access to them.
Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive. We are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared with others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.
We want a clinically focussed community pharmacy service that is better integrated with primary care and public health in line with the Five Year Forward View. This will help relieve the pressure on general practitioners and accident and emergency departments, ensure better use of medicines and better patient outcomes, and contribute to delivering seven day health and care services.
The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England, Dr Keith Ridge has commissioned an independent review of community pharmacy clinical services. The review is being led by Richard Murray, Director of Policy at The King’s Fund. The final recommendations will be considered as part of the development of clinical and cost effective patient care by pharmacists and their teams.
NHS England is also setting up a Pharmacy Integration Fund to support the development of clinical pharmacy practice in a wider range of primary care settings, resulting in a more integrated and effective NHS primary care patient pathway.
The rollout of the additional 1,500 clinical pharmacists announced by NHS England will help to ease current pressures in general practice by working with patients who have long term conditions and others with multiple medications. Having a pharmacist on site will mean that patients who receive care from their general practice will be able to benefit from the expertise in medicines that these pharmacists provide.