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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 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to enable more radiologists to be trained and approved to carry out breast cancer mammogram imagery.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    Training and recruitment of the workforce needed to deliver care is a matter for the health department in each of the devolved administrations.

    In England, Health Education England (HEE) is conducting work to recruit more trainees into Radiology. As part of the investment planning process, Clinical Radiologists have been prioritised with plans to increase training posts by 32 to 1,144 for 2016-17 recruitment. Clinical Radiology has also been one of the five large specialty reviews undertaken by the HEE planning team this year.

    Recent trends in Clinical Radiology Consultants in the National Health Service:

    As at 31 March

    2010

    2011

    2012

    2013

    2014

    2015

    Growth 2010-15

    Whole Time Equivalents

    2,247

    2,326

    2,390

    2,472

    2,531

    2,653

    406 (18.1%)

    Source: NHS Digital’s NHS Workforce Statistics – October 2015, Provisional statistics

    The content and standard of medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC), which is an independent statutory body. The GMC has the general function of promoting high standards of education and co-ordinating all stages of education to ensure that medical students and newly qualified doctors are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes essential for professional practice.

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 19 September 2016 to Question 46209, what the relationship will be between the clinical expert groups and the recently established cross-Clinical Reference Group working parties.

    David Mowat

    As part of the revised arrangements for the Clinical Reference Groups (CRGs), which support specialised commissioning, NHS England has also announced the establishment of cross-CRG working parties, including some which will work with other health and care bodies to contribute to improving services, data and efficiency. These are not distinct CRGs, but a collaboration between existing groups.

    Those working parties are:

    – Research – building an interface with the National Institute for Health Research to advise how future research strategies align with commissioning and maximising opportunities;

    – Data and Resource – working with NHS Digital and NHS Improvement to provide clinical advice to these organisations in their work to improve the information that guides commissioning;

    – Guidance – working with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence as a stakeholder in their guidance development and providing clinical advice as needed; and

    – Value – to better understand, and therefore reduce, variations in services and, where appropriate, cease treatments/ways of working that are no longer of clinical or patient benefit.

    These relate to the specialised commissioning CRGs and there is no link to the clinical expert groups.

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 19 September 2016 to Question 46209, when he expects terms of reference to be published for (a) the clinical expert groups and (b) the clinical steering group.

    David Mowat

    The Terms of Reference refer to management meetings, which are part of the programme structure and not statutory meetings or advisory mechanisms. Consequently NHS England does not plan to publish these.

  • Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Thangam Debbonaire – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Thangam Debbonaire on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 19 September 2016 to Question 46209, when NHS England plans to publish the service guidance documents produced by the clinical reference groups.

    David Mowat

    The service guidance documents will be disseminated through the newly formed Cancer Alliances.

    One of the key objectives of the Alliances for 2016/17 is to create and agree a delivery plan for the Cancer Strategy locally, based on outcomes and evidence based best practice care pathways.

  • 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 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of particle pollutants on children’s health and development in the UK.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The independent expert advisory Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) published a statement on the evidence linking air pollution to effects on children’s health in 2008. This acknowledged the conclusions of a report by the World Health Organization (2005) of effects on children’s health, including development of lung function, but also noted that the evidence for some effects was from areas where levels of air pollutants were higher than those found in the United Kingdom.

    In 2010 COMEAP published a statement on the evidence linking air pollution with childhood asthma. The evidence confirmed that exposure to ambient concentrations of air pollutants is associated with an increase in exacerbations of asthma in those who already have the condition. The evidence for air pollution causing new cases of asthma is less clear. However, COMEAP concluded that it is possible that air pollution plays a part in the induction of asthma in some individuals who live near busy roads, particularly roads carrying high numbers of heavy goods vehicles.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment has been made of the potential effect of proposed changes to pharmacy funding on the ability of local authorities to deliver local public health improvement.

    David Mowat

    Local commissioning and the funding of public health services by local authorities from community pharmacies will be unaffected by these proposals.

    We want to see a high quality community pharmacy service that is properly integrated into primary care and public health in line with the Five Year Forward View.

    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 National Health Service funds to certain pharmacies compared with others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.

    In addition we are providing funding to recruit a further 1,500 pharmacists to general practices by 2020.

  • Margaret Hodge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Margaret Hodge – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Hodge on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 2 September 2016 to Question 44352, for what contracts the largest three total payments were made to (a) PwC, (b) Deloitte, (c) Ernst and Young and (d) KPMG in the last three years.

    David Mowat

    Information on all contracts as identified from the largest three total payments made to the top four consulting firms across financial years 2013-14 to 2015-16 are contained in the attached table.

    Values for all four suppliers relate to cash payments made against purchase orders as per Crown Commercial Services requirements and is not comparable with any consultancy expenditure data that may be published annually by the Department, which are resource (accruals) based.

  • Gerald Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gerald Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Jones on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on the sale of ex-emergency service vehicles.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    No such discussions have taken place between my Rt. hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Health and the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andy Slaughter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many children are born each year in England with Duchenne muscular dystrophy; how many people are living with this condition; and how many such people do receive Translarna.

    David Mowat

    Information on how many children are born each year in England with Duchenne muscular dystrophy is not collected. However, it is estimated that there are around 2,500 people living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy in the United Kingdom.

    Following the recommendation made by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in April 2016 and the announcement made by NHS England on 7 July, Translarna is now routinely commissioned for those individuals who have Duchenne muscular dystrophy and meet the relevant clinical criteria. Currently, there are approximately 50 patients receiving Translarna.

  • 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 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to support women suffering side-effects from hormone replacement therapy.

    Nicola Blackwood

    Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is used to alleviate the symptoms of the menopause. The known side effects of HRT products are provided in the patient information leaflet which accompanies the medicine. Medically serious side effects of HRT affect a small number of women and include increased risks of breast and ovarian cancer and blood clots (venous thromboembolism, VTE), which are treated in clinical practice if they occur.

    Due to these risks the advice since 2004 is that decision to start, continue or stop HRT should be made jointly by a woman and her doctor, based on the known risks and benefits and her own personal circumstances, including her age, her need for treatment and her medical risk factors, and that the lowest effective dose of HRT should be used for the shortest possible time with regular review of treatment.

    The National Health Service publishes information online at NHS Choices about the menopause including the benefits and risks of HRT and alternative treatments.