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  • Alistair Burt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Alistair Burt – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Burt on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to announce details of the discretionary support scheme for people affected by contaminated blood.

    Nicola Blackwood

    As part of the wider reforms of the Infected Blood Payment support schemes in England, a new discretionary scheme is in design and will be delivered once a new scheme administrator is established in 2017/18. Details of the discretionary support scheme will be provided at that stage. A new discretionary scheme will replace the existing three discretionary schemes.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of (a) the scale of the recent changes on the cost of care homes for self-funding elderly people and (b) the effect of those changes on the number of care home closures in the UK.

    David Mowat

    The Department continues to monitor the market of care providers.

    There has been no significant change in capacity in care homes in the last three years. The total number of beds for older people and those with dementia in England has remained stable at around 410,000.

    Figures from Christie & Co show a differential between fee rises for self-funders & those paid by local authorities, but we are not aware of this driving changes in provision.

    The Department continues to monitor the whole of the market of care providers and engage with the sector to better understand the challenges they face and support local authorities who purchase services.

    The Department recognises that social care has a key role to play in reducing delayed transfers of care from hospital.

    The National Health Service takes Delayed Transfer of Care seriously. As well as funding the NHS’ own plan for the future with £10 billion, we are giving local authorities access to up to £3.5 billion extra a year for adult social care.

    The Department works closely with the NHS, local government and the independent care sector to help improve transfers out of hospital, share good practice and minimise delays.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average response time was to emergency red calls for ambulance services in (a) the East of England and (b) England in the last period for which figures are available.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The information is not available in the format requested. NHS England publishes the number of Category A Red One and Red Two calls responded to within eight minutes and the number of ambulances arriving at the scene within 19 minutes for a Category A call.

    This data is published on a monthly basis at both an England national level and at individual ambulance trust level. Data up to August 2016, Ambulance System Indicators Time Series to August 2016, is available at the following link:

    https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ambulance-quality-indicators/

    “

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to encourage students to become ambulance service paramedics upon graduating.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    The latest available data from NHS Digital NHS Hospital and Community Health Service monthly workforce statistics shows that there are now over 2,200 more paramedics in the National Health Service than in May 2010.

    As set out in Health Education England’s (HEE) 2016/17 Workforce Plan for England, planned paramedic training places have increased by 60%, to over 1,600. The workforce plan estimates that by 2020 there is likely to be an 11% growth in the available paramedic workforce.

    HEE is partnering with the East of England Ambulance Service Trust, the University of East Anglia (UEA) and Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) to give aspiring paramedics the chance to gain the experience, skills and knowledge required to support applications for the Paramedic Science degree programme (BSc) at UEA and ARU for entry in September 2017.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what monitoring his Department undertakes of clinical commissioning groups’ safeguarding of access to medical nutrition for patients for whom it is recommended in NICE guidelines.

    Nicola Blackwood

    National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) clinical guidelines represent best practice and we expect National Health Service organisations to take them fully into account as they design services for their local populations.

    NICE clinical guidelines are not mandatory but the expectation is that NHS organisations will implement them over time drawing upon clinical judgement, and commissioners will take them into account when making commissioning decisions.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to introduce national prescribing guidelines on medical nutrition.

    Nicola Blackwood

    Prescribing guidance is already available to clinicians on individual medical foods, known as foods for special medical purpose (FSMP). Guidance on prescribing is published within Part XV of the Drug Tariff by clinical indication and product name.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department takes to ensure that clinical commissioning groups monitor for unintended consequences to patients after implementing a restrictive prescribing policy.

    Nicola Blackwood

    NHS England is responsible for ensuring that clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are fulfilling their statutory role and making decisions in line with published guidance. However, it is the responsibility of individual CCGs to monitor the impact of commissioning decisions in its area.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of methods used for collecting data on (a) foetal alcohol syndrome and (b) foetal alcohol syndrome disorder.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The Department has not made any such assessment. Data on foetal alcohol syndrome and foetal alcohol spectrum disorder is not collected centrally.

  • George Howarth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    George Howarth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Howarth on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to increase the provision of (a) medical and (b) nursing training in hepatology.

    Mr Philip Dunne

    It is the responsibility of the professional regulators such as the General Medical Council or the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricula to ensure newly qualified healthcare professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care.

    Hepatology is a medical sub-specialty of gastroenterology. In Health Education England’s 2016/17 Workforce Plan for England, there are 450 training commissions proposed for gastroenterology, an increase from 431 in 2015/16.

    Whilst the NMC does not recognise hepatology in its standards for specialist education and practice, the Royal College of Nursing has written a comprehensive competence framework which outlines the training, skills and competence required to develop and maintain a special interest in hepatology:

    https://www2.rcn.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/641425/004-983_WEB.pdf

    “

  • George Howarth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    George Howarth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by George Howarth on 2016-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will undertake a national review of liver transplantation services to help (a) ensure better access for patients and (b) increase capacity.

    Nicola Blackwood

    NHS England intends to review liver transplantation services during 2018/19. There is sufficient capacity to transplant the organs that are donated currently.

    Organ donor and transplant rates have been increasing steadily over the last eight years. In 2008/09 there were 1,860 donors and 3,513 solid organ transplants. In 2015/16 these figures were 2,439 donors and 4,601 transplants. This increase of 31% in both donors and transplants over this timeframe, was achieved mainly through a strengthening of the donation infrastructure including increased specialist nurses, improved retrieval arrangements, increasing consent rates and better organ utilisation.

    The current United Kingdom strategy launched in July 2013, Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020, sets the agenda for increasing organ donation and transplantation rates still further.