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  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether Public Health England plans to publish its analysis of how the public health grant has been spent by each local authority.

    Jane Ellison

    Department for Communities and Local Government published full detail of the amounts spent against the public health grant by local authorities in 2013/14, and recorded in Revenue Outturn forms, on 30 November 2014.

    Public Health England is planning to publish a more in depth analysis of the figures at a national level during March 2015.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2014 to Question 218412, how much was spent on NHS smoking cessation services in 2013-14.

    Jane Ellison

    As 5% of local authorities (LAs) did not provide a full dataset for 2013-14, a national full year figure was not produced. The total spend for the year which excludes the 5% of LAs is £79.7 million. This total is not directly comparable with previous years’ spend.

    Data for those LAs which made a return can be found on tab 4.7 “People successfully quit, total expenditure and cost per quitter, by Region, Strategic Health Authority and Primary Care Trust, April 2012 to March 2013” of the data sheet “Statistics on NHS Stop Smoking Services, England – April 2013 to March 2014” which can be accessed here:

    www.hscic.gov.uk/searchcatalogue?productid=15174&returnid=3945

    All published data for stop smoking services is available from the Health and Social Care Information Centre website:

    www.hscic.gov.uk/lifestyles

    “

  • Virendra Sharma – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Virendra Sharma – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 10 Febraury 2015 to Question 223094, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings by the Pernicious Anaemia Society members’ survey, published in the British Journal of Nursing in April 2014, that over 60 per cent of people with pernicious anaemia are unhappy with their treatment and that many such people self-medicate to reduce their pain; and if he will consider the potential merits of revising the relevant guidelines to recommend more regular treatment.

    Norman Lamb

    The treatment of pernicious anaemia, the result of a vitamin B12 (cobalamin) deficiency, is well established and reported in the British Committee for Standards in Haematology (BCSH) document, Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of Cobalamin and Folate disorders, which was updated in May 2014. The BCSH operates independently of the Department and NHS England.

    Current clinical practice within the United Kingdom is to treat pernicious anaemia with Vitamin B12 intramuscular injections. The BCSH produces evidence based guidelines for both clinical and laboratory haematologists on the diagnosis and treatment of haematological disease, drawing on the advice of expert consultants and clinical scientists practicing in the United Kingdom. The guidelines can be found via the BCSH website at the following link:

    www.bcshguidelines.com

    Any patient with pernicious anaemia who has concerns about their treatment should discuss this matter with their general practitioner.

    “

  • Russell Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Russell Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Russell Brown on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what scope joint committees of NHS England and clinical commissioning groups will have to deviate from national service specifications for specialised services in (a) 2015-16 and (b) future years.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England is the accountable commissioner and budget holder for all specialised services as set out in the National Health Service Commissioning Board and Clinical Commissioning Groups (Responsibilities and Standing Rules) Regulations 2012, with the Manual for prescribed specialised services providing further detail.

    NHS England has achieved significant progress in developing a set of nationally consistent service standards and commissioning policies, which ensure equity of access to high quality services across the board. Those standards and policies will continue to apply for those specialised services which are to be collaboratively commissioned by NHS England and clinical commissioning groups.

    NHS England is currently in the process of agreeing the guidance on the collaborative commissioning arrangements which will be in place from 1 April 2015.

    NHS England has clarified that where there are collaboratively commissioned services, NHS England will retain the full financial risk for these services for 2015/16. NHS England has advised us that there will be further work conducted over the next year to advise on the range of specialised services for which NHS England should remain the accountable commissioner and budget holder for 2016/17 and future years.

    Copies of The National Health Service Commissioning Board and Clinical Commissioning Groups (Responsibilities and Standing Rules) Regulations 2012 and the Manual for prescribed specialised services are attached.

  • Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Christopher Chope – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what change there has been in the productivity of the NHS in England in each of the last three years for which information is available.

    Jane Ellison

    The most comprehensive and reliable estimates of productivity for the National Health Service in England are compiled by the Centre for Health Economics at the University of York. Their published series provides data from 1998/99 onwards and the latest available data relates to 2011/12, published in January 2014.

    Total factor productivity, adjusted for quality change, was -1.25% in 2009/10, +3.21% in 2010/11 and +2.13% in 2011/12. This is the first time that the series had shown two consecutive years of positive productivity growth.

    The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles a similar series for the whole of the United Kingdom, on a calendar year basis. The latest ONS results were published in January 2015 and show productivity growth rates for 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 as -1.3%, 0.6%, 3.5%, 0.9% respectively.

  • Russell Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Russell Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Russell Brown on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether NHS England will remain the sole budget-holder and accountable commissioner for all specialised services in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) future years.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England is the accountable commissioner and budget holder for all specialised services as set out in the National Health Service Commissioning Board and Clinical Commissioning Groups (Responsibilities and Standing Rules) Regulations 2012, with the Manual for prescribed specialised services providing further detail.

    NHS England has achieved significant progress in developing a set of nationally consistent service standards and commissioning policies, which ensure equity of access to high quality services across the board. Those standards and policies will continue to apply for those specialised services which are to be collaboratively commissioned by NHS England and clinical commissioning groups.

    NHS England is currently in the process of agreeing the guidance on the collaborative commissioning arrangements which will be in place from 1 April 2015.

    NHS England has clarified that where there are collaboratively commissioned services, NHS England will retain the full financial risk for these services for 2015/16. NHS England has advised us that there will be further work conducted over the next year to advise on the range of specialised services for which NHS England should remain the accountable commissioner and budget holder for 2016/17 and future years.

    Copies of The National Health Service Commissioning Board and Clinical Commissioning Groups (Responsibilities and Standing Rules) Regulations 2012 and the Manual for prescribed specialised services are attached.

  • David Simpson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Simpson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Simpson on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what change there has been in access to colon cancer treatments since 2012.

    George Freeman

    Since April 2013, NHS England has been the responsible commissioner for chemotherapy and radiotherapy services, together with a number of specialist surgical services, which include some complex urology and colorectal cancer surgeries. Clinical commissioning groups are responsible for the diagnostic pathway and some surgeries for both colorectal and urological cancers.

    NHS England routinely commissions a range of anti-cancer drug treatments for both colorectal and prostate cancer. These are drug indications that have either been recommended in National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal guidance, or have been considered as routine practice in the treatment of these cancers for many years.

    NICE is the independent body that assesses the clinical and cost-effectiveness of treatments for routine use in the National Health Service. NICE has recommended the following treatments for prostate cancer through its technology appraisal process since 1 January 2012:

    – abiraterone (Zytiga) for castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer previously treated with a docetaxel-containing regimen; and

    – enzalutamide (Xtandi) for metastatic hormone‑relapsed prostate cancer previously treated with a docetaxel‑containing regimen.

    NICE is in the process of appraising the following treatments:

    – sipuleucel-T (Provenge) for the first line treatment of metastatic hormone relapsed prostate cancer;

    – degarelix depot (Firmagon) for treating advanced hormone dependent prostate cancer;

    – enzalutamide for treating metastatic hormone-relapsed prostate cancer not previously treated with chemotherapy; and

    – radium-223 dichloride (Xofigo) for hormone relapsed prostate cancer with bone metastases.

    NICE is currently reviewing technology appraisal guidance on cetuximab (Erbitux) and panitumumab (Vectibix) for the first-line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer and expects to publish updated final guidance on these treatments in April 2016.

    In addition to routinely commissioned treatments, the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) provides access to other treatments that would not normally be available.

    From April 2013, NHS England assumed operational responsibility for the CDF. As of 19 January 2015, the following drugs are available through the national CDF list for the treatment of prostate cancer:

    – abiraterone;

    – cabazitaxel (Jevtana);

    – enzalutamide; and

    – radium-223 dichloride.

    Cabizitaxel is due to be removed from the national CDF list on 12 March 2015.

    The following drugs are also available through the national CDF list for the treatment of colorectal cancer:

    – aflibercept (Zaltrap);

    – bevacizumab (Avastin);

    – cetuximab; and

    – panitumumab.

    Aflibercept, bevacizumab as a first-line treatment and cetuximab as a second- or third-line treatment with combination chemotherapy are due to be removed from the national CDF list on 12 March 2015.

    Since April 2013, there has been progress in meeting the Government’s commitment to increase patient access to inverse planned Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT). The success of this planned expansion of access is demonstrated in the increased number of IMRT episodes (patients), which has risen from just over 8,500 per year in 2012-13 to a projected figure of over 25,000 in 2014-15 of which around 40% of these patients are treated with IMRT for prostate cancer.

    NHS England has not altered the service specification or published any commissioning policies which have altered those colorectal cancer surgical services that fall within the remit of specialised commissioning.

  • Charles Walker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Charles Walker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what research his Department has conducted into the effect on public health of alcohol advertising in each of the last three financial years.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funds the NIHR School for Public Health Research (SPHR). The SPHR is conducting a programme of research from June 2013 to March 2017 on reducing alcohol-related health harms in an English context. This includes research on aspects of the impact of alcohol advertising on alcohol consumption. Details of the research programme are available on the SPHR website at:

    http://sphr.nihr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/NIHR-SPHR-Alcohol-programme-summary-Nov-2014.pdf

    Researchers supported by the SPHR have contributed to research on industry-driven marketing influences on young people’s drinking behaviour. Findings were published in the journal Addiction in 2014.

    The Behaviour and Health Research Unit (BHRU) at the University of Cambridge is part-funded by the Department. The BHRU has contributed to research on exposure of children and adolescents to alcohol marketing on social media websites. Findings were published in the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism in 2014.

  • Charles Walker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Charles Walker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the cost of treating alcohol-related illnesses in each of the last three years.

    Jane Ellison

    Estimates have been made of the cost to the National Health Service of alcohol related harm at around £2.7 billion per year in 2006-07 and £3.5 billion per year in 2009-10.

    Work is under way in the Department to produce estimates for more recent years.

  • Charles Walker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Charles Walker – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charles Walker on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will review the effect of the regulation of alcohol (a) packaging and (b) advertising on public health.

    Jane Ellison

    We have asked Public Health England to provide a report to Government in spring 2015 on the public health impact of alcohol and the evidence-base for actions to reduce health harms. We expect that any evidence-base for the impact of labelling and advertising on public health should be included.