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  • Mark Pritchard – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    Mark Pritchard – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if his Department will bring forward legislation to outlaw the sale of stolen conflict antiquities in the UK.

    Mr Edward Vaizey

    I have no current plans to hold discussions with the major auction houses, nor has the Government recently discussed the sale of conflict antiquities with them. The Government believes that regulating trade in antiquities is primarily the responsibility of the art and antiquities trade itself. The established trade associations possess codes of ethics by which they expect their members to abide and we expect the associations to strictly enforce those codes. The DCMS has produced advice and guidance to help UK dealers and auction houses consider the relevant issues such as ensuring the secure provenance of cultural objects in which they deal.

    The UK takes the issue of illicit trade in cultural goods very seriously and is continuously working to combat this type of trafficking.

    The UK has legislation in place, the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979, which makes it an offence to import or export objects if that is prohibited under any enactment. Once an EU Regulation prohibiting such import or export comes into force, the act becomes a UK offence. Accordingly, prohibitions on export and import of certain Syrian cultural property under Council Regulation (EU) 1332/2013 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Syria, have been backed up by UK offences since December 2013. These are complemented by a statutory instrument (The Export Control (Syria Sanctions) (Amendment) Order 2014) which was laid before Parliament on 18 July 2014. The prohibitions relate to the trade in certain Syrian cultural goods where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the goods were removed from Syria on or after 9 May 2011 without consent of the legitimate owner or in breach of Syrian or international law.

    The import, export and dealing in illegally removed Iraqi cultural property is prohibited under The Iraq (United Nations Sanctions) Order 2003. While not specific to war situations, the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003 prohibits dealing in cultural objects illegally excavated or illegally removed from monuments or structures of historical, architectural or archaeological interest.

  • Simon Burns – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Simon Burns – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Burns on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the right hon. Member for Chelmsford can expect a response from the Chief Executive of NHS England to his letter of 30 May 2014 on his constituent Mr John McPhee.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England has confirmed that my Rt. hon. Friend’s correspondence is currently being actioned and apologise for not providing a response sooner.

    The matters raised by the constituent are currently the subject of an ongoing complaint investigation with the Essex Area Team of NHS England. NHS England can reassure my Rt. hon. Friend that a complaints manager has been in contact with the constituent (who has also raised a complaint direct with NHS England) to discuss their concerns and agree a way forward for resolution.

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average cost per night is of a bed in (a) an intensive therapy unit or high dependency unit, (b) a district general hospital, (c) a spinal cord injury centre and (d) a spinal cord injury centre for a ventilated spinal cord injured patient.

    Jane Ellison

    Information is not available in the format requested.

    Such information as is available is from reference costs, which are the average unit costs to National Health Service trusts and foundation trusts of providing defined services in a given financial year to NHS patients. Unit costs for inpatient care, including spinal cord injury, requiring the use of a hospital bed for at least one night are submitted per finished consultant episode rather than per night. Only unit costs for inpatient stays beyond the expected length of stay for each treatment are submitted per bed day. Unit costs for critical care, including in an intensive therapy unit or high dependency unit, are submitted per critical care bed day. This information is shown in the following table.

    National average unit costs of adult critical care, elective and non-elective care, and spinal cord injury care in England, 2012-13

    Unit cost per finished consultant episode4

    Unit cost per excess bed day5

    Unit cost per critical care bed day6

    Adult critical care1

    –

    –

    1,173

    Inpatient care2

    1,758

    273

    –

    Spinal cord injury care3

    7,649

    354

    –

    Notes:

    1National average adult critical care costs submitted in reference costs by all NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts that provided patient care in critical care units during 2012-13 give the nearest equivalent to the average cost per night of a bed in an intensive therapy unit or high dependency unit. They relate to parts of the patient’s hospital stay that require organ system support in a designated critical care bed. These are conventionally grouped into critical care areas, such as an intensive therapy unit or high dependency unit, but may include temporary, non-standard locations.

    2National average elective and non-elective inpatient costs submitted in reference costs by all NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts that admitted patients during 2012-13 give the nearest equivalent to the average cost per night of a bed in a district general hospital. No attempt has been made to distinguish between district general hospitals and other types of trust, such as specialist or teaching trusts.

    3National average elective and non-elective inpatient costs submitted in reference costs against treatment function code 323, spinal injuries, by the following eight trusts providing spinal cord injury centres in England give the nearest equivalent to the average cost per night of a bed in a spinal cord injury centre:

    (a) Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust

    (b) Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust

    (c) Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust

    (d) Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    (e) South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

    (f) Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust

    (g) St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust

    (h) The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

    4Reference costs for elective and non-elective inpatient episodes of care distinguish between the inlier unit cost below a statistically derived expected length of stay (known as a trim point) for a given treatment, and an excess bed day cost for each bed day over the trim point. Inlier unit costs cover the costs of active treatment and are submitted per finished consultant episode rather than per bed day.

    5Excess bed day costs are used to estimate the cost of an overnight stay in a hospital bed and generally include routine ward costs such as nursing, dressings, and blood tests, although they may also include the costs of active treatment where this continues beyond the trim point, especially for specialised services.

    6Adult critical care costs are submitted per critical care bed day.

    Source: Reference costs, Department of Health

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to encourage parents to prevent the consumption of alcohol by children; and what steps are being taken by schools to assist this prevention work.

    Jane Ellison

    The Government’s Alcohol Strategy set out several measures to support our commitment to reducing underage drinking. These include educating young people on the risks associated with alcohol and by addressing factors that can influence young people’s attitude to alcohol, such as parental drinking. We are ensuring that guidance is available for parents through a range of public and community organisations including; NHS Choices, Directgov, Family Lives, and NetMum, Mumsnet, Dad Talk and Contact a Family.

    Following the Government’s review of Personal, Social, Health, and Economic Education in March 2013, the Department for Education launched an evidence-based alcohol and drugs information service for those working with young people, which provides practical advice and tools based on the best international evidence.

  • Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with medical authorities on the use of botox as a painkiller; and whether it is used as such in the NHS.

    Norman Lamb

    We have had no such discussions. Botox is not licensed in the United Kingdom for use as a painkiller.

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published technology appraisal guidance for the National Health Service in May 2012 which recommends botulinum toxin type A as a possible treatment for preventing headaches in some adults with chronic migraine, subject to certain clinical criteria.

    Patients have the right to drugs and treatments that have been recommended by NICE for use in the NHS, where their doctor believes they are clinically appropriate.

  • Tessa Munt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tessa Munt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tessa Munt on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will request NHS England to authorise the use of Gamma Knife for NHS patients at University College Hospital London.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England is an independent arm’s length body and since 1 April 2013, it has been responsible for commissioning all radiotherapy services, including stereotactic radiosurgery. Gamma Knife treatment has been available to all patients who meet clinical criteria, without the need for individual funding requests, under NHS England’s national clinical commissioning policies for specialised services.

    University College London Hospitals is not contracted by NHS England, nor was it contracted by former primary care trusts, to provide Gamma Knife services. It is for this reason that National Health Service patients cannot normally be treated at this facility. Instead, NHS patients requiring Gamma Knife treatment should be treated by the Gamma Knife services commissioned by the NHS, that have been shown to meet NHS England service specifications. These can be accessed by patients in London without a waiting time, fully maintaining the continuity of their care and normally with the same consultant and clinical team.

    All patients need to be treated in accordance with the prescribed clinical pathways and in line with contractual agreements with providers.

  • Virendra Sharma – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Virendra Sharma – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Virendra Sharma on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what data his Department gathers on the number of patients with diabetes who are admitted to hospital each month as a result of a hypoglycaemic episode; and what estimate has been made of the overall cost of hypoglycaemia to the NHS.

    Jane Ellison

    Providers of NHS services in England are required to supply information on activity to the Secondary Uses Services (SUS) database via commissioning datasets. Each month an extract from the SUS database is taken and populated into the Hospital Episode Statistics database which is then made available for analysis.

    Diseases are classified using the World Health Organization International Classification of Diseases. Codes to identify diabetes and hypoglycaemia exist, so it is possible to report activity on admissions to hospital for patients with a primary diagnosis of hypoglycaemia and a secondary diagnosis of diabetes.

    NHS England has not made an estimate of the overall cost of hypoglycaemia to the National Health Service.

  • Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tom Watson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Watson on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the value is of duplicate supplier payments identified by his Department since 2010; and what proportion of such payments have since been recovered in each of the last two financial years.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    The Department checks for duplicate supplier payments as part of the business as usual processes within the finance team. As part of the internal process checks the Department has identified the value of duplicate supplier payments since 2010 as £1,287,260.31.

    The proportion of such payments the Department has recovered following these internal checks in each of the last two financial years is as follows:

    (i) Payments for 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2013 – £325,456.94 – of which 100% has been recovered based on the internal processes.

    (ii) Payments for 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014 – £282,198.56 – of which 100% has been recovered based on the internal processes.

    For completeness, in the financial year 2010-11 the value of such payments was £510,599.10 of which 99.7% was recovered, and in financial year 2011-12 the value of such payments was £169,005.71 of which 98.6% was recovered.

    Further investigations are taking place into duplicate payments made as part of a Spend Recovery Audit that the Department has commissioned externally and we will seek to recover any further duplicates identified as part of this exercise.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to report to hon Members on the steps he is taking to ensure the continued quality and availability of assistive technology.

    Norman Lamb

    Through the Mandate we have asked NHS England to improve the lives of three million people with long-term conditions through the use of the assistive technologies of telehealth and telecare by 2017; supporting them to manage and monitor their condition at home, and reducing the need for avoidable visits to their general practitioner practice and hospital.

    NHS England’s Technology Enabled Care Services Programme is the national initiative which aims to improve the lives of people with long term conditions through the use of technologies such as telehealth, telecare, telemonitoring, telecoaching and self-care applications.

    NHS England’s annual report and assessment of progress against the Mandate will be laid before Parliament this summer.

  • Tessa Munt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tessa Munt – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tessa Munt on 2014-07-15.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reason none of the £42 million his Department has made available for increasing the use of radiotherapy is to be spent on treating cancer patients with Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy this year.

    Jane Ellison

    In July 2011, the National Radiotherapy Implementation Group concluded that current evidence supports treatment withstereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) for only a small number of patients. The evidence supports its use in the treatment of early stage lung cancers for patients who are unsuitable for surgery (approximately 1,000 per annum).

    NHS England recognises the positive clinical impact that its national policy on SABR for the treatment of early non-small cell lung cancer has had. It is currently examining the potential use of SABR in patients with oligometastatic disease – where a cancer is in the early stages of spreading.

    NHS England is also currently undertaking a review of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and SABR for intracranial conditions to establish what the national demand is in line with its national clinical commissioning policies on SRS and SABR, and what the national capacity requirements are for this specialised treatment. Following the review it is planned that a final decision will be taken by the Specialised Commissioning Oversight Group in October 2014.

    Later this year, the Radiotherapy Clinical Reference Group will review its current policy position on SABR to assess whether there is new evidence to recommend its use on other conditions. It is important to ensure that treatments commissioned are supported by robust evidence of their benefit to patients.