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Laurence Robertson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on NHS patients receiving Enterra gastric stimulator treatment.

Jane Ellison

Funding of gastroelectrical stimulation procedures is a matter for local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). If a clinician considers that a patient in their care may benefit from this procedure, they would need to submit an Individual Funding Request to their CCG so that they can consider the case.

In May 2014 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) issued new Interventional Procedure (IP) guidance on gastro-electrical stimulation for gastroparesis, which is a chronic disorder in which the stomach empties more slowly than normal. The guidance can be found at the following link:

www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/live/14531/67802/67802.pdf

NICE’s IP Programme assesses the safety and efficacy of (mainly) new procedures that are used for diagnosis or treatment that involve incision, puncture, entry into a body cavity or the use of ionising, electromagnetic or acoustic energy. Unlike NICE’s technology appraisals programme, it is not within the remit of the IP Programme to evaluate the cost effectiveness of IPs or to advise the National Health Service on whether IPs should be funded.

01/11/2022
Simon Burns – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Burns on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the current timetable is for the development of the HIV/STI national clinical audit.

Jane Ellison

The Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) commissions and manages the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme on behalf of NHS England. The HQIP has asked for expressions of interest from suitable providers who are able to design and complete a one year feasibility study to inform any future national clinical audit of HIV and sexually transmitted infections. The contract for the work will be awarded this summer. NHS England cannot disclose the number of expressions of interest that have been received at this stage as this is commercially sensitive information.

01/11/2022
Simon Burns – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Burns on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many expressions of interest from eligible providers to develop the HIV/STI national clinical audit NHS England has received to date.

Jane Ellison

The Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) commissions and manages the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme on behalf of NHS England. The HQIP has asked for expressions of interest from suitable providers who are able to design and complete a one year feasibility study to inform any future national clinical audit of HIV and sexually transmitted infections. The contract for the work will be awarded this summer. NHS England cannot disclose the number of expressions of interest that have been received at this stage as this is commercially sensitive information.

01/11/2022
Simon Burns – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Simon Burns on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on the development of the HIV/STI national clinical audit; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison

The Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) commissions and manages the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme on behalf of NHS England. The HQIP has asked for expressions of interest from suitable providers who are able to design and complete a one year feasibility study to inform any future national clinical audit of HIV and sexually transmitted infections. The contract for the work will be awarded this summer. NHS England cannot disclose the number of expressions of interest that have been received at this stage as this is commercially sensitive information.

01/11/2022
Julian Huppert – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Huppert on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department has spent from its research and development budget over the last five years; and how much such spending is planned for (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16.

Dr Daniel Poulter

Revenue expenditure from the Department’s research and development budget is shown in the following table:

£ million

2009-10

2010-11

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14

provisional

2014-15

planned

885

960

952

985

1,004

1,077

A budget figure for 2015-16 has not yet been set. This will happen as part of standard business planning later in the year.

01/11/2022

Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were infected with bacillus cereus in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison

The numbers of reported patient infection episodes of Bacillus cereus, isolated from blood samples from all age-groups between 2009 and 2013 in England, are shown in the following table.

Year	Number of patient infection episodes	Organism name	Specimen type	Country
2009	50	Bacillus Cereus	Blood	England
2010	46	Bacillus Cereus	Blood	England
2011	39	Bacillus Cereus	Blood	England
2012	37	Bacillus Cereus	Blood	England
2013	56	Bacillus Cereus	Blood	England

These data were extracted from Public Health England’s centralised microbiology database (LabBase2), which collects voluntarily reported microbiology data from participating laboratories across England. Although only clinically significant isolates should be reported to LabBase2, some of the reports may be contaminants that occurred either during collection or during processing of samples as B. cereus is a ubiquitous environmental organism.

01/11/2022

Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Minister is taking to prevent bacillus cereus infections in the UK.

Jane Ellison

Bacillus cereus is a spore forming bacterium found widely in the environment in dust, soil and vegetation. There is limited prevention as it is a naturally occurring bacterium. However, the Food Standards Agency has published advice on their website which details information on potential food poisoning caused by Bacillus cereus.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) undertake inspections of manufacturing facilities with reference to the standards of Good Manufacturing Practice to verify that companies are producing medicines that are of the correct quality and safety. The manufacture of sterile products, such as Total Parental Nutrition, is subject to special requirements in order to minimise risks of bacterial contamination.

In the case of medicines, the MHRA and Public Health England (PHE) are currently investigating what has caused the recent incident where Total Parenteral Nutrition became contaminated with Bacillus cereus . Based on the information we currently have, we believe this is an isolated incident and the appropriate immediate action has been taken to avoid a recurrence.

The devolved administrations have been informed of the current incident involving Bacillus cereus. The investigations into the cause of this incident are still ongoing. The Department will continue to discuss matters with the devolved administrations for minimising Bacillus cereus infection.

The investigations being undertaken by MHRA and PHE are in their advanced stages and preliminary findings will be published as soon as possible. While the MHRA and PHE are undertaking their own investigations, it would be normal practice for the Coroner to report on the individual case he is currently considering.

01/11/2022
Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with devolved regional assemblies to agree a strategy to prevent bacillus cereus infections.

Jane Ellison

Bacillus cereus is a spore forming bacterium found widely in the environment in dust, soil and vegetation. There is limited prevention as it is a naturally occurring bacterium. However, the Food Standards Agency has published advice on their website which details information on potential food poisoning caused by Bacillus cereus.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) undertake inspections of manufacturing facilities with reference to the standards of Good Manufacturing Practice to verify that companies are producing medicines that are of the correct quality and safety. The manufacture of sterile products, such as Total Parental Nutrition, is subject to special requirements in order to minimise risks of bacterial contamination.

In the case of medicines, the MHRA and Public Health England (PHE) are currently investigating what has caused the recent incident where Total Parenteral Nutrition became contaminated with Bacillus cereus . Based on the information we currently have, we believe this is an isolated incident and the appropriate immediate action has been taken to avoid a recurrence.

The devolved administrations have been informed of the current incident involving Bacillus cereus. The investigations into the cause of this incident are still ongoing. The Department will continue to discuss matters with the devolved administrations for minimising Bacillus cereus infection.

The investigations being undertaken by MHRA and PHE are in their advanced stages and preliminary findings will be published as soon as possible. While the MHRA and PHE are undertaking their own investigations, it would be normal practice for the Coroner to report on the individual case he is currently considering.

01/11/2022
Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to publish the results of the investigation of the recent death of babies due to bacillus cereus.

Jane Ellison

Bacillus cereus is a spore forming bacterium found widely in the environment in dust, soil and vegetation. There is limited prevention as it is a naturally occurring bacterium. However, the Food Standards Agency has published advice on their website which details information on potential food poisoning caused by Bacillus cereus.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) undertake inspections of manufacturing facilities with reference to the standards of Good Manufacturing Practice to verify that companies are producing medicines that are of the correct quality and safety. The manufacture of sterile products, such as Total Parental Nutrition, is subject to special requirements in order to minimise risks of bacterial contamination.

In the case of medicines, the MHRA and Public Health England (PHE) are currently investigating what has caused the recent incident where Total Parenteral Nutrition became contaminated with Bacillus cereus . Based on the information we currently have, we believe this is an isolated incident and the appropriate immediate action has been taken to avoid a recurrence.

The devolved administrations have been informed of the current incident involving Bacillus cereus. The investigations into the cause of this incident are still ongoing. The Department will continue to discuss matters with the devolved administrations for minimising Bacillus cereus infection.

The investigations being undertaken by MHRA and PHE are in their advanced stages and preliminary findings will be published as soon as possible. While the MHRA and PHE are undertaking their own investigations, it would be normal practice for the Coroner to report on the individual case he is currently considering.

01/11/2022
Roger Godsiff – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to ensure that patient data extracted under care.data shared with countries inside the European Economic Area cannot be shared outside that area.

Dr Daniel Poulter

The Data Protection Act (1998) allows personal data to be transferred to countries within the European Economic Area (EEA) on the same basis as transferring data within the United Kingdom. Personal data can only be sent to a country or territory outside the EEA if an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of individuals when processing their personal data is ensured.

Every application for information will be considered by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), in line with the Data Protection Act, taking account of their location if it is outside the UK.

Recipients of data from the HSCIC must agree to certain terms and conditions of use, i.e. a data sharing contract, before any data is disclosed. Those terms and conditions include measures intended to safeguard the use of information that may identify individuals, including:

– limiting the use of information to a specific purpose, which must also be both legitimate, compatible and shared only for the benefit of the health and social care system;

– prohibiting onward disclosure of information to an additional organisation;

– ensuring the security of the data once it is in the possession of another organisation that applied successfully for the data; and

– the right of HSCIC to audit where it is suspected the terms and conditions have not been complied with.

The HSCIC announced on 17 June 2014 that a new, strengthened audit function will monitor adherence to data sharing agreements and halt the flow of data if there are any concerns exposed. This will include scrutiny of how the data is being used and stored by those receiving it. This will also monitor that data has been deleted when an agreement comes to the end. Any failure on the part of data users to abide by their agreements will entail no further release of data to them.

01/11/2022