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  • Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many registered nurses were made redundant by each NHS health trust in England in 2013.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    The number (Headcount basis) of Qualified Nursing Staff made redundant, from National Health Service trusts, during 2013 is estimated in the attached table.

    In November 2013 there was a record full time equivalent number of qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff in the NHS of 312,900.

    The 489 redundancies represent just 0.14 % of the total Qualified Nursing workforce in Hospitals and Community Health Services.

    The data used in this reply has been extracted from the Electronic Staff Record (ESR) Data Warehouse which is a monthly snap shot of the live ESR system. This is the Human Resources and payroll system that covers all NHS employees other than those working in General Practice, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and organisations to which functions have been transferred, such as local authorities. ESR was fully rolled out across the NHS in April 2008. The ESR data used in this response is not centrally validated and its reliability is subject to local coding practice.

    Redundancies are identified as those individuals with a reason for leaving of either voluntary or compulsory redundancy. Only those individuals coded as Qualified Nurses, Midwives or Health Visitors are included in the figures. Only redundancies from NHS Trusts are included in these figures, it is possible that Qualified Nurses were also made redundant from other NHS bodies.

    ESR reports based on the current organisation structure. This means that if organisations merged during 2013 it is possible that redundancies from, now defunct, organisations are recorded as being from the newly created organisation.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will bring forward proposals to financially assist nurses employed by the NHS to pay the increased fee for the Nursing and Midwifery Council when they come into force later in 2014.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is an independent body and it is therefore for the NMC Council to determine the level of the annual fee it charges for registration. On 26 March 2014, the NMC Council reviewed the level of this fee and agreed a proposal to increase it from £100 per annum to £120 in March 2015. The NMC is running a public consultation between 8 May and 31 July 2014, where its proposal is open to scrutiny. No decision on the proposed fee increase has been made at present.

    Ministers keep the issue of professional regulation under regular review and the Department has frequent contact with professional regulators, including the NMC. On 12 March 2014, I met with representatives of the NMC for a regular update meeting. This meeting was not specifically set up to discuss the NMC registration fee, but during this meeting the NMC provided information about its fee review process.

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

    Andrew Percy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will outline the process, criteria and guidelines that his Department follows to evaluate foods for special medical purposes for the UK market; what criteria his Department uses for such evaluations; and what guidance his Department issues on foods for special medical purposes.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department’s role and the definition of these products are set out in legislation. Information on this legislation is available at:

    www.gov.uk/government/publications/food-supplements-guidance-and-faqs

    www.gov.uk/government/publications/infant-formula-and-foods-for-particular-nutritional-uses-parnuts-notification-requirements

    Local authorities are responsible for enforcement of the legislation and provide advice to businesses on compliance with legislation.

  • Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Hendrick – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Hendrick on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions Ministers in his Department have had with the Nursing and Midwifery Council on its proposals to increase professional fees for nurses by £20 per annum later in 2014.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is an independent body and it is therefore for the NMC Council to determine the level of the annual fee it charges for registration. On 26 March 2014, the NMC Council reviewed the level of this fee and agreed a proposal to increase it from £100 per annum to £120 in March 2015. The NMC is running a public consultation between 8 May and 31 July 2014, where its proposal is open to scrutiny. No decision on the proposed fee increase has been made at present.

    Ministers keep the issue of professional regulation under regular review and the Department has frequent contact with professional regulators, including the NMC. On 12 March 2014, I met with representatives of the NMC for a regular update meeting. This meeting was not specifically set up to discuss the NMC registration fee, but during this meeting the NMC provided information about its fee review process.

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

    Jim Dobbin – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 19 January 2012, Official Report, columns 932-3W, how many companies hold licences for the manufacture or distribution of (a) Nitrazepam, (b) Flurazepam, (c) Loprazolam, (d) Lormetazepam, (e) Temazepam, (f) Clonazepam, (g) Medazepam, (h) Midazolam, (i) Zopiclone, (j) Zaleplon, (k) Zolpiden, (l) Eszopiclone, (m) SSRI antidepressants and (n) trycyclic antidepressants; and how many of those licences were issued in the last three years.

    Norman Lamb

    There are currently 15 products authorised in the United Kingdom containing nitrazepam and 15 different companies authorised to manufacture and distribute them.

    There are currently two products authorised in the UK containing flurazepam and one company authorised to manufacture and distribute them.

    There are currently two products authorised in the UK containing loprazolam and two different companies authorised to manufacture and distribute them.

    There are currently eight products authorised in the UK containing lormetazepam and four different companies authorised to manufacture and distribute them.

    There are currently 10 products authorised in the UK containing temazepam and six different companies authorised to manufacture and distribute them.

    There are currently six products authorised in the UK containing clonazepam and three different companies authorised to manufacture and distribute them.

    There are currently no authorised products in the UK containing medazepam.

    There are currently 22 products authorised in the UK containing midazolam and 10 different companies authorised to manufacture and distribute them.

    There are currently 17 products authorised in the UK containing zopiclone and nine different companies authorised to manufacture and distribute them.

    There are currently two products authorised in the UK containing zaleplon and one company authorised to manufacture and distribute them.

    There are currently 21 products authorised in the UK containing zolpidem and 12 different companies authorised to manufacture and distribute them.

    There are currently no authorised products in the UK containing eszopiclone.

    There are currently 238 products authorised in the UK containing SSRI antidepressants and 57 different companies authorised to manufacture and distribute them.

    There are currently 16 products authorised in the UK containing tricyclic antidepressants and 11 different companies authorised to manufacture and distribute them.

    One loprazolam, four lormetazepam, two clonazepam, two midazolam, three zopiclone, four zolpidem and 75 SSRI products have been authorised in the last three years.

  • Jamie Reed – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jamie Reed – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the proportion of patients who were able to see their preferred GP in the most recent period for which figures are available.

    Dr Daniel Poulter

    Data from the most recent GP Patient Survey found that 55% of patients have a particular general practitioner (GP) that they usually prefer to speak to or see. Of those, 61.7% of respondents said they could see or speak to their preferred GP ‘always or almost always’ or a ‘lot of the time’.

  • 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 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to reduce funding for hearing aids in 2014-15.

    Norman Lamb

    The level of provision of hearing aids is a matter for local commissioners and is based on the needs of the local population.

  • 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 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to extend pilot treatments for motor neurone disease; and what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the devolved adminstrations on those pilots.

    Norman Lamb

    The Department is not managing any pilot treatments for motor neurone disease (MND) and no recent discussions have taken place between the Department’s Ministers and the devolved administrations about pilots for MND.

  • 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 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with NHS trusts on the prescription of medicines for psoriasis.

    Norman Lamb

    We have had no such discussions.

    Information on the prescription of medicines for psoriasis is available from a range of sources including the British National Formulary, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and NHS Choices.

  • 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 2014-06-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the NHS spent on hearing aids in each of the last five years.

    Norman Lamb

    Information on National Health Service expenditure on hearing aids is not collected centrally. However, reference costs, which are the unit costs to NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts of providing defined services in a given financial year to NHS patients, provide some information which is shown in the following table.

    Estimated cost to NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts of hearing aid provision, 2008-09 to 2012-13, £ million

    Year

    Hearing aid costs

    Associated hearing aid costs

    Cochlear implants and bone anchored hearing aids

    2008-09

    60.7

    89.0

    18.7

    2009-10

    57.7

    96.0

    17.7

    2010-11

    55.8

    103.2

    19.2

    2011-12

    62.1

    118.5

    26.6

    2012-13

    62.7

    127.6

    25.8

    Source: Reference Costs, Department of Health

    Notes:

    1. Hearing aid costs are the actual costs of the hearing aids excluding other associated costs.

    2. Associated hearing aid costs include assessment, fitting, follow-up and aftercare.

    3. Reference costs are submitted on a fully absorbed basis, which means that all the costs of running the organisation are included in the return except where their exclusion is permitted.

    4. Some relevant costs may be excluded. For example, maintenance and reprogramming costs for cochlear implants and bone anchored hearing aid costs were excluded from reference costs for these years.

    5. The supply and fitting of hearing aids is also commissioned from the independent sector, and this expenditure is not reflected in the table.

    6. 2012-13 is the latest year for which reference costs data are available.