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  • Alison McGovern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Alison McGovern – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alison McGovern on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of reports by independent monitoring groups of civilians casualties caused by British air strikes in Syria; and if he will make a statement.

    Penny Mordaunt

    All UK airstrikes in Iraq and Syria are assessed post-strike using the best available imagery, intelligence and other sources of information to assess the impact of the strike on the target and affected area. This assessment, coupled with pre-strike checks provides the evidence base to support the statement that in the hundreds of airstrikes conducted by the RAF to date in Iraq and, more recently Syria, we have found no evidence of civilian casualties arising from UK airstrikes.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to help people with cancer who are also suffering from depression.

    Jane Ellison

    The independent Cancer Taskforce published its report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes, in July 2015, with the mental health issues often experienced by those with cancer highlighted. A cross-system cancer transformation board, chaired by the National Health Service National Cancer Director, Cally Palmer, is being established to oversee the implementation of the taskforce recommendations.

    As part of our approach to support people living with and beyond cancer, we announced in September that, by 2020, the 280,000 people diagnosed with cancer every year will benefit from a tailored recovery package. These recovery packages, developed in partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support, will be individually designed to help each person live well beyond cancer, including elements such as physical activity programmes, psychological support and practical advice about returning to work.

  • Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase the number of mixed race stem cell donors; what discussions he has had with the Anthony Nolan Trust and others on diversifying stem cell registries; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department’s delivery partners, NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) and the Anthony Nolan Trust, ensure that all patients regardless of ethnicity can gain maximum benefit from the United Kingdom’s registry of volunteer bone marrow donors and from its inventory of altruistically-donated cord blood.

    In March 2015 the Department gave £3 million of funding to NHSBT and the Anthony Nolan Trust to continue their work saving and improving lives through stem cell and cord blood donation. Part of this funding will support the collection of an additional 3,000 Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) adult donors.

    The provision of cord blood stem cells remains an important part of the overall strategy and this year will see a continued expansion of the cord blood bank with a target that 40% samples are collected from the BAME community.

    The Department continues to support the work of the National BAME Transplant Alliance that helps to coordinate the work of BAME organisations working to promote all forms of donation including bone marrow stem cells.

    The Department is currently working with Anthony Nolan and NHSBT to consider possible future funding in the light of the spending review and set against other spending priorities.

  • Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Will Quince – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Will Quince on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will bring forward proposals to require all owners and managers of care homes to give a copy of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 to care workers on appointment.

    Ben Gummer

    There are no plans to require care homes owners and managers to give a copy of Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 to all new employees.

    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. It monitors, inspects and regulates services against fundamental standards of quality and safety below which care should never fall.

    One of the fundamental standards covers good governance and requires that a provider seeks and acts on feedback from relevant persons, including staff, for the purpose of continually evaluating and improving such services. A further fundamental standard requires that employees receive appropriate support, training and professional development.

    One of the areas the CQC inspections consider is how the service demonstrates good management and leadership. The CQC Key Lines of Enquiry state that a provider should have policies in place to investigate whistleblowing concerns and that any investigations are thorough, questioning and objective. The service should also record and learn from these investigations so such incidents are less likely to happen again.

  • Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Norman Lamb – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress he has made on the creation of a new role for a part-time neuromuscular psychologist at the Colman Centre in Norwich.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England advises that the post of neuromuscular psychologist is a specialised service, for which NHS England is the responsible commissioner.

    We understand that Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust has yet to submit a business case to NHS England for the post.

  • Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Paula Sherriff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to protect community pharmacies in areas of social deprivation.

    Alistair Burt

    Section 126 of the 2006 Act places an obligation on NHS England to put arrangements in place so that drugs, medicines and listed appliances ordered via National Health Service prescriptions can be supplied to persons. Each local authority Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB) must in accordance with regulations assess needs for pharmaceutical services in its area (a pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA)). When developing the PNA, HWBs must consider the demography of its area, including whether there are areas of social deprivation as well as the pharmaceutical services provided within its area and the area of any other neighbouring HWB. It then publishes the assessment, which outlines the adequacy of provision in such areas and, where relevant, gaps in provision. NHS England uses the PNA to plan pharmaceutical services and to assess applications from persons for inclusion on a pharmaceutical list.

    In an open letter to the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) on 17 December 2015, the Government invited the PSNC to enter discussions with the Department, supported by NHS England, on changes to the community pharmacy contractual framework for 2016/17 and beyond, linked to the Spending Review. As part of the consultation, the Department is consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared to others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.

  • Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recent Aviation Environment Federation report, Aircraft Noise and Public Health: The Evidence is Loud and Clear, published in January 2016.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The Government acknowledges that there has been new evidence in recent years that exposure to aircraft noise can adversely affect people’s health. It closely monitors research in this field and relevant robust evidence is incorporated into the policy appraisal process.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of finance options available to doctors to cover their training costs; and if he will make a statement.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department of Health have joint responsibility for the funding of students on medical courses. For the first four years of the five or six year undergraduate degree, medical students receive the same maintenance and tuition fee loans as mainstream students under the BIS Education (Student Support) Regulations.

    In the fifth year of study funding is provided by the National Health Service Bursary Scheme and eligible medical students can receive a means tested NHS Bursary and a non-means tested grant of £1,000. The NHS will also meet the cost of their tuition, so medical students do not have to pay tuition fees in the final years of their course.

    Health Education England (HEE) has responsibility for determining the amount of funding available to students via the NHS Bursary Scheme.

    HEE also support doctors in training by funding clinical placements for undergraduate students which is paid directly to the NHS providers at an agreed national tariff price, and postgraduate training at 50% of trainee salary and a placement fee of £12,400.

    Funding support is reviewed on an annual basis.

  • 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 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how his Department (a) identified and (b) supported children of parents with mental illness.

    Alistair Burt

    We have changed the law to improve how young carers and their families including those of parents with mental illness are identified and supported. These new duties came into effect in April 2015. Changes introduced through the Children and Families Act 2014 consolidate and simplify the legislation relating to young carers’ assessments, make rights and duties clearer to both young people and practitioners, extend the right to an assessment of needs of all young carers regardless of who they care for or what type of care they provide and make it clear to local authorities that they must carry out an assessment of a young carer’s needs for support on request or on the appearance of need.

    These new provisions work alongside those in the Care Act 2014 for assessing adults to enable ‘whole family approaches’ to assessment and support. This means that when a child is identified as a young carer, the needs of everyone in the family will be considered in the first place.

    The Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Report CR164 Parents as patients: Supporting the needs of patients who are parents and their children published in January 2011 and available at

    http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/usefulresources/publications/collegereports/cr/cr164.aspx

    sets out the College’s position on how the needs of parents and children can be managed and dealt with sensitively in the case of parental mental illness.

    “

  • Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Geoffrey Cox – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Geoffrey Cox on 2016-01-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations he has received on regional variations on the availability of treatment for arthritis.

    Jane Ellison

    No representations have been made to Ministers in the Department on regional variations in the availability of treatment for arthritis.