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  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the budget was for the Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory in each of the last five years.

    Jane Ellison

    Public Health England (PHE) was formed on 1 April 2013; below are budgets for the Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory (RIPL) for each year since PHE’s formation. The RIPL was previously part of the Health Protection Agency, whose functions transferred to PHE.

    2013/14 (Actual)

    2014/15 (Actual)

    2015/16 (Budget)

    £3,491,300

    £3,667,600

    £3,465,300
  • Michelle Donelan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Michelle Donelan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Michelle Donelan on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what regulations there are on the ratio of staff to patients in care homes.

    Ben Gummer

    There are no regulations setting out staff to residents ratio’s in care homes, however all providers of regulated activities have to register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and follow a set of fundamental standards of safety and quality below which care should never fall.

    One of the fundamental standards relates to staffing and requires that a provider must have sufficient numbers of suitability qualified, competent, skilled and experienced persons in order to meet the requirements of residents.

    The CQC has a wide range of enforcement powers that it can use if the provider is not does not meet the fundamental standards.

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

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve the information available on the quality of paediatric audiology services.

    Alistair Burt

    The Improving Quality in Physiological Services accreditation scheme has been established with the aim of improving service quality, care and safety for patients undergoing physiological diagnostics and treatment by promoting and recognising good quality practice in physiological services.

    Information about those services which have achieved accreditation is publicly available on the United Kingdom Accreditation Service website and to date audiology services are making good progress towards accreditation.

    Commissioning of accredited services is considered good practice and should be encouraged.

    In March 2015, the Department and NHS England published the Action Plan on Hearing Loss.

    A key action in the plan is the drafting of a Commissioning Framework. To ensure that issues concerning paediatric audiology are not neglected, the Commissioning Framework will include suggested care pathways and capture quality requirements which can be incorporated into the commissioning process. The framework will also include recommended Key Performance Indicators that can support commissioners to incorporate appropriate quality management in their contracts.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to maintain levels of access to A&E provision in Kirklees.

    Jane Ellison

    The provision of front line health services, including accident and emergency, is a matter for the local National Health Service, which has a responsibility to ensure that people have access to the best and safest healthcare possible. Any service changes should be led by clinicians and be based on a clear, robust clinical case for change that delivers better outcomes for patients.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what additional training has been provided to (a) NHS England and (b) Public Health England personnel on the Zika virus.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England continues to work closely with Public Health England (PHE) and Government Departments to ensure appropriate advice is provided to the National Health Service in England in line with the current risk assessment. PHE will provide guidance and information specifically targeted at primary care and this will be available shortly. PHE has also produced regular briefing notes for local health protection teams who have been asked to share this with local NHS.

    PHE has raised awareness about Zika virus among public health and clinical colleagues within PHE by circulating a briefing note to all staff. This will support clinicians to identify, investigate and manage cases that may present in clinical practice. The briefing note included information about the outbreak in the Americas and the unusual increase in microcephaly cases in Brazil. It highlighted existing resources available to PHE personnel, including the PHE Zika virus page:

    https://www.gov.uk/guidance/zika-virus

    and the National Travel Health Network and Centre website:

    http://travelhealthpro.org.uk/

    An additional training session will also be provided to the duty doctors in PHE.

    “

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with Ministers of the Cabinet Office on the Zika virus.

    Jane Ellison

    My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health regularly discusses matters across his portfolio with Ministers from the Cabinet Office and other Government departments. He will continue to closely monitor the Zika virus situation.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many students began podiatry courses in the last three years; what assessment he has made of the reasons for trends in those numbers; and what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of applicants to such courses.

    Ben Gummer

    This table shows the planned number of podiatry courses available in the last three years, and the actual take up of those training places.

    Year

    2013/14

    2014/15

    2015/16

    Podiatry (planned)

    365

    362

    362

    Podiatry (actual)

    339

    345

    –

    Source: multi professional education and training budget monitoring returns

    The number of podiatry students taking up courses for 2015/16 is not yet available.

    The Health Education England (HEE) annual Workforce Plan for England 2016/17 will be published by the end of February 2016.

    Ministers hold regular discussions with HEE on a broad range of workforce supply issues and puts out an annual Mandate to HEE setting its priorities for the coming year.

    The HEE commissioning and investment plan – 2016/17 includes a forecast increase in supply of podiatrists in the National Health Service workforce of 36.4% by 2020 which is an additional 1,084 full time equivalents coming out of training.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with his European counterparts on the Zika virus.

    Jane Ellison

    The Secretary of State regularly discusses matters across his portfolio with his European counterparts. He continues to closely monitor the situation on the Zika virus. Additionally, Departmental officials continue to discuss the development of the virus with relevant European colleagues, and will be participating in a European Health Security Committee meeting on Zika on Tuesday 9 February 2016.

  • Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Luciana Berger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2016 to Question 23474, when the detailed criteria for the Life Chances Fund will be published.

    Mr Rob Wilson

    The Life Chances Fund is being designed and delivered by the Cabinet Office. More detailed guidance about how the fund will work will be published before the House rises for summer recess in 2016.

  • 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 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2016 to Question 23676, how much funding has been allocated to the HEE Perinatal Mental Health programme in each year since 2010.

    Alistair Burt

    Health Education England (HEE) was formed in 2013. For data since 2013, HEE does not have information at this level. HEE has various workforce development programmes managed through its thirteen local offices that might support perinatal mental health, but information on expenditure is not collected to this level of detail.

    HEE has a mandate commitment to ensure that trained specialist mental health staff are available to support mothers in every birthing unit by 2017. And a further mandate commitment requires HEE to work with the Royal Colleges to support perinatal mental health training being incorporated into the postgraduate training syllabus for doctors by 2017.