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

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effects of proposed changes to the way in which drugs are assessed for inclusion in the Cancer Drugs Fund on cancer drug patients.

    George Freeman

    NHS England has advised that it envisages, under the new arrangements for the Cancer Drugs Fund, that a greater number of cancer drugs will be funded from baseline commissioning. This will be as a consequence of more appropriate pricing arrangements proposed by pharmaceutical manufacturers and better evidence being available through the Fund as to longer term patient outcomes.

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

    Andrew Percy – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Percy on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the Alzheimer’s Society’s Fix Dementia Care campaign.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England welcomes the campaign and its efforts to highlight areas in the health and care system where there is still room for improvement in the care of people with dementia. NHS England has already undertaken a range of initiatives to encourage hospitals to improve the standards of care provided to people living with dementia as well as their carers but recognises that more needs to be done.

    Improving the care and support for people with dementia is a priority for this Government. That is why on 21 February 2015, the Prime Minister launched his Challenge on Dementia 2020 (PM Challenge 2020) to build on the progress of the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2012-2015. It sets out the broad vision for dementia care, support, awareness and research to 2020.

    The Department will soon publish an Implementation Plan which has been co-produced with key partners including the Alzheimer’s Society and sets out the actions partners across health and care will take to ensure commitments in the PM Challenge 2020 are delivered.

  • 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 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much of the £390 million funding referred to in paragraph 0.5 of his Department’s paper, Infected blood: reform of financial and other support, published in January 2016, was spent in each year to date; and what the average spend per recipient in each such year was.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department only holds finance data for payments under the Schemes back to 2007. This information is provided below.

    2014-15 £22,278,096

    2013-14 £27,043,569

    2012-13 £22,052,458

    2011-12 £27,192,232

    2010-11 £39,805,667

    2009-10 £22,461,057

    2008-09 £19,240,337

    2007-08 £20,532,461

    The figures above include the annual payments to those with HIV and hepatitis C stage 2, and the lump sum payments made on joining the scheme and progressing to hepatitis C stage 2. The fluctuation in amounts between the years reflects the variance in number of people newly coming forward or progressing to hepatitis C stage 2 in each year.

    The payments to individuals included both discretionary and non-discretionary payments, data on which is only held by the trusts and funds. Therefore, the Department is unable to estimate the levels of individual payments.

  • 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 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of funding that will be required for those who may need access to the reformed scheme for providing support for people affected by hepatitis C through treatment with NHS-supplied blood or blood products but have not yet been identified.

    Jane Ellison

    The assumption is that there would be £570 million available from the unreformed scheme, as mentioned in the consultation, and an additional £125 million, identified in the current spending review.

  • 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 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will place in the Library a copy of the full impact assessment of the infected blood scheme reform consultation containing the assessment of the potential financial effects of proposed reforms on recipients; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    The impact assessment we have prepared is an analysis of the proposals and not the final outcome. We will publish the final full impact assessment when we announce the outcomes of the consultation.

    On page 32 – 34 of the consultation document itself the Department gives some indication of the impact of the proposed changes on individuals.

    All respondents to the consultation have been encouraged to say how the proposals will affect them in order that full consideration can be given to this and other issues before any final decisions are made on the reformed scheme.

  • Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that approved personalised medicines are available to patients with colorectal cancer.

    George Freeman

    On 24 September, the NHS England Board agreed the development of a Personalised Medicine Strategy for the National Health Service. Personalised medicine is a move away from a ‘one size fits all’ approach to the treatment and care of patients with a particular condition. It uses emergent approaches in areas such as diagnostic tests, functional genomic technologies, molecular pathways, data analytics and real time monitoring of conditions to better manage patients’ health and to target therapies to achieve the best outcomes in the management of a patient’s disease or predisposition to disease. The high-level vision and strategy is to create a Personalised Medicine service in the NHS embracing four overarching principles: the prediction and prevention of disease; more precise diagnoses; targeted and personalised interventions; and a more participatory role for patients.

    The independent Cancer Taskforce’s five-year strategy for cancer, Achieving World-Class Outcomes (July 2015), recommends improvements across the cancer pathway, with the aim of improving survival rates.

    NHS England is currently working with partners across the health system to determine how best to take forward the recommendations of the Cancer Taskforce. NHS England has appointed Cally Palmer as National Cancer Director to lead on implementation, as well as new cancer vanguards to redesign care and patient experience. She has set up a new Cancer Transformation Board to implement the strategy, and this met for the first time on Monday 25 January. There will also be a Cancer Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Harpal Kumar, to oversee and scrutinise the work of the Transformation Board.

    The Accelerated Access Review, chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor, will make recommendations to government on reforms to accelerate access for NHS patients to transformative new medicines and technologies making our country the best place in the world to design, develop and deploy these products. The terms of the reference for the review focus on faster access to innovations, which may include personalised medicines for the treatment of colorectal cancer.

  • Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department is having with NHS England on ensuring patients continuing access established precision treatments for colorectal cancer.

    George Freeman

    We are not aware of any discussions with NHS England on this matter.

  • Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to encourage routine use of NHS medicines throughout the NHS.

    George Freeman

    The Government is committed to ensuring that patients have access to new and effective treatments on terms that represent value to the National Health Service and the taxpayer.

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for providing advice to the NHS on the clinical and cost-effectiveness of health technologies. NHS commissioners are legally required to fund treatments recommended by NICE technology appraisal guidance, ensuring consistent access to clinically and cost effective drugs across England.

    The Accelerated Access Review, chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor, will make recommendations to government later this spring on reforms to accelerate access for NHS patients to innovative medicines, medical technologies, diagnostics and digital products.

  • Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Durkan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Durkan on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department, NHS England and NICE will publish work undertaken to analyse variation between areas in treatment for patients during the transition from the current Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) to proposed a new CDF scheme.

    George Freeman

    NHS England has advised that it plans to publish analyses of variation in use of Cancer Drug Fund (CDF) drug indications according to geographical areas in the spring of 2016 and then routinely in the future for the new CDF.

  • Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Christopher Chope – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to reply to the letters dated 11 December 2015, 14 January and 10 February 2016 from the Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner on port security and border controls; and if she will place a copy of her responses in the Library.

    James Brokenshire

    The Home Secretary sent a response to the letters dated 11th December 2015 and 14th January 2016 on 22nd February 2016. She has not received a third letter. Responses will not be added to the library, this is not usual practice for private correspondence.