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Category: Speeches

  • Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-06-13.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many junior doctors were employed by the NHS in (a) West Yorkshire and (b) England in each of the last five years.

    Ben Gummer

    The information is shown in the following table:

    Doctors in Training as at 30 September between 2011 and 2015 in England and Yorkshire and Humber

    Year

    England

    Yorkshire and Humber

    2011

    50,059

    5,124

    2012

    50,318

    5,024

    2013

    51,013

    4,994

    2014

    51,686

    4,944

    2015

    51,308

    4,895

    Source: NHS Workforce Statistics, February 2016, published by Health and Social Care Information Centre

    Notes:

    1. The figures include Specialty Registrars, Core Medical Training, Core Dental Training, Foundation Doctor Years 1 and 2.
    1. Figures are published in Health Education England regions. Yorkshire and Humber region includes figures for West Yorkshire.

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  • Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ian Austin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of alternative mechanisms to appraise the use of Orkambi in the NHS.

    Nicola Blackwood

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published final technology appraisal guidance on 27 July 2016 which does not recommend Orkambi (lumacaftor-ivacaftor) for treating cystic fibrosis homozygous for the F508del mutation.

    In the absence of positive NICE technology appraisal guidance, any funding decisions should be made by National Health Service commissioners, based on an assessment of the available evidence and on the basis of an individual patient’s clinical circumstances.

  • Derek Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Derek Thomas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2016-10-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what priority his Department accords to improving GP services through GP Forward View.

    David Mowat

    Improving general practice (GP) services is a priority for the Department, and the GP Forward View, published on 21 April by NHS England, sets out a package of support to help get general practice back on its feet, improve patient care and access, and invest in new ways of providing primary care.

    The Five Year Forward View recognised the need to expand and strengthen primary and ‘out of hospital’ care and to invest more in primary care. The Government is committed to improving access to GP services as part of the plan for a seven day NHS, and by 2020, everyone will be able to access GP appointments at evenings and weekends. Achieving improved access not only benefits patients but also has the potential to create more efficient ways of working, which benefits GPs and practice staff.

    The GP Forward View sets out that there will be an extra £2.4 billion investment per year for general practice services by 2020/21 – this represents a 14% increase in real terms. The overall investment for general practice includes a £500 million national ‘turnaround’ package to support GP practices. This is part of a wider package of support for general practice, which contains measures to help boost the workforce, drive efficiencies in workload and modernize primary care infrastructure and technology.

  • Nia Griffith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    Nia Griffith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Wales Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nia Griffith on 2015-11-05.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, for what reasons the draft Wales Bill would seek to change the criteria on which the Assembly could legislate outside its normal competence, as set out in section 108(5) of the Government of Wales Act 2006.

    Stephen Crabb

    The purpose of the reserved powers model in the draft Wales Bill is to define clearly the legislative competence reserved to the UK Parliament. At the same time, it enables the Assembly to modify the law in areas that would otherwise be reserved to enforce, or otherwise give effect to, its legislation.

    It is right that this freedom should be balanced by a test to be applied when the Assembly seeks to modify the law in areas that are not devolved. For that reason the draft Bill defines the circumstances in which it can do so and the test to be applied – the test of necessity. This gives the Assembly flexibility to modify the law in areas outside devolved competence in order to enforce its legislation effectively, whilst ensuring the effect on these areas goes no further than necessary.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-12-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2015 to Question 18224, how many local authorities have indicated that they wish to participate in the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme.

    Richard Harrington

    This is a voluntary scheme whereby local authorities sign up to accept refugees on a voluntary basis. Although we do not propose to give a running commentary on the number of local authorities that have indicated they wish to participate in the scheme we can confirm that as of 7 December 2015, 55 local authorities had signed up to participate in the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme and had provided confirmed offers of places.

  • Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Gareth Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2016-01-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) GCSE, (b) AS and (c) A-level exam results have (i) increased, (ii) decreased and (iii) stayed the same following an appeal in each of the last five years.

    Nick Gibb

    These are matters for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have therefore asked its Chief Regulator, Glenys Stacey to write directly to the Honourable Member. A copy of her replies will be placed in the House of Commons Library.

  • Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Lord Greaves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2016-02-03.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 28 January (HL5309), when Louise Casey’s review into boosting opportunity and integration amongst isolated groups started work; what are its terms of reference; who is directing its work; what is the estimated cost of the review; when it is expected to report and to whom; and whether its findings will be made public.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    The Prime Minister commissioned Louise Casey CB to carry out a review of how to boost opportunity and integration in isolated and vulnerable communities in July 2015. She is considering issues including: how we can ensure people learn English; how we can improve academic and employment outcomes, especially for women; and how state agencies can work more effectively with these communities to promote integration and community cohesion. Louise will provide an interim report to the Prime Minister and it will be published shortly.

  • Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Hunt of Kings Heath – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-02-29.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish all evidence they have available on the mechanism whereby increasing the presence of consultants and diagnostic tests at weekends will result in lower mortality and reduced length of stay.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    The Department published a summary of the research examining the association between weekend hospital admissions and poorer patient outcomes, including higher rates of mortality, on 15 October 2015 on the gov.uk website. A range of potential causal links for this association have been identified; one of these is the availability of staff and services at weekends.

    The following studies were published on the gov.uk website at the following address:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-into-the-weekend-effect-on-hospital-mortality/research-into-the-weekend-effect-on-patient-outcomes-and-mortality

    Of these, the following four articles are published in academic journals and are only available by subscription.

    Freemantle et al (2015), BMJ 2015; 351:h4596, Increased mortality associated with weekend hospital admission: a case for expanded seven day services?

    Independent research that analysed 2013 to 2014 hospital episodes statistics (HES) data found:

    – although there are fewer hospital admissions at weekends, patients who are admitted on Saturday and Sunday are sicker and face an increased likelihood of death within 30 days, even when severity of illness is taken into account;

    – patients admitted on a Sunday have a 15% greater risk of mortality compared to those admitted on Wednesday;

    – patients admitted on a Saturday have a 10% greater risk of mortality compared to those admitted on a Wednesday;

    – there are around 11,000 excess deaths in hospitals every year among patients admitted on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday compared with other days of the week. The authors included the effect of Fridays and Mondays as ‘appropriate support services in hospitals are usually reduced from late Friday through the weekend, leading to disruption on Monday morning’;

    – oncology patients admitted on a Sunday have a 29% increased risk of death compared to those admitted on a Wednesday; and

    – patients with cardiovascular disease admitted on a Sunday have a 20% increased risk of death compared to those admitted on a Wednesday.

    The study concluded that it is not possible to determine how many of the excess deaths were avoidable, but that the statistic is ‘not otherwise ignorable’ and ‘raises challenging questions about reduced service provision at weekends’.

    The Global Comparators project: international comparison of 30-day in-hospital mortality by day of the week, BMJ Qual Saf Published Online First 6 July 2015, doi:10.1136/bmjqs-2014-003467

    The Global Comparators dataset collects inpatient records across 50 hospitals in 10 countries. Analysis of a sub-sample of this data (28 hospitals across England, Australia, United States of America and Netherlands) for emergency admissions showed:

    – there is an overall 30-day crude mortality rate of 3.9%; the English hospitals had the highest crude morality rate (4.6%); crude mortality rates for the English, Dutch and USA hospitals were higher at weekends compared with weekdays; and

    – emergency patients in the English, USA and Dutch hospitals showed a significantly higher adjusted risk of death within 30 days following admission on a Saturday or Sunday compared with admission on a Monday.

    This study did not show a difference in mortality within 30 days for patients admitted at weekends in Australian hospitals. However, when analysing mortality within seven days, the Australian hospitals showed 12% higher risk of death when admitted on a Saturday compared to a Monday, and 11% higher risk of death following a Sunday admission.

    Freemantle et al (2012), J R Soc Med. 2012 Feb;105(2):74-84, Weekend hospitalisation and additional risk of death: an analysis of inpatient data

    Analysis of 2009 to 2010 HES data found:

    – patients admitted to hospital on a Sunday had a 16% greater risk of death within 30 days compared to those admitted on a Wednesday;

    – patients admitted on a Saturday had an 11% increased risk of death within 30 days compared to those admitted on a Wednesday;

    – day of admission was associated with increased risk of death in seven of the 10 most common CCS groups (clinical conditions), for example:

    – patients admitted on a Sunday with acute and unspecified renal failure had a 37% increased risk of death compared with those admitted on a Wednesday; and

    – patients admitted on a Sunday with acute myocardial infarction had an 11% increased risk of death compared to those admitted on a Wednesday.

    Aylin et al (2010), Qual Saf Health Care 2010; 19:213-217, Weekend mortality for emergency admissions: a large multicentre study

    This was one of the first, large scale studies of English data to explore weekend mortality rates for emergency admissions.

    Using the data for financial year 2005 to 2006, the study found:

    – crude mortality rates are higher for patients admitted at weekends compared to weekdays (5.2% for all weekend admissions; 4.9% for all weekday admissions; overall crude mortality rate: 5.0%);

    – there is a 10% higher risk of death for patients admitted as an emergency at the weekend compared with those admitted on a weekday; and

    – there may be a possible 3,369 excess deaths occurring at the weekend compared to weekdays (equivalent to a 7% higher risk of death).

    East Midlands Clinical Senate (2014), 7 Day Services Report: Acute Collaborative Report

    Ten East Midlands acute trusts undertook a data gathering exercise to look at current provision against the 10 clinical standards for urgent and emergency care that underpin consistently high quality care 7 days a week. A copy of this report is attached.

    NHS Services, Seven Days a Week Forum (2013), was a clinically-led process which included an extensive review of the published literature alongside analysis of HES data to explore patient outcomes at weekends compared to during the week. A copy of this report is attached.

    Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (2012), seven day consultant present care.

    In light of evidence demonstrating less favourable patient outcomes at weekends compared to weekdays, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges presented proposals for achieving parity for inpatient care throughout the week. A copy of the report is attached.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of patients who will have to use other hospitals if Calderstones Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is closed.

    Ben Gummer

    No estimate has been made. These are matters for the National Health Service.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-28.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what research his Department has commissioned or is funding into wireless charging technology for electric vehicles.

    Andrew Jones

    A number of private UK interests are actively undertaking research, including TRL who are a partner in the EU’s 7th Framework Programme £7m ‘FABRIC’ project (Feasibility analysis and development of on-road charging solutions for future electric vehicles). This follows their successful completion of a Highways England commissioned study into the feasibility of implementing dynamic wireless power transfer systems on the UK’s strategic road network (http://www.highways.gov.uk/knowledge/publications/1902/).

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