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  • Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Ian C. Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian C. Lucas on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what progress her Department has made on achieving the goals of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The UK Government is fully committed to global polio eradication and is the third largest donor to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, providing £300 million for 2013 to 2019.

    UK funding has contributed, as part of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, to a greater than 99% decrease in polio cases since 1988, with no cases reported in Africa for over a year. Only two countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, are now reporting cases of wild polio, meaning we are now closer than ever to global eradication.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect on elderly care providers of the introduction of the National Living Wage.

    Alistair Burt

    Our analysis of the impact of the National Living Wage for the Spending Review drew on projections and data on pay including information from the Office of Budget Responsibility and Skills for Care.

    The settlement gives local government access to the funding it needs to increase social care spending in real terms by the end of the Parliament, including:

    – The introduction of a social care precept, which puts money raising powers into the hands of local areas who understand the need in their area and who are best placed to respond. This could raise up to £2 billion by the end of the Parliament; and

    – From 2017/18, additional funds for social care will be made available through the Better Care Fund. This will rise to £1.5 billion by 2019/20.

  • Graham Brady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Graham Brady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Brady on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on average, how many patients were admitted to A&E on a (a) Monday, (b) Tuesday, (c) Wednesday, (d) Thursday, (e) Friday, (f) Saturday and (g) Sunday in the last 12 months for which data is available.

    Jane Ellison

    The average (mean) number of patients who died in accident and emergency (A&E) and who attended A&E on a (a) Monday, (b) Tuesday, (c) Wednesday, (d) Thursday, (e) Friday, (f) Saturday and (g) Sunday in 2013-14 is shown in the following table. These figures are taken from the Health and Social Care Information Centre’s Hospital Episode Statistics (HES). Final data for 2014-15 will be published on 28 January 2016.

    Weekday

    Average (mean) deaths in A&E department

    Average (mean) attendances at A&E

    Monday

    59.3

    55,212.7

    Tuesday

    54.0

    49,660.8

    Wednesday

    56.0

    48,667.0

    Thursday

    53.7

    48,600.3

    Friday

    55.6

    47,932.3

    Saturday

    55.8

    48,614.6

    Sunday

    57.1

    50,202.9

    Source: (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

    Notes:

    1. The table shows the mean of A&E attendances, and the mean of A&E attendances where the patient died in the department, by weekday for 2013-14. The HES A&E database is recorded at attendance level, not patient level.

    2. The data cannot be described as an average number of people as the same person may have had more than one A&E attendance within the time period presented.

    3. The data excludes planned follow-up attendances.

  • Graham Brady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Graham Brady – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Brady on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on average how many patients died in A&E on a (a) Monday, (b) Tuesday, (c) Wednesday, (d) Thursday, (e) Friday, (f) Saturday and (g) Sunday in the last 12 months for which data is available.

    Jane Ellison

    The average (mean) number of patients who died in accident and emergency (A&E) and who attended A&E on a (a) Monday, (b) Tuesday, (c) Wednesday, (d) Thursday, (e) Friday, (f) Saturday and (g) Sunday in 2013-14 is shown in the following table. These figures are taken from the Health and Social Care Information Centre’s Hospital Episode Statistics (HES). Final data for 2014-15 will be published on 28 January 2016.

    Weekday

    Average (mean) deaths in A&E department

    Average (mean) attendances at A&E

    Monday

    59.3

    55,212.7

    Tuesday

    54.0

    49,660.8

    Wednesday

    56.0

    48,667.0

    Thursday

    53.7

    48,600.3

    Friday

    55.6

    47,932.3

    Saturday

    55.8

    48,614.6

    Sunday

    57.1

    50,202.9

    Source: (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

    Notes:

    1. The table shows the mean of A&E attendances, and the mean of A&E attendances where the patient died in the department, by weekday for 2013-14. The HES A&E database is recorded at attendance level, not patient level.

    2. The data cannot be described as an average number of people as the same person may have had more than one A&E attendance within the time period presented.

    3. The data excludes planned follow-up attendances.

  • Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on the Chief Medical Officer’s recommendations that PSHE education be made a routine part of children’s education.

    Jane Ellison

    The Chief Medical Officer’s Annual Report for 2012, Our Children Deserve Better (published October 2013) included a recommendation that: ‘Public Health England, the PSHE Association and other leading organisations in the field should review the evidence linking health and wellbeing with educational attainment, and from that promote models of good practice for educational establishments to use.’

    There was no recommendation as such that Personal, Social and Health Education be made routine or mandatory in schools; however the Department for Education is working with a group of head teachers and experts to improve the quality of PSHE.

    The Department of Health’s Framework for Sexual Health Improvement in England (2013) sets out our objectives and ambitions to improve the sexual health of all people, including young people. For young people the Framework highlights the importance of: building knowledge and resilience through good-quality sex and relationship education; access to confidential advice and support about wellbeing, relationships and sexual health; understanding consent (including sexual consent and abusive relationships), and understanding the benefits of delaying sex.

  • Gerald Kaufman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gerald Kaufman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gerald Kaufman on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to answer the letter to his Department from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, dated 16 November 2015 with regard to Mr M Bolton.

    George Freeman

    My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health replied to the hon. Member’s letter of 16 November 2015 on 16 December 2015.

  • David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the hepatitis C Improvement Framework will include provisions on clinical commissioning groups and local authorities to engage with the Operational Delivery Networks jointly to commission services.

    Jane Ellison

    The draft hepatitis C Improvement Framework has focused on public health improvements in hepatitis C. As such, this does not include provisions on clinical commissioning groups and local authorities to engage with Operational Delivery Networks to jointly commission services as this is beyond the governance remit of the work. In its 2014 report Hepatitis C in the UK, Public Health England recommended that “Health (and, in England, local authority) commissioners should work together to consider how to improve the availability, access and uptake of approved hepatitis C treatments in primary and secondary care, drug treatment services, prisons and other settings, and to drive innovative approaches to provide outreach”. In support of this, I hosted a summit on 3 March 2015 with local authority and voluntary sector representatives, public health and clinical experts to share best practice and explore actions that could be taken at local government level to significantly reduce the burden of hepatitis C and tuberculosis in England.

  • David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people with hepatitis C have commenced treatment under the commissioning policy for the treatment of patients with cirrhosis since June 2015.

    Jane Ellison

    At 10 November 2015, NHS England had received 2,667 applications to treat from clinicians. Applications relate to patients who either meet NHS England’s commissioning policy for the treatment of hepatitis C patients with cirrhosis or who meet the NICE Technology Appraisal guidance for sofosbuvir and simeprevir. The number of applications is likely to be slightly higher than the number starting treatment, as some patients may have decided not to proceed. NHS England expects to have an automated system in place by April 2016 to collect data on treatment referrals and treatment history, including clinical outcome data.

  • Tom Pursglove – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tom Pursglove – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Pursglove on 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his Department’s publication, Living Well for Longer: One year on, published in March 2015, when he plans to publish a hepatitis C Improvement Framework.

    Jane Ellison

    A date for publication of the hepatitis C Improvement Framework has not yet been set. Public Health England continues working with NHS England and Operational Delivery Networks (ODNs) to establish a process of monitoring hepatitis C treatment access and uptake.

    Following their establishment in August 2015, ODNs will need to continue to be developed as a mechanism for ensuring equitable access to expert multidisciplinary team care and treatment for hepatitis C. ODNs are working to develop their plans, based on the published service specification and with the support of local specialised commissioning teams and regional Clinical Directors of specialised commissioning. Work is also underway to establish by February 2016 a national network of ODN clinical leads to share good practice. In addition, the draft hepatitis C improvement framework includes a numbers of areas pertinent to ODN operation and will therefore support further development of their role.

  • 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 2015-12-17.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will maintain patient access to technologies considered through commissioning through evaluation programmes during that evaluation.

    George Freeman

    There are two main phases for any treatments entered into NHS England’s Commissioning through Evaluation (CtE) programme.

    During the first phase, an agreed number of patients are recruited to the scheme within just a few participating centres across England. This enables patients to benefit from the skills and expertise in each centre, within an evaluation programme, whilst detailed clinical and patient experience data are collected.

    Once the total number of patients have been treated, the scheme enters an analysis phase. Whilst any patients already treated under the scheme will continue to receive appropriate follow up care, no new patients will be funded by NHS England during the analysis phase.

    This ensures that NHS England directs the majority of public funds to evidence based care and also means that dedicated CtE programme funding can then be redirected to support patient recruitment in another area of specialised care where further evaluation data is needed.

    This represents a continuation of NHS England’s published policy position for the treatment concerned (i.e. that the treatment is not routinely commissioned by the National Health Service).