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  • Gareth Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gareth Johnson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gareth Johnson on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve services for people with coeliac disease; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    The treatment of coeliac disease is a lifelong gluten-free diet. It is therefore important clinicians understand the symptomatic picture of the condition and the investigations required to support an appropriate diagnosis. It is also important that patients who are diagnosed with coeliac disease are given suitable advice and support about how to manage their diet accordingly and can be referred to specialist services if clinically appropriate.

    To support NHS services in the diagnosis, treatment care and support of children and adults with coeliac disease, in September 2015 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence updated its best practice guideline Coeliac disease: recognition, assessment and management. The new guideline sets out seven recommendations to improve services for coeliac patients and includes implementation advice for the local NHS on the provision of the laboratory testing and interpretation of results and access to healthcare professionals trained to give specialist dietetic advice in relation to coeliac disease. The guidance can be found at the following link

    www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng20

  • Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the annual cost is of the health needs of UK thalidomide survivors.

    George Freeman

    In addition to using NHS services, thalidomide survivors have access to health grants in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The grants are administered by the Thalidomide Trust and allocations in 2015 are set out in the following table.

    Allocations under the Thalidomide Health Grants in 2015

    Country

    Total Allocation (£000s)

    Number of beneficiaries

    England

    7,454

    325

    Scotland

    1,254

    55

    Wales

    782

    31

    Northern Ireland

    472

    19

  • David Amess – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of whether clinical commissioning groups are fully prepared to assume active commissioning of tier 4 obesity from April 2016.

    George Freeman

    NHS England is supporting the transfer of commissioning responsibilities for obesity surgery services to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to ensure that they are fully prepared to assume the role.

    They will provide technical and operational guidance to commissioners, including undertaking an evaluation of Tier 3 and Tier 4 interfaces within regions to assist CCGs. This guidance is in development.

    NHS England is also supporting CCGs through national and local collaborative meetings on commissioning.

  • David Amess – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much money will be devolved to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to coincide with the transfer of obesity surgery commissioning responsibilities from NHS England to CCGs in April 2016; and what NHS England spent on such services in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16.

    George Freeman

    Any transfer of budget from NHS England to devolved areas will be on the basis of existing contractual activity.

    For England, the expenditure against morbid obesity for adults totalled £50.36 million in 2014/15.

    NHS England is not able to provide a figure for devolvement on 1 April 2016 as the basis for calculating the figures is still being discussed.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department and each of its agencies and non-departmental public bodies plans to spend on (a) Christmas cards, (b) postage of Christmas cards, (c) Christmas parties and (d) Christmas decorations and trees in 2015.

    Jane Ellison

    A search of the Department’s Business Management System database for 2015 has identified there is no planned spend to fund Christmas cards, postage of Christmas cards and parties. As separately identified from our facilities management suppliers, EMCOR, the Department has no plans currently to purchase Christmas decorations or trees from them.

    The Civil Service Code sets out the principles and standards of behaviour expected of civil servants, including their fiduciary obligation to make sure public money and other resources are used properly and efficiently. Public money is not used by the Department, Public Health England or the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to fund occasions such as internal social gatherings or office parties. Any social events are funded by the staff themselves.

    Arm’s length bodies have systems in place to ensure public funds are used appropriately and standards of propriety are met, in line with their responsibilities as public bodies

    Spend as requested from all the Departments non-departmental public bodies and its agencies are separately reported below:

    NHS England have confirmed they hold no planned expenditure for all these categories.

    Monitor have confirmed they hold no planned expenditure for all these categories.

    The Care Quality Commission have confirmed they hold no planned expenditure for all these categories.

    Public Health England have confirmed they hold no planned expenditure for all these categories.

    Health Education England have confirmed they hold no planned expenditure for all these categories.

    The Health and Social Care Information Centre have confirmed they hold no planned expenditure for all these categories.

    National Institute for Health and Care Excellence 2015 expenditure is contained in the table below.

    £

    Christmas cards

    0

    Postage

    0

    Parties

    £1615.32

    Decorations and trees

    0

    Total

    £1615.32

    Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency 2015 expenditure is contained in the table below.

    £

    Christmas cards

    £0.00

    Postage

    £0.00

    Parties

    £0.00

    Decorations and trees

    £630+£126 VAT

    Total

    £756

    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority have confirmed they hold no planned expenditure for all these categories.

    The Human Tissue Authority have confirmed they hold no planned expenditure for all these categories.

    The Health Research Authority have confirmed they hold no planned expenditure for all these categories.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Danny Kinahan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to allocate enough funding to cover predicted changes in the cost of cancer care beyond treatment.

    Jane Ellison

    The Independent Cancer Taskforce published its report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes, in July this year. It identified improving support for people living with and beyond cancer, and improving long-term quality of life as high priorities.

    NHS England is currently working with partners across the health system to determine how best to take forward the recommendations of the Taskforce report. A cross-system Cancer Transformation Board, chaired by the new National Cancer Director, Cally Palmer, will be established to oversee implementation of the strategy, and will have its first meeting in early 2016. The Transformation Board will formulate more detailed plans for implementation of the report’s recommendations based on the final outcome of the spending review. More details will be available in early 2016.

  • Andrew Stephenson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Stephenson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the spend per head of population was on mental health in (a) England, (b) the North West and (c) Lancashire in each of the last five years.

    Alistair Burt

    We do not have comparable figures for spending on mental health for all years requested as financial information reporting systems changed after 2013 with the formation of NHS England.

    Information is available on mental health spend by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in England, the North West and Lancashire for 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16 only. This information has been sourced from NHS England’s financial planning and reporting systems and data weighted on CCG populations. The per head spend on mental health services is as follows:

    England wide CCG spend per head on mental health services

    2013/14

    £139

    2014/15

    £146

    2015/16

    £150

    North West CCG spend per head on mental health services

    2013/14

    Unavailable – spend data incomplete for this year

    2014/15

    £136

    2015/16

    £139

    Lancashire CCG spend per head on mental health services

    2013/14

    £135

    2014/15

    £134

    2015/16

    £137

    Source: NHS England

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with mental health charities on the sections of the Editors’ Code of Practice that cover reporting on mental health and suicide.

    Alistair Burt

    I meet regularly with a number of mental health charities to discuss a range of issues, including suicide prevention.

    Departmental officials work closely with the Samaritans on suicide prevention and support the excellent work they do on advising the media on adhering to the Ofcom Broadcasting Code and the Independent Press Standards Organisation’s Code of Practice. The Samaritans also publishes guidance to the media on its website on the sensitive reporting of suicide.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many specialist inpatient services for older adult mental health patients have closed in each of the last five years.

    Alistair Burt

    This information is not held centrally.

    In-patient services for older mental health patients are now included in the range of services provided by NHS mental health trusts and independent providers.

  • Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-12-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Equality Act 2010 on the care of older adult mental health patients.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department has made no assessment of the effect of the Equality Act 2010 on the care of older adult mental health patients.

    In September 2012, following the introduction of the Equality Act 2010, the Department published guidance Implementing a ban on age discrimination in the NHS – making effective, appropriate decisions. This is available at

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/implementing-a-ban-on-age-discrimination-in-the-nhs-making-effective-appropriate-decisions

    “