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  • Mark Tami – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Mark Tami – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Tami on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to improve international cooperation on increasing the number of people on the stem cell and bone marrow registers.

    Jane Ellison

    International cooperation is an essential element of the provision of stem cells to patients requiring a transplant. Worldwide, 50% of adult stem cell donations and 30% of cord blood donations move across national boundaries.

    The Government is committed to ensuring that the provision stem cells through the Department’s delivery partners, NHS Blood and Transplant and the Anthony Nolan, is as effective as possible and this includes adopting innovative practice to maximise the chance that donors will be able to donate.

    The ethnic diversity of the United Kingdom is reflected in adult bone marrow donors through the targeted recruitment of donors. The diverse nature of the UK stem cell resources means that they will play an important part of the global network matching donors to patients. The information supplied from the UK unified registry (Anthony Nolan and NHS Stem Cell Registry) to the global registry (Bone Marrow Donors Worldwide) directly increases the chances that patients across the globe have a chance to find a suitable donor.

  • Peter Dowd – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Peter Dowd – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Peter Dowd on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the King’s Fund’s quarterly monitoring report, published in October 2015, that reductions in local authority social care budgets are adversely affecting health services.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department is working closely with both local government and the National Health Service to understand how pressures in adult social care services impact on the NHS, and how the sector can best work together to manage those pressures. The Autumn Statement identified £3.5 billion additional funding for adult social care by 2019/20.

    Since April, the Government’s £5.3 billion Better Care Fund (BCF) has provided much needed investment in better integrated care through locally developed plans and by putting resources where the local NHS and social services think they’re needed. The BCF has been the impetus for a greater degree of joint strategic commissioning between health and social care across England, with local leaders and clinical experts working closely together to both plan and deliver the most appropriate services for their local populations while making efficient use of limited resources.

    We are working closely with the Emergency Care Improvement Programme focusing on the 28 most challenged emergency systems and have embedded four social care professionals within the team to provide specific expertise. From this, eight high impact interventions have been developed which can support local systems in reducing Delayed Transfers of Care.

    Additional resource has been provided to bolster the current sector-led improvement support offer to local authorities, creating a flexible pool of experienced local authority social care experts to provide intensive support to challenged local systems and to deliver action plans designed in consultation with the Directors of Adult Social Services and local NHS colleagues.

  • Gregory Campbell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gregory Campbell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the obesity rate is for (a) adults and (b) children under the age of 16; and what forecast the Government has made of such rates in 2020.

    Jane Ellison

    Data published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre in December 2014 showed that in England in 2013 24.9% of adults and 15.2% of children aged from two to 15 years were obese. New data will be published later this month.

    The UK Health Forum modelled adult obesity prevalence, ‘Risk factor based modelling for Public Health England’ (2014), and estimated 30% of adults aged 18-100 would be obese by 2020. This was based on Health Survey for England data from 2000 to 2010 and assumes trends continue.

    No assessment has been carried out on the likely level of child obesity in 2020 specifically. However, predictions for rates up to 2050 were modelled for both adults and children in the Government’s Foresight report: “Tackling Obesities: Future Choices” (2007) using data from 1994-2004. This modelling suggested that by 2025, 21% of boys aged 6-10 years and 11% of boys aged 11-15 years were predicted to be obese. For girls 6-10 years and 11-15 years, 14% and 22% respectively were predicted to be obese. These predictions assumed that the 1994-2004 trends continued and that no interventions successfully changed the direction of these trends.

  • 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 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November to Question 17518, what steps he plans to take to increase the course completion rate for people who are referred to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme.

    Alistair Burt

    We are working closely with NHS England on all issues related to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme, which includes reducing dropout rates. The Department is currently in conversation with NHS England to determine the causes of dropouts.

    The table in answer to Question 17518 includes all referrals who did not finish a course of treatment, this would include those that drop out but also includes those who do not complete treatment for other reasons including those who were not suitable for IAPT treatment, those who are moved or referred elsewhere and those that declined the offer of treatment.

  • 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 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many sexual assault referral centres offer therapeutic services for (a) adults and (b) children under 18.

    Jane Ellison

    The independent review of pathways for victims of sexual assault was commissioned by NHS England. Work on next steps, including production of a summary report, is ongoing.

    Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) service models vary from area to area, dependant on the commissioning decisions taken by police and Police and Crime Commissioners in partnership with their NHS England commissioners. Data on the numbers of SARCs offering therapeutic services is not collected centrally.

  • 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 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish the recent review into pathways for victims of sexual assault; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    The independent review of pathways for victims of sexual assault was commissioned by NHS England. Work on next steps, including production of a summary report, is ongoing.

    Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) service models vary from area to area, dependant on the commissioning decisions taken by police and Police and Crime Commissioners in partnership with their NHS England commissioners. Data on the numbers of SARCs offering therapeutic services is not collected centrally.

  • Graham Brady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Graham Brady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Brady on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the efficacy of anakinra for patients diagnosed with idiopathic recurrent pericarditis; and what the (a) target, (b) average and (c) longest time taken to approve that drug for use was in the last 12 months for which data is available.

    George Freeman

    The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) does not hold information concerning the efficacy of anakinra for patients diagnosed with idiopathic recurrent pericarditis.

    Kineret, containing the active substance anakinra, was approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in 2002 for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in adults. The licence was extended to include treatment of Cryopyrin-Associated Periodic Syndromes. Anakinra is not licensed to treat idiopathic recurrent pericarditis.

    The EMA is required to issue an opinion on applications for new indications within 90 days of receipt of a valid application. This period will be extended if it needs to request supplementary information from the applicant. The applicant will be requested to provide supplementary information within one month, although this may be extended to two months. The assessment of any supplementary information by EMA should be completed within 60 days. The European Commission is required to amend the marketing authorisation within two months of the EMA opinion.

    The MHRA does not hold information on average and longest time for approval of variations by EMA.

  • Graham Brady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Graham Brady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Brady on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the (a) target, (b) average and (c) longest time taken to approve individual funding requests are for diseases in the last 12 months for which data is available.

    George Freeman

    NHS England has advised that its standard operating procedures published target to process individual funding requests is 40 days. This is for all cases no matter what their outcome.

    In the last 12 months for which data is available, NHS England has advised that the average approval time was 20 days, with the longest approval time being 66 days and the shortest being two days.

  • Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Paul Flynn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Flynn on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he expects that the trial will begin of Michael Misick, former Prime Minister of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

    James Duddridge

    We expect the trial to start this week.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2015-12-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, on how many occasions a special adviser in his Department accompanied a Minister on an overseas trip since May 2015.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    It is usual practice for a Special Adviser to accompany the Foreign Secretary on overseas visits.