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Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many hours were worked by a (a) Improving Access to Psychological Therapies practitioners and (b) other therapists in the NHS in each of the last five years.

Alistair Burt

There were 756 training places commissioned for Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (Adult IAPT) programme in 2014/15. The commissioning intention for 2015/16 is 946.

Information is not available of what proportion of National Health Service psychological therapists are IAPT practitioners. We also do not hold information on the number of hours worked by IAPT practitioners and other therapists.

01/01/2023
Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many and what proportion of NHS psychological therapists are Improving Access to Psychological Therapies practitioners.

Alistair Burt

There were 756 training places commissioned for Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (Adult IAPT) programme in 2014/15. The commissioning intention for 2015/16 is 946.

Information is not available of what proportion of National Health Service psychological therapists are IAPT practitioners. We also do not hold information on the number of hours worked by IAPT practitioners and other therapists.

01/01/2023
Luciana Berger – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many mental health services he has visited since March 2015; and what the date was of each such visit.

Alistair Burt

Departmental Ministers have undertaken the following visits to mental health services (including charity visits and community centres) in an official capacity since March 2015 to date:

Former Minister of State (Norman Lamb)

5 March 2015- Turning Point’s Crisis Point Centre

5 March 2015- RADAR (Rapid Alcohol Detox Acute Referrals)

Minister of State (Alistair Burt)

21 May 2015- South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust- Child and Adolescent Mental Heal Services

29 June 2015- Hammersmith and Fulham Mental Health Unite/ West London Clinical Commissioning Group

2 July 2015- British Transport Policy, suicide prevention and mental health team (street triage)

3 August 2015- Margaret Oats, Mother and baby unit, City and Hackney Centre for mental health

24 August 2015- Bradford Divisional HQ, Nelson Street Police Station

10 September 2015 – Samaritans Visit on World Suicide Day

8 October 2015 – Oxfordshire Mind for World Mental Health day

01/01/2023
Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what formal mechanism exists for sharing information between the Accelerated Access Review and Lord Carter’s review of NHS efficiency.

George Freeman

The Accelerated Access Review (AAR), chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor, will make recommendations to government on reforms to accelerate access for National Health Service patients to innovative medicines and medical 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 certain off-patent repurposed drugs, as opposed to the routine availability of medicines or medical technologies.

Prior to establishing the terms of reference for the AAR, the Department reviewed evaluation reports and met with officials from previous initiatives on the uptake of innovation in the NHS including the Innovation, Health and Wealth report. As a result, building upon the lessons of previous reviews is explicit with the terms of reference of the AAR.

The AAR has regular meetings with senior officials from NHS England via a steering group as recommendations are being developed. In addition, some staff from NHS England have been assigned to support the review team.

Sir Hugh is still in the process of developing final recommendations which will be published in spring 2016. In his Interim Report published in October, Sir Hugh sets out a proposition on “galvanising the NHS”. This involves supporting the NHS to adopt innovation, more rapidly through better practical support, stronger incentives and the potential streamlining of local structures.

The Department reviewed evaluation reports and met with officials from previous initiatives on the uptake of innovation in the NHS prior to establishing the terms of reference for the AAR. It was clear that whilst progress has been made on the uptake of innovation in the NHS there is still much to do. Sir Hugh and the head of the External Advisory Group, Professor Sir John Bell, set out the case for uptake of innovation in the recently published AAR Interim Report.

The AAR has senior level contact with officials working on Lord Carter’s review of NHS efficiency to ensure that information is shared between the two teams.

01/01/2023
Andy McDonald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many UK microbiology laboratories use the UK SMI B58 or equivalent test for detecting group B strep carriage.

Jane Ellison

UK microbiology laboratories that do not use Standards for Microbiological Investigations (SMIs) should be able to demonstrate at least equivalence in their testing methodologies to the relevant accreditation body. Public Health England is not an accrediting body in these circumstances therefore we do not hold information as to what tests are deemed to be equivalent to UK SMI B58.

UK SMIs are not mandatory and Public Health England does not have data as to how many laboratories, National Health Service or otherwise use UK SMI B58 or equivalent testing for detecting Group B Strep.

SMIs are intended as a general resource for practising professionals operating in the field of laboratory medicine and infection specialties in the United Kingdom.

SMIs help laboratories to meet accreditation requirements by promoting high quality practices which are auditable.

01/01/2023
Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department made of the effect of previous reviews on the uptake of innovation in the NHS in establishing the terms of reference for the Accelerated Access Review.

George Freeman

The Accelerated Access Review (AAR), chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor, will make recommendations to government on reforms to accelerate access for National Health Service patients to innovative medicines and medical 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 certain off-patent repurposed drugs, as opposed to the routine availability of medicines or medical technologies.

Prior to establishing the terms of reference for the AAR, the Department reviewed evaluation reports and met with officials from previous initiatives on the uptake of innovation in the NHS including the Innovation, Health and Wealth report. As a result, building upon the lessons of previous reviews is explicit with the terms of reference of the AAR.

The AAR has regular meetings with senior officials from NHS England via a steering group as recommendations are being developed. In addition, some staff from NHS England have been assigned to support the review team.

Sir Hugh is still in the process of developing final recommendations which will be published in spring 2016. In his Interim Report published in October, Sir Hugh sets out a proposition on “galvanising the NHS”. This involves supporting the NHS to adopt innovation, more rapidly through better practical support, stronger incentives and the potential streamlining of local structures.

The Department reviewed evaluation reports and met with officials from previous initiatives on the uptake of innovation in the NHS prior to establishing the terms of reference for the AAR. It was clear that whilst progress has been made on the uptake of innovation in the NHS there is still much to do. Sir Hugh and the head of the External Advisory Group, Professor Sir John Bell, set out the case for uptake of innovation in the recently published AAR Interim Report.

The AAR has senior level contact with officials working on Lord Carter’s review of NHS efficiency to ensure that information is shared between the two teams.

01/01/2023

Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2015 to Question 17021, what the number of methicillin resistant (a) staphylococcus aureus, (b) clostridium difficile and (c) E.coli infections were in England and Wales in each of the last five years.

Ben Gummer

Public Health England (PHE) has surveillance data on meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteraemia, E. coli bacteraemia and on C. difficile Infection (CDI). The reported numbers for both MRSA and E. coli bacteraemia cover bloodstream infections only. C. difficile data covers all infections. The totals, shown in the table below, are the number of infections reported to PHE each financial year, extracted from the Healthcare Associated Infections (HCAI) data capture system. Mandatory surveillance data covers England only.

Total Number of MRSA, C. difficile and E. coli infections in England (April 2010 to March 2015)

Year:	April 2010 – March 2011	April 2011 – March 2012	April 2012 – March 2013	April 2013- March 2014	April 2014 – March 2015
Total reported MRSA bacteraemia episodes	1,481	1,116	924	862	801
Total reported C. difficile episodes	21,707	18,022	14,694	13,361	14,165
Total reported E. coli bacteraemia episodes	*	*	32,309	34,275	35,676

* Mandatory surveillance of E. coli bacteraemia was introduced in July 2011.

Source: PHE.

01/01/2023

Andy McDonald – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy McDonald on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what tests are used in UK microbiology laboratories that are deemed equivalent to the UK SMI B58.

Jane Ellison

UK microbiology laboratories that do not use Standards for Microbiological Investigations (SMIs) should be able to demonstrate at least equivalence in their testing methodologies to the relevant accreditation body. Public Health England is not an accrediting body in these circumstances therefore we do not hold information as to what tests are deemed to be equivalent to UK SMI B58.

UK SMIs are not mandatory and Public Health England does not have data as to how many laboratories, National Health Service or otherwise use UK SMI B58 or equivalent testing for detecting Group B Strep.

SMIs are intended as a general resource for practising professionals operating in the field of laboratory medicine and infection specialties in the United Kingdom.

SMIs help laboratories to meet accreditation requirements by promoting high quality practices which are auditable.

01/01/2023
Andrew Gwynne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what formal role NHS England has in the development of the Accelerated Access Review.

George Freeman

The Accelerated Access Review (AAR), chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor, will make recommendations to government on reforms to accelerate access for National Health Service patients to innovative medicines and medical 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 certain off-patent repurposed drugs, as opposed to the routine availability of medicines or medical technologies.

Prior to establishing the terms of reference for the AAR, the Department reviewed evaluation reports and met with officials from previous initiatives on the uptake of innovation in the NHS including the Innovation, Health and Wealth report. As a result, building upon the lessons of previous reviews is explicit with the terms of reference of the AAR.

The AAR has regular meetings with senior officials from NHS England via a steering group as recommendations are being developed. In addition, some staff from NHS England have been assigned to support the review team.

Sir Hugh is still in the process of developing final recommendations which will be published in spring 2016. In his Interim Report published in October, Sir Hugh sets out a proposition on “galvanising the NHS”. This involves supporting the NHS to adopt innovation, more rapidly through better practical support, stronger incentives and the potential streamlining of local structures.

The Department reviewed evaluation reports and met with officials from previous initiatives on the uptake of innovation in the NHS prior to establishing the terms of reference for the AAR. It was clear that whilst progress has been made on the uptake of innovation in the NHS there is still much to do. Sir Hugh and the head of the External Advisory Group, Professor Sir John Bell, set out the case for uptake of innovation in the recently published AAR Interim Report.

The AAR has senior level contact with officials working on Lord Carter’s review of NHS efficiency to ensure that information is shared between the two teams.

01/01/2023
William Wragg – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by William Wragg on 2015-11-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the level of provision of eye clinic liaison officers is in eye clinics and hospitals in (a) Greater Manchester and (b) Hazel Grove constituency.

Alistair Burt

This information is not collected centrally.

Eye clinics and their staffing, including eye clinic liaison officers, are commissioned and funded by individual clinical commissioning groups on the basis of local assessments of need.

01/01/2023