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  • Ms Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Ms Margaret Ritchie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Margaret Ritchie on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the possible effect of reductions in accident and emergency opening hours on public health and medical treatment standards.

    Jane Ellison

    Changes to front line health services are a matter for local National Health Service commissioners and providers.

    Any significant service change should take account of guidance published by NHS England on 29 October 2015: Planning, assuring and delivering service change for patients. This reflects the objective in the mandate from the Government to NHS England to ensure that significant changes to services meet four tests: (i) strong public and patient engagement; (ii) consistency with current and prospective need for patient choice; (iii) a clear clinical evidence base; and (iv) support for proposals from clinical commissioners.

  • Gloria De Piero – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gloria De Piero – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on how many occasions bed occupancy rates were (a) 85, (b) 90, (c) 95 and (d) 100 per cent in each hospital trust in Nottinghamshire in each of the last five years.

    Ben Gummer

    Official statistics for average daily occupancy rates for beds open overnight are published every quarter by NHS England on its website at the following address:

    https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/bed-availability-and-occupancy/

    “

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what advice his Department makes available on the prevention of loss of hearing amongst older people.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England and the Department jointly published the Action Plan on Hearing Loss in March 2015. The action plan identifies exposure to noise and increasing age as the two major risk factors of hearing loss in working age and older adults. It includes a key objective to: improve the hearing health of all communities, improving equalities and reducing inequalities through prevention of hearing loss; ensure that diverse communities are aware of the importance of good hearing and communication; and, provide effective and up to date communication support for people living with hearing loss to ensure they realise their aspirations. Delivery of this objective will be supported by:

    • NHS England working with partners to promote the development of care programmes to focus on people at risk, including those with dementia, depression, diabetes and cataracts.
    • Public Health England collating existing data on incidence, prevalence and impact of hearing loss in people aged 65 and over and if possible in key groups such as people with dementia; and,
    • The Health and Safety Executive: working with industry stakeholders to identify opportunities to improve compliance with the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005; and, reviewing the feasibility of otoacoustic emissions (OAE) testing as a leading indicator of damaging exposure to noise for workers.

    An oversight group with membership from government departments, arm’s length bodies and stakeholders in the hearing loss community will review and monitor progress of implementation of the Action Plan on Hearing Loss.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with the Royal College of Nursing on the treatment of prostate cancer by high doses of radiotherapy on the first 20 days of that treatment.

    Jane Ellison

    There have been no discussions with the Royal College of Nursing on this matter.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have been prescribed Viagra for medical purposes other than that for which it is usually prescribed in the last three years; and what those other purposes have been.

    Alistair Burt

    Information is not collected centrally on the number of people prescribed medicines or the medical condition being treated.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with the Royal College of Nursing on links between the consumption of carbonated drinks and the incidence of heart failure.

    Jane Ellison

    There have been no recent discussions with the Royal College of Nursing on the links between the consumption of carbonated drinks and the incidence of heart failure.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent research his Department has commissioned or conducted on the health effects of e-cigarettes.

    Jane Ellison

    The National Institute for Health Research is currently funding a randomised controlled trial to examine the efficacy of e-cigarettes compared with nicotine replacement therapy, when used within the United Kingdom stop smoking service. The report of the trial is expected to be published in 2018.

    Public Health England commissioned a comprehensive independent review of the latest evidence on e-cigarettes from leading academics. Their report, published on 19 August 2015, included the latest evidence on the safety and health effects of e-cigarettes.

  • Jo Cox – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jo Cox – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Cox on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of a seven-day elective service in the NHS on the number of NHS staff available (a) Monday to Friday and (b) on a weekend; and how he estimates staffing levels will change.

    Ben Gummer

    The Government’s current plans for ensuring the same quality of care in hospitals on all days of the week are focussed on those with urgent and emergency care needs at weekends and those who are already inpatients. It is for individual health economies to determine if they wish to provide elective care at weekends, for example if they can use more efficiently additional resources that are available to meet urgent and emergency care needs.

  • Jo Cox – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jo Cox – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jo Cox on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of a seven-day elective service in the NHS on the number of hours worked by NHS staff; and if he will publish any such assessment.

    Ben Gummer

    The Government’s current plans for ensuring the same quality of care in hospitals on all days of the week are focussed on those with urgent and emergency care needs at weekends and those who are already inpatients. It is for individual health economies to determine if they wish to provide elective care at weekends, for example if they can use more efficiently additional resources that are available to meet urgent and emergency care needs.

  • 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 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what (a) amount and (b) proportion of the grants awarded by the National Institute for Health Research have been related to mental health in each of the last five years.

    George Freeman

    The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) awards funding of varying durations through a wide range of research programmes, research training and career development schemes, and funding streams for research infrastructure, systems and support services.

    Spend on research funded directly by the NIHR has been categorised by Health Research Classification System (HRCS) health categories. NIHR expenditure on research infrastructure, systems and support services where spend cannot be attributed to health categories is excluded. The following table shows NIHR spend in the ‘mental health’ category, and this spend as a proportion of total categorised spend and as a proportion of total revenue expenditure.

    NIHR spend in ‘mental health’ HRCS health category

    £ million

    Proportion of total categorised NIHR spend %

    Proportion of total NIHR revenue spend %

    2010/11

    49.8

    9.0

    5.4

    2011/12

    53.2

    9.0

    5.8

    2012/13

    70.0

    9.5

    7.3

    2013/14

    71.7

    9.5

    7.3

    2014/15

    72.6

    9.0

    7.4

    “