Blog

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will introduce a clause into the conditions relating to grants made by his Department to third parties to ensure that they are not used to fund activities intended to influence (a) parliament, government or political parties, (b) the awarding or renewal of Government contracts and grants and (c) legislative or regulatory action.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department will consider the hon. Member’s representation.

  • Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will place in the Library a copy of the delivery agreement and agreed deliverables between his Department and the Chartered Institute for Trading Standards.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department has a contract with itsa Ltd, the business arm of the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, for the enforcement of tobacco legislation and support for local authorities. The award letter and supporting documents for this contract are available online at:

    https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive/contract/1072169/

    “

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tulip Siddiq – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) commission services are for the treatment and care of lymphoedema patients; and what guidance has been issued to CCGs on the commissioning of those services.

    George Freeman

    At its meeting on 15 October 2015, the Prescribed Specialist Services Advisory Group (PSSAG) considered a proposal from the British Lymphology Society for a service for lymphoedema to be nationally commissioned. PSSAG’s recommendations on all proposals considered at this meeting will be put to Ministers shortly.

    It is for Ministers to decide which services should be prescribed as specialised services and therefore nationally commissioned by NHS England. Ministers make these decisions based on advice from PSSAG.

    Regarding the Lymphoedema Services in England: A Case for Change report, published by the National Cancer Action Team in March 2013, the main recommendation for the NHS Commissioning Board (now NHS England) to consider was the creation of a lymphoedema strategy for England.

    NHS England is focused on a system-wide approach that aims to ensure improvements in outcomes for all individuals with long-term conditions, including lymphoedema, rather than focusing on individual strategies for specific conditions.

    The commissioning of services for the treatment and care of lymphoedema patients is a local matter, and information concerning the arrangement of such services is not collected. People with lymphoedema can usually be managed through routine access to primary or second care services and there is range of guidance to support local commissioning, including: an international consensus document on best practice in the diagnosis, treatment care and support of people with; and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on advanced breast cancer, which provides advice on lymphoedema care. Both sets of guidance can be found at the following links:

    www.woundsinternational.com/media/issues/210/files/content_175.pdf

    www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg81/resources/advanced-breast-cancer-diagnosis-and-treatment-975683850181

    “

  • 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 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of support provided by the third sector in supporting people with eating disorders.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department has not made a formal assessment, but we greatly value the role of the voluntary sector in providing support for children and young people with mental health needs, and work closely with a number of leading charities at a national level and throughout the system.

    NHS England is responsible for the approval and assurance of clinical commissioning group (CCG) plans for locally-commissioned services, including services for people with eating disorders.

    In line with guidance published by NHS England in August, CCGs have produced Local Transformation Plans (LTPs) for children and young people’s mental health with their local partners, including those in the voluntary sector, in line with the proposal in Future in mind. The deadline for receipt of these LTPs was 16 October and they are now being considered by NHS England.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tulip Siddiq – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress the Prescribed Specialist Services Advisory Group has made on discussions on proposals for a nationally-commissioned specialist lymphology service.

    George Freeman

    At its meeting on 15 October 2015, the Prescribed Specialist Services Advisory Group (PSSAG) considered a proposal from the British Lymphology Society for a service for lymphoedema to be nationally commissioned. PSSAG’s recommendations on all proposals considered at this meeting will be put to Ministers shortly.

    It is for Ministers to decide which services should be prescribed as specialised services and therefore nationally commissioned by NHS England. Ministers make these decisions based on advice from PSSAG.

    Regarding the Lymphoedema Services in England: A Case for Change report, published by the National Cancer Action Team in March 2013, the main recommendation for the NHS Commissioning Board (now NHS England) to consider was the creation of a lymphoedema strategy for England.

    NHS England is focused on a system-wide approach that aims to ensure improvements in outcomes for all individuals with long-term conditions, including lymphoedema, rather than focusing on individual strategies for specific conditions.

    The commissioning of services for the treatment and care of lymphoedema patients is a local matter, and information concerning the arrangement of such services is not collected. People with lymphoedema can usually be managed through routine access to primary or second care services and there is range of guidance to support local commissioning, including: an international consensus document on best practice in the diagnosis, treatment care and support of people with; and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on advanced breast cancer, which provides advice on lymphoedema care. Both sets of guidance can be found at the following links:

    www.woundsinternational.com/media/issues/210/files/content_175.pdf

    www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg81/resources/advanced-breast-cancer-diagnosis-and-treatment-975683850181

    “

  • 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 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to prepare for the introduction of the waiting time standards for eating disorder services by 2020.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England and the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health published on 3 August 2015, a commissioning guide for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) that will set out how to implement the access and waiting time standard for children and young people with an eating disorder.

    The standard is for treatment to be received within a maximum of four weeks from first contact with a designated healthcare professional for routine cases and within one week for urgent cases. In cases of emergency, the eating disorder service should be contacted to provide support within 24 hours.

    The guidance is supported by £30 million of recurrent funding, which NHS England has already distributed to CCGs.

    The ability of services to meet this standard will be monitored in 2016. The standard will be refined for implementation from 2017–18. From 2017, NHS England will set a minimum proportion of young people referred for assessment or treatment that are expected to receive treatment within the standard’s timeframe. Data collected in 2016 will help inform incremental percentage increases, with the aim of 95% of patients being treated within the standard’s timescale by 2020.

  • Tulip Siddiq – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Tulip Siddiq – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tulip Siddiq on 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will issue a response to the report by the National Cancer Action Team, Lymphoedema Services in England: A Case for Change, published in March 2013; and if he will make a statement.

    George Freeman

    At its meeting on 15 October 2015, the Prescribed Specialist Services Advisory Group (PSSAG) considered a proposal from the British Lymphology Society for a service for lymphoedema to be nationally commissioned. PSSAG’s recommendations on all proposals considered at this meeting will be put to Ministers shortly.

    It is for Ministers to decide which services should be prescribed as specialised services and therefore nationally commissioned by NHS England. Ministers make these decisions based on advice from PSSAG.

    Regarding the Lymphoedema Services in England: A Case for Change report, published by the National Cancer Action Team in March 2013, the main recommendation for the NHS Commissioning Board (now NHS England) to consider was the creation of a lymphoedema strategy for England.

    NHS England is focused on a system-wide approach that aims to ensure improvements in outcomes for all individuals with long-term conditions, including lymphoedema, rather than focusing on individual strategies for specific conditions.

    The commissioning of services for the treatment and care of lymphoedema patients is a local matter, and information concerning the arrangement of such services is not collected. People with lymphoedema can usually be managed through routine access to primary or second care services and there is range of guidance to support local commissioning, including: an international consensus document on best practice in the diagnosis, treatment care and support of people with; and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on advanced breast cancer, which provides advice on lymphoedema care. Both sets of guidance can be found at the following links:

    www.woundsinternational.com/media/issues/210/files/content_175.pdf

    www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg81/resources/advanced-breast-cancer-diagnosis-and-treatment-975683850181

    “

  • 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 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will place in the Library the minutes of each Public Health England board meeting in 2015.

    Jane Ellison

    Minutes of all Public Health England (PHE) Board meetings are published on PHE website’s Board pages and therefore publically available. The minutes for the Board meetings held during 2015 have been placed in the library, and can also be found on the Meetings 2015 page of the website below:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/public-health-england-board-meetings

    “

  • 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 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that funding is available for treatments for multiple myeloma after the removal of treatments for that condition from the Cancer Drugs Fund.

    George Freeman

    NHS England has advised that a draft treatment pathway for patients with multiple myeloma is currently in the process of being finalised. This has been the subject of public consultation and is being revised to take into account the comments received and the potential impact of treatments removed from the Cancer Drugs Fund.

    The treatment pathway is likely to be published early in 2016.

  • 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 2015-10-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that patients with multiple myeloma have access to extending medicines after treatments for that condition are removed from the Cancer Drugs Fund in November 2015.

    George Freeman

    NHS England has advised that a draft treatment pathway for patients with multiple myeloma is currently in the process of being finalised. This has been the subject of public consultation and is being revised to take into account the comments received and the potential impact of treatments removed from the Cancer Drugs Fund.

    The treatment pathway is likely to be published early in 2016.