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  • Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Louise Haigh – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Haigh on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to replace bursaries for nursing, midwifery and allied healthcare services tuition with student loans; and if he will make a statement.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department has received a number of representations from organisations, including Royal Colleges, professional bodies and representatives of universities, about a number of issues relating to healthcare student education funding in England including a potential move from the current system of funding to student loans.

    No decisions have been taken on any changes to the funding of health care education and training in England. The Department will consider all of its expenditure as part of the Spending Review. The Government will announce the outcome of the Spending Review on 25 November 2015.

  • Caroline Flint – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Caroline Flint – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of nurses that are eligible for tax credits.

    Ben Gummer

    This information is not collected centrally. Eligibility for tax credits is dependent on individual circumstances and income, including for example the financial circumstances of any partner.

  • Caroline Flint – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Caroline Flint – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Flint on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the cost of training a consultant in vascular surgery.

    Ben Gummer

    The Department does not hold information on the average cost to the taxpayer of training someone to become a consultant in vascular surgery.

    The Personal Social Services Research Unit at the University of Kent estimates within their report ‘Unit Costs of Health and Social Care 2014’, published March 2014 (latest data available), that the average cost in 2013/14 of consultant training to be £726,551. These figures reflect the pre-registration costs of tuition, living expenses/lost production and clinical placements and the post-graduate costs of tuition and replacement costs not the average cost to the taxpayer.

  • Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Laurence Robertson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Laurence Robertson on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the ease with which nursing homes find sufficient numbers of nurses to employ; and if he will make a statement.

    Ben Gummer

    In response to concerns about the shortage of nurses in adult social care homes identified in the Care Quality Commission report The state of health care and adult social care in England, 2013/14, the Department held a symposium to discuss the recruitment and retention of registered nurses in the care sector in February 2015.

    Following feedback at the symposium, the Department established a Care Sector Nursing Taskforce to take forward actions to help ease the recruitment of nurses in care and nursing homes. This includes improving the image of nursing in the care sector through the development of career pathways for registered nurses, as well as developing new models of care provision, such as training for care assistants to take on enhanced roles, freeing up registered nurses to manage patients with the most complex conditions.

    Currently, Health Education England (HEE) is responsible for planning and developing the National Health Service workforce, but has no remit over social care workforce. To solve this situation a Task and Finish Group led by Skills for Care, has been established to scope care sector nursing workforce data. Using data they collect, Skills for Care is able to use mathematical modelling to provide accurate workforce predictions for the care sector. An agreement has been reached that these data will in future be shared with HEE to inform their training commissions. This arrangement will be in place to inform the next commissioning round.

    In addition, the announcement made by the Home Secretary on 15 October, that the Tier 2 restrictions will be temporarily changed for nurses so that they can be recruited from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), will enable care sector organisations to recruit nurses from outside the EEA, if they are unable to fill nursing vacancies with United Kingdom nurses.

    The newly released Care Quality Commission report The state of health care and adult social care in England, 2014/15, has highlighted that the recruitment and retention of registered nurses into social care remains problematic. We will continue to work with all the relevant stakeholders, to improve staffing issues within the care sector.

  • Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Steve McCabe – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that NHS hospital trusts are not placed in special measures.

    Ben Gummer

    The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) rigorous inspection regime means that the full picture of services at a particular provider is known and published, and if required, the provider knows what it must do to improve.

    Importantly, if the Chief Inspector finds serious failures in quality of care and where there are concerns that existing leadership cannot make the necessary improvements without support, he can recommend that the trust be placed into Special Measures.

    Poor care should not be tolerated and Special Measures ensures trusts receive a tailored package of support to enable them to improve.

    The CQC uses a risk-assessment approach to inform the order in which providers are inspected. This means where there are concerns about a particular provider they are inspected as a priority, allowing action to be taken earlier.

    Early intervention is important and these inspections allow the CQC to get a much more detailed picture in hospitals. If the Chief Inspector concludes that the care needs to improve, he can recommend Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority take action.

    The NHS Trust Development Authority and Monitor oversee, manage performance and, in Monitor’s case for foundation trusts, regulate hospital trusts. Both organisations have a number of options at their disposal to support trusts if they have concerns about their performance before they reach the stage where Special Measures may be required.

    In establishing NHS Improvement, we are bringing these two organisations together meaning all NHS providers will be able to access the same support and be subject to the same types of intervention. NHS Improvement will foster, nurture and share best practice. It will help to drive and support both urgent operational improvement at the frontline and the long term sustainability of the healthcare system.

  • John Glen – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    John Glen – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Glen on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2015 to Question 10868, on blood diseases: drugs, when NHS England plans to take a decision on the development of a clinical commissioning policy for extended half-life products; what discussions NHS England has had to date on such a clinical commissioning policy; and if he will make a statement.

    George Freeman

    The timing of the tender is effectively predicated on the availability of licensed products. The Department is in dialogue with those suppliers understood to be concerned in this market to understand their potential capabilities.

    NHS England has made no decision to develop a clinical commissioning policy for ‘extended half-life products’. The potential need for policy will remain under review by the Clinical Reference Group with input from the Department’s Commercial Medicines Unit, as manufacturer’s products achieve licence and procurements are completed.

  • John Glen – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    John Glen – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Glen on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2015 to Question 10868, on blood diseases: drugs, what assessment his Department has made of the date on which he will issue a tender for extended half-life products.

    George Freeman

    The timing of the tender is effectively predicated on the availability of licensed products. The Department is in dialogue with those suppliers understood to be concerned in this market to understand their potential capabilities.

    NHS England has made no decision to develop a clinical commissioning policy for ‘extended half-life products’. The potential need for policy will remain under review by the Clinical Reference Group with input from the Department’s Commercial Medicines Unit, as manufacturer’s products achieve licence and procurements are completed.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Russian counterpart on the funding of the Dutch investigation into the downing of flight MH17.

    Mr David Lidington

    The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) has not discussed funding of the Dutch investigation into the downing of flight MH17 with his Russian counterpart. Funding for the technical investigation is the responsibility of the Dutch Safety Board, and for the criminal investigation this is the competence of the Joint Investigation Team.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Yemeni government on treatment of the Jewish community in that country.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    We remain deeply concerned about the human rights situation in Yemen. The conflict and temporary suspension of Embassy operations in Sana’a in February 2015 has hampered our ability to pursue human rights work. The UK has previously lobbied the Yemeni Government – both bilaterally and through the Human Rights Council – on a wide range of human rights issues. We continue to raise the importance of compliance with human rights law with all sides to the conflict and to find a political solution to the conflict, which will help create the conditions for the legitimate Government to improve its capacity to protect human rights. The UK welcomes Yemen’s commitment at the last Human Rights Council session to cooperate with the UN on protection of human rights.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-20.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with Indian authorities on the abuse of young girls in rural areas.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We have been following recent reports of violence against women and girls in India and share the honourable gentleman’s concerns. The United Kingdom discusses a range of human rights matters with India, including women’s rights, both bilaterally and through the EU. We are committed to tackling violence against women and girls round the world, including in India.

    Through the Department for International Development, we are currently helping to implement India’s Domestic Violence Act and supporting initiatives to reduce violence against women, both in homes and in public spaces. Our High Commission also works closely with Indian civil society and non-governmental organisations, including through providing advice to lawyers and grassroots organisations who are directly supporting survivors of sexual violence, through the Indian criminal justice system.

    Although this is ultimately a matter for India’s police and courts, we are working productively with the Indian government and international partners on this important issue.