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  • Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people in each Parliamentary constituency to whom the cap on care costs would have applied in 2016-17 if brought into force.

    Alistair Burt

    We remain committed to the implementation of the cap on care costs, which will offer financial protection and peace of mind. The decision to delay followed careful consideration of feedback from stakeholders that April 2016 was not the right time to implement these significant and expensive reforms. The benefits of the cap have had to be weighed against the need to focus on supporting local authorities in caring for the most vulnerable.

    Information regarding how many people will be affected by the delay by constituency is not held in the format requested.

    Means-tested financial support remains available for those who cannot afford to pay for care to meet their eligible needs.

  • Robert Neill – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Robert Neill – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Neill on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which organisation provides the secretariat for the NICE Implementation Collaborative; what the Collaborative’s current priorities and work programmes are; what funding the Collaborative has received from the public purse since it was established; and if he will make a statement.

    George Freeman

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has advised that it has provided the secretariat function for the NICE Implementation Collaborative (NIC) since January 2014 as part of a wider memorandum of understanding with NHS England. This year, the NIC agreed to undertake work in the following four areas, each of which was agreed because of their potential to generate learning about how to support uptake of NICE guidance:

    – Improving patient outcomes for patients with non ST Elevation acute Coronary Syndromes;

    – Improving Tuberculosis screening and data collection across health and social care;

    – Identifying appropriate treatment pathways for people with moderate alcohol consumption across health and social care; and

    – Increasing the knowledge base about the factors that increase use of technologies building on previous National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) research.

    NHS England has responsibility for funding any project costs and projects liaise with NHS England to access these funds.

    NHS England has advised that it provided £4,000 in 2014-15 and up to £10,000 in 2015-16.

  • Greg Knight – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Greg Knight – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Knight on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the NHS has spent on the treatment of non-UK nationals in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

    Alistair Burt

    The Health and Social Care Information Centre’s hospital episode statistics do not contain information about the patient’s residency, nationality or migration status; therefore it is not possible to provide the cost to the National Health Service of providing treatment to non-United Kingdom nationals as requested.

  • Robert Neill – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Robert Neill – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Neill on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, in which months the implementation of commitments to increase access to treatments contained in the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme has been discussed in NHS England accountability meetings.

    George Freeman

    Improving patients’ access to innovative, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence approved treatments is part of an objective set out in the Government’s mandate to NHS England. Performance against the mandate is discussed in NHS England accountability meetings chaired by the Secretary of State. The minutes of the meetings are published on the Government’s website at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-commissioning-board-accountability-meeting-minutes

    “

  • Robert Neill – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Robert Neill – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Neill on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on when the Health and Social Care Information Centre expects its innovation scorecard to attain the status of non-experimental statistics; what steps that centre is taking to improve the data quality of that scorecard; and if he will make a statement.

    George Freeman

    The Health and Social Care Information Centre is working towards the removal of the experimental status of the innovation scorecard during the first half of 2016. The data already complies with the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

  • Robert Neill – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Robert Neill – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robert Neill on 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons his recent assessment of NHS England’s performance against the Mandate in 2014-15 did not address NHS England’s performance in meeting the requirement contained in the Mandate to ensure that people have access to the right treatment when they need it.

    George Freeman

    The Secretary of State’s annual assessment of NHS England’s performance in 2014-15 sets out specifically his evaluation of NHS England’s performance in meeting the access standards set out in the NHS Constitution.

    In addition, the Secretary of State’s annual assessment sets out that he agrees with NHS England’s own assessment, as set out in its annual report for 2014-15, that it has made good progress against delivering its objectives in the mandate, which includes ensuring that people have the right treatment when they need it.

  • 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 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have been diagnosed with liver disease in each of the last five years.

    Jane Ellison

    Information is not available in the format requested.

  • 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 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what criteria are applied for the use of intraoperative radiotherapy for treating cancer by the NHS.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England does not currently commission intraoperative radiotherapy for the treatment of cancer. To date it has been undertaken in a small number of centres in England as part of a clinical trial.

  • 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 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make available on the NHS cyber-knife technology to treat cancer and reduce time spent in hospital by cancer patients.

    Jane Ellison

    Cyber-knife technology is one of three treatment platforms that can be used to treat a number of cancers, together with some benign conditions. The treatment platforms deliver stereotactic radiotherapy, both to the body (stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy) which is commissioned for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, and to the head (stereotactic radiosurgery/radiotherapy) for a range of cancer indications covered by clinical commissioning policies which can be found at:

    www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/npc-crg/group-d/d05/

    It should be noted that NHS England commissions on the basis of clinical indication and not specifically for treatment platforms. The choice of treatment platform used is ultimately a decision made by trusts themselves.

    “

  • 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 2015-10-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, by when he plans for new drug treatments for sepsis and Acute Respiratory Disease Syndrome to be available on the NHS.

    George Freeman

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently developing a clinical guideline on the recognition, diagnosis and management of severe sepsis. The guideline will consider the full range of treatment options for sepsis. NICE currently plans to publish this guidance in July 2016.

    There are no plans for NICE to develop technology appraisal guidance on the use of new drug treatments for sepsis or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

    NHS England has advised that there have been many trials of new treatments for ARDS but no consistent benefit has been found in any of these.

    In the absence of NICE guidance, funding decisions for individual treatments should be made by the relevant National Health Service commissioner, based on an assessment of the available evidence. Commissioners are also required to have processes in place for the consideration of exceptional funding requests.