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  • Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Roger Godsiff – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government plans to take to ensure that sufficient doctors and nurses are trained in the UK to maintain safe staffing levels in the NHS.

    Ben Gummer

    The Government has established Health Education England (HEE) as the body responsible for workforce planning and the commissioning of education and training for the National Health Service and public health system with a budget of £4.9 billion.

    The number of nurse training places has increased by 14% over the past three years, with currently over 50,000 nurses in training as at 31 March 2015.

    HEE is forecasting that, based on their current training plans, there will be 23,121 more nurses available to work in the NHS by 2019 compared to 2014.

    There are currently near record numbers of nurses and midwives in post in the NHS in England. The latest available figures from June 2015 show a total of 317,595 nurses and midwives in post.

    Since May 2010, the number of doctors in the NHS has increased by 8,574 to just under 104,000.

  • Matthew Pennycook – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Matthew Pennycook – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of Improving Access to Psychological Therapies patients in Greenwich and Woolwich constituency waited less than 90 days for treatment in the last 12 months.

    Alistair Burt

    The information is not collected in the format requested.

    The following attachment, Improving Access to Psychological Therapies contains referrals assessed in 28 and 90 days or less and referrals that waited 28 and 90 days or less to enter treatment, as a proportion of all referrals assessed between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2014, for England and NHS Greenwich Clinical Commissioning Group.

    Data is not published at constituency level.

  • Matthew Pennycook – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Matthew Pennycook – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of Improving Access to Psychological Therapies patients in Greenwich and Woolwich constituency waited less than 28 days for treatment in the last 12 months.

    Alistair Burt

    The information is not collected in the format requested.

    The following attachment, Improving Access to Psychological Therapies contains referrals assessed in 28 and 90 days or less and referrals that waited 28 and 90 days or less to enter treatment, as a proportion of all referrals assessed between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2014, for England and NHS Greenwich Clinical Commissioning Group.

    Data is not published at constituency level.

  • Matthew Pennycook – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Matthew Pennycook – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of Improving Access to Psychological Therapies referrals in Greenwich and Woolwich constituency received an assessment within 90 days in the last 12 months.

    Alistair Burt

    The information is not collected in the format requested.

    The following attachment, Improving Access to Psychological Therapies contains referrals assessed in 28 and 90 days or less and referrals that waited 28 and 90 days or less to enter treatment, as a proportion of all referrals assessed between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2014, for England and NHS Greenwich Clinical Commissioning Group.

    Data is not published at constituency level.

  • David Anderson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Anderson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of junior doctors likely to lose income as a result of proposed contractual changes.

    Alistair Burt

    The proposed contractual changes will be cost-neutral and average pay for junior doctors will not reduce. This is not a cost-cutting exercise and we are not seeking to save any money from the junior doctors’ pay bill. My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has given the British Medical Association a public, categorical assurance on this and made clear that the details of the new contract should be developed to ensure that the great majority of junior doctors are at least as well paid as they would be now.

    The proposed new contract for doctors and dentists in training will: ensure that pay relates more fairly to actual work done; increase basic pay, recognising the professional nature of the role in a seven day National Health Service and pay a higher rate for work at the most unsocial times

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Cheryl Gillan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with NHS England relating to autism diagnosis waiting times.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department has discussed with NHS England the difficulties that people on the autistic spectrum can have in getting an appropriate diagnosis in a timely manner. With support from the Department, NHS England and the Association of Directors of Social Services will undertake a series of visits to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to gather information that can be shared between areas that have arrangements in place to meet National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Quality Standard 51 Autism: support for commissioning, and those that do not, with the aim of supporting more consistent provision. These NICE guidelines already recommend that there should be a maximum of three months between a referral and a first appointment for a diagnostic assessment for autism. We expect the National Health Service to be working towards meeting the recommendations.

    NHS England has also been working with the Health and Social Care Information Centre to develop the Mental Health Minimum Data Set. This will include provision for the diagnosis of autism to be recorded. This mandatory data set will, for the first time, provide data about diagnosis rates. The data will be published and available for everyone to use to support and develop services. NHS England has a commitment, over the next five years, to improve waiting times and this data will be invaluable for this. Information on average waiting times for autistic diagnosis in each clinical commissioning group area is not collected centrally.

    The Department issued new statutory guidance in March this year for local authorities and NHS organisations to support the continued implementation of the 2010 Autism Strategy, as refreshed by its 2014 Think Autism update. This guidance sets out what people seeking an autism diagnosis can expect from local authorities and NHS bodies including general practitioners.

    We are due to consult on how we set the mandate to NHS England prior to publication of the mandate itself. The mandate will be published following the Government’s Spending Review which is due to complete on 25 November.

  • Cheryl Gillan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Cheryl Gillan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cheryl Gillan on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the waiting times standards for mental health services under development by NHS England include indicators relating to autism diagnosis waiting times.

    Alistair Burt

    The Department has discussed with NHS England the difficulties that people on the autistic spectrum can have in getting an appropriate diagnosis in a timely manner. With support from the Department, NHS England and the Association of Directors of Social Services will undertake a series of visits to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to gather information that can be shared between areas that have arrangements in place to meet National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Quality Standard 51 Autism: support for commissioning, and those that do not, with the aim of supporting more consistent provision. These NICE guidelines already recommend that there should be a maximum of three months between a referral and a first appointment for a diagnostic assessment for autism. We expect the National Health Service to be working towards meeting the recommendations.

    NHS England has also been working with the Health and Social Care Information Centre to develop the Mental Health Minimum Data Set. This will include provision for the diagnosis of autism to be recorded. This mandatory data set will, for the first time, provide data about diagnosis rates. The data will be published and available for everyone to use to support and develop services. NHS England has a commitment, over the next five years, to improve waiting times and this data will be invaluable for this. Information on average waiting times for autistic diagnosis in each clinical commissioning group area is not collected centrally.

    The Department issued new statutory guidance in March this year for local authorities and NHS organisations to support the continued implementation of the 2010 Autism Strategy, as refreshed by its 2014 Think Autism update. This guidance sets out what people seeking an autism diagnosis can expect from local authorities and NHS bodies including general practitioners.

    We are due to consult on how we set the mandate to NHS England prior to publication of the mandate itself. The mandate will be published following the Government’s Spending Review which is due to complete on 25 November.

  • Matthew Pennycook – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Matthew Pennycook – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Matthew Pennycook on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects to publish mandated NHS data and related data flows to regional cancer registries in recurrent and metastatic breast cancer.

    Jane Ellison

    The National Cancer Registry Service, within Public Health England, recognises the importance of the collection of data on recurrent and metastatic breast cancer. Further work is being scoped by NHS England and Public Health England based on the recommendation in the recent Independent Cancer Taskforce report to establish robust surveillance systems to collect this data on all cancers.

  • 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 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the article entitled GP practices offered questionable incentives to cut urgent cancer referrals, published in Pulse on 1 October 2015, what discussions he (a) has had and (b) plans to have with (i) those clinical commissioning groups referred to and (ii) the General Medical Council on such incentives.

    Jane Ellison

    The number of patients referred to hospital for urgent cancer checks has increased by more than 600,000 over the past five years, and we want it to go up even more to diagnose suspected cancers earlier. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has set out evidence based guidelines for when patients should be referred, and no clinical commissioning group (CCG) incentive scheme should cut across that. NHS England has contacted each of the CCGs mentioned to ensure that this is very clearly communicated to all practices.

    NHS England is currently working with partners across the health system to determine how best to take forward the recommendations of the independent Cancer Taskforce Report and put in place a governance structure for delivery.

  • David Anderson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Anderson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on implementation of a national screening programme for prostate cancer.

    Jane Ellison

    The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy.

    The UK NSC re-affirmed in March 2012 that a national screening programme for prostate cancer should not be offered. This is because:

    – The test for prostate cancer, the prostate specific antigen test, is not effective enough and does not identify a large proportion of men who in fact have prostate cancer;

    – A positive test will lead in most cases to a biopsy, which often does not give a definitive answer and leads to anxiety and to further investigations; and

    – Current research indicates for every 100,000 men at age 50 offered screening, 748 would end up being treated. The men accepting screening would have their lives extended on average by a day – while 274 men would be made impotent, 25 incontinent and 17 would have rectal problems as a result of the treatment.

    The UK NSC is currently reviewing its recommendation on whether a national screening programme for prostate cancer should be offered. Ministers expect to receive a recommendation shortly.