The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the proportion of sexual health services delivered by private providers.
Jane Ellison
This information is not collected.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Luciana Berger on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress he has made on the integrated sexual health tariff.
Jane Ellison
Consideration is being given to taking forward work previously developed by NHS London on a non-mandatory integrated sexual health tariff. This consideration includes whether national data collections need further development to support the tariff and pricing structures.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department issues on the ratio of GPs to patients; and what that ratio is in Tendring.
Dr Daniel Poulter
The Department does not issue guidance on the ratio of general practitioners (GPs) to patients. It is for each GP practice to ensure they are able to provide services to all their patients as set out in their contract with NHS England.
The ratio of GPs to patients in Tendring is not collected centrally. Figures for North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group, which includes the district of Tendring, are shown in the following table.
|
Patients per full time equivalent GP |
All GPs full time equivalent per 100,000 population |
|
|
North East Essex |
1,715 |
60.8 |
Sources: The Health and Social Care Information Centre General and Personal Medical Services Statistics; Office for National Statistics: Mid-Year Population Estimates
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Ruffley on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the average travelling distance to a 24-hour accident and emergency department for people in (a) Bury St Edmunds constituency, (b) Suffolk and (c) England and Wales.
Jane Ellison
No estimate has been made by the Department. NHS England has, however, published best practice guidance ‘Planning and delivering service changes for patients’. In the guidance, commissioners are reminded that where any changes are proposed to urgent and emergency care services they need to provide analysis of travelling times and distances, identifying the impact on pedestrians and public and private transport users, as well as the ambulance service where relevant.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bob Ainsworth on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people received funding through the Cancer Drugs Fund in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England in each of the last five years.
Norman Lamb
Prior to April 2013, information on the Cancer Drugs Fund was administered through clinical panels based in each strategic health authority (SHA) and data on the number of patients who received funding in each constituency and city was not collected. Information on the number of patients funded in West Midlands SHA and England in 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 is shown as follows:
|
Number of patients funded in 2010-11 |
Number of patients funded in 2011-12 |
Number of patients funded in 2012-13 |
Total number of patients funded since Oct 20101 |
|
|
West Midlands SHA |
292 |
1,658 |
1,534 |
3,484 |
|
England |
2,780 |
11,798 |
15,456 |
30,034 |
1 Some individual patients may be double-counted where a patient has received more than one drug treatment through the Cancer Drugs Fund
Source: Information provided to the Department by SHAs
NHS England has had oversight of the Fund since April 2013 and publishes information on patient numbers routinely on its website at:
www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/pe/cdf/
In 2013-14, 5,695 patients in the Midlands and East region and 19,282 patients in England received funding through the Fund. In addition, 28 individual cancer drugs fund request applications were approved by the Cancer Drugs Fund panel in the Midlands and East region with 278 applications approved nationally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Zac Goldsmith on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of reports that scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have created a virus that closely resembles the 1918 Spanish flu strain; whether he has made an assessment of the potential threat to the UK population arising from that experiment; and whether the Government has made any representation to the US administration on this matter.
Jane Ellison
Public Health England (PHE) was advised that the work undertaken at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has been reviewed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health, in keeping with the institute’s implementation of the United States Government Policy for Oversight of Life Sciences Dual Use Research of Concern.
As part of this, PHE understand that the research was carried out in secure facilities with high levels of containment. A key finding of the research was that people vaccinated with the current seasonal influenza vaccine (which protects against 2009 H1N1 influenza, a related virus) had some evidence of protection against the novel virus that had been created. In addition, the team showed that the novel transmissible virus is expected to be sensitive to the antiviral medication oseltamivir. Effective counter measures to this novel virus are therefore available.
This research provides information on the mechanisms responsible for adaptation of avian influenza viruses to mammals. Knowing what genes are associated with a potentially severe pandemic strain can help predict the likelihood of a strain emerging and help devise appropriate counter measures.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Baron on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance he has given to clinical commissioning groups on the use of the NICE breast cancer quality standard when commissioning breast cancer services.
Jane Ellison
The majority of treatments for cancer, such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy, are commissioned nationally by NHS England. Commissioning is informed by a range of clinical reference groups established as a primary source of advice on best practice, service standards for commissioned providers and forward strategy and innovation.
Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) plan and buy local community and non-specialised hospital cancer services in their local area. This includes the diagnosis, oversight of treatment and surgical management of breast cancers.
NHS England is not aware of any formal guidance being given to CCGs on engagement with Strategic Clinical Networks (SCNs) or breast network site-specific groups. However, it would expect that all health organisations would wish to be part of SCNs. As CCGs are responsible for much of the commissioning of services covered by the SCNs (e.g. cancer, stroke, mental health, and dementia care), they have an interest in their activities.
Breast network site specific groups are specialist groups who focus on protocol development, improving care and the quality and outcomes of services within the SCN area. It would not be expected for a CCG to normally engage directly with that group but they would be part of a process to approve protocols and of any escalation process if there were concerns about a particular service within the SCN.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) quality standards define clinical best practice for the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer to help clinicians ensure that patients are given information about the treatment options available and help in choosing the best option to suit them. NHS England would expect CCGs to take into account NICE quality standards when commissioning breast cancer services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps he has taken to reduce child obesity in Barnsley.
Jane Ellison
In April 2013, local responsibility for the prevention and management of obesity transferred from primary care trusts to local authorities.
Barnsley’s Health and Wellbeing board, run by Barnsley Council, is drafting a Health and Wellbeing strategy for the borough to support children and young people in avoiding the potential health problems related to child obesity, such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases later in life.
Our national approach to tackling obesity includes engaging with a wide range of partners including businesses, health professionals and individuals. We have set national ambition for a downward trend in excess weight in children and have a well-developed and wide-ranging programme of actions. Obesity rates in children are levelling off.
Some of the key initiatives are Change4Life, Change4Life Sports Clubs, the National Child Measurement Programme and School Sports Funding.
This is in addition to measures being taken by other Government departments such as the School Food Plan, published by the Department for Education last year.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Baron on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance he has given to clinical commissioning groups on their involvement with (a) strategic clinical networks and (b) breast network site-specific groups.
Jane Ellison
The majority of treatments for cancer, such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy, are commissioned nationally by NHS England. Commissioning is informed by a range of clinical reference groups established as a primary source of advice on best practice, service standards for commissioned providers and forward strategy and innovation.
Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) plan and buy local community and non-specialised hospital cancer services in their local area. This includes the diagnosis, oversight of treatment and surgical management of breast cancers.
NHS England is not aware of any formal guidance being given to CCGs on engagement with Strategic Clinical Networks (SCNs) or breast network site-specific groups. However, it would expect that all health organisations would wish to be part of SCNs. As CCGs are responsible for much of the commissioning of services covered by the SCNs (e.g. cancer, stroke, mental health, and dementia care), they have an interest in their activities.
Breast network site specific groups are specialist groups who focus on protocol development, improving care and the quality and outcomes of services within the SCN area. It would not be expected for a CCG to normally engage directly with that group but they would be part of a process to approve protocols and of any escalation process if there were concerns about a particular service within the SCN.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) quality standards define clinical best practice for the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer to help clinicians ensure that patients are given information about the treatment options available and help in choosing the best option to suit them. NHS England would expect CCGs to take into account NICE quality standards when commissioning breast cancer services.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tracey Crouch on 2014-06-16.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of how many non-clinical dementia specialist professionals are currently working across the health and care sector.
Dr Daniel Poulter
People with dementia receive care and support from many groups of professionals across the health and social care sector. By October 2013, 108,000 National Health Service staff had received Tier 1 training on dementia, enabling them to spot the early symptoms of dementia, know how to interact with people with dementia and ensure that patients receive the most appropriate care. The Government’s refreshed Mandate to Health Education England, published on 1 May 2014, builds on this by setting an ambition for a further 250,000 NHS staff to receive Tier 1 training on dementia by March 2015, with the tools and training opportunities being made available to all staff by the end of 2018.
The size of the adult social care workforce is 1.5 million people and research in 2010 indicated that over 40% of this workforce is involved in supporting people with dementia. Skills for Care estimate that over the past year over 100,000 social care workers have received some form of dementia awareness training through workforce development funding from local authorities and care providers.