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  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS trusts and foundation trusts met the 10 seven-day services clinical standards and the four priority standards set out by Sir Bruce Keogh in his December 2013 report, NHS Services, Seven Days a Week Forum: Summary of Initial Findings, in 2015-16.

    Ben Gummer

    There is a phased approach to implementation of the four priority standards. By March 2017, 25% of the population will be guaranteed access to the four standards, seven days a week, rising to the whole country by 2020.

    An initial self-assessment of progress on meeting the four priority clinical standards was carried out by trusts in August 2015. This showed that around half of trusts are meeting two or more of the clinical standards. Following feedback from trusts, the self-assessment process is being improved for future surveys.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average hourly earnings were of his Department’s (a) BME and (b) non-BME employees in (i) 2015 and (ii) 2016.

    Jane Ellison

    The information requested (as at 31 March in each of the two years) is presented below. The figures given take into consideration only information about staff who have formally declared their ethnicity.

    Average Hourly Rate 2015

    Average Hourly Rate 2016

    Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Staff

    £18.50

    £19.03

    Non-Black and Minority Ethnic (Non-BME) Staff

    £24.23

    £24.34

    17% of the Department’s staff are BME which is above the Civil Service average. The difference in average hourly rates between BME and non BME staff is due to there being a higher proportion of BME staff in junior grades at present.

    To encourage recruitment and promotion of talented individuals from a BME background, the Department has undertaken several initiatives including, but not limited to, blind recruitment forms, mandatory unconscious bias training for all staff and a suite of other Diversity and Inclusion training, such as Race Awareness, Positive Action Pathways, and Future Leaders Schemes.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects NHS providers to return to surplus.

    Alistair Burt

    The Government’s Mandate to NHS England 2016-17, sets very clear expectations for this year including a specific objective to balance the National Health Service budget.

    Details can be found at:

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/494485/NHSE_mandate_16-17_22_Jan.pdf

    “

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the proportion of GDP spent on health in 2020-21.

    Alistair Burt

    Spend as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is stated on United Kingdom public expenditure figures and is produced by HM Treasury. The Department is responsible for reporting on health spend in England and is not in a position to provide equivalent spend figures for health by the devolved administrations in future years.

    The Spending Review settlement, delivered by the Chancellor on 25 November, set the Department’s overall budget for the remaining years of the parliament and the level of funding that will be available to the National Health Service. It set absolute spending totals, not spending as a percentage of GDP, providing certainty for financial planning over the period.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the public sector spend on health per head of population (a) in real terms and (b) as a proportion of GDP in each year between 2015-16 and 2020-21.

    Alistair Burt

    Spend as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is stated on United Kingdom public expenditure figures and is produced by HM Treasury. The Department is responsible for reporting on health spend in England and is not in a position to provide equivalent spend figures for health by the devolved administrations in future years.

    The Spending Review settlement, delivered by the Chancellor on 25 November, set the Department’s overall budget for the remaining years of the parliament and the level of funding that will be available to the National Health Service. It set absolute spending totals, not spending as a percentage of GDP, providing certainty for financial planning over the period.

  • Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Justin Madders – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Madders on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the change by his Department in total spend per head of population is in 2016-17.

    Alistair Burt

    The estimated increase in total spend per head of population in England by the Department from 2015-16 to 2016-17 is £51.00 or 2.4%.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS trusts conform to the Accessible Information Standard.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England published the Accessible Information Standard in July 2015. Compliance with the Standard is a legal duty and organisations that provide National Health Service care or adult social care are required to implement the Standard in full by 31 July 2016. Compliance with the Standard is also a requirement of the NHS Standard Contract 2016/17.

    NHS England does not hold information on how many NHS trusts conform to the Standard.

    NHS England is not proactively monitoring progress of organisations that provide NHS or adult social care towards conforming to the Accessible Information Standard, as the Standard does not establish a new national audit or dataset which requires organisations to report centrally on their adherence. In addition, NHS England as an organisation does not have a monitoring or inspection remit.

    However, the Standard includes requirements for organisations to publish or display an accessible communications policy which explains how they will follow the Accessible Information Standard, and an accessible complaints policy. The inclusion of these requirements is intended to support ease of compliance assessment by interested organisations, and to ensure that people with information and communication support needs are able to provide feedback to organisations about their experiences.

    The specification for the Standard also makes clear that commissioning organisations must actively support compliance by organisations from which they commission services and must also seek assurance from providers in this regard.

    In addition, the Care Quality Commission will look at evidence of how services implement the Accessible Information Standard as part of their inspection of health services and adult social care services when they make judgements about whether health services are responsive to people’s needs, and adult social care services are responsive to people’s needs and whether they are well led.

  • Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Debbie Abrahams – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Debbie Abrahams on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how his Department monitors the progress of organisations providing NHS or adult social care towards conforming to the Accessible Information Standard.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England published the Accessible Information Standard in July 2015. Compliance with the Standard is a legal duty and organisations that provide National Health Service care or adult social care are required to implement the Standard in full by 31 July 2016. Compliance with the Standard is also a requirement of the NHS Standard Contract 2016/17.

    NHS England does not hold information on how many NHS trusts conform to the Standard.

    NHS England is not proactively monitoring progress of organisations that provide NHS or adult social care towards conforming to the Accessible Information Standard, as the Standard does not establish a new national audit or dataset which requires organisations to report centrally on their adherence. In addition, NHS England as an organisation does not have a monitoring or inspection remit.

    However, the Standard includes requirements for organisations to publish or display an accessible communications policy which explains how they will follow the Accessible Information Standard, and an accessible complaints policy. The inclusion of these requirements is intended to support ease of compliance assessment by interested organisations, and to ensure that people with information and communication support needs are able to provide feedback to organisations about their experiences.

    The specification for the Standard also makes clear that commissioning organisations must actively support compliance by organisations from which they commission services and must also seek assurance from providers in this regard.

    In addition, the Care Quality Commission will look at evidence of how services implement the Accessible Information Standard as part of their inspection of health services and adult social care services when they make judgements about whether health services are responsive to people’s needs, and adult social care services are responsive to people’s needs and whether they are well led.

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 12 May 2016 to Question 36856, on heart diseases, when his Department plans to instruct NICE to develop specific clinical guidelines on the diagnosis, referral and treatment of patients with heart valve disease.

    George Freeman

    NHS England is responsible for commissioning clinical guidelines on healthcare topics from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

    NHS England has advised that it has no plans to ask NICE to develop specific clinical guidelines on the diagnosis, referral and treatment of patients with heart valve disease at this time.

  • Robin Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Robin Walker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Robin Walker on 2016-05-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the health benefits of (a) regular supported activity for people with long-term neurological conditions and (b) the commissioning of services to support such activity.

    Jane Ellison

    The Department has made no such specific assessment. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends the involvement of physiotherapists in the management of a range of neurological conditions including Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and motor neurone disease. The commissioning of services to provide supported physical activity, such as that provided by physiotherapists, is a local matter, as are the vast majority of services for neurological conditions.