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  • Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Gregory Campbell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gregory Campbell on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has for a National Stroke Strategy after the end of the ten year strategy plan in 2017.

    Jane Ellison

    The National Stroke Strategy remains valid and implementation of it continues. There are, therefore, no current plans to renew the strategy. Action continues to be taken to ensure the progress made on stroke continues. This includes:

    – ongoing work across the country to organise acute stroke care to ensure that all stroke patients, regardless of where they live or what time of the day or week they have their stroke, have access to high quality specialist care;

    – publication of the Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Outcomes Strategy in 2013, which includes many stroke specific strategic ambitions;

    – a CVD expert forum, hosted by NHS England, to coordinate delivery of the work which was initiated in the CVD Outcomes Strategy; and

    – NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Stroke working with the Strategic Clinical Networks, clinical commissioning groups, voluntary agencies and individual providers to support better commissioning and provision of stroke care.

    More generally, the NHS Five Year Forward View recognises that quality of care, including stroke care, can be variable and that patients’ needs are changing and new treatment options are emerging. The Five Year Forward View sets out high level objectives to address these issues.

  • 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 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of agency costs as a proportion of the total nursing costs in each NHS (a) trust and (b) foundation trust in 2015-16.

    Alistair Burt

    The information requested is not currently available centrally. It could only be obtained from NHS Improvement at a disproportionate cost.

    In November 2015, the Government introduced a series of tough financial controls to help the National Health Service tackle overspending on agency staff, including an hourly price cap.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Caroline Lucas – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which NHS bodies will authorise Sustainability and Transformation Plan footprints; what role NHS Improvement will play; and if he will make a statement.

    George Freeman

    The NHS Shared Planning Guidance asked the National Health Service to develop proposed footprints for Sustainability and Transformation Plans by 29 January 2016, engaging with local authorities and other partners. The footprints were then reviewed by the national arm’s length bodies, including NHS Improvement, with regard to geography (including patient flow), scale, fit with footprints of existing change programmes, financial sustainability, and leadership capacity. There were one or two areas where further clarification was sought and, following further conversations locally, changes were agreed.

    The process for Sustainability and Transformation Plans is designed to bring together health and care leaders to support improvements in health and care based on the needs of local populations. It does not alter the existing accountabilities of clinical commissioning groups, local authorities and NHS provider organisations.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 33135, on employment and support allowance: inflammatory bowel disease, how many new claimants there have been in this Parliament.

    Priti Patel

    The information provided in response to Question 33135 dated the 18th of April is the latest data available.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department provides to clinical commissioning groups on the storage and disposal of embryonic waste following IVF treatment.

    Jane Ellison

    The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is the United Kingdom national regulator for the provision of in vitro fertilisation (IVF). Clinics cannot provide IVF or store gametes and embryos unless they have a licence to do so from the HFEA.

    The HFEA’s code of practice (a copy is attached) gives guidance to clinics on the sensitive handling of embryonic material following IVF. It advises that this should be done in a manner that takes account of the special status of the human embryo.

  • Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to ensure that the workforce requirements for the delivery of the NHS England transformation plan can be met with qualified clinical psychologists within the five-year timescale of the plan.

    Alistair Burt

    As set out in the independent Mental Health Taskforce report, Health Education England is working with NHS England, Public Health England, the Local Government Association and local authorities, professional bodies, charities, experts-by-experience and others to develop a costed, multi-disciplinary, five-year workforce strategy. This will focus on the future shape and skill mix of the workforce required to deliver both the Taskforce’s recommendations and the workforce recommendations set out in the Future in Mind strategy for improving children and young people’s mental health.

    Health Education England will also consider the future requirements for training new clinical psychologists and psychotherapists as part of its workforce strategy. Health Education England published its commissioning and investment plan for 2016/17 which sets out plans to commission 526 training places for clinical psychologists in 2016/17 and 43 child psychotherapist places.

  • Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the extent of the practice among clinical commissioning groups in England of offering only one fresh cycle of IVF treatment.

    Jane Ellison

    The Government has not made an assessment of the annual cost to the National Health Service of high risk pregnancies caused by patients going abroad for in vitro fertilisation (IVF).

    Multiple births are the single biggest risk to the health and welfare of children born following fertility treatment and present significant health risks to mothers and babies. Over recent years, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has worked to drive down multiple birth rates whilst maintaining consistent treatment success rates.

    To minimise the risk of multiple pregnancies, there has been a growing trend for IVF providers to only transfer one embryo, even when more are available, in patients who have a good chance of successful treatment. Elective single embryo transfer is the most effective way of reducing multiple pregnancies. The HFEA has advised that most clinics have shown significant progress in reducing multiple births without compromising pregnancy rates. In 2008 nearly one in four IVF births resulted in a multiple birth but now, with a concerted multiple births reduction policy, this number is one in six.

    Although progress has been made, this number is still higher than the rate in conceptions that do not involve assisted reproduction treatment. The overall goal is to reduce multiple births to one in ten.

    The level of provision of infertility treatment, as for all health services they commission, is decided by local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and will take into account the needs of the population overall. The CCG’s decisions are underpinned by clinical insight and knowledge of local healthcare needs. As such, provision of services will vary in response to local needs.

    Information about CCGs approach to commissioning or compliance with the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence guidelines regarding IVF services is not collected centrally.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the changes to junior doctors’ contracts and NHS working patterns on hospices and other institutions providing end of life care.

    Ben Gummer

    Most junior doctors working in hospices do so as either a volunteer or as part of their training placement with a National Health Service trust or foundation trust, who under the new contract will appoint a guardian of safe working hours.

    It was also agreed in the May negotiations that non-hospital employers with fewer than 10 trainees (this could include palliative care) must contract the guardian of safe working hours at a neighbouring NHS trust to oversee the safe working of trainees.

    The trainees affected by these arrangements will be represented in the Junior Doctor Forum and the Guardian must either be familiar with the issues face by the trainees working in the relevant setting or have access to support and advice on such issues.

    Hospices will decide locally how to deploy trainee doctors and on-call arrangements.

  • Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to ensure levels of bursaries and salary support for trainee clinical psychologists for the 2017-18 cohort are adequate to ensure a diverse future workforce.

    Ben Gummer

    Health Education England (HEE) funding for trainees in clinical psychology is currently determined at a local level based on local need and is subject to annual workforce planning. For 2016-17, HEE will fund those commissions set out in the HEE Commissioning and Investment Plan for 2016-17. HEE’s plans for training clinical psychologists remain unchanged from 2015-16 with 526 commissions proposed for 2016-17. HEE will set out its plans for 2017-18 training commissions in its next annual Commissioning and Investment Plan or Workforce Plan for England which is expected to be published in December 2016 prior to the start of the financial year.

    The Government is currently consulting on the implementation of the education funding reforms for pre-registration undergraduate and postgraduate nursing, midwifery and allied health courses which are currently funded through both HEE funded tuition, a National Health Service bursary and reduced rate loan for maintenance. Respondents to the consultation may wish to raise issues relating to the funding for courses operating outside of this model, such as clinical psychology training programmes. The Government will consider these in the context of its consultation response.

  • Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to consult on levels of bursaries and salary support for trainee clinical psychologists for the 2017-18 cohort.

    Ben Gummer

    Health Education England (HEE) funding for trainees in clinical psychology is currently determined at a local level based on local need and is subject to annual workforce planning. For 2016-17, HEE will fund those commissions set out in the HEE Commissioning and Investment Plan for 2016-17. HEE’s plans for training clinical psychologists remain unchanged from 2015-16 with 526 commissions proposed for 2016-17. HEE will set out its plans for 2017-18 training commissions in its next annual Commissioning and Investment Plan or Workforce Plan for England which is expected to be published in December 2016 prior to the start of the financial year.

    The Government is currently consulting on the implementation of the education funding reforms for pre-registration undergraduate and postgraduate nursing, midwifery and allied health courses which are currently funded through both HEE funded tuition, a National Health Service bursary and reduced rate loan for maintenance. Respondents to the consultation may wish to raise issues relating to the funding for courses operating outside of this model, such as clinical psychology training programmes. The Government will consider these in the context of its consultation response.