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Cat Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he has received any representations from NHS staff who feel they are being harassed outside NHS buildings by protesters.

Ben Gummer

There have been no representations from National Health Service staff who feel they are being harassed outside NHS buildings by protesters.

Although protesters are democratically entitled to make their views known on abortion and other issues and can do so outside NHS hospitals and other NHS buildings, we would condemn any harassment of NHS staff, patients and others. We would expect NHS trusts, as responsible for providing a safe environment for all using their facilities, to work with the Police and other agencies as appropriate to ensure they have adequate arrangements in place to prevent harassment of staff and patients. If staff are subject to criminal activity such as physical assaults, these should be reported so that employers can take appropriate action.

Currently, NHS trusts have access to Security Incident Reporting Systems which helps NHS Protect measure the nature and scale of security incidents across the NHS, not just those involving physical assaults on staff but also those involving non-physical abuse and theft of/damage to NHS assets.

01/01/2023
Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government has taken in response to the Palliative Care Funding Review, published in July 2011.

Ben Gummer

In response to the Review recommendations, the Government established a large-scale two year data collection exercise to find out more about palliative care costs, with the aim of working towards a fairer, more transparent funding system for palliative care.

From April 2013, NHS England assumed responsibility for this work. The data collection concluded in 2014 and NHS England published a palliative care development currency in February 2015. Over 2015/16 the currency has been tested and refined in a number of local areas around the country. During 2016, NHS England will engage with key stakeholders on the results of this testing and make a definitive set of currencies available for use in April 2017. The currencies will allow commissioners and providers of specialist end of life care to ensure the best services are being provided to meet people’s needs regardless of care setting.

01/01/2023
Graham Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Jones on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what contribution his Department plans to make to the Royal College of Ophthalmologists’ consultation on raising standards for refractive surgery.

Alistair Burt

Refractive eye surgery is regulated through providers being registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and doctors carrying out the surgery must be registered with the General Medical Council.

Once the Royal College of Ophthalmologists refractive surgery standards are published, the General Medical Council would expect a doctor to be aware of them. When carrying out inspections and assessments of services, the CQC would also expect a provider to be following best practice guidance, which would include the standards published by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.

These processes are well established and so the Department would not have a direct role in assisting in the implementation of the refractive surgery standards. However, the Department will maintain an interest in the consultation and the work of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists in this area.

01/01/2023
Graham Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Graham Jones on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how his Department plans to assist with the implementation of new refractive surgery standards being drawn up by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.

Alistair Burt

Refractive eye surgery is regulated through providers being registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and doctors carrying out the surgery must be registered with the General Medical Council.

Once the Royal College of Ophthalmologists refractive surgery standards are published, the General Medical Council would expect a doctor to be aware of them. When carrying out inspections and assessments of services, the CQC would also expect a provider to be following best practice guidance, which would include the standards published by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.

These processes are well established and so the Department would not have a direct role in assisting in the implementation of the refractive surgery standards. However, the Department will maintain an interest in the consultation and the work of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists in this area.

01/01/2023

Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS organisations complied with the 30 day target for the payment of subcontractors set by the Government in the last period for which figures are available.

George Freeman

Figures on the number of National Health Service bodies recording instances of expenditure incurred under the ‘Late payment of commercial debt (Interest) Act 1998’, where it was incurred with non-NHS bodies, in the last three years, are provided in the following table.

Sector	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
NHS Trust	19	21	18
NHS Foundation Trust	9	14	15
Clinical Commissioning Groups¹	0	N/A	N/A
Primary Care Trusts²	5	0	0
Strategic Health Authorities²	0	0	0
Total	33	35	33

Did not exist in 2012/13
Did not exist after 2012/13

Figures on the number of NHS bodies meeting the 30 day payment target for subcontractors, where the information is available from the central accounts returns made to the Department are shown in the following table.

Sector	NHS Trusts
Entities meeting Target	25
Total Entities in sector	99

01/01/2023

Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS organisations have been charged statutory interest as a result of late payment in the last three years.

George Freeman

Sector	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
NHS Trust	19	21	18
NHS Foundation Trust	9	14	15
Clinical Commissioning Groups¹	0	N/A	N/A
Primary Care Trusts²	5	0	0
Strategic Health Authorities²	0	0	0
Total	33	35	33

Did not exist in 2012/13
Did not exist after 2012/13

Sector	NHS Trusts
Entities meeting Target	25
Total Entities in sector	99

01/01/2023

Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of adults in Southampton have been diagnosed with dementia in each of the last 10 years.

Jane Ellison

Information is not available in the format requested.

The number of people recorded on the practice dementia disease register is available in the Quality and Outcomes Framework, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre, from 2006/07, when dementia indicators were introduced into the framework. The proportion of patients diagnosed is not available but the numbers of people on the dementia register are available. This is a measure of prevalence rather than incidence.

01/01/2023
Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the NHS spent on late-stage Lyme disease treatment in each of the last three years.

Jane Ellison

As services for the treatment of Lyme disease are commissioned locally information on the costs associated with laboratory testing and treatment of late stage Lyme disease is not collected centrally. Nor is information collected centrally on the average time to diagnose cases of Lyme disease.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is developing a clinical guideline on Lyme disease and reports progress on its website. NICE recently consulted on a draft scope for the guideline, and expects to publish final guidance in July 2018.

Public Health England and NHS Choices publish information on their websites to raise awareness of Lyme disease and encourage timely medical consultation because early diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease is the best way of limiting complications from infection. Given the need to maintain public awareness these or similar mechanisms are expected to continue beyond 2018. Increased awareness is likely to encourage early consultation but no information on the time taken to seek medical advice is available.

There are no plans to set targets for diagnosis and treatment as most cases of Lyme disease are diagnosed empirically by general practitioners using their clinical judgement rather than relying on a laboratory test, thus treatment can start immediately. Diagnosis of patients with late or complicated Lyme disease can be difficult and the National Health Service will continue to provide care taking account of the existing evidence base.

01/01/2023
Andrew Stephenson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Stephenson on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what targets his Department has set to increase early diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease.

Jane Ellison

As services for the treatment of Lyme disease are commissioned locally information on the costs associated with laboratory testing and treatment of late stage Lyme disease is not collected centrally. Nor is information collected centrally on the average time to diagnose cases of Lyme disease.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is developing a clinical guideline on Lyme disease and reports progress on its website. NICE recently consulted on a draft scope for the guideline, and expects to publish final guidance in July 2018.

Public Health England and NHS Choices publish information on their websites to raise awareness of Lyme disease and encourage timely medical consultation because early diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease is the best way of limiting complications from infection. Given the need to maintain public awareness these or similar mechanisms are expected to continue beyond 2018. Increased awareness is likely to encourage early consultation but no information on the time taken to seek medical advice is available.

There are no plans to set targets for diagnosis and treatment as most cases of Lyme disease are diagnosed empirically by general practitioners using their clinical judgement rather than relying on a laboratory test, thus treatment can start immediately. Diagnosis of patients with late or complicated Lyme disease can be difficult and the National Health Service will continue to provide care taking account of the existing evidence base.

01/01/2023
Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-04-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has conducted any research into the number of NHS organisations complying with guidance for the seven contract documents contained in the Guidance for NHS Terms and Conditions for the Supply of Goods and the Provision of Services, published in March 2015.

George Freeman

The Department has developed standard National Health Service terms and conditions for use by NHS bodies procuring goods and services from commercial suppliers. The documents were first published in August 2013.

The Department has details of all activity on the gov.uk website which shows extensive use and downloads of the documents and has also invited regular feedback and online surveys that demonstrate the extensive use of the suite of documents.

In June 2015, the Department and the Cabinet Office Mystery Shopper scheme carried out spot checks with a number of trusts to find out the level of take up of the NHS terms and conditions. The results showed 90% of the trusts contacted confirmed they were using (or intended to use) the NHS terms and conditions.

The suite of documents has been endorsed by the Association of British Healthcare Industries (ABHI), the industry association for the medical technology sector, and the Health Care Supply Association, the representative and network organisation for NHS buyers. Both organisations inform the Department of any activity they are aware of that NHS bodies or suppliers are deviating from the stated terms and conditions. There have only limited examples to date.

The Department of Health has been made aware of a couple of examples of where NHS bodies were extending their payment terms beyond 30 days. The examples came both via the Cabinet Office mystery shopper scheme and ABHI. To support their members ABHI undertook more extensive research but has found these are isolated cases and the practice is not widespread.

The Department understands the concern and together with NHS Provider Regulators are working very closely with NHS providers to ensure that they have sufficient cash to support the safe delivery of their essential services. Although the NHS financial position is tight, the Department has not endorsed, and do not support, formal extensions of credit terms, particularly with Small and Medium size Enterprises, beyond the 30 days in statute.

The Department will also ask NHS Improvement to communicate with all NHS providers through its official monthly bulletin to raise awareness of the Better Practice Payment Code.

01/01/2023