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Tag: 2015

  • Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Barry Sheerman – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what cost benefit assessment his Department has made of a policy of providing Group B strep tests to new-born babies on the NHS.

    Ben Gummer

    Routine testing of babies for Group B Streptococcus (GBS) infection is not recommended. Therefore, no cost benefit assessment has been made by the Department on providing GBS tests to newborn babies.

    A search of the Department’s Ministerial correspondence database has identified 41 items of correspondence received since 1 January 2015 on GBS. This correspondence relates mainly to offering testing for GBS carriage in pregnancy.

    If a woman has previously had a baby with GBS, her maternity team will either monitor the health of her newborn baby closely for at least 12 hours after birth, or treat them with antibiotics until blood tests confirm whether or not GBS is present. The Department’s policy is not to offer antenatal screening for GBS carriage. This is based on advice from the UK National Screening Committee the body responsible for advising Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy, and their advice is because there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that the benefits to be gained from screening would outweigh the harms.

  • Liam Byrne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Liam Byrne – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans next to update the public health outcomes framework.

    Jane Ellison

    The consultation on updating the Public Health Outcomes Framework was published on 3 September and closed on 2 October. We are considering the responses and intend to publish our proposals in due course.

  • John Glen – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    John Glen – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Glen on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to procure extended half-life blood clotting factor products for use in the NHS.

    George Freeman

    The Department plans to tender for extended half-life Clotting Factor VIII and Factor IX for use in the National Health Service once the products are granted European Union licences and are commercially available.

    NHS England has made no decision at this time to whether it will develop a clinical commissioning policy for extended half-life productsbut, through the Clinical Reference Group and discussion with the Department’s Commercial Medicines Unit, will continue to review commissioning of these extended half-life products in the future.

  • 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.

  • 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 forecasts his Department has made of the proportion of NHS (a) nurses and (b) doctors that will be recruited from agencies in each of the next five years.

    Ben Gummer

    The information requested is not held by the Department.

  • Conor McGinn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Conor McGinn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Conor McGinn on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the delay in reform of social care funding until 2020 on the provision of social care; and how many people will be affected by that delay in (a) St Helens North constituency, (b) the North West and (c) the UK.

    Alistair Burt

    We remain committed to the implementation of the cap on care costs, which will offer financial protection and peace of mind. The decision to delay followed careful consideration of feedback from stakeholders that April 2016 was not the right time to implement these significant and expensive reforms. The benefits of the cap have had to be weighed against the need to focus on supporting the system that supports the most vulnerable.

    In reaching the difficult decision to delay we considered the impact on those who would have entered the cap system from April next year. Though they will not benefit from the additional help straightaway, many will still benefit from the cap system when it is introduced in 2020. The delay will allow local authorities time to focus on consolidating the important reforms to care and support introduced on 1 April 2015, laying the groundwork to implement the funding reforms as successfully as possible in 2020.

    Based on the most recent impact assessment, had the cap system been implemented in April 2016, around 23,000 older people in England would have benefitted immediately in 2016/17 and by 2025/26 up to 80,000 additional older people would have received state support.

    Information regarding how many people will be affected by the delay in specific constituencies or regions is not held in the format requested.

    Means-tested financial support remains available for those who cannot afford to pay for care to meet their eligible needs.

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

    David Amess – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

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

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many stakeholders responded to the consultation on the Call to Action on improving eye health and provision of NHS eye health services.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England received 330 responses to the Call to Action on improving eye health and provision of NHS eye health services.

    The total identifiable spend by NHS England on the Call to Action was £34,184. This consisted of £25,950 for engagement events and £8,234 for the compilation of responses. Figures provided are exclusive of VAT. No consultants were employed.

    There are no current plans for NHS England to publish a report on the Call to Action, however, the findings have been discussed with commissioners and stakeholders. Work is underway to develop local and national responses to the findings as part of NHS England business plan for 2016/17.

  • Stephen McPartland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Stephen McPartland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen McPartland on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to amend the Obscene Publications Act 1959 to remove the time limit for prosecution of obscene publications; and if he will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    The offence of publishing an obscene article under the Obscene Publications Act 1959 is triable either way, with a maximum custodial penalty of six months on summary conviction or five years on conviction on indictment. The Government has no current plans to amend it but is happy to consider relevant evidence.

  • Patrick Grady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Patrick Grady – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Patrick Grady on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for visitor visas have been (a) granted and (b) refused to citizens of Eritrea in each year since 2010.

    James Brokenshire

    The information requested is given in the attached table.

    The latest quarterly Home Office immigration statistics on entry clearance visas are published in ‘Immigration Statistics, April-June 2015’, available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-statistics

  • Angela Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Angela Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Angela Smith on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the cross-compliance inspection regime in reducing soil erosion.

    George Eustice

    Defra commissioned research, published in 2012, to evaluate the implementation of the Soil Protection Review (SPR). The research took the form of a telephone survey of 800 claimants, with 30 in-depth interviews across a sample of farms by region, farm type and size.

    Following recommendations by the Farming Regulation Task force, a review of the SPR was conducted. In January 2015, new national standards for agricultural soils under cross compliance were introduced. These rules require farmers in receipt of payments under CAP to prevent soil erosion, to maintain soil cover and to protect the level of organic matter in their soils.

    The Government will continue to monitor the implementation of the new rules.