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Tag: 2015

  • 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, what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on steps to tackle alcohol misuse.

    Jane Ellison

    Local authorities are responsible for assessing local need for alcohol prevention and treatment services and commissioning interventions and services based on that need. Public Health England (PHE) works closely with local authorities – via nine regional centres – by providing advice, support and evidence-based guidance in a range of public health issues, including alcohol misuse.

    An example of this is the support PHE gives to local authority commissioners with the joint strategic needs assessment (JSNA) process and their local joint health and wellbeing strategies. The annual JSNA support pack from PHE covers four topics including alcohol harm prevention, treatment and recovery. For more information, see the pack which is available online at:

    http://www.nta.nhs.uk/healthcare-JSNA.aspx

    “

  • 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 comparative assessment he has made of uptake and use by the NHS of new treatments for people living with diabetes with health systems in other EU countries.

    Jane Ellison

    The Office of Health Economics (OHE) report International Comparison of Medicines Usage: Quantitative Analysis, published last year, showed that uptake of newer and more expensive drugs to treat diabetes was lower than comparator countries. However, uptake of more established therapies was considerably higher.

    It is important to note that high use of drugs does not mean more people are cured. There are a number of legitimate factors which influence usage, and therefore variation, such as populations with differing health needs. The Research and Development (RAND) Europe report International variation in drugs usage: an exploratory analysis, published at the same time as the OHE report – seeks to define some of these factors and can be found at the link below:

    http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR800/RR899/RAND_RR899.pdf

    Our focus is on tackling unjustified variation where it exists.

    “

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Bridget Phillipson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bridget Phillipson on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his Department’s policy is on making the drug Keyruda available for cancer treatment in the NHS.

    George Freeman

    Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the treatment of advanced melanoma, which has spread or cannot be removed by surgery and has progressed after other treatments, is the first drug to be given a positive scientific opinion through the Early Access to Medicines Scheme (EAMS). NHS England has undertaken to fund the use of EAMS products routinely within 30 days of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance being published.

    NICE published final guidance on pembrolizumab on 7 October 2015 which recommends its use for the treatment of advanced melanoma after disease progression with ipilimumab.

    NICE is also appraising pembrolizumab for advanced melanoma that has not been previously treated with ipilimumab and published final draft guidance which recommends its use on 9 October 2015. NICE’s final guidance is expected to be published in November 2015.

  • 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, whether his Department plans to tender for additional proton beam therapy treatment providers.

    Jane Ellison

    The decision to commission services from additional proton beam therapy (PBT) centres would likely be triggered by an existing supplier no longer being able to deliver services and/or NHS England having capacity requirements that could not be met by the existing providers.

    In the event NHS England required additional PBT providers, these would be selected through a procurement exercise.

    There is currently no indication that NHS England will need to seek additional providers but it will, of course, keep this position under review.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the update of the current Cancer Drugs Fund list published on 4 September 2015, what assessment he has made of the potential effects on survival rates for (a) breast cancer, (b) pancreatic cancer, (c) lymphoma and (d) leukaemia of the removal of treatments from that list.

    George Freeman

    NHS England has advised that negotiations are continuing which may result in some drugs remaining in the Cancer Drugs Fund making it difficult to provide a meaningful estimate at this time.

    NHS England also advises that the planned removal of these drugs from the Fund will have no or minimal impact on survival rates for the cancers listed.

  • 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, whether the mechanisms used by NHS England to collect information on patient experience include metrics on (a) shared decision-making and (b) self-management.

    Ben Gummer

    NHS England collects patient experience information through a programme of national patient experience surveys, which depending on the survey, are managed by either NHS England or the Care Quality Commission.

    National surveys containing questions that can be used to assess the extent to which patients feel they are being involved in shared decision-making include: the National Survey of Bereaved People, the Cancer Patient Experience Survey, the GP Patient Survey, and surveys in accident and emergency, maternity, mental health and inpatient settings.

    Questions asking patients about their view and support to self-manage are included in both the Cancer Patient Experience Survey and the GP Patient Survey and in addition, NHS England is testing the use of a Patient Activation Measure within the National Health Service, to support self-management and person centred care.

  • 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 make possession of obscene publications an either way offence rather than summary only offence; 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.

  • Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Caroline Lucas – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Caroline Lucas on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will amend the terms of reference of the Pitchford inquiry into undercover policing to include operations by UK undercover officers that took place outside of the UK; and if she will make a statement.

    Mike Penning

    The terms of reference for the Statutory Inquiry into Undercover Policing, which were published on 16 July 2015, require the Inquiry to “inquire into and report on undercover police operations conducted by English and Welsh police forces in England and Wales since 1968”. There are no plans to amend the terms of reference.

  • Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Kate Osamor – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Osamor on 2015-10-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many victims of human trafficking have been detained in the last five years.

    Karen Bradley

    Individuals who have been identified as victims of trafficking by the competent authorities are normally considered suitable for detention in only very exceptional circumstances, which include cases where there is a risk of public harm. This data is not collected centrally and accurate figures are not available. Once a person is detained their continued detention remains under review by the Home Office at least at monthly intervals, and earlier in response to any change of circumstances that might have a material effect on their detention.

  • Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Nicholas Soames – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nicholas Soames on 2015-10-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent progress has been made on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership; and if he will make a statement.

    Anna Soubry

    There continues to be good progress on the free trade agreement currently being negotiated between the EU and US, also known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), in particular on the technical work which would underpin the final deal.The next negotiating round is taking place 19-23 October in the US.

    A trade and investment agreement between the EU and US offers an enormous economic benefit in jobs, investment and lower prices, worth potentially £10 billion a year to the UK Our ambition remains to reach political agreement during the Obama administration and this goal has been given renewed impetus by the completion of the Trans Pacific Partnership.