The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 28 January 2016 to Question 23467, what progress has been made on the procurement of the HPV vaccine.
Jane Ellison
The Department is considering the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s advice on this potential programme. Following this, consideration will be given to the procurement of vaccine.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rupa Huq on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment has been made by his Department or NHS England of the effect of minor ailments services provided by community pharmacies on demand for the services of GP practices and other parts of the NHS; and what assessment he has made of the effect of planned reductions in funding for pharmacies on those services.
Alistair Burt
NHS England has taken account of the potential impact of a pharmacy minor ailments service on general practitioner services and other parts of the National Health Service. The findings of the Minor Ailment study (‘MINA’ study), conducted by the University of Aberdeen, in collaboration with NHS Grampian and the University of East Anglia, on behalf of Pharmacy Research UK in 2014, were considered. In addition, evaluations of local minor ailments schemes have continued to inform decision-making about local commissioning of such schemes.
Community pharmacy is a vital part of the NHS and can play an even greater role. In the Spending Review the Government re-affirmed the need for the NHS to deliver £22 billion in efficiency savings by 2020/21 as set out in the NHS’s own plan, the Five Year Forward View. Community pharmacy is a core part of NHS primary care and has an important contribution to make as the NHS rises to these challenges. The Government believes efficiencies can be made without compromising the quality of services or public access to them. Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive and so we are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared to others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.
The Government’s vision is for a more efficient, modern system that will free up pharmacists to spend more time delivering clinical and public health services to the benefit of patients and the public.
We are consulting the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, other pharmacy bodies and patient and public representatives on our proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond. An impact assessment will be completed to inform final decisions and published in due course.
Local commissioning and funding of services from community pharmacies, such as minor ailment services, will be unaffected by these proposals.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-03-18.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will respond to the petition of Isabelle Garnett on the www.change.org website, entitled Help my son get the autism care he needs.
Alistair Burt
I met Isabelle and Robin Garnett on 15 March, together with the hon. Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes). I was grateful for the opportunity to discuss Matthew’s care and the broader issues of ensuring that children and young people’s mental health services are transformed using the £1.4 billion funding being made available over the lifetime of this Parliament. It is crucial that children such as Matthew get the best possible care, based on the best clinical advice at all stages, with hospital stays kept to the minimum necessary and in the most appropriate setting to meet their needs.
On 22 March, Matthew transferred to a unit in Northampton where the specialist care he needs is available.
I have asked the Department, with NHS England and other partners, to consider urgently how we can best learn the lessons from the experiences of Matthew and his family, including whether this case raises broader systemic issues that need to be addressed.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Mackintosh on 2016-04-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on average patient waiting times of the use of closed waiting lists at GP surgeries.
Alistair Burt
The Department has not assessed waiting times for appointments, as each practice decides how to operate in order to meet the contractual requirement to meet the reasonable needs of their patients. The needs of patients can vary considerably from one practice to another.
NHS England does not routinely collect data on either general practitioner (GP) appointment or GP registration waiting times. NHS England is currently establishing a new collection process to gather information on closed patient lists routinely. Therefore, it is not able currently to assess the impact of a practice closing their list on appointment waiting times.
Practices may only close their lists to new patients with the approval of NHS England.
NHS England works with GP practices to ensure patient lists remain open wherever possible. It is possible that the reasons for closing a practice list impact on the flow of appointments to existing patients e.g. with the sudden loss of a GP, but such effects will often be temporary.
Any patient struggling to find a practice accepting new patients can contact NHS England’s Customer Contact Centre for support.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lilian Greenwood on 2016-05-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of uninsured vehicles in the UK; and how many vehicles were seized for unpaid insurance in each year since 2009-10.
Andrew Jones
Since 2011 the Government has had in place an insurance and compliance strategy, namely the Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE) scheme operated by DVLA and the Motor Insurers Bureau, which aims to reduce the level of uninsured driving.
It is estimated that CIE has already helped reduce levels of uninsured driving from 1.4 million in 2010 to 1 million vehicles now.
The police have powers under Section 165A of the Road Traffic Act 1988 to seize a vehicle that is being used on a public road without motor insurance. How police enforce the law is an operational matter for their discretion.
The table below shows the number of vehicles seized by the police for driving without insurance.
|
Year |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
|
vehicles seized |
180,000 |
150,000 |
140,000 |
137,000 |
135,000 |
116,000 |
121,000 |
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-07-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many people working for her Department or its executive agencies on a (a) directly employed, (b) agency or (c) outsourced basis are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation; and how many of those people are employed on zero-hours contracts.
Matt Hancock
All employees are by law required to be paid the National Living Wage. No directly employed or agency staff are employed on zero hour contacts.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-10-11.
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many applications his Department has received for the Widening Access Tax Rebate Scheme for trainee psychologists in each year since the rebate scheme has been in operation.
Jane Ellison
HM Revenue and Customs does not hold information on the specific course undertaken so is unable to provide figures for the number of applications for trainee psychologists.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Healey on 2016-01-05.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the announcement of 4 January 2016, The Government will directly build affordable homes, what steps he is taking to catalyse the delivery of the wider commercial development in the direct commissioning site at Daedelus Waterfront.
Brandon Lewis
The Homes and Communities Agency continues to work with the local authority to explore options for bringing forward the wider Daedalus site.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the vacancy rates are in (a) child psychiatry, (b) child psychology and (c) mental health nursing for child and adolescent mental health services in each (i) region and (ii) clinical commissioning group in each of the last 10 years.
Ben Gummer
The vacancy rates in child psychiatry, child psychology and mental health nursing for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services are not collected.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-02-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to review the efficacy of the 111 service in ensuring that 999 is not used in medical non-emergencies.
Alistair Burt
NHS 111 services are commissioned by local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) that should ensure all the services they commission are effective.
NHS England’s monthly published data for the period April to September 2015 show that 11% of calls handled by NHS 111 resulted in dispatch of an ambulance.
Most recent figures show that nationally 90.4% of NHS 111 users are satisfied with the service they get.