Tag: 2016

  • Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Heidi Alexander – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure hospital trusts routinely collect and submit data on secondary breast cancer.

    Jane Ellison

    Public Health England (PHE) is responsible for collecting cancer data to support national cancer registration in England and recognises the importance of collecting data on recurrent breast cancer.

    At present pilot work in acute trusts has improved the reporting for breast cancer recurrence and metastasis to the National Cancer Registration Service but the uptake has been slow and the data is not complete. Further work is being scoped by NHS England and PHE based on the recommendation in the recent Independent Cancer Taskforce report to establish robust surveillance systems to collect this data on all cancers.

    Data on the number of people diagnosed with secondary breast cancer is not currently available.

  • Lord Wills – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Lord Wills – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Wills on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that Electronic Palliative Care Co-ordination Systems, or equivalent systems, can be viewed and updated by all those involved in the provision of end of life care services, in particular social care organisations, by April 2018, as outlined in the review What’s important to me: A review of choice in end of life care.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    We are committed to ensuring that everyone at, or nearing, the end of life receives high quality, compassionate care, tailored to their individual needs and preferences.

    The Government’s forthcoming response to the independent Review of Choice in End of Life Care, which will be published shortly, will set out our vision for high quality, personalised care and the steps we will take to achieve this. The response will also address each of the Review recommendations, including on care coordination; improving the quality, availability and responsiveness of care; improving the quality and use of data; care planning and the use of digital care records; and the involvement of family members and carers in discussions about care.

  • Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nic Dakin – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nic Dakin on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information he holds on the number of people in the UK with undiagnosed heart valve disease; and if he will estimate the potential cost to the NHS of treating such people.

    Jane Ellison

    NHS England is working with professionals across the healthcare system to look at ways in which services and outcomes for patients with heart valve disease can be improved further, for example, by encouraging practitioners to follow clinical guidelines.

    Service specifications and policy for the surgical and interventional treatment of heart valve disease are published by NHS England’s Cardiothoracic Clinical Reference Group. These define what NHS England expects to be in place in order for providers to offer evidence-based, safe and effective services. NHS England is working on the next iteration of the specifications, which will include important standards relating to mitral valve surgery.

    In addition, NHS England is holding a clinical summit on 15 June 2016, which will bring together cardiologists and cardiac surgeons to examine the issues relating to heart valve disease, including variation. Outputs from discussions will be used to inform the future commissioning approach within specialised commissioning.

    Information on the number of people with an undiagnosed heart valve condition is not collected centrally. Patients with undiagnosed heart valve disease, once diagnosed, may require a range of treatments, including surgery. Therefore it is not possible to estimate what the aggregate costs might be.

  • Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Danny Kinahan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Danny Kinahan on 2016-07-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the time taken to process counter-terrorism checks for job applications in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) other constituent parts of the UK.

    Karen Bradley

    Counter-terrorism checks conducted by the Home Office form part of the national security vetting process required for employment in the Home Office.

    We continue to reduce the processing time for all national security vetting checks. Processing times will vary from case to case and are not broken down by constituent parts of the UK.

  • Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale on 2016-09-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of visa applications involving the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Bath, and Imperial College London, were successful in each of the last three years.

    Baroness Williams of Trafford

    Visa refusal rate data is produced for internal use only and is not intended for publication.

    The data requested provides sensitive information about sponsors’ compliance with their immigration requirements and by extension how likely they are to retain their sponsor licence. As this information could potentially impact their reputation and ability to attract international students, and therefore their commercial viability, we are unable to provide the information requested on the basis of commercial confidentiality.

  • Stewart Jackson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Stewart Jackson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stewart Jackson on 2016-01-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she expects to publish her Department’s review of Sharia courts; and if she will make a statement.

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Secretary has commissioned a full, independent review to enhance our understanding of any misuse of Sharia law. The review will report to the Home Secretary before the end of this year.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-02-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he had made to his counterparts in (a) the US, (b) China, (c) France and (d) Russia on the recent ballistic missile launched by North Korea.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) strongly condemned the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)’s satellite launch of 7 February, which used ballistic missile technology in clear violation of a number of UN Security Council Resolutions. We are working closely with our international counterparts, including permanent members of the UN Security Council, to ensure significant and substantive measures are agreed in response to the DPRK’s repeated provocations. In addition, we continue to work with international partners to ensure existing Resolutions are implemented effectively.

  • 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 2016-03-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on which occasions the Care Quality Commission has inspected each provider of NHS 111 since April 2013.

    Ben Gummer

    The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. The CQC is responsible for deciding which providers to inspect and when to inspect them. The CQC has provided the following information:

    In June 2015, the CQC published the results of three NHS 111 inspection pilots. The NHS 111 services inspected were operated by the Isle of Wight Healthcare Trust, Derbyshire Health United and North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

    In November 2015, the CQC conducted a comprehensive inspection of Derbyshire Health United. This report has not yet been published. In November 2015, it also conducted a comprehensive inspection of Hertfordshire Urgent Care and published its report on 10 March 2016. The service was rated ‘Good’.

    In November 2015, the CQC conducted a focused inspection of South Central Ambulance Trust’s 111 service and published its report in January 2016. In March 2016, the CQC completed a focussed inspection of South West Ambulance Trust’s 111 service and will publish the report in due course.

    The remaining providers are scheduled to be inspected in line with the CQC hospital and primary medical services inspection programme during 2016.

  • – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by on 2016-04-11.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Dunlop on 24 March (HL7079), concerning parity of esteem” as specified in the Belfast Agreement 1998

    Lord Dunlop

    In the Belfast Agreement, the concept of ‘parity of esteem’ is expressed and defined in relation to the people of different traditions in Northern Ireland.

  • Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the NHS plans to make minoxidil available to women who have lost their hair.

    George Freeman

    Minoxidil (Regaine) for the treatment of alopecia is available to purchase ‘over the counter’, without prescription.

    Regaine cannot be prescribed in primary care as it is listed in Schedule 1 to the National Health Service (General Medical Service Contracts) (Prescription of Drugs etc.) Regulations 2004 (the ‘blacklist’).

    However other minoxidil products are available for clinicians to prescribe if they consider them to be clinically appropriate for an individual patient.