Tag: 2016

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

    Lord Mawhinney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Mawhinney on 2016-03-17.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how information is (1) collected, and (2) managed, to protect the confidentiality of patients who receive pharmacy services in retail outlets, under Standards for registered pharmacies, Principle 1.

    Lord Prior of Brampton

    Pharmacy owners and superintendent pharmacists of bodies corporate are responsible for meeting the General Pharmaceutical Council’s standards for registered pharmacies and must decide how best to do so, including managing information to protect the privacy, dignity and confidentiality of patients and the public, within their pharmacies.

    There are a number of different ways in which pharmacy professionals and the wider pharmacy team may receive patient information. Information is included on prescriptions, or may be shared by patients when seeking care from a pharmacy. In addition, information may be stored in patient medication records or other records.

    Through its inspections, the General Pharmaceutical Council seeks assurance from the pharmacy team about how they maintain the confidentiality, privacy and dignity of patients and the public. These assurances can be provided through a number of different means, for example restricted password access to patient information, appropriate training of staff or making sure patients can have conversations with members of the pharmacy team in private.

    All National Health service providers, including community pharmacies, also need to provide information governance assurances to the NHS on an annual basis.

  • Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Anne Main – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Anne Main on 2016-04-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many infraction proceedings the EU has initiated against his Department in each of the last 10 years; what the reasons were for each such proceeding being undertaken; and what the outcome was of each such proceeding.

    Dominic Raab

    The information requested is publicly available on the website of the European Commission where the infringement cases for each member state can be found.

    This includes the infringement and the decision. These records go back to 2002 and can be located at the following link:

    http://ec.europa.eu/atwork/applying-eu-law/infringements-proceedings/infringement_decisions/?lang_code=en

    “

  • Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-06-06.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green received a severance package following his resignation from the post of Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Ministerial and other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991 (Section 4 of Chapter 5) governs Ministerial severance payments. The legislation outlines the criteria upon which severance payments are made and how the amount is calculated.

    The relevant section of the legislation can be found at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1991/5/section/4

    “

  • Dominic Raab – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Dominic Raab – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dominic Raab on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many former overseas students of the Cambridge College of Learning have been granted (a) indefinite leave to remain and (b) UK citizenship since that College’s closure.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    Information on how many former overseas students of the Cambridge College of Learning would have submitted an indefinite leave to remain or UK citizenship application is not aggregated in national reporting systems. This information could only be obtained by a manual case by case review to collate the data, which would be disproportionately expensive.

  • Susan Elan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Susan Elan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Susan Elan Jones on 2016-10-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the export of meat from the UK to other EU member states.

    George Eustice

    Defra is assessing impacts on the meat sector from EU Exit and is committed to ensuring continued access to vital markets in Europe on the basis of the UK’s high standards of welfare and animal health. In addition, good progress is being made in extending access to international markets such as China, USA and Japan.

  • Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    Frank Field – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Frank Field on 2016-01-04.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to meet Premier League supporters clubs before his next meeting with the Executive Chair of the Premier League to discuss the living wage.

    Tracey Crouch

    We welcome the commitment that clubs in the Premier League have made to paying the living wage to their full-time employees, and we see no reason why this cannot be extended to include all employees. That is the message I will put across to the Executive Chair of the League when we next meet.

  • Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Kevin Brennan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevin Brennan on 2016-01-28.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what (a) number and (b) proportion of civil servants will be affected by the Government’s proposed exit payment cap.

    Matthew Hancock

    To remain the best in the world, the Civil Service needs to respond to both the challenges and opportunities of our times. The Civil Service continues to require new and different skills to respond to the fiscal environment, global competition and changes in technology, whilst at the same time delivering better services more efficiently: in short, doing more for less.

    The numbers of civil servants affected by the Government’s action to end six figure pay outs in the public sector will depend upon the terms applicable when the staff leave and which staff are exited.

  • Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Andrew Gwynne – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Gwynne on 2016-02-24.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will place in the Library a copy of the full impact assessment of the infected blood scheme reform consultation containing the assessment of the potential financial effects of proposed reforms on recipients; and if he will make a statement.

    Jane Ellison

    The impact assessment we have prepared is an analysis of the proposals and not the final outcome. We will publish the final full impact assessment when we announce the outcomes of the consultation.

    On page 32 – 34 of the consultation document itself the Department gives some indication of the impact of the proposed changes on individuals.

    All respondents to the consultation have been encouraged to say how the proposals will affect them in order that full consideration can be given to this and other issues before any final decisions are made on the reformed scheme.

  • Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Royston Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to provide information to pharmacies on proposed changes to the community pharmacy sector.

    Alistair Burt

    Community pharmacy is a vital part of the National Health Service 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 have been in detailed discussions with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) since December 2015 regarding the Government’s proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond, including the proposal for a Pharmacy Access Scheme. In parallel, we also want to hear views on our proposals from across the sector and from patient groups. We published our open letter to the PSNC on 17 December 2015 and on 27 January 2016 we published a set of slides setting out the proposals with a foreword by the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer.

    We announced on 16 March 2016 that the consultation period was to be extended to allow more time to develop the proposed changes with the PSNC and others. It will now close on 24 May 2016.

    Once we have carefully considered the outcomes from the consultation, we are looking to communicate final decisions as soon as possible, so that pharmacy contractors are fully informed some months before the funding reduction starts from October 2016.

    The role of the general practice pharmacist is distinct from the role of the pharmacist in a community setting. However, they are synergistic. Pharmacists working in general practice will, in the main, work with patients who have long term conditions to support them with their medicines and self-management of their condition by helping with the development and review of individual care plans. These patients will not generally be those with minor illnesses which can be treated by seeing a pharmacist in a community setting and for whom community pharmacy will remain the first, and most appropriate, option.

  • Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Neil Coyle – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Coyle on 2016-04-22.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal independence payment claimants have had their claim re-assessed more than six months before the end of their initial award period in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

    Justin Tomlinson

    The Department does hold the requested information and it could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

    For all PIP claimants with a fixed term award, except where the claimant would be expected to have little or no functional limitation within a two year period, a review date is set when the award is made. This review date is based on advice from a health professional and is communicated to the claimant when the award is made. A review process is then initiated on this date. In all such cases the review process is initiated a year in advance of the award end date.