Tag: Baroness Gould of Potternewton

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2016-03-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government with which groups officials from (1) Public Health England, and (2) the Department of Health have met regarding local authorities not meeting their mandatory requirements for sexual health services; what steps that department will take to ensure that local authorities are meeting their mandatory requirements for sexual health services; and what steps they will take if a local authority is found not to be meeting mandatory requirements to commission open-access sexual health services.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Department of Health officials meet regularly with Public Health England (PHE) to discuss progress on sexual health, including the ambitions in the Sexual Health Improvement Framework (SHIF). Since the Framework was published PHE has developed Sexual and Reproductive Health Profiles to support local authorities, public health leads and others to monitor the sexual and reproductive health of their local population and the contribution of local public health related systems. Trends are shown at both England and local authority level for a range of indictors that match the ambitions in the SHIF where data is available. A further annual progress report on the Framework would duplicate this work. Whilst there are no current plans to update the SHIF, in December 2015 PHE published their Health promotion for sexual and reproductive health and HIV, strategic action plan, 2016 to 2019, which complements the SHIF. A copy of the plan is attached.

Departmental and PHE officials have met with the Local Government Association, English HIV and Sexual Health Commissioners Group, British Association for Sexual Health and HIV and the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health where open access sexual health services were discussed. PHE has undertaken a survey of local commissioning arrangements for sexual health.

Local democratic accountability is at the heart of the accountability of local authorities for their statutory duty to improve the public’s health. PHE has a specific role in assurance of the ring-fence grant and that local authorities are meeting the grant conditions and the terms of the associated statutory regulations. PHE publishes data on outcomes from services for each local authority in England and can provide support and advice where necessary.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2016-06-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Department of Health’s Framework for Sexual Health Improvement in England, published in March 2013, what steps they have taken to ensure that local areas know of all professionals who are part of their sexual health workforce, and that those individuals have received appropriate training.

Lord Prior of Brampton

It is the responsibility of local authorities and clinical commissioning groups to commission appropriate services and for providers to ensure that their staff are appropriately trained to meet the needs of their local population.

The Government has also mandated Health Education England (HEE) to provide national leadership on education, training and workforce development in the National Health Service in England. In doing so, HEE has a role in ensuring employers remain committed to continuing professional development and in developing the overall strategy for workforce skills and development in their areas.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2015-11-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to reform the legislation regarding health professional regulation, and whether they will publish a timetable for the implementation of any reform bill.

Lord Prior of Brampton

This Government is grateful for the work of the Law Commissions of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in reviewing the regulation of health and (in England) social care professionals.

The Law Commissions made 125 recommendations to reform the existing complex and burdensome regulatory system. The joint four United Kingdom country response to the Law Commissions was published on 29 January 2015 which accepted wholly or in part the vast majority of its recommendations.

The Department is currently reviewing how best to take forward the work of the Law Commissions. We hope to be able to provide an update on this work soon.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2016-03-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health, Jane Ellison, on 28 January (HC23930), how many responses Public Health England’s survey of local commissioning arrangements for sexual health has received (1) in total, (2) from local authorities (LA), (3) from NHS England, and (4) from Clinical Commissioning Groups; and what relationship that survey will have to the LA contraception tool.

Lord Prior of Brampton

To date Public Health England (PHE) has received 113 responses to its sexual health commissioning survey. The total number of responses received is broken down as follows: 103 local authorities (from a total of 152), seven National Health Service regions (from a total of 13) and three clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) (from a total of 229).

PHE is actively exploring options to ensure that CCGs are appropriately represented; the options under consideration are reissuing of the survey, surveying a representative sample, or direct interview with CCGs.

There is no relationship between the commissioning survey and any local authority contraception tool.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2016-06-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the (1) number, and (2) proportion, of healthcare professionals who have received training in each year since 2005 to fit intra-uterine methods of contraception.

Lord Prior of Brampton

No such assessment has been made.

The continuing professional development of doctors and nurses is the responsibility of individual employers. Health Education England has a role in ensuring employers remain committed to continuing professional development and in developing the overall strategy for workforce skills and development in their areas.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2015-11-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the costs to the NHS of the £200 million reduction in the Public Health Grant to local authorities for 2015–16.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Local authorities are best placed to make an assessment of local public health needs, and to prioritise and deploy their available resources accordingly, in partnership with the National Health Service. The NHS will continue to provide a vital role in the delivery of public health services.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2016-03-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to publish the findings of Public Health England’s survey of local commissioning arrangements for sexual health.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Public Health England plans to publish the findings of the commissioning survey for sexual health, reproductive health and Human Immunodeficiency Virus in summer 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2016-06-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what monitoring is conducted to ensure that local authorities commission open-access contraceptive services for all persons present in their area.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Local authorities are mandated to commission open access sexual health services and are accountable for their statutory duty to improve the public’s health. Public Health England (PHE) has a specific role in assurance of the ring-fenced grant and that local authorities are meeting the grant conditions and the terms of the associated statutory regulations. PHE publishes data on outcomes from services for each local authority in England and can provide support and advice where necessary.

Departmental and PHE officials meet regularly with stakeholders where open access to sexual health services is discussed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2015-11-24.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effect of the £200 million reduction in the Public Health Grant to local authorities for 2015–16 on (1) teenage pregnancy rates, and (2) rates of unintended pregnancy.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The under-18 conception rate is an indicator within the Public Health Outcomes Framework and we continue to see a sustained reduction in teenage pregnancy, improved detection of sexually transmitted infections, and increasing access to the more effective long acting contraception.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Gould of Potternewton on 2016-04-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the arrangements for assessing whether pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) should be nationally commissioned in England following the NHS England statement that they were withdrawing PrEP from consideration by them.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England has agreed to carefully consider their position on commissioning Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Planning continues on the early implementer tests sites in the meantime. Irrespective of the commissioning arrangements for PrEP, decisions to fund will depend on full assessment of clinical and cost effectiveness and how it can be integrated with other HIV prevention efforts.

The Government is investing £2.4 million in HIV prevention nationally and through this will fund a number of innovative local projects and set up a new HIV home sampling service – one of the first of its kind. National investment in home sampling has been significantly enhanced by local investment from local authorities.