Tag: Baroness Masham of Ilton

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2016-02-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what specific steps they will take to ensure that the review of the statutory scheme for branded medicines takes into account the specificities of medicines derived from human blood plasma, in the light of the Council of Europe resolution on principles concerning human normal immunoglobulin therapies for immunodeficiency and other diseases (CM/RES(2015)2).

Lord Prior of Brampton

We are continuing to consider carefully all the consultation responses including those that refer to blood plasma products. It is important we get these changes right for patients, the National Health Service and industry. We want to look in particular at the impact on small and medium sized businesses, while securing the medicines patients need at a cost which the NHS can afford.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2016-06-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support the implementation of NICE’s commissioning toolkit for the use of natriuretic peptides assessment in primary care.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England is working with key partners to ensure better co-ordination and integration of all services with the aim of delivering person-centred and coordinated care which is tailored to the needs and preferences of the individual, their carer and family.

In particular, to encourage better practice in the caring for heart failure patients, NHS England has established a best practice tariff for acute heart failure. It is also working with Health Education England to explore ways of improving the provision of and increasing access to echocardiography, which is used for the diagnosis of heart failure.

To help the NHS understand what a good quality service looks like, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) publish quality standards which define best practice within a topic area and it has published quality standards for acute and chronic heart failure. NHS England expects all commissioners and providers to take account of quality standards in the services that are delivered to patients.

NICE has developed a commissioning toolkit for the use of natriuretic peptides assessment in primary care for suspected heart failure. It has also produced guidance on acute heart failure and chronic heart failure, both of which cover the use of natriuretic peptides.

NICE guidance and quality standards are published online only, but due to the complexity and length of their content, they cannot be included as attachments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2016-02-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the new revised list of treatments available via the Cancer Drugs Fund will ensure increased access for patients to effective treatment.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England has advised that the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) is reprioritised on a regular basis so that the resources available are focussed on the drugs providing the greatest benefit to patients. All decisions on drugs to be maintained in the CDF are based on the best available evidence, the cost of the treatment and the advice of clinicians.

The Government remains committed to the CDF and in 2015/16 £340 million has been invested in the Fund. NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence are currently consulting on draft proposals on the future direction of the CDF. The consultation is open until 11 February 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2016-06-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to increase the number of heart failure patients who have access to heart failure specialist nurses.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England is working with key partners to ensure better co-ordination and integration of all services with the aim of delivering person-centred and coordinated care which is tailored to the needs and preferences of the individual, their carer and family.

In particular, to encourage better practice in the caring for heart failure patients, NHS England has established a best practice tariff for acute heart failure. It is also working with Health Education England to explore ways of improving the provision of and increasing access to echocardiography, which is used for the diagnosis of heart failure.

To help the NHS understand what a good quality service looks like, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) publish quality standards which define best practice within a topic area and it has published quality standards for acute and chronic heart failure. NHS England expects all commissioners and providers to take account of quality standards in the services that are delivered to patients.

NICE has developed a commissioning toolkit for the use of natriuretic peptides assessment in primary care for suspected heart failure. It has also produced guidance on acute heart failure and chronic heart failure, both of which cover the use of natriuretic peptides.

NICE guidance and quality standards are published online only, but due to the complexity and length of their content, they cannot be included as attachments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2016-02-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions the Department of Health has had with NHS England about agreeing a long-term arrangement to control the cost of medical indemnity cover for out-of-hours GPs.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Department and NHS England are committed to addressing the issue of increasing medical indemnity costs for general practitioners (GPs), including those working out of hours.

Increasing costs of indemnity cover associated with out of hours work may discourage GPs from undertaking out-of-hours shifts in primary care.

The Department was represented at a roundtable event held by NHS England on 17 November 2015 to develop a shared understanding of how to address rising medical indemnity costs. A range of stakeholders, including the British Medical Association and Medical Defence Organisations, also attended.

On 9 December 2015, NHS England announced a winter indemnity scheme to offset the additional indemnity premium for GPs who wish to work additional sessions for their out-of-hours providers.

Discussions are ongoing between the Department and NHS England on a long-term solution.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2016-06-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the cardiac nursing workforce is comprised of heart failure specialist nurses.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Health and Social Care Information Centre provides information on the number of nursing staff employed in the National Health Service in England, but it does not separately identify the cardiac nursing workforce or heart failure specialist nurses.

It is for local NHS organisations with their knowledge of the healthcare needs of their local population to invest in training for specialist skills and to deploy specialist nurses.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2016-02-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to develop the model of co-location of urgent and emergency primary care service with accident and emergency departments.

Lord Prior of Brampton

In August 2015, NHS England published Safer, faster, better: good practice in delivering urgent and emergency care. A copy is attached. This provides guidance to help frontline providers and commissioners re-design urgent and emergency care services, including considering locating urgent care centres in emergency departments.

Safer, faster, better notes that urgent care centres co-located with emergency departments provide an opportunity to stream patients with less serious illnesses and injuries to a service that is resourced to meet their needs, while reducing crowding in emergency departments. It also sets out that to preserve flow, urgent care centre staff and cubicles must wherever possible be entirely separated from the majors/admission stream and that where urgent care centres are co-located with emergency departments, there must be appropriate integration, with shared governance arrangements and clearly defined protocols for the two-way transfer of patients.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2016-06-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to develop a workforce register of heart failure specialist nurses in England.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Government does not plan to develop a workforce register of heart failure specialist nurses in England.

It is for local National Health Service organisations with their knowledge of the healthcare needs of their local population to invest in training for specialist skills and to deploy specialist nurses.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2016-02-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage GPs to undertake out-of-hours shifts in primary care.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Department and NHS England are committed to addressing the issue of increasing medical indemnity costs for general practitioners (GPs), including those working out of hours.

Increasing costs of indemnity cover associated with out of hours work may discourage GPs from undertaking out-of-hours shifts in primary care.

The Department was represented at a roundtable event held by NHS England on 17 November 2015 to develop a shared understanding of how to address rising medical indemnity costs. A range of stakeholders, including the British Medical Association and Medical Defence Organisations, also attended.

On 9 December 2015, NHS England announced a winter indemnity scheme to offset the additional indemnity premium for GPs who wish to work additional sessions for their out-of-hours providers.

Discussions are ongoing between the Department and NHS England on a long-term solution.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Masham of Ilton on 2016-06-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to increase patients’ access to specialist multi-disciplinary teams to improve care for heart failure patients in the community.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England is working with key partners to ensure better co-ordination and integration of all services with the aim of delivering person-centred and coordinated care which is tailored to the needs and preferences of the individual, their carer and family.

In particular, to encourage better practice in the caring for heart failure patients, NHS England has established a best practice tariff for acute heart failure. It is also working with Health Education England to explore ways of improving the provision of and increasing access to echocardiography, which is used for the diagnosis of heart failure.

To help the NHS understand what a good quality service looks like, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) publish quality standards which define best practice within a topic area and it has published quality standards for acute and chronic heart failure. NHS England expects all commissioners and providers to take account of quality standards in the services that are delivered to patients.

NICE has developed a commissioning toolkit for the use of natriuretic peptides assessment in primary care for suspected heart failure. It has also produced guidance on acute heart failure and chronic heart failure, both of which cover the use of natriuretic peptides.

NICE guidance and quality standards are published online only, but due to the complexity and length of their content, they cannot be included as attachments.