Tag: Charlotte Leslie

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has had discussions with medical organisations on the implications of the recent European Court of Justice ruling against Ireland on the Working Time Directive.

Ben Gummer

The Department has commissioned Health Education England to take forward the recommendations of the task group led by Professor Sir Norman Williams into the impact of the European Working Time Directive on the training of junior doctors.

Health Education England has set up a specific working group to take this work forward, with membership including the Royal College of Surgeons and other stakeholders. The group is taking forward work on all the taskforce recommendations. This includes looking at the categorisation of training time and will consider the impact of the recent European Court of Justice ruling on Ireland. Health Education England will deliver an interim report to the Department in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2015-10-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information the Care Quality Commission holds on the quality of care in care homes.

Ben Gummer

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England.

As at 12 October 2015, the CQC has published 8,318 ratings for adult social care providers since it began inspecting this sector using its new inspection regime on 1 October 2014. Of these, 42 providers have been rated ‘outstanding’, 4,889 as ‘good’, 2,889 as ‘requires improvement’ and 558 as inadequate.

The CQC’s State of Care Report 2014-15, published on 15 October 2015, describes what it has found in its care home inspection programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what requirements there are on schools commissioners to (a) declare and (b) publish professional and financial interests.

Nick Gibb

Regional Schools Commissioners are civil servants and are bound by the same rules on the declaration and publication of professional and financial interests as all other civil servants of a similar grade. Regional Schools Commissioners are required to declare any professional or business interest within the past five years, which may, or may be seen as, influencing their judgement in performing their role.

The Department for Education keeps a register of all declared interests for the Regional Schools Commissioners. This register is reviewed on a quarterly basis and published online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/schools-commissioners-group/about/our-governance

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2014-07-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether patients and their families are entitled to receive copies of consent forms they have signed.

Jane Ellison

It is a general legal and ethical principle that valid consent must be obtained from an individual before starting a treatment or physical intervention. For consent to be valid it must be given voluntarily by an appropriately informed person who has the capacity to consent to the intervention in question.

It is the responsibility of the doctor undertaking the treatment or investigation to ensure that they (or someone they delegate) obtain valid consent. The key elements of the discussion with the patient, including any specific requests by the patient, should be properly recorded in a person’s medical record or in a consent form. This might include that a copy of a consent form has been requested by, or given to, the patient or to their family should the patient agree to that.

The General Medical Council’s professional guidance on obtaining and recording consent, Consent: patients and doctors making decisions together , can be found at:

www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/ethical_guidance/consent_guidance_index.asp

Other sources of guidance for healthcare professionals on obtaining consent include the Department’s Reference guide to consent for examination or treatment (Second Edition) which can be found at:

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/138296/dh_103653__1_.pdf

and the British Medical Association’s consent toolkit which can be found at:

http://bma.org.uk/practical-support-at-work/ethics/consent

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what mechanisms are in place to ensure that those clinical commissioning groups providing financial support to a neighbouring clinical commissioning group does not suffer a reduction in its own provision of services as a result.

Dr Daniel Poulter

NHS England has responsibility for clinical commissioning group (CCG) funding.

We are informed by NHS England that there is no provision for financial support between CCGs, and therefore no regime for repayment and/or interest.

CCGs are expected to live within the resources allocated to them, but in rare cases where this is not possible, and subject to detailed assurance by NHS England Area Teams, a deficit plan is agreed and centrally funded. CCGs are expected to repay such funding over an agreed timescale in accordance with an approved recovery plan. The same applies if a CCG with a planned surplus records a deficit in year.

In some cases, neighbouring CCGs have opted to enter into risk sharing or investment pooling arrangements, for example, in the context of shared commissioning arrangements or to facilitate wider health economy transformation programmes. The precise arrangements for such risk sharing are a matter for local determination by the governing bodies concerned, and they would be expected to ensure that these agreements were transparently documented and did not impact adversely on patient services.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many clinical commissioning groups are running financial deficits requiring financial support from neighbouring clinical commissioning groups.

Dr Daniel Poulter

NHS England has responsibility for clinical commissioning group (CCG) funding.

We are informed by NHS England that there is no provision for financial support between CCGs, and therefore no regime for repayment and/or interest.

CCGs are expected to live within the resources allocated to them, but in rare cases where this is not possible, and subject to detailed assurance by NHS England Area Teams, a deficit plan is agreed and centrally funded. CCGs are expected to repay such funding over an agreed timescale in accordance with an approved recovery plan. The same applies if a CCG with a planned surplus records a deficit in year.

In some cases, neighbouring CCGs have opted to enter into risk sharing or investment pooling arrangements, for example, in the context of shared commissioning arrangements or to facilitate wider health economy transformation programmes. The precise arrangements for such risk sharing are a matter for local determination by the governing bodies concerned, and they would be expected to ensure that these agreements were transparently documented and did not impact adversely on patient services.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what (a) interest rate and (b) repayment plans a clinical commissioning group is allowed to set when providing financial support to a neighbouring clinical commissioning group.

Dr Daniel Poulter

NHS England has responsibility for clinical commissioning group (CCG) funding.

We are informed by NHS England that there is no provision for financial support between CCGs, and therefore no regime for repayment and/or interest.

CCGs are expected to live within the resources allocated to them, but in rare cases where this is not possible, and subject to detailed assurance by NHS England Area Teams, a deficit plan is agreed and centrally funded. CCGs are expected to repay such funding over an agreed timescale in accordance with an approved recovery plan. The same applies if a CCG with a planned surplus records a deficit in year.

In some cases, neighbouring CCGs have opted to enter into risk sharing or investment pooling arrangements, for example, in the context of shared commissioning arrangements or to facilitate wider health economy transformation programmes. The precise arrangements for such risk sharing are a matter for local determination by the governing bodies concerned, and they would be expected to ensure that these agreements were transparently documented and did not impact adversely on patient services.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2015-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department is providing support to former employees of City Link to find new employment.

Matthew Hancock

Job Centre Plus’ Rapid Response Service is available to any paid employee, at the discretion of the Jobcentre District, who has lost their job or had their contract terminated as a result of workforce management measures.

This means that employees employed directly by City Link and those sub-contracted to them will be considered for Rapid Response Service support to help them move into new jobs. The service is delivered locally with partners and is tailored to the individual’s needs. It can include some or all of the following elements:

o Information advice and guidance

o Help with job searches including CV writing, interview skills, where to find jobs and how to apply for them

o Help to identify transferable skills and skills gaps (linked to the local labour market)

o Training to update skills, learn new ones and gain industry recognised certification that will improve employability

o Help to overcome barriers to attending training or securing a job or self-employment such as child care costs, necessary tools, work clothes, travel costs etc.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2015-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of recent changes to residency requirements for free access to the NHS on UK citizens working as missionaries overseas.

Jane Ellison

Entitlement to free National Health Service hospital treatment is based on ‘ordinary residence’ in the United Kingdom, which means, broadly, living here on a lawful and properly settled basis for the time being, whether of long or short duration. The Immigration Act 2014, Section 39, revises the ordinary residence test so that non-European Economic Area (EEA) migrants subject to immigration control cannot be considered ordinarily resident in the UK unless they also have the immigration status of indefinite leave to remain. It is expected that Section 39 will be commenced this spring. UK and EEA nationals, including those working as missionaries overseas, will not be affected by this revision.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Charlotte Leslie on 2014-07-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the Care Quality Commission look at (a) current and (b) historic patient files and consent forms.

Norman Lamb

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England and has a key responsibility in the overall assurance of safety and quality of health and adult social care services.

The CQC has provided the following information.

CQC looks at current and historic patient records when appropriate in order to assess the quality and safety of services registered with it. Patient records are commonly reviewed during CQC inspections, in compliance with the Data Protection Act, to see how well care at a service is planned, delivered and reviewed, and form an integral part of judging the quality of care. In order to protect the confidentiality of people who use services, and to comply with legal requirements, CQC will only look at patient files where it has decided that it is both necessary and proportionate to do so for the purpose of CQC’s regulatory functions. This approach is set out in CQC’s Code of Practice on Confidential Personal Information and in guidance for inspectors on using CQC’s powers to access health and care records.

The Code of Practice on Confidential Personal Information is available on CQC’s website at :

www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/20121105_code_of_practice_on_cpi.pdf