The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-10-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the NHS spent on treating patients with diabetic retinopathy in each of the last three years.
Jane Ellison
We do not hold this information in the format requested.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to encourage the provision of take-home naloxone for at risk prisoners by health and justice lead area teams; and if he will make a statement.
Jane Ellison
The substance misuse element of the harm reduction strategy will align with national clinical guidance with regard to how naloxone and other medicines in the care pathway are considered for use, although specific medicines are unlikely to be named in the strategy.
The commissioning of substance misuse treatment for prisoners is the responsibility of health and justice commissioning teams in ten of NHS England’s area teams, supported by a central health and justice team. The Government expects commissioners and providers of substance misuse services in prisons and in the community to work together closely in respect to prisoners being released from custody to ensure seamless transfers of care.
Public Health England, the Department and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency have jointly published a factsheet[1] to explain October’s regulatory change with regard to naloxone and how the wider availability of naloxone affects relevant services. NHS England Area Teams will encourage providers to take account of this guidance.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/widening-the-availability-of-naloxone/widening-the-availability-of-naloxone
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-12-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the Hepatitis C Improvement Framework will be published and whether that framework will contain guidance to commissioners on increasing patient access to new Direct Acting Antiviral treatments that have been approved by NICE.
Jane Ellison
A date for publication of the hepatitis C Improvement Framework has not yet been set. Public Health England continues working with NHS England and Operational Delivery Networks to establish a process of monitoring hepatitis C treatment access and uptake.
New Direct Acting Antiviral treatments have been available to patients meeting the criteria of the NHS England policy for the treatment of cirrhosis since June 2015. These patients have access ahead of the implementation of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisals (TAs).
Access has also been made available to patients meeting the criteria set out in the NICE TAs for simeprevir (May 2015) and sofosbuvir (August 2015). Access to three new treatments will be available from 23 February 2016 for patients (dependent on treatment type and treatment history) without cirrhosis.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-02-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to support UK fishermen (a) in general and (b) in the under 10 metre fleet.
George Eustice
UK-led Common Fisheries Policy reforms have given UK fishermen a more sustainable long-term future.
The inshore fleet will particularly benefit from an extra 1,000 tonnes of quota this year. This comes on top of the permanent transfer of under-used quota to the Under-10s, which was worth an extra 678 tonnes in 2015.
In addition, over £100m of European (EMFF) Funding is now available to support the UK catching, processing and aquaculture sectors.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-03-01.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent discussions he has had with NHS England and NICE on the Cancer Drugs Fund consultation; and whether he discussed with those bodies whether proposals on the future of that fund would (a) increase and (b) restrict access to cancer medicines.
George Freeman
My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has been kept informed as this work has been progressed.
NHS England has advised that it envisages, under the new arrangements for the Cancer Drugs Fund, that a greater number of cancer drugs will be funded from baseline commissioning. This will be as a consequence of more appropriate pricing arrangements proposed by pharmaceutical manufacturers and better evidence being available through the Fund as to longer term patient outcomes.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-03-22.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of whether his target of implementing opt-out testing for blood-borne viruses in every adult prison in England by the end of financial year 2016-17 will be met.
Ben Gummer
The blood-borne virus (BBV) opt-out testing programme for people in prisons in England is a shared priority for Public Health England (PHE), NHS England and the National Offender Management Service. Programme implementation is overseen by a ‘tripartite’ Task-and-Finish Group which includes third sector and patient voice representation. The roll-out of the programme is informed by phased implementation and evaluation of ‘pathfinder prisons’ over three phases. Phase 1 began on 1 April 2014 and the formal evaluation was published on May 21 2015. Phase 2 pathfinder prisons began implementation from April 2015, with Phase 3 Pathfinders implementing from September 2015. BBV opt-out testing is not limited to only those prisons formally in the pathfinder programme.
NHS England estimates that currently 60% of the adult prison estate in England are offering opt-out testing and are confident that the target of implementation in every adult prison in England will be achieved by the end of the financial year 2016-17.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-07-11.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to monitor the effect on children’s fitness and activity levels of the Primary PE and Sport Premium.
Edward Timpson
We want all pupils to be healthy and active. We have ring-fenced over £450 million to improve PE and sport in primary schools (2013/14 – 2015/16), and committed to doubling the primary PE and sport premium to £320 million a year from September 2017 using revenue from the soft drinks industry levy. Schools have the freedom to decide how to use the funding based on the needs of their pupils, and can choose to target funding on the least active and children from poorer socio-economic backgrounds. Schools are accountable for their spending through Ofsted inspections and are required to report plans and impact online.
We have evaluated the impact and schools’ use of the premium through the independent research company, NatCen. Evidence indicates the funding is having a positive impact and schools reported almost universally that the PE and sport premium had had a positive impact on physical fitness (99%), healthy lifestyles (99%), skills (98%) and behaviour of pupils (96%).[1].
We are currently exploring options for future evaluation once the premium is doubled. Further details will be announced in due course.
[1] Evidence from the 2015 report, based on findings of a two year study between 2013 – 2015: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pe-and-sport-premium-an-investigation-in-primary-schools
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-10-30.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether standard patient health assessments by GPs include assessing eye health.
Alistair Burt
The Government recognises that regular sight tests are an important measure in preventing avoidable sight loss.
Free National Health Service sight tests are available to many, including children, people aged 60 and over, people on benefits and those people at particular risk of developing eye disease.
We do not determine what should be included in health checks or consultation between general practitioners (GPs) and their patients. This is for GPs to decide, taking into account the individual needs of patients.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-11-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of implementation of the NICE quality standards for rheumatoid arthritis.
Jane Ellison
Quality standards (QS) are important in setting out to patients, the public, commissioners and providers what a high quality service should look like in a particular area of care. Whilst providers and commissioners must have regard to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) QS in planning and delivering services, however they are not mandatory.
The QS for rheumatoid arthritis states that services should be commissioned from and coordinated across all relevant agencies encompassing the rheumatoid arthritis care pathway. A person-centred approach to provision of services is fundamental to delivering high-quality care to adults with rheumatoid arthritis. NHS England continues to champion their use with providers and commissioners.
NHS England is working with patients, the pharmaceutical industry, royal colleges and others to encourage a range of improvements aimed at ensuring that all patients, including those with inflammatory arthritis, get the support they need to get the most from their medicines. The development of the four principles to support medicines optimisation offers a step change to the way we think about medicine use in the NHS. The four guiding patient-centred principles: aim to understand the patient’s experience; evidence-based choice of medicines; make medicines optimisation part of routine practice; ensure medicines use is as safe as possible are applicable to all patients, conditions and disease states.
The medicines optimisation best practice guidance, published in May 2014 is available at:
www.rpharms.com/promoting-pharmacy-pdfs/helping-patients-make-the-most-of-their-medicines.pdf.
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The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2015-12-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people with hepatitis C have commenced treatment under the commissioning policy for the treatment of patients with cirrhosis since June 2015.
Jane Ellison
At 10 November 2015, NHS England had received 2,667 applications to treat from clinicians. Applications relate to patients who either meet NHS England’s commissioning policy for the treatment of hepatitis C patients with cirrhosis or who meet the NICE Technology Appraisal guidance for sofosbuvir and simeprevir. The number of applications is likely to be slightly higher than the number starting treatment, as some patients may have decided not to proceed. NHS England expects to have an automated system in place by April 2016 to collect data on treatment referrals and treatment history, including clinical outcome data.