Tag: Derek Thomas

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve the speed and accuracy of diagnosis for heart failure patients.

Jane Ellison

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.

Specifically on heart failure, NHS England is working with Health Education England to look at ways of improving the provision of and increase access to echocardiography, which is used for the diagnosis of heart failure.

NHS England has also established a best practice tariff for acute heart failure. This aims to encourage better practice in the caring for heart failure patients. In addition, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published quality standards for acute heart failure and chronic heart failure, which can be found at:

https://www.nice.org.uk/Guidance/QS9

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs103

NHS England expects commissioners and providers to take account of quality standards in the services that are delivered to patients.

The use of natriuretic peptides in diagnosing heart failure is widely understood and pathology laboratories are used to measuring them. The NICE’s guidance on acute heart failure and chronic heart failure both cover the use of natriuretic peptides. This guidance can be found at:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg108

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg187

The NICE has also developed a commissioning toolkit for the use of natriuretic peptides assessment in primary care for suspected heart failure:

https://www.nice.org.uk/sharedlearning/a-commissioning-toolkit-for-use-of-natriuretic-peptide-assessment-for-suspected-heart-failure-in-primary-care

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of people who will have age-related macular degeneration by 2050.

Alistair Burt

The Department has made no estimate of the number of people likely to have age-related macular degeneration in 2050.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on the profit of convenience stores of proposals to devolve Sunday trading restrictions; and what the evidential basis for that estimate was.

Anna Soubry

My Department has carried out an assessment of the impacts of devolving the power to extend Sunday trading hours and this will be published shortly.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve co-ordination of care for heart failure patients across primary and secondary care.

Jane Ellison

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.

Specifically on heart failure, NHS England is working with Health Education England to look at ways of improving the provision of and increase access to echocardiography, which is used for the diagnosis of heart failure.

NHS England has also established a best practice tariff for acute heart failure. This aims to encourage better practice in the caring for heart failure patients. In addition, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published quality standards for acute heart failure and chronic heart failure, which can be found at:

https://www.nice.org.uk/Guidance/QS9

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs103

NHS England expects commissioners and providers to take account of quality standards in the services that are delivered to patients.

The use of natriuretic peptides in diagnosing heart failure is widely understood and pathology laboratories are used to measuring them. The NICE’s guidance on acute heart failure and chronic heart failure both cover the use of natriuretic peptides. This guidance can be found at:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg108

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg187

The NICE has also developed a commissioning toolkit for the use of natriuretic peptides assessment in primary care for suspected heart failure:

https://www.nice.org.uk/sharedlearning/a-commissioning-toolkit-for-use-of-natriuretic-peptide-assessment-for-suspected-heart-failure-in-primary-care

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether assessing eye health is part of GPs’ standard patient health assessment.

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 Derek Thomas on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations were received from (a) USDAW, (b) other trade unions, (c) ACS and (d) other trade and workers’ associations in response to the government’s consultation, Devolving Sunday trading rules, published on 5 August 2015; and what (i) number and (ii) proportion of those respondents answered (A) yes, (B) no and (C) otherwise to Question 1 in that consultation.

Anna Soubry

The Government received 7,171 responses to the consultation, though a significantly smaller number used the standard online consultation form and addressed the questions directly.

USDAW responded to the consultation and its representatives met with officials during the course of the consultation. USDAW answered no to Question 1 in the consultation.

TUC and the National Union of General and Municipal Workers (GMB) also responded to the consultation and their representatives met with officials during the course of the consultation. UNISON responded to the consultation but did not meet with officials. All three (100%) responded no to Question 1 in the consultation.

ACS responded to the consultation and its representatives met with officials during the course of the consultation answered no to Question 1 in the consultation.

The department does not hold full data from this consultation broken down by respondent type as a large portion of respondents chose to respond in their own words rather than addressing the consultation questions directly, and/or did not indicate the type of organisation they represented.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what representations she has made to non-governmental organisations which receive funding from her Department on senior management salaries in those organisations.

Sir Desmond Swayne

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations, backed by the Charity Commission, has encouraged more transparency on pay issues and introduced new pay guidelines. DFID Ministers have consistently demanded that NGOs are transparent and open with donors and the public.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the NHS spends on treating age-related macular degeneration each year.

Alistair Burt

From the data collected it is not possible to identify how much was spent specifically on treating patients with age-related macular degeneration.

No estimate has been made of the annual cost of treating age related macular degeneration by 2050.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2016-02-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment the Government has made of the effect of the 2012 temporary liberalisation of Sunday trading regulations on its proposals for the devolution of such regulations to local authorities.

Anna Soubry

The ONS analysed the impact of the short term Olympic relaxation of the Sunday trading rules and found that it was not possible to make any inference from the data. They found no definite pattern amongst the growth rates of retail sales and noted that other factors, such as the weather and time of year, will have impacted sales.

In formulating its final proposals, the Government has carefully considered all the evidence submitted during the consultation process.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Derek Thomas on 2016-07-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 23 May 2016 to Question 37122, on variations in access to transcatheter interventions for heart valve disease, whether the next iteration of the NHS England service specifications and policy for the surgical and interventional treatment of heart valve disease will take into account (a) the need to commission for a growing patient population, (b) anticipated doubling in the over-65 population in the UK by 2050 and (c) lower levels of transcatheter interventions performed in the UK compared to European comparator countries.

Nicola Blackwood

NHS England’s policy development process includes assessment of current published evidence nationally and internationally and will review population projections for up to five years.

Decisions to set commissioning criteria for which patients will most likely benefit from the intervention will be based on a range of clinical, academic and financial information and a proposition will be put forward through the NHS England prioritisation process. Within the transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) development process, NHS England accepts that there is an ageing population and it will review all available evidence including the encouraging results of the TAVI trials and consider the options around the best use of National Health Service resources. A policy proposition will be produced as part of the 2016/17 work programme.