Tag: Heidi Alexander

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Answer of 28 April 2016 to Question 36036, for what reason the awareness campaign on the symptoms of serious infections in children is not being extended to all adults including those who are not parents.

Jane Ellison

Infections can be serious in both adults and children. Public Health England has been commissioned to develop a public awareness campaign for parents and families about serious infections in children, including meningitis, septicaemia and sepsis. Health Education England have been asked to work with National Health Service organisations to develop parallel professional awareness materials for healthcare professionals who work with both children and adults who have serious infections, including sepsis. A range of information materials for the public are also available on the UK Sepsis Trust website and NHS Choices.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the total amount that will be spent on pay for junior doctors in 2015-16; and how many junior doctors will be employed in that year.

Ben Gummer

Data on the junior doctor paybill for 2015/2016 and those that will be employed over this financial year is not yet available.

The latest data available relates to the financial year 2014/2015. For that year the substantive junior doctor paybill was £3.1 billion; and there were an average of around 53,000 full-time-equivalent junior doctors employed over the year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2015 to Question 20039, on cancer drugs, if he will place in the Library a copy of the draft impact assessment for NHS England’s consultation on proposals for a new Cancer Drugs Fund; for what reasons NHS England has not published the draft impact assessment alongside its consultation on those proposals; what guidance his officials have given on whether draft impact assessments should accompany NHS England consultations; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman

NHS England has advised that it will not complete its assessment of the impact of the proposals on the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) until the outcomes from the current consultation on the future of the CDF are known. The formal consultation, as well as the wider engagement activity in progress, will be critical in helping to understand the potential impacts of the proposed changes.

The Better Regulation requirements, including the preparation of impact assessments, apply to the regulation of business. Where an impact assessment is required to accompany an NHS England consultation, the Department and NHS England work closely to prepare this.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2016 to Question 23092, how the figure of 10,000 for the number of additional training places universities will be able to provide by the end of the current Parliament was calculated.

Ben Gummer

As announced by the Chancellor in the Spending Review in November 2015, the Government has committed to remove the cap on the number of students studying nursing, midwifery and the allied health professions from 1 August 2017. This will enable universities to offer up to 10,000 new training places for students to start these courses in this Parliament.

This reflects estimates on the level of unmet demand for places in the current system where, as an example, for nursing, around two out of three nursing applicants who currently apply for a place are turned down.

The Government is working with health and higher education delivery organisations to determine an appropriate baseline as part of implementing the reforms.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department exceeded its expenditure limit in 2015-16.

Alistair Burt

Confirmation of the spending outturn against all expenditure limits will be provided in the Department of Health’s Annual Report and Accounts 2015-16, due to be published in July 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of junior doctors currently not working weekends.

Ben Gummer

This information is not held centrally.

Data gathered by NHS Employers for the purposes of developing proposals on junior doctors’ contract reform (and published in evidence to the Review Body on Doctors and Dentists Remuneration) suggested that junior doctors are rostered to work an average of 63% fewer total hours on a weekend day compared to a week day.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to support the implementation of the UK Chief Medical Officer’s proposed new alcohol guidelines, published in January 2016.

Jane Ellison

The guidelines are currently out for consultation. They are available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/health-risks-from-alcohol-new-guidelines

We will consider any next steps once we have feedback from the public on the guidelines.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2016 to Question 26002, on NHS: training, when Health Education England will publish the local plans.

Ben Gummer

Health Education England (HEE) published its HEE commissioning and investment plan for 2016/17 in December 2015 and HEE local team plans will be published by the end of March 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much funding his Department will make available for Public Health England’s awareness campaign on the symptoms of serious infections; and what proportion of that funding will be spent on sepsis awareness.

Jane Ellison

The Department funds Public Health England to undertake a range of social marketing campaigns to support behaviour change and public awareness. This work will be funded within the annual budget as will the work on other infections, such as influenza, as well as non-infectious diseases. Further planning work will be undertaken to determine the budget for this activity.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his official engagements were on (a) Monday 12 October and (b) Friday 20 November 2015.

Jane Ellison

On 12 October and 20 November my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State was fully focused on his priorities for the health service, which included securing a Spending Review settlement that backs the NHS’s own Five Year Forward View with an additional £10 billion a year above inflation by 2020.