Tag: Heidi Alexander

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what enhancement to pay rates officials in his Department receive for working on Saturdays and Sundays.

Ben Gummer

Civil Servants at the Department are contracted to work Monday to Friday. Senior Civil Servants are not eligible to claim any paid overtime for weekend or late working outside of contracted hours.

In the majority of cases, for civil servants in the delegated grades (AO-G6), overtime is paid in exceptional circumstances and must be agreed in advance with the appropriate senior official. The rate for paid overtime is dependent on the official’s grade and/ or the day worked.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on what dates ACAS conciliation talks between his Department and the BMA on the junior doctors’ dispute have taken place; at what time each such meeting started and finished; and for what dates future such meetings are planned.

Ben Gummer

The first round of ACAS meetings took place on 26 to 30 November 2015 and resulted in strike action being postponed. Following the ACAS meetings, the Department, NHS Employers and the British Medical Association (BMA) continued to discuss proposed changes to the junior doctor contract.

Constructive talks ran until 4 January when the BMA announced that, contrary to the understanding of the management side negotiators, they did not feel that enough progress had been made and announced further dates for industrial action in January and February.

The Department and NHS Employers asked the BMA to agree to ask ACAS to return to the talks. Meetings were held with ACAS on the 8, 14 and 15 of January. Further meetings were scheduled this week.

We are pleased that on 19 January 2016 the BMA agreed to suspend further action planned for 48 hours from 26 to 28 January, with cover for emergency care. However, they have not agreed to suspend action planned for 10 February when junior doctors will withdraw their labour, including from providing any emergency care.

The Government and junior doctors want to do the same thing by improving patient care at weekends and we look forward to further constructive discussions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2016 to Question 25603, on NHS: Finance, how many meetings Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority has had with NHS trusts to agree plans to improve the financial position of those trusts since 5 February 2016.

Ben Gummer

As part of Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority’s fundamental roles, they have regular contact with all trusts and foundation trusts regarding financial planning. This contact is undertaken in various ways from face to face meetings with senior leaders to larger scale events.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which hospitals he has visited in an official capacity in 2016; and what the date was of each such visit.

Jane Ellison

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and his team have visited the following hospitals in an official capacity in 2016 to date.

Secretary of State for Health

29 January 2016 Kings College Hospital, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, King’s Health Partners

5 February 2016 Coombe Wood Perinatal Mental Health Unit, Park Royal Centre for Mental Health, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

14 April 2016 Oxford University, Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust

Lord Prior

6 January 2016 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust

20 January 2016 East Surrey Hospital, Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust

3 February 2016 St Thomas Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust

18 February 2016 Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts

16 March 2016 Southmead Hospital, North Bristol NHS Trust

22 March 2016 Guy’s Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust

24 March 2016 Royal Derby Hospital, Derby Teaching Hospital Foundation Trust

24 March 2016 Lings Bar Hospital, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

12 April 2016 Royal Brompton Hospital, Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust

Ben Gummer

14 January 2016 Watford General Hospital, West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust

21 January 2016 Salford Royal Hospital, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust

21 January 2016 St Mary’s Hospital, Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

15 February 2016 Royal Cornwall Hospital, at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust

16 February 2016 Mount Gould Hospital, Livewell Southwest

16 February 2016 Tiverton and District Hospital, Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust

17 February 2016 Dorset County Hospital, Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

17 February 2016 Southampton General Hospital, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust

29 February 2016 St Mary’s Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

14 March 2016 St Thomas’ Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust

Alistair Burt

3 March 2016 St Pancras Hospital, Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust

11 March 2016 Wythenshawe Hospital, University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust

17 March 2016 Kings College Hospital, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

14 April 2016 Clock View Hospital and Ashworth Hospital, Mersey Care NHS Trust

George Freeman

7 March 2016 CityLabs, Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, Oxford Rd, Manchester

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and his team have visited the following primary care services in an official capacity in 2016 to date.

Secretary of State for Health

15 January 2016 Hillfoot Surgery, Pudsey, West Yorkshire

Alistair Burt

11 February 2016 Copes Pharmacy Ltd, London

11 March 2016 Five Oakes Family Practice, Manchester

Jane Ellison

4 February 2016 The Acton African Well Woman Clinic, Hillcrest Surgery, London

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and his team have visited the following residential and nursing homes in an official capacity in 2016 to date.

Secretary of State for Health

5 February 2016 Coombe Wood Perinatal Mental Health Unit, Park Royal Centre for Mental Health, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

Ben Gummer

15 February 2016 St Julia’s Hospice, Cornwall Hospice Care

Alistair Burt

25 February 2016 The Betty and Asher Loftus Centre, London

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his oral contribution of 5 January 2016, Official Report, column 18, what the evidential basis is for the statement that changes to nurses’ training will allow for training 10,000 more nurses over the course of the current Parliament.

Ben Gummer

As set out by the Chancellor in the Spending Review in November 2015, universities will be able to provide up to 10,000 additional training places by the end of this Parliament. This is for nursing, midwifery and allied health subjects.

In 2014, 57,000 applicants applied for 20,033 nursing places on the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) system. Nursing, midwifery and the allied health subjects are popular to study with British students, with nursing the fifth most popular subject on UCAS in 2014. Universities want to train more students for these professions and have the capacity to expand moderately quickly if allowed. There are already examples of universities, such as The University of Bolton and Keele University where these institutions have expanded to deliver additional places for nursing and physiotherapy respectively; with other universities also looking to expand.

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 26014, what the baseline year is for the commitment to train 10,000 more nurses, midwives and other allied health professionals over the course of the current Parliament.

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 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which primary care services he has visited in an official capacity in 2016; and what the date was of each such visit.

Jane Ellison

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and his team have visited the following hospitals in an official capacity in 2016 to date.

Secretary of State for Health

29 January 2016 Kings College Hospital, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, King’s Health Partners

5 February 2016 Coombe Wood Perinatal Mental Health Unit, Park Royal Centre for Mental Health, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

14 April 2016 Oxford University, Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust

Lord Prior

6 January 2016 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust

20 January 2016 East Surrey Hospital, Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust

3 February 2016 St Thomas Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust

18 February 2016 Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts

16 March 2016 Southmead Hospital, North Bristol NHS Trust

22 March 2016 Guy’s Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust

24 March 2016 Royal Derby Hospital, Derby Teaching Hospital Foundation Trust

24 March 2016 Lings Bar Hospital, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

12 April 2016 Royal Brompton Hospital, Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust

Ben Gummer

14 January 2016 Watford General Hospital, West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust

21 January 2016 Salford Royal Hospital, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust

21 January 2016 St Mary’s Hospital, Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

15 February 2016 Royal Cornwall Hospital, at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust

16 February 2016 Mount Gould Hospital, Livewell Southwest

16 February 2016 Tiverton and District Hospital, Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust

17 February 2016 Dorset County Hospital, Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

17 February 2016 Southampton General Hospital, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust

29 February 2016 St Mary’s Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

14 March 2016 St Thomas’ Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust

Alistair Burt

3 March 2016 St Pancras Hospital, Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust

11 March 2016 Wythenshawe Hospital, University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust

17 March 2016 Kings College Hospital, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

14 April 2016 Clock View Hospital and Ashworth Hospital, Mersey Care NHS Trust

George Freeman

7 March 2016 CityLabs, Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, Oxford Rd, Manchester

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and his team have visited the following primary care services in an official capacity in 2016 to date.

Secretary of State for Health

15 January 2016 Hillfoot Surgery, Pudsey, West Yorkshire

Alistair Burt

11 February 2016 Copes Pharmacy Ltd, London

11 March 2016 Five Oakes Family Practice, Manchester

Jane Ellison

4 February 2016 The Acton African Well Woman Clinic, Hillcrest Surgery, London

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and his team have visited the following residential and nursing homes in an official capacity in 2016 to date.

Secretary of State for Health

5 February 2016 Coombe Wood Perinatal Mental Health Unit, Park Royal Centre for Mental Health, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

Ben Gummer

15 February 2016 St Julia’s Hospice, Cornwall Hospice Care

Alistair Burt

25 February 2016 The Betty and Asher Loftus Centre, London

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of alcohol misuse in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison

Figures of the cost to the National Health Service of alcohol misuse for each of the past five years is not available. The most recent estimate from 2014 is that alcohol costs the NHS around £3.5 billion per annum(1), just under half of which is due to alcohol related inpatient admissions to hospital.

(1)Source: “Alcohol and drugs prevention, treatment and recovery: why invest?”, Public Health England, http://www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/why-invest-2014-alcohol-and-drugs.pdf

“

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the Care Quality Commission has conducted an impact assessment of the proposed changes to the contract of Experts by Experience.

Ben Gummer

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator for health and adult social care. The CQC is responsible for its own staffing requirements, including any decisions on contracts around the supplying of experts by experience for its inspections of providers.

In line with Cabinet Office approvals processes, the Department:

– gave approval for the CQC to invite tenders for the Experts by Experience programme; and

– having sought and received clarification of the business case from the CQC, the department approved the business case, to enable the CQC to proceed with finalising new contracts for Experts by Experience.

Regulatory impact assessments for the Experts by Experience programme were carried out by the CQC as part of the development of the new regulatory framework in 2014.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which residential and nursing homes he has visited in an official capacity in 2016; and what the date was of each such visit.

Jane Ellison

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and his team have visited the following hospitals in an official capacity in 2016 to date.

Secretary of State for Health

29 January 2016 Kings College Hospital, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, King’s Health Partners

5 February 2016 Coombe Wood Perinatal Mental Health Unit, Park Royal Centre for Mental Health, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

14 April 2016 Oxford University, Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust

Lord Prior

6 January 2016 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust

20 January 2016 East Surrey Hospital, Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust

3 February 2016 St Thomas Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust

18 February 2016 Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts

16 March 2016 Southmead Hospital, North Bristol NHS Trust

22 March 2016 Guy’s Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust

24 March 2016 Royal Derby Hospital, Derby Teaching Hospital Foundation Trust

24 March 2016 Lings Bar Hospital, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

12 April 2016 Royal Brompton Hospital, Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust

Ben Gummer

14 January 2016 Watford General Hospital, West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust

21 January 2016 Salford Royal Hospital, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust

21 January 2016 St Mary’s Hospital, Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

15 February 2016 Royal Cornwall Hospital, at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust

16 February 2016 Mount Gould Hospital, Livewell Southwest

16 February 2016 Tiverton and District Hospital, Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust

17 February 2016 Dorset County Hospital, Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

17 February 2016 Southampton General Hospital, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust

29 February 2016 St Mary’s Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

14 March 2016 St Thomas’ Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust

Alistair Burt

3 March 2016 St Pancras Hospital, Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust

11 March 2016 Wythenshawe Hospital, University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust

17 March 2016 Kings College Hospital, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

14 April 2016 Clock View Hospital and Ashworth Hospital, Mersey Care NHS Trust

George Freeman

7 March 2016 CityLabs, Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, Oxford Rd, Manchester

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and his team have visited the following primary care services in an official capacity in 2016 to date.

Secretary of State for Health

15 January 2016 Hillfoot Surgery, Pudsey, West Yorkshire

Alistair Burt

11 February 2016 Copes Pharmacy Ltd, London

11 March 2016 Five Oakes Family Practice, Manchester

Jane Ellison

4 February 2016 The Acton African Well Woman Clinic, Hillcrest Surgery, London

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and his team have visited the following residential and nursing homes in an official capacity in 2016 to date.

Secretary of State for Health

5 February 2016 Coombe Wood Perinatal Mental Health Unit, Park Royal Centre for Mental Health, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

Ben Gummer

15 February 2016 St Julia’s Hospice, Cornwall Hospice Care

Alistair Burt

25 February 2016 The Betty and Asher Loftus Centre, London