Tag: Ian Austin

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-02-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to Freedom to speak up?, the report by Sir Robert Francis QC, published on 11 February 2015, when he plans to take steps to ensure that NHS whistleblowers are not discriminated against when they apply for other jobs.

Dr Daniel Poulter

On 11 February, my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State accepted in principle all the recommendations made by Sir Robert Francis following his Freedom to Speak Up review. We will shortly be consulting on how best to implement these recommendations. In addition we plan to bring forward measures to provide legislative protection for whistleblowers applying for a job in the National Health Service. With Opposition support, this could be in place before Parliament is prorogued.

The implementation of Sir Roberts’ recommendations will see a programme of action to help foster an open and learning culture in the NHS backed by local freedom to speak up guardians and a new national whistleblowing guardian. Individual trusts may wish to begin implementing some of these recommendations right away. Local action and responsibility will be at the heart of bringing about a culture where reporting of concerns is valued and encouraged.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-02-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of cataract surgery procedures that were carried out by West Midlands NHS trusts in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Jane Ellison

The sum of Finished Consultant Episodes (FCEs) with a main or secondary procedure of; (a) IVF cycle procedures, (b) cataract surgery procedures, (c) hip replacement operations, (d) knee replacement operations, (e) varicose vein surgery procedures and (f) breast reduction operations carried out by West Midlands NHS Trusts in 2013-14 is shown in the attached table.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-02-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of IVF cycle procedures that were carried out by West Midlands NHS trusts in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Jane Ellison

The sum of Finished Consultant Episodes (FCEs) with a main or secondary procedure of; (a) IVF cycle procedures, (b) cataract surgery procedures, (c) hip replacement operations, (d) knee replacement operations, (e) varicose vein surgery procedures and (f) breast reduction operations carried out by West Midlands NHS Trusts in 2013-14 is shown in the attached table.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-02-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of knee replacement operations that were carried out by West Midlands NHS trusts in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Jane Ellison

The sum of Finished Consultant Episodes (FCEs) with a main or secondary procedure of; (a) IVF cycle procedures, (b) cataract surgery procedures, (c) hip replacement operations, (d) knee replacement operations, (e) varicose vein surgery procedures and (f) breast reduction operations carried out by West Midlands NHS Trusts in 2013-14 is shown in the attached table.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-02-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of varicose vein surgery procedures that were carried out by West Midlands NHS trusts in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Jane Ellison

The sum of Finished Consultant Episodes (FCEs) with a main or secondary procedure of; (a) IVF cycle procedures, (b) cataract surgery procedures, (c) hip replacement operations, (d) knee replacement operations, (e) varicose vein surgery procedures and (f) breast reduction operations carried out by West Midlands NHS Trusts in 2013-14 is shown in the attached table.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-02-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of breast reduction operations that were carried out by West Midlands NHS trusts in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Jane Ellison

The sum of Finished Consultant Episodes (FCEs) with a main or secondary procedure of; (a) IVF cycle procedures, (b) cataract surgery procedures, (c) hip replacement operations, (d) knee replacement operations, (e) varicose vein surgery procedures and (f) breast reduction operations carried out by West Midlands NHS Trusts in 2013-14 is shown in the attached table.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the backlog of work capability assessments.

Mike Penning

We are working closely with Atos to deliver the best possible service for claimants and ensure the number of cases outstanding with them continues to fall.

We announced last summer that we were looking to bring in further provision to support the delivery of the Work Capability Assessment. In the meantime, we have been working closely with Atos to improve their performance and have put in place changes to better manage the flow of work between the Department, all designed to reduce waiting times for claimants. These measures are taking effect and the backlog of cases has fallen over the past few months.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-02-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of hip replacement operations that were carried out by West Midlands NHS trusts in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Jane Ellison

The sum of Finished Consultant Episodes (FCEs) with a main or secondary procedure of; (a) IVF cycle procedures, (b) cataract surgery procedures, (c) hip replacement operations, (d) knee replacement operations, (e) varicose vein surgery procedures and (f) breast reduction operations carried out by West Midlands NHS Trusts in 2013-14 is shown in the attached table.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect the four per cent year-in-year efficiency savings requirement has had on (a) staffing levels, (b) patient care and (c) waiting times in NHS trusts.

Dr Daniel Poulter

The 2010 Spending Review protected health funding in real terms. However, in order to continue to meet rising demands from an ageing population while improving services, NHS Leaders estimated that up to £20 billion of efficiency savings would be required over the four years from 2011-12 to 2014-15.

The NHS is on track to deliver these efficiency savings, having reported around £15 billion of efficiencies in the first three years, all of which are being reinvested into frontline care and have enabled the NHS to continue to meet rapidly rising demands whilst improving the quality of care.

There are now over 17,200 more professionally qualified clinical staff since May 2010 including:

– over 9,000 more doctors;

– over 3,300 more nurses, midwives and health visitors.

In contrast, the number of central administrative staff has fallen by over 20,200.

The NHS is experiencing high demand for many services from a growing, ageing population with complex health needs. Performance against quality measures remains high. We have put in place robust year-round operational resilience planning and performance management, backed by additional funding, to help the NHS continue to perform against the access standards.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Austin on 2015-02-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress NICE has made on establishing Quality Standards on adult hearing loss.

George Freeman

I refer the hon. Member to the Answer I gave to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Hall Green (Mr Roger Godsiff) on 4 February to Question 222487.

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