Tag: Jim Shannon

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people of each gender had single-sided deafness in each of the last five years.

Alistair Burt

The information requested on the number of people with single-sided deafness is not available in the format requested. However, the following table shows the number of patients admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of single-sided deafness in the last five years in England.

Year	2010 – 2011	2011 – 2012	2012 – 2013	2013 – 2014	2014 – 2015
Male	277	286	295	336	301
Female	299	279	310	336	332

This data may include the same person being admitted to hospital on more than one occasion and the data excludes diagnoses that were made outside of secondary care.

The Action Plan on Hearing Loss was jointly published in March 2015 by the Department and NHS England. It sets out the case for taking action on the rising prevalence and personal, social and economic costs of uncorrected hearing loss and the variation in access and quality of services experienced by people with hearing loss.

Transfer devices are available through the NHS. NHS England is developing commissioning guidance on the provision of hearing loss services, as part of its commitments in the Action Plan on Hearing Loss. The guidance will support clinical commissioning groups when making local decisions and help improve equality of access and patient experience.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many general licences for pest control have been issued in each of the last five years.

Rory Stewart

In each of the last five years, four general licences have been issued for the purposes of pest control.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with Four Seasons Health Care on the financial sustainability of that provider.

Alistair Burt

Up to September 2015, officials from the Department met with representatives from the five largest residential care providers on a quarterly basis to understand their financial position. This included Four Seasons Health Care.

From September 2015, responsibility for overseeing the finances of these providers passed on to the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) Market Oversight team. CQC can confirm that it is operating the Market Oversight Regime in line with the published guidance ‘Market Oversight of difficult to replace providers of adult social care’ that can be found on CQC’s website at:

http://www.cqc.org.uk/content/market-oversight-adult-social-care

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-12-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to encourage other countries to fulfil their commitments to funding initiatives to tackle HIV, TB and malaria.

Mr Nick Hurd

The UK government supports calls for shared responsibility and global solidarity in the response to HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

We strongly believe countries should commit according to their ability to contribute. The UK uses fora such as the UNAIDS and Global Fund board meetings to urge other countries to contribute their fair share to end AIDS, TB and Malaria.

The UK is also helping to build the evidence that additional domestic resources invested in health can provide high returns, e.g. through the work of the Commission on Investing in Health.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what research his Department has commissioned or assessed on potential links between pancreatic cancer and gum disease.

George Freeman

The Department has not commissioned research on this topic.

An international study published in the journal Gut in 2013 found that gum disease might increase the risk for pancreatic cancer. The research measured antibodies to oral bacteria in prediagnosis blood samples from 405 pancreatic cancer cases and 416 matched controls, nested within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study (EPIC). The United Kingdom EPIC cohort was supported by the Department and six other funders.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were diagnosed with (a) anxiety and (b) depression in each of the last five years.

Alistair Burt

Data published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre on the number and prevalence of patients aged 18 and over on the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) depression register in England, as at 31 March for the years 2010/11-2014/15 is shown in the table below.

Data on anxiety is not collected through QOF.

Year	Number of general practitioner (GP) practices	Patient list size all ages	Percentage aged 18 and over	Estimated patient list size of those aged 18 and over	Number of patients aged 18 and over on the depression register	Prevalance
2014/15 2013/14 2012/13 2011/12 2010/11	7,779 7,921 8,020 8,123 8,245	55,817,654 56,324,887 56,012,096 55,525,732 55,169,643	79.3 79.3 79.0 79.0 79.0	45,083,980 44,667,478 44,238,483 43,855,136 43,578,391	3,305,363 2,912,592 2,582,233 5,123,948 4,878,188	7.3 6.5 5.8 11.7 11.2

Source: Quality and Outcomes Framework annual publications, 2010/11 to 2014/15

Note:

Data from years prior to 2012/13 are not comparable with data for years 2012/13 onwards as the QOF business rules for including patients on the depression register changed in 2012/13. Prior to 2012/13, all patients with a record of unresolved depression at any point in their GP patient record were included on the register. As of 1 April 2012, the register rules were changed to only include patients with a new diagnosis of depression in the preceding 1 April to 31 March, who have had a bio-psychosocial assessment by the point of diagnosis.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to help people with cancer who are also suffering from depression.

Jane Ellison

The independent Cancer Taskforce published its report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes, in July 2015, with the mental health issues often experienced by those with cancer highlighted. A cross-system cancer transformation board, chaired by the National Health Service National Cancer Director, Cally Palmer, is being established to oversee the implementation of the taskforce recommendations.

As part of our approach to support people living with and beyond cancer, we announced in September that, by 2020, the 280,000 people diagnosed with cancer every year will benefit from a tailored recovery package. These recovery packages, developed in partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support, will be individually designed to help each person live well beyond cancer, including elements such as physical activity programmes, psychological support and practical advice about returning to work.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to reduce levels of obesity.

Jane Ellison

Tackling obesity, particularly in children, is one of our major priorities. Progress has been made in recent years, but we know we have much further to go. We will be launching our childhood obesity strategy shortly. It will look at everything that contributes to a child becoming overweight and obese. It will also set out what more can be done by all sides.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of food labelling on reducing the (a) calorie intake and (b) weight of people.

Jane Ellison

Feedback from consumers consistently indicates that clear food labelling helps people to make healthier choices. For example, the United Kingdom voluntary front of pack nutrition labelling scheme, recommended by UK Health Ministers in June 2013, incorporates percentage Reference Intakes information, together with the levels of energy kcal/kJ and four colour-coded nutrients: fat, saturates, sugars and salt. This helps consumers judge how much energy and nutrients a portion of the labelled food will contribute to their overall diet, and also enable them to compare products.

The scheme is based on extensive consumer research and is the result of a full written public consultation, followed by collaboration with the food industry and groups representing consumers and public health interests to develop it.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate her Department has made of the cost per household of implementing measures agreed at the Paris Climate Conference.

Andrea Leadsom

The UK’s contribution to the Paris Agreement will be determined by our commitments to meeting EU climate and energy targets, and by the UK’s own domestic framework, comprising a 2050 emissions reduction target of at least 80% on 1990 base year levels and a series of five-year carbon budgets, as established by the Climate Change Act 2008.

The level of the Fifth Carbon Budget covering the period 2028-2032 is required to be set in law by the end of June this year. When making the decision on the level, the Government is required to take account of a number of factors including social circumstances, and in particular the likely impact of the decision on fuel poverty. This decision will be accompanied by an impact assessment which will set out illustrative costs and benefits of meeting different budget levels, recognising that the actions to meet the budget will be uncertain at that stage. In addition, our new emission reduction plan is due to be published towards the end of this year.