Tag: Jim Shannon

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with key health stakeholders on providing guidance for GPs on extending the length of appointment slots and increasing the number of appointments bookable for each GP each day.

David Mowat

General practitioners (GPs) are required to provide essential services to meet the reasonable needs of their patients within core hours. Length of appointment slots and number of bookable appointments is determined by individual GP practices. The Department has not had discussions with key health stakeholders on providing guidance for GPs on these matters.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has made an estimate of the average time taken by NICE to evaluate new orphan and ultra-orphan therapies in the last three years; and what the average time taken from approval is to access those therapies for patients living with rare and ultra-rare conditions.

Nicola Blackwood

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has advised that the average time it has taken to evaluate new orphan and ultra-orphan therapies under the highly specialised technologies (HST) programme to date has been 12-14 months. NICE published draft guidance (on average) 6-8 months into the process. NHS England has ensured access to treatments recommended by NICE through the HST programme is available to patients within three months of final guidance. NICE has also advised that its intention is to publish guidance within 4-6 months from marketing authorisation in the future.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people have been convicted of animal cruelty offences in each of the last five years.

George Eustice

Details of convictions for animal cruelty cases for 2010 to 2015 can be found on the Government’s official website relating to Criminal Justice System Statistics in the document “Outcomes by Offence”. A link to the document can be found below. The data for animal cruelty is under the category “108 Cruelty to Animal”.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2015

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to promote wildlife-friendly farming practices.

George Eustice

Agri-environment schemes play a major role in the conservation of wildlife in England. More than £900 million will be available for Countryside Stewardship for 2014 to 2020.

Biodiversity is one of the main objectives of Countryside Stewardship. The Wild Pollinator and Farm Wildlife Package options within the scheme will be of particular benefit to wild pollinators, farmland birds and other species. The package will play a key role in supporting Defra’s National Pollinator Strategy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of when Dose Adjustment for Normal Eating programmes will be available throughout the NHS.

Jane Ellison

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Quality Standard for diabetes sets out that people with diabetes should receive a structured educational programme as this is key to ensuring that they are able to manage their condition as successfully as possible.

There are a number of national and locally developed patient education programmes, including Dose Adjustment For Normal Eating which is available to people with Type 1 diabetes via general practitioner referral.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to encourage schools to teach (a) CPR and (b) other life-saving methods.

Edward Timpson

All schools are required to teach a balanced and broadly based curriculum that prepares them for adult life. The new national curriculum focuses on the essential knowledge so that teachers can design a wider school curriculum that best meets the needs of their pupils.

Many schools already choose to include CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and defibrillator awareness as part of their PSHE (personal, social, health and economic education) teaching. The non-statutory PSHE Programme of Study produced by the PSHE Association, teaches young people how to recognise and follow health and safety procedures, ways of reducing risk and minimising harm in risky situations, and how to use emergency and basic first aid.

Many schools also make use of organisations such as the Red Cross and St John Ambulance, to provide information to young people about first aid and dealing with emergencies.The British Heart Foundation has offered to provide free CPR training kits to every secondary school in the country, allowing young people to gain first-hand experience of this important life-saving skill. We have promoted this kit to schools through the all schools termly email and social media channels and we expect many schools to take up this offer.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps NICE has taken to make the Novalung treatment available on the NHS.

George Freeman

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended in interventional procedures guidance that the use of extracorporeal membrane ventilators, like Novalung, may be considered as a treatment option for suitable patients in a number of conditions.

NICE’s interventional procedures guidance is available on NICE’s website at: www.nice.org.uk/Guidance

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce and prevent incidences of pneumococcal pneumonia.

Jane Ellison

A national pneumococcal vaccination programme is in place to protect individuals for whom pneumococcal infection is likely to be more common and/or serious. Vaccination is provided to children as part of the routine childhood immunisation programme; those aged 65 years or over; and those aged between 2 and 64 years of age who are at increased risk of invasive pneumococcal disease.

There is an increased risk of getting pneumococcal pneumonia following influenza infection. Therefore people aged 65 years and older and those under 65 years of age in clinical risk groups are offered influenza vaccination each year to lower their risk of flu and also pneumococcal disease.

There has been a significant reduction in pneumococcal pneumonia in the United Kingdom, in all ages, this has mainly been the result of the impact of the UK childhood pneumococcal conjugate vaccination programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to reach a decision on the possible expansion of Heathrow Airport.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Government’s position on airports capacity has not changed since the Airports Commission published their final report on 1 July 2015. Government is still reviewing all of the evidence before coming to any decisions.

The Prime Minister has said a decision will be made by the end of the year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will commission structural education courses to prevent diabetes, in line with NICE guidance.

Jane Ellison

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Quality Standard for diabetes and guidance support the use of structured education for people diagnosed with diabetes to help them manage their condition.

The National Diabetes Prevention Programme (DPP) is a joint commitment from NHS England, Public Health England and Diabetes UK and will be the first national Type 2 diabetes prevention programme delivered at scale. People identified as being at high risk of diabetes will be referred onto intensive lifestyle management programmes which will support them to lose weight, improve their diet and be more physically active.

The DPP will link into the existing NHS Health Check programme, which invites adults between the ages of 40 and 74 for risk awareness, assessment and management of the key risk factors leading to premature death and disability in England.

Building on the DDP, the Department has committed to improving outcomes for those with, and at risk of, diabetes. We will announce our plans shortly.