Tag: Jim Shannon

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to protect the integrity of British territorial waters (a) in relation to Spain and (b) otherwise.

Mr David Lidington

The United Kingdom has a range of measures in place to defend British territorial waters, including British Gibraltar Territorial Waters (BGTW). The Royal Navy challenges all unlawful incursions by Spanish state vessels into BGTW, the United Kingdom makes diplomatic protests to Spain in respect of all such incursions. Incursions are violations of, rather than threats to, UK sovereignty over BGTW.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Yemeni government on treatment of the Jewish community in that country.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We remain deeply concerned about the human rights situation in Yemen. The conflict and temporary suspension of Embassy operations in Sana’a in February 2015 has hampered our ability to pursue human rights work. The UK has previously lobbied the Yemeni Government – both bilaterally and through the Human Rights Council – on a wide range of human rights issues. We continue to raise the importance of compliance with human rights law with all sides to the conflict and to find a political solution to the conflict, which will help create the conditions for the legitimate Government to improve its capacity to protect human rights. The UK welcomes Yemen’s commitment at the last Human Rights Council session to cooperate with the UN on protection of human rights.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people aged (a) under 18 and (b) 18 to 24 have been diagnosed with depression in each of the last five years.

Alistair Burt

This information is not held centrally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Burmese government on the persecution of Myanmar civilians.

Mr Hugo Swire

Ministers regularly raise a broad range of human rights concerns with our Burmese counterparts. Most recently I did so during my visit to Burma in July, and again when I met the Burmese Foreign Minister at the UN General Assembly on 29 September, and at the UN Secretary General’s Burma Partnership Group meeting the same day.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Russian counterpart on the funding of the Dutch investigation into the downing of flight MH17.

Mr David Lidington

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) has not discussed funding of the Dutch investigation into the downing of flight MH17 with his Russian counterpart. Funding for the technical investigation is the responsibility of the Dutch Safety Board, and for the criminal investigation this is the competence of the Joint Investigation Team.

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

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have been diagnosed with lung cancer as a result of smoking in each of the last five years.

Mr Rob Wilson

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to bring forward legislation to regulate cosmetic surgery.

Ben Gummer

All medical doctors, including those carrying out cosmetic surgery, must register with the General Medical Council, hold a license to practise and meet set professional standards to work in the United Kingdom.

We want to raise the standards of care in the cosmetics industry so patients can feel confident they are getting the best care from highly-qualified professionals. There are examples of high-quality cosmetic interventions provided by trained staff to high standards of care and satisfaction. The Department and its delivery partners have implemented a range of non-regulatory actions which we are reviewing and monitoring before confirming whether new legislation would add significant value to safeguards for people choosing cosmetic procedures.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that people diagnosed with cancer are (a) diagnosed early and (b) treated immediately.

Jane Ellison

The Independent Cancer Taskforce’s report recognised the importance of early, and faster, diagnosis to improve both patient outcomes and experience. The Taskforce particularly recommended the implementation of a new cancer waiting times standard that, by 2020, everyone referred with a suspicion of cancer would receive either a definitive diagnosis or the all-clear within four weeks. We have committed to implementing this, and NHS England is working with partners across the health system to consider how best to take this forward.

NHS England has launched a major early diagnosis programme, Accelerate, Co-ordinate, Evaluate (ACE), working jointly with Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support to test new innovative approaches to identifying cancer more quickly. Outputs from the first wave of test sites, which commenced in April 2015, will be delivered on a phased basis, with the majority falling between September 2015 and December 2016. A number of the Proactive Lung cluster projects are running for 2-3 years but is hoped that there will be sufficient data after one year to enable evaluation. It is expected that ACE Wave 1 evaluation will be complete by mid-2017.

We welcome the very positive reaction we saw earlier this year to the publication of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence updated referral guidelines for suspected cancer. The new guideline focuses on key symptoms rather than which cancer a patient might have, to help make it easier to use and more applicable to the day-to-day experience of general practitioners and their patients.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the NHS takes to identify symptoms of dementia among elderly patients in hospital.

Jane Ellison

NHS England developed the Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) framework for 2015/16 which contains a national goal on improving dementia care. The dementia CQUIN aims to help identify patients with dementia and other causes of cognitive impairment, alongside their other medical conditions and to prompt appropriate referral and follow up after they leave hospital.

The three main aims of the CQUIN are to identify, assess and refer those presenting with symptoms of dementia. In order to identify individuals with dementia members of staff will ask members of the family or friends of a person admitted to hospital if the patient has suffered any problems with their memory in the last 12 months. If there is evidence to suggest a problem with their memory, that person will be given a dementia risk assessment and then based on the results of the assessment a referral would be made for further support either to a liaison team, a memory clinic or a general practitioner.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Royal Colleges on the prevention of still births.

Ben Gummer

Since May 2015, Ministers at the Department have not held any meetings with the Royal Colleges to specifically discuss the prevention of stillbirths. However, the Department has been working in partnership with Sands (the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death charity) and a range of key organisations, including NHS England, Public Health England, the Royal College of Midwives and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, to drive forward a stillbirth prevention work programme.