Tag: John Baron

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Baron on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how cancer indicators for clinical commissioning groups ratings will be established and employed.

Jane Ellison

NHS England is committed to reworking the clinical commission group (CCG) assurance framework for 2016-17 to reflect the triple aim of closing the gap on health inequalities, improving the quality of care and achieving financial sustainability, in addition to the themes of the Five Year Forward View: prevention; patient and community engagement; clinical priorities; and development of new care models.

Cancer has been identified as one of these clinical priorities, and metrics will be selected which reflect the strategic priorities laid out by the independent Cancer Taskforce, including early diagnosis and supporting people to live well, with, and, beyond cancer.

The assessment framework brings together the assurance framework and key metrics, and will incorporate future transformation as well as current performance. It will drive improvement rather than just assure and assess.

CCGs will receive an overall annual rating and, within the framework, will be rated for six clinical priorities of: cancer, dementia, diabetes, mental health, maternity, and learning difficulties.

CCGs will be rated on the same four point scale used by the Care Quality Commission: outstanding, good, requires improvement, or inadequate. The ratings for the clinical priority areas will be made by independent expert committees.

The metrics are currently in development and NHS England expects to publish a set for consultation in December 2015, at around the same time as the planning guidance, with a final version in March 2016. The assessment framework will come in to operational effect from 1 April 2016 and initial ratings in the six clinical priority areas will be published in June 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Baron on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what system of accountability NHS England will establish for clinical commissioning groups’ work on improving one year cancer survival rates from June 2016.

Jane Ellison

NHS England is committed to reworking the clinical commission group (CCG) assurance framework for 2016-17 to reflect the triple aim of closing the gap on health inequalities, improving the quality of care and achieving financial sustainability, in addition to the themes of the Five Year Forward View: prevention; patient and community engagement; clinical priorities; and development of new care models.

Cancer has been identified as one of these clinical priorities, and metrics will be selected which reflect the strategic priorities laid out by the independent Cancer Taskforce, including early diagnosis and supporting people to live well, with, and, beyond cancer.

The assessment framework brings together the assurance framework and key metrics, and will incorporate future transformation as well as current performance. It will drive improvement rather than just assure and assess.

CCGs will receive an overall annual rating and, within the framework, will be rated for six clinical priorities of: cancer, dementia, diabetes, mental health, maternity, and learning difficulties.

CCGs will be rated on the same four point scale used by the Care Quality Commission: outstanding, good, requires improvement, or inadequate. The ratings for the clinical priority areas will be made by independent expert committees.

The metrics are currently in development and NHS England expects to publish a set for consultation in December 2015, at around the same time as the planning guidance, with a final version in March 2016. The assessment framework will come in to operational effect from 1 April 2016 and initial ratings in the six clinical priority areas will be published in June 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Baron on 2015-11-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, in what way his Department will hold clinical commissioning groups responsible for making improvements along the cancer pathway including (a) early diagnosis and (b) supporting people beyond treatment.

Jane Ellison

NHS England is committed to reworking the clinical commission group (CCG) assurance framework for 2016-17 to reflect the triple aim of closing the gap on health inequalities, improving the quality of care and achieving financial sustainability, in addition to the themes of the Five Year Forward View: prevention; patient and community engagement; clinical priorities; and development of new care models.

Cancer has been identified as one of these clinical priorities, and metrics will be selected which reflect the strategic priorities laid out by the independent Cancer Taskforce, including early diagnosis and supporting people to live well, with, and, beyond cancer.

The assessment framework brings together the assurance framework and key metrics, and will incorporate future transformation as well as current performance. It will drive improvement rather than just assure and assess.

CCGs will receive an overall annual rating and, within the framework, will be rated for six clinical priorities of: cancer, dementia, diabetes, mental health, maternity, and learning difficulties.

CCGs will be rated on the same four point scale used by the Care Quality Commission: outstanding, good, requires improvement, or inadequate. The ratings for the clinical priority areas will be made by independent expert committees.

The metrics are currently in development and NHS England expects to publish a set for consultation in December 2015, at around the same time as the planning guidance, with a final version in March 2016. The assessment framework will come in to operational effect from 1 April 2016 and initial ratings in the six clinical priority areas will be published in June 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Baron on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were (a) eligible and (b) participated in the bowel cancer screening programme in (i) England and (ii) each of that programme’s five hubs and (iii) each of the 63 screening centres included in that programme in 2014-15.

Jane Ellison

The National Health Service Bowel Cancer Screening programme is a biennial programme. Coverage data is reported for a preceding two year cohort in arrears.

Roll out of the NHS Bowel screening programme began in 2006 and completed in 2010 offering men and women aged 60-69 the opportunity to be screened. The programme then extended the screening age to 70-74 however this was not fully rolled out until 2014.

The data on eligibility and uptake is yet to be published. At the end of January 2015, nearly 25 million Faecal Occult Blood test kits had been sent out to men and women aged 60-74 to self-sample at home. Over 15 million kits have been returned by post to one of five regional labs (programme hubs).

Since the programme began in 2006, over 21,000 cancers have been detected and over 122,000 patients have been managed for polyps, including polyp removal.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Baron on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans that all eligible individuals will have been invited to participate in the NHS Bowel Scope Screening Programme.

Jane Ellison

Bowel Scope Screening is currently offered in 48 out of 63 screening units with 25% of all general practitioner practices in England engaging with bowel scope.

All screening centres are expected to go live in 2016 and it is hoped that full roll out of bowel scope screening will be achieved by 2019.

The annual population eligible for screening (55 year olds) is approximately 780,000 across all screening centres. This data come from the counts of people turning 55 each year.

Data on screening centres offering bowel scope screening is currently unavailable due to deductive disclosure; however the programme is looking to publish the data as soon as possible.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Baron on 2016-02-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, (a) how many people and (b) what proportion of the eligible population have been invited to participate in the NHS Bowel Scope Screening Programme by screening centre in each year since that programme was launched.

Jane Ellison

Bowel Scope Screening is currently offered in 48 out of 63 screening units with 25% of all general practitioner practices in England engaging with bowel scope.

All screening centres are expected to go live in 2016 and it is hoped that full roll out of bowel scope screening will be achieved by 2019.

The annual population eligible for screening (55 year olds) is approximately 780,000 across all screening centres. This data come from the counts of people turning 55 each year.

Data on screening centres offering bowel scope screening is currently unavailable due to deductive disclosure; however the programme is looking to publish the data as soon as possible.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Baron on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to develop cancer clinical alliances across the country.

Jane Ellison

Forming cancer alliances to drive and support improvement and care pathways was a key recommendation of the independent Cancer Taskforce report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes, published in July 2015. NHS England appointed Cally Palmer CBE as National Cancer Director to lead on implementation of the strategy and she has since established a new cross-system Cancer Transformation Board, which met for the first time on 25 January. There will also be a Cancer Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Harpal Kumar, to oversee and scrutinise the work of the Transformation Board. NHS England is currently working with national, regional and local partners to develop the model for cancer alliances, building on the successes of existing clinical networks.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Baron on 2016-02-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress his Department has made on establishing cancer clinical alliances; and what the function of those alliances will be.

Jane Ellison

Forming cancer alliances to drive and support improvement and care pathways was a key recommendation of the independent Cancer Taskforce report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes, published in July 2015. NHS England appointed Cally Palmer CBE as National Cancer Director to lead on implementation of the strategy and she has since established a new cross-system Cancer Transformation Board, which met for the first time on 25 January. There will also be a Cancer Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Harpal Kumar, to oversee and scrutinise the work of the Transformation Board. NHS England is currently working with national, regional and local partners to develop the model for cancer alliances, building on the successes of existing clinical networks.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Baron on 2016-03-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 24375, when his Department plans to publish the data on eligibility for and uptake of the bowel cancer screening programme.

Jane Ellison

The National Bowel Cancer Screening Programme continues to analyse the data collected and will be publishing data in the annual report which is due later this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Baron on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his Department’s news story of 13 September 2015, From 2020 people with suspected cancer will be diagnosed faster, when his Department plans to make tailored recovery packages available for cancer patients, including those with rarer cancers.

Jane Ellison

In its report Achieving World Class Cancer Outcomes: A Strategy for England 2015-2020 (July 2015), the independent Cancer Taskforce called for an acceleration of the commissioning and provision of services to support people affected by cancer to live as healthy and as happy lives as possible. Over the last few years, NHS England has been working with Macmillan Cancer Support to roll out the Recovery Package, which describes a set of actions that ensure that the individual needs of all people going through cancer treatment and beyond, including rare cancers, are met by tailored support and services. By working through a Recovery Package, patients and clinicians assess patients’ holistic needs and plan appropriately for their care and support, they ensure that a treatment summary is sent between a patient’s hospital and their general practitioner (GP), that they are appropriately followed up by their GP, and can attend health and wellbeing events for patients and carers.

In September 2015, the Department announced that by 2020, the 280,000 people diagnosed with cancer every year will benefit from a tailored recovery package. In April 2016, NHS England published guidance on the commissioning of these services to support people living with and beyond cancer, and will continue to support both Sustainability and Transformation Plan footprints and clinical commissioning groups to put this guidance into action.