Tag: John Baron

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Baron on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost has been of delivering the HPV vaccination programme to girls excluding the cost of procuring the vaccine itself in each of the three most recent years for which data is available.

Jane Ellison

NHS England has had responsibility for the delivery of the human papillomavirus (HPV) immunisation programme as part of the public health function section 7a agreement from 2013/14. The cost of delivery is not separately identifiable at a national level from the total costs of the programme.

Costs of the HPV programme are unable to be provided as this is deemed commercially sensitive information and would, or be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of the supplier and/or programme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Baron on 2016-05-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of whether the NHS Constitution’s commitment to provide a comprehensive service available to all, irrespective of gender, is consistent with a policy of not providing an HPV vaccination programme for boys.

Jane Ellison

The NHS Constitution’s principle of a comprehensive service, available to all, does not mean that boys are automatically eligible to receive the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination because eligibility for the programme is based on expert advice. The Government is advised on immunisation matters by the independent expert committee, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which provides evidence-based advice.

The NHS Constitution states that people have the right to receive the vaccinations that the JCVI recommends that they should receive under an NHS-provided national immunisation programme. The JCVI has not yet recommended the introduction of an HPV vaccination programme for boys. It is currently considering this issue and its advice is expected in 2017.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by John Baron on 2016-06-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how NHS England plans to ensure that implementation of the cancer strategy published by the Independent Cancer Taskforce in July 2015 includes sufficient provision for people with rarer cancers.

George Freeman

The independent Cancer Taskforce’s strategy recommends improvements across the cancer pathway for all cancers. Specific recommendations for rarer cancers include encouraging the establishment of national or regional multi-disciplinary teams for rarer cancers and commissioning all treatment services for rare cancers nationally.

In addition, tackling the causes of rare diseases and cancer is the focal point of the 100,000 Genomes Project.

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.