Tag: John Baron

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.

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, entitled From 2020, people with suspected cancer will be diagnosed faster, by what date he expects tailored recovery packages to be available for (a) all cancer patients and (b) patients 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.

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

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many cases of (a) penile, (b) anal, (c) head and neck, (d) cervical, (e) vulval and (f) vaginal cancer occur each year in (i) men and (ii) women; and what proportion of each of these cancers is caused by HPV.

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 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.