Tag: Lord Freyberg

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2015-11-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of eligible patients across England received access in (1) 2013, and (2) 2014, to the full range of NICE approved tumour genetic testing for (1) breast cancer in NHS tertiary centres, (2) breast cancer in NHS secondary centres, (3) colorectal cancer in tertiary centres, (4) colorectal cancer in secondary centres, (5) lung cancer in tertiary centres, (6) lung cancer in secondary centres, (7) melanoma in tertiary centres, and (8) melanoma in secondary centres.

Lord Prior of Brampton

All NHS England commissioned secondary and tertiary hospitals will be able to collect blood and/or tissue samples for the purpose of genetic testing, depending on the sampling technique required. The testing itself is however usually undertaken by commissioned genetic laboratories, which will typically serve a catchment area much greater than the hospital in which they are based. There will usually be recommended criteria in place to guide National Health Service referrals for genetic testing.

In a small number of cases, usually for very rare conditions, a test may need to be sent away to a non commissioned laboratory, including some abroad and some falling within the private sector, to access expertise. Funding will, however, continue to be provided from NHS budgets.

The United Kingdom is also leading the world by using cutting edge technology in the form of whole genome sequencing to transform healthcare and health research. The Prime Minister launched the 100,000 Genomes Project to bring the benefits of genome sequencing to NHS patients. The Project will sequence 100,000 whole human genomes of NHS patients with cancer or a rare disease by the end of 2017. Eleven Genomic Medicine Centres have been established across the country and are recruiting patients to this landmark project. Otherwise, NHS England does not hold data on private or self-funded care or testing commissioned from either NHS or third party laboratories.

Information on the percentage of eligible patients who received access to genetic testing is not held by NHS England. Due to data protection requirements, detailed data on the reasons for referral for specific tests are not currently aggregated at national level.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-01-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the cancer panel test used at the main NHS tertiary hospitals will provide the vast majority of clinically actionable information in a tumour genome, in the light of the NHS reimbursement environment for targeted therapies.

Lord Prior of Brampton

A range of cancer panel tests are undertaken by National Health Service trusts. Whether or not these tests capture the majority of clinically actionable information in the tumour genome will not be known until the outcomes from the cancer element of the 100,000 Genomes Project is known.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-03-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government who is accountable for the project delivery plan for Genomic England’s cancer programme in (1) the Department of Health, and (2) Genomic England.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Director General for Innovation, Growth and Technology in the Department of Health is Senior Responsible Officer for the 100,000 Genomes Project and is responsible for holding delivery partners to account. The Executive Chairman for Genomics England is accountable for delivery of the project.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-07-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many postgraduate students in England were enrolled in two-year masters’ degree courses in (1) 2009–10, (2) 2010–11, (3) 2011–12, (4) 2012–13, (5) 2013–14, (6) 2014–15, and (7) 2015–16.

Earl of Courtown

Information on enrolments at UK Higher Education Institutions is collected and published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), and the latest academic year for which data are available is 2014/15.

The Joint Academic Coding System (JACS) is the classification of subjects used by HESA. The specific breakdown of subjects requested is not available using the JACS classification, so a breakdown of the Creative Arts and Design category has been provided as an alternative.

The government is for the first time introducing a new £10,000 master’s loan to support those wishing to progress into postgraduate study.

First year enrolments¹ to two-year masters² degree courses in Creative Arts and Design subjects. English³ Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Academic years 2009/10 to 2014/15:

	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15
Fine art	625	610	700	630	695	700
Design studies	1,025	1,135	1,090	1,085	1,225	1,125
Music	710	700	680	675	680	630
Drama	165	190	205	250	230	255
Dance	55	45	45	35	65	50
Cinematics & photography	350	335	370	445	375	200
Crafts	15	15	20	5	20	10
Imaginative writing	400	360	380	495	370	345
Others in creative arts & design	90	120	105	125	90	110
Total (Creative arts & design)	3,425	3,515	3,595	3,745	3,750	3,425
Total (all subjects)	39,200	32,995	35,475	33,630	32,885	33,965

Source: BIS analysis of the HESA Student Record

Note: All figures are rounded to the nearest 5.

1. Figures are Full-Person-Equivalents (FPE), so if someone is jointly studying Fine art and Design studies, they would count as 0.5 FPE within each category.

2. Figures relate to students with an expected study length of less than or equal to two years, but more than one year.

3. For consistency across years, the Open University is counted as an English HEI.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2015-11-30.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of (1) how much (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales, (d) Sweden, (e) the Netherlands, (f) France, (g) Denmark, (h) Belgium, and (i) Italy, spent per capita on cancer services, and (2) the national one-year cancer survival rates as a percentage of new patients for each of those countries, for the most recent year for which comparable data is available.

Lord Prior of Brampton

We are not aware of any comparable international data on per capita spending for cancer services. The National Audit Office estimated that the cost of cancer services to the National Health Service in 2012-13 was £6.7 billion, although precise figures are not available.

The Eurocare-5 study, published in 2014, compares cancer survival rates across Europe, and includes all patients diagnosed between 1999 and 2007. These are the most recent available comparable data for the countries requested. Therefore, these comparisons are not a measure of current NHS performance and practice, but should be regarded as a long-term benchmark.

Age-standardised, one-year, all-cancer survival rates for the requested countries are as follows:

Country Age-standardised rate, one-year all-cancer survival (95% Confidence Interval) for patients diagnosed between 1999 and 2007

England 67.6 (67.5-67.7)

Scotland 67.5 (67.3-67.7)

Wales 66.3 (66.0-66.6)

Sweden 75.1 (75.0-75.3)

Netherlands 71.9 (71.8-72.0)

France 75.1 (74.9-75.4)

Denmark 69.2 (69.0-69.4)

Belgium 76.4 (76.3-76.6)

Italy 75.2 (75.1-75.3)

Source: Baili, P., et al. (2015). "Age and case mix-standardised survival for all cancer patients in Europe 1999–2007: Results of EUROCARE-5, a population-based study." European Journal of Cancer 51(15): 2120-2129.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-01-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many successful tumour-normal genomes Genomics England has sequenced, interpreted and returned to patients to date; how long on average it has taken to return those results to patients; and how many cancer patients have died without receiving their results after supplying tumour samples to the 100,000 Genomes Project.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The information requested is not yet available. The 100,000 Genomes Project is a research project which is investigating the benefits of whole genome sequencing for patients with cancer and rare diseases. One of the objectives of the Project is to establish the evidence to inform future decisions on National Health Service testing.

The cancer part of the 100,000 Genomes Project has only recently completed the pilot phase and is incorporating those lessons into routine recruitment of cancer patients. To date, 1,286 tumour and normal genomes have been sequenced and are being interpreted by Genomics England. The pilot phase has involved research participants who have given informed consent, including details about whether there will be feedback of results during the pilot phase. The pilot phase has proved invaluable in understanding the technical requirements for sample preparation and data collection which will be incorporated into the main phase of recruitment in early 2016. As this phase is just starting there is no data on the average turn-around-time or on patient survival.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-03-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what timeframe has been agreed for Genomic England to publish a plan with patient volumes that can be shared with Parliament, and what steps they will take to hold the responsible individuals to account if they fail to deliver on any such plan.

Lord Prior of Brampton

There are currently no plans to publish future patient volumes. However, the Department holds delivery partners to account for delivery of the project.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-07-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many postgraduate students in England were enrolled in two-year masters’ degree courses to study (1) applied art and design, (2) art and design, (3) drama, (4) media, film or TV, (5) music, (6) dance, (7) performing arts, and (8) design and technology, in (a) 2009–10, (b) 2010–11, (c) 2011–12, (d) 2012–13, (e) 2013–14, (f) 2014–15, and (g) 2015–16.

Earl of Courtown

Information on enrolments at UK Higher Education Institutions is collected and published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), and the latest academic year for which data are available is 2014/15.

The Joint Academic Coding System (JACS) is the classification of subjects used by HESA. The specific breakdown of subjects requested is not available using the JACS classification, so a breakdown of the Creative Arts and Design category has been provided as an alternative.

The government is for the first time introducing a new £10,000 master’s loan to support those wishing to progress into postgraduate study.

First year enrolments¹ to two-year masters² degree courses in Creative Arts and Design subjects. English³ Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Academic years 2009/10 to 2014/15:

	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15
Fine art	625	610	700	630	695	700
Design studies	1,025	1,135	1,090	1,085	1,225	1,125
Music	710	700	680	675	680	630
Drama	165	190	205	250	230	255
Dance	55	45	45	35	65	50
Cinematics & photography	350	335	370	445	375	200
Crafts	15	15	20	5	20	10
Imaginative writing	400	360	380	495	370	345
Others in creative arts & design	90	120	105	125	90	110
Total (Creative arts & design)	3,425	3,515	3,595	3,745	3,750	3,425
Total (all subjects)	39,200	32,995	35,475	33,630	32,885	33,965

Source: BIS analysis of the HESA Student Record

Note: All figures are rounded to the nearest 5.

1. Figures are Full-Person-Equivalents (FPE), so if someone is jointly studying Fine art and Design studies, they would count as 0.5 FPE within each category.

2. Figures relate to students with an expected study length of less than or equal to two years, but more than one year.

3. For consistency across years, the Open University is counted as an English HEI.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2015-11-30.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many NHS England Trusts provide prostate surgery; how many of those track their incontinence rates after prostate surgery; of those hospitals that track outcomes, what is the average rate of post-surgical incontinence; what assessment they have made of whether survey-based research could be used to estimate the incontinence rate of those hospitals that do not track their outcomes; and if so, what is their estimate of the incontinence rate in those hospitals.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The National Prostate Cancer Audit 2014 found that 61 National Health Service trusts in England currently carry out radical prostatectomy, although others may carry out other surgical procedures. Estimates are not collected centrally of the number of patients who experience post-surgical incontinence.

According to Quality of Life of Cancer Survivors in England: Report on a pilot survey using Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMS), published by the Department and the NHS in 2012, 44% of prostate cancer patients reported some urinary leakage and this was associated with lower quality of life scores. A copy of the report is attached.

Prostate Cancer UK and the Movember Foundation are currently funding a PROMS programme, Life After Prostate Cancer Diagnosis, to assess for the first time the long-term quality of life of prostate cancer survivors, including the proportion who suffer from incontinence and other treatment related consequences.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Freyberg on 2016-01-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) definitive, and (2) actionable, diagnoses are made for every 1,000 genomes sequenced as part of the rare disease arm of 100,000 Genomes Project; and how many diagnoses they estimate would have been made if the Project were run using (1) whole, and (2) medical, exome technology; and if those estimates are not available, why not.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The 100,000 Genomes Project is not intended to provide definitive or actionable findings from whole genome sequencing. This is the responsibility of the National Health Service Genomic Medicine Centres based on interpretation reports provided by Genomics England. To date approximately 20 reports have been issued based on the initial interpretation of the pilot phase genome data. It is not possible to estimate the comparison between whole genome and exome methods for these patients. That is because the eligibility criteria for patients to be invited to participate in the 100,000 Genomes Project require that they remain undiagnosed after standard NHS diagnostic tests.