Tag: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-02-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 22 February (HL5978), how many, and which, management consultancies engaged in failed initiatives from the previous rounds of consultancy-driven recovery initiatives will be excluded from NHS Improvement’s current round.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS Improvement undertakes its procurements in compliance with procurement rules and good practice. As such, no consultancies are automatically excluded from any consultancy driven recovery initiatives. However as part of this, NHS Improvement takes into account past performance of suppliers to the fullest extent permissible in its procurements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-03-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 17 December 2015 (HL4371), whether they are now able to publish implementation plans for the roll-out of the system of medical examiners.

Lord Prior of Brampton

We remain committed to the principle of medical examiners and will be setting out further information in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-03-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the cost of abolishing the National Patient Safety Agency.

Lord Prior of Brampton

An internal report Abolition of the National Patient Safety Agency, Transition and closure (July 2012) states that “In total, the savings secured through closing the Agency have been calculated to be approximately £9.3 million per annum … The vast majority of the Agency’s cost base related to personnel. A significant amount of cost saving was secured through proactive management of headcount through restructuring and redundancy programmes.”

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-03-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many patients are waiting, and for how long, for appointments in hospital with ophthalmic specialists.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The information is not available in the format requested.

The referral to treatment waiting times standard is that 92% of patients still waiting to start consultant-led treatment for non-urgent conditions at the end of each month should have been waiting within 18 weeks from referral. At the end of January 2016, there were 327,066 patients waiting to start ophthalmology treatment, 94% of whom had been waiting within 18 weeks, with an average median waiting time of 6.9 weeks. It is not known how many of these patients were waiting for a first outpatient appointment rather than to be admitted to hospital.

Information on how many patients are waiting for follow-up appointments, and for how long, is not collected.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-04-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will retender the existing NHS Whistleblowing Helpline; and if so, on what basis, and when.

Lord Prior of Brampton

We are committed to improving openness in the National Health Service and ensuring whistleblowers receive proper support. Every NHS trust will have a ‘Freedom to Speak up Guardian’ who will support whistleblowers and foster an open and honest culture. The National Guardian will lead, advise, and support the local guardians in carrying out investigations on how concerns are being handled, share good practice, report on national or common themes, and identify any barriers that are preventing the NHS from having a truly safe and open culture.

The Whistleblowing Helpline was established in 2003 by the Department of Health to provide advice to NHS staff and employers on the raising of concerns and on the protection of employees who do raise concerns. The Department holds regular meetings with the provider of the Helpline, Mencap, to keep its performance under review.

In the context of changes in the broader health and care system, such as the establishment of the National Guardian and the local guardians network, the Department is considering what role the Helpline should play in ensuring support for whistleblowers. The Department extended the existing contract to allow the Helpline facility to continue operating while future options for the Helpline are considered.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-04-27.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of pre-exposure prophylaxis in the prevention of HIV.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a new use of HIV drugs which has shown clinical effectiveness in research trials at preventing HIV in people at high risk of getting HIV such as men who have sex with men (MSM) and people with HIV-positive partners. The drug used in the trials, Truvada, is not yet licenced for use as PrEP. Public Health England (PHE) has undertaken modelling work looking at cost-effectiveness of PrEP. Much depends on the price of the drugs and HIV prevalence in the target group. However, as with any new intervention, PrEP now needs to be properly assessed in relation to cost effectiveness to see how it could be commissioned in the most sustainable and integrated way and how it compares with other cost-effective approaches. The Department is considering this with PHE, NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

NHS England has agreed to carefully consider their position on commissioning pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Planning continues on the early implementer tests sites in the meantime. Irrespective of the commissioning arrangements for PrEP, decisions to fund will depend on full assessment of clinical and cost effectiveness and how it can be integrated with other HIV prevention efforts.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-05-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many review outpatient appointments were delayed beyond the clinically recommended time by hospitals in (1) 2014–15, and (2) 2015–16.

Lord Prior of Brampton

All follow up appointments (also known as planned, surveillance or recall appointments) should take place when clinically appropriate. It is for clinicians to make decisions on when they see patients, in line with their clinical priority, and patients should not experience undue delay at any stage of their referral, diagnosis or treatment. Moreover, the appropriate interval for follow up appointments will vary between different services or specialties, and between individual patients, depending on the severity of their condition.

To ensure that patients are seen at the appropriate time, NHS England guidance is clear that when patients on planned lists are clinically ready for their care to commence and reach the date for their planned appointment, they should either receive that appointment or be transferred to an active waiting list. At that point, a waiting time clock will be started and their wait reported in the relevant statistical return, so that patients are not waiting on ‘hidden’ lists.

Furthermore, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) also assesses providers against the new fundamental standards of safety and quality below which care should never fail. One of these standards requires that care and treatment must be appropriate and reflect service users’ needs and preferences. Another requires that care and treatment must be provided in a safe way. The CQC will require a provider to improve where it is not meeting these standards.

No assessment has been made of the clinical risks to patients of follow-up appointments being scheduled beyond clinically recommended times, as the risks will also vary between services, specialties and patients. It is for clinicians to make these judgements.

The information requested on delays to review outpatient appointments is not collected centrally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-05-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish in full the findings of the new review into the governance of the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust.

Lord Prior of Brampton

This is a matter for NHS Improvement, which advises that it is currently undertaking a tender process to appoint a provider for the governance review of the Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust. It is expected that the review will begin in July 2016 and will report in the autumn.

NHS Improvement advises that it will publish the final review report in full.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-07-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how best to evaluate the impact of vaccination programmes to prevent rare diseases of high severity, and in particular the cost-effectiveness of the vaccination of children.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Government bases its evaluation of vaccination programmes on the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), other expert groups and evidence from a wide range of epidemiologists and other experts. Their considerations include the impact of rare diseases, immunisation, and impacts on children. The methodology used to assess cost-effectiveness of regular (i.e. non-emergency) immunisation programmes is based on published National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance Guide to the methods of technology appraisal 2013. A copy of the guidance is attached.

The Cost Effectiveness Methodology for Immunisation Programmes and Procurements (CEMIPP) working group has reviewed whether any changes to the methodology might be appropriate for immunisation and the Government is considering the advice.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-09-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the sufficiency of accident and emergency capacity in East Lancashire.

Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

No such assessments have been made. The provision of accident and emergency (A&E) services at the Royal Blackburn Hospital is a matter for the local National Health Service. The NHS in East Lancashire has established an A&E delivery board to oversee system performance and the effective delivery of urgent and emergency care locally.

Ministers consult weekly with NHS Improvement and the Care Quality Commission about A&E performance.