Tag: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-05-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on medicines policy and management of the reduction in the number of consultant clinical pharmacologist posts within the NHS.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Figures published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre show that there has not been a reduction in the number of consultant clinical pharmacologists employed in the National Health Service in England.

As part of its workforce planning, Health Education England (HEE) take account of a range of factors including forecast rates of retirement. HEE has recently undertaken a review of the clinical pharmacology and therapeutics workforce, the findings of which will contribute to future workforce planning for this specialty in England.

It is for the respective Governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to consider workforce planning for their health system.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-06-07.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the risk that changes to the cost effectiveness threshold for vaccines as proposed by the Cost Effectiveness Methodology for Immunisation Programmes and Procurements working group would lead to England being restricted from paying for some new vaccines when compared to other health economies in Europe, and people in the UK receiving fewer innovative vaccines.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Government expects to receive the Cost Effectiveness Methodology for Immunisation Programmes and Procurement report shortly and will consider its recommendations once received. Until then, it would not be appropriate to speculate on possible recommendations or the impact they might have. We are committed to publishing their report. We will decide when to publish, and whether to consult, once we have had time to consider the report.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they will ensure consistency between the recommendations of the Cost Effectiveness Methodology for Immunisation Programmes and Procurements working group and those of the Department of Health’s Appraisal Alignment Working Group on similar issues.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The report of the Cost Effectiveness Methodology for Immunisation Programmes and Procurement (CEMIPP) review was received in the Department on 20 July. The Department is considering this report and its potential implications.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-10-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking in regard to those Clinical Commissioning Groups which plan to cut the proportion of their budget spent on mental health services for 2016–17.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England has set a clear requirement of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) that spending on mental health should increase year-on-year by an amount at least as great as the growth in their baseline allocations. CCGs are required through the NHS Operational Planning and Contracting Guidance 2017-2019 to increase their baseline spend on mental health. A copy of this guidance is attached. From this year, NHS England’s budget and financial reporting will be aligned to specific mental health priorities, increasing transparency and allowing additional resources to be tracked at CCG level.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-11-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what legislative changes they propose in order to bring together Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority within NHS Improvement.

Lord Prior of Brampton

We are bringing together Monitor, the Trust Development Authority (TDA), and patient safety and improvement functions from across the health system, under one single leadership and operating model – known as NHS Improvement.

A number of changes to secondary legislation, covering directions and regulations to the TDA, will be required to support this work. Work is ongoing to bring forward a set of proposals which will be laid before the House in the new year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-11-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the investigation General practice commissioning: in whose interests? by The Times and the British Medical Journal, what assessment they have made of whether the conflict of interest guidelines are fulfilled by asking board members with a conflict of interest in an item under discussion during a board meeting to remain silent or leave the room.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England is responsible for providing guidance to clinical commissioning groups on how to manage conflicts of interest.

The current guidance states that:

“Where certain members of a decision-making body have a material interest, they should either be excluded from relevant parts of meetings, or join in the discussion but not participate in the decision-making itself (i.e., not have a vote)….The chair of the meeting has responsibility for deciding whether there is a conflict of interest and the appropriate course of corresponding action.”

NHS England has commenced a review of the Conflicts of Interest Guidance, as part of a wider governance project to strengthen conflicts of interest management across the National Health Service, and this is expected to be published next year. NHS England will formally consult with a number of regulators and national partners in the development of this guidance.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-11-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what arrangements they have made for the capital funding costs of new fluoridation schemes.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Since April 2013 Public Health England (PHE), on behalf of the Secretary of State, has recovered the operational costs of water fluoridation from local authorities served by these arrangements. The Secretary of State is required to meet the reasonable fluoridation capital and operating costs incurred by water undertakers in England and has the power to require local authorities to make payments to the Secretary of State to meet any such costs he has incurred. There are no proposed changes to the legislation affecting these arrangements.

Funding arrangements for the capital costs of new fluoridation schemes in England will need to be agreed between local authorities and PHE, on behalf of the Secretary of State, as part of the preparatory work before the scheme can commence.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-12-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of pupils take a full EBacc range of subjects in (1) sponsored academies, and (2) maintained schools.

Earl of Courtown

Provisional figures for 2014/15 show that 27.8 per cent of pupils in sponsored academies and 37.5 per cent of pupils in local authority maintained mainstream schools were entered for all components of the English Baccalaureate (EBacc).

This information is published in the Statistical First Release “Provisional GCSE and equivalent results in England: 2014 to 2015”.[1]

A list of qualifications which count towards the English Baccalaureate is available on the school performance tables’ website.[2]

[1] 2014/15 provisional table can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/467605/SFR37_2015_National_Tables.xlsx. (Years: 2014/15 Table 3a)

[2] A list of qualifications which count towards the English Baccalaureate can be found at: http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/secondary_14/English_Baccalaureate_list_of_qualifications_July_2015.xls.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-12-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the level of mark-ups on dermatology specials, what consideration they have given to reforming the process by which English NHS tariff prices are set.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Drug Tariff sets out what National Health Service dispensing contractors will be paid for the products supplied as part of providing pharmaceutical services and the fees for providing those services in primary care.

The current arrangements in the Drug Tariff for paying for specials, including dermatological specials, were introduced in 2011. It is recognised that there can be variations in the price of some specials, which is why we are considering further possible improvements in the arrangements that govern the price the NHS pays. These include expanding the number of products covered by these arrangements and improving the data used to set the prices.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the requirement laid down by the NHS Commissioning Board for Commissioning Support Units to become autonomous by the end of 2016 is to be removed.

Lord Prior of Brampton

No decision has been made. The proposed change was at the request of Clinical Support Units’ (CSU) Managing Directors – to give greaterflexibility to apply to become autonomous when they are ready, rather than having to work to a fixed timetable. A decision will be taken once NHS England’sCommissioning Committee has met.