Tag: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-04-13.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will ask NHS England to disband the Special Projects Team in the light of the review by David Stout into the causes of the termination of the Uniting Care Partnership Contract.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England is commissioning follow up investigations into the circumstances leading up to the termination of the contract between Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group and Uniting Care Partnership LLP. It will look at the role of all of the contract advisors, including the special projects team, in more detail.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-04-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why there are no targets in the NHS for follow-up appointments after an initial consultant consultation.

Lord Prior of Brampton

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. All follow up appointments (also known as planned, surveillance or recall appointments) should take place when clinically appropriate. NHS England’s guidance, Recording and reporting referral to treatment waiting times for consultant-led elective care 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 this point a waiting time clock will be started and their wait reported in the relevant statistical return. A copy of the guidance is attached.

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 rate of uptake by the NHS of faecal microbiota transplants in the treatment of recurrent clostridium difficile.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced guidance on faecal microbiota transplant for recurrent Clostridium difficile infection. NICE has recommended that the procedure is safe and effective for use in the National Health Service, but no assessment of its cost effectiveness has been made by NICE.

Data on the uptake of faecal microbiota transplants in the treatment of recurrent Clostridium difficile by the NHS is not collected centrally.

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 additional contribution in cash terms they expect the NHS to make to the NHS Pension Scheme in 2016–17.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The NHS Pension Scheme is a ‘pay as you go’ pension scheme without financial assets. The last valuation in 2012 identified a deficit of £10.3 billion in the notional fund which is met by contributions from employers.

No additional contribution is expected from the National Health Service in 2016-17. NHS employers will continue to pay the standard employer contribution rate of 14.3%.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the finding by The Times and the British Medical Journal that the board of a Clinical Commissioning Group in Birmingham awarded a £1.7 million contract to a company in which a number of its board members were shareholders or held a senior position.

Lord Prior of Brampton

We are aware of the reports in The Times and The British Medical Journal.

Birmingham South Central CCG has provided assurances that it has robust and transparent governance arrangements in place that are in line with NHS England guidelines.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the running costs of existing and future fluoridation schemes will continue to be funded when the ring-fenced public health grant is removed; and if so, how.

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.