Tag: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-05-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that NICE guidance is followed in the use of faecal microbiota transplants in the treatment of recurrent Clostridium difficile.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has produced guidance on faecal microbiota transplant for recurrent Clostridium difficile infection under the interventional procedure programme. This programme makes recommendations about the safety of the procedures and how well they work. However the guidance does not constitute a direction to National Health Service trusts to provide the interventions. Decisions about whether to provide a treatment are taken locally.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to make Personal Health Budgets available for the provision of wheelchairs; what arrangements they plan to put in place for wheelchair users; and whether the funding stream will be managed centrally and independently from local wheelchair service budgets.

Lord Prior of Brampton

In May 2016, Simon Stevens announced that NHS England would be developing a personal health budgets model for the provision of wheelchairs. This work is in the early stages of development.

The intention is to introduce personal wheelchair budgets from April 2017, to cover everyone who accesses the current wheelchair voucher scheme. This includes those with both low level and complex wheelchair requirements.

Personal health budgets are not about new money but about using existing budgets differently. Therefore the budget will continue to be held at a local level.

NHS England is working with a number of clinical commissioning group clusters to develop guidance on the delivery model. This work will cover care planning, information support and advice for wheelchair users, budget setting (using learning from the development of the Wheelchair Tariff where appropriate) and review. The guidance will be available in advance of the start of roll out in April 2017.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many patients were treated for hepatitis C and what were the actual or estimated costs of such treatment in each of the years 2014–15, 2015–16, and 2016–17.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Comprehensive data on all hepatitis C treatment in the United Kingdom is presented in the Public Health England annual report on Hepatitis C in the UK. The latest version published in July 2016 is called Hepatitis C in the UK 2016 report: Working towards its elimination as a major public health threat, and reported that treatment rates increased by around 40% in the calendar year 2015, up to 8,970 from an average of 6,400 in previous years. A copy of the report is attached. The report also presented preliminary figures to show that deaths in the UK from hepatitis C-related end stage liver disease and liver cancer fell for the first time in 2015, suggesting that access to new oral treatment via the early access schemes for patients with decompensated cirrhosis and cirrhosis may be having a positive impact.

In April 2014, NHS England announced an interim commissioning policy to make these new highly effective oral treatments available to patients with liver failure. In June 2014, NHS England implemented a second Interim Commissioning Policy, extending access to patients with cirrhosis.

Hepatitis C drugs are subject to commercially confidential discounts and rebate agreements. Releasing estimated or actual spend data includes the impact of these confidential prices which if released would inhibit the ability of companies to do business with the Department in the future. The Department has a duty to ensure that they adhere to the terms of confidentiality agreements when considering the release of information under the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme or other Commercial Medicines Unit drug framework agreements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-10-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to ask the competition authorities and the Care Quality Commission to review the Age UK report on self-funders in care homes published on 20 October.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Care and support is arranged on an open market where prices and fee rates are negotiated locally by commissioners for state funded clients, whilst individuals and their families do so for those who self-fund. The Government has no say in these individual negotiations.

Under the Care Act, councils are under a duty to promote their overall local provider market to ensure it remains sustainable and delivers high-quality services for all local people. Prices and fee rates paid by commissioners to provider organisations must reflect these new duties.

The Department published the Care and Support statutory guidance setting out how councils should meet these new duties when commissioning, including the consideration of the actual costs of care and support when negotiating fee levels. This guidance is an online-only resource, subject to updates.

The Department is aware of the Age UK report Behind the headlines: ‘stuck in the middle’ – self-funders in care homes. There are many reasons why individuals who self-fund may pay more than local authorities, including premium accommodation and services, and discounts that may be available to authorities for bulk purchasing and lower transaction costs.

The Government has no plans to ask the competition authorities or the Care Quality Commission to review the Age UK report, though we maintain a continuing dialogue across government and with the sector to encourage good practice and fairness to consumers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-11-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Secretary of State has now formally withdrawn the commitment made in The importance of teaching: the schools white paper 2010 concerning the role of local authorities in commissioning new provision and overseeing the transition of failing schools to new management.

Lord Nash

Local authorities are under a statutory duty to secure sufficient school places in their area. They can increase the number of school places by proposing the expansion of a maintained school or seeking to fund the expansion of an academy to meet basic need. Where a local authority identifies the need to establish a new school, s6A of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 requires it to seek, in the first instance, proposals to establish a free school. Local authorities can, if they wish, assess proposals and recommend their preferred provider. However, the Secretary of State makes the final decision on whether or not to enter to enter into a funding agreement with any of the proposers.

The Education and Adoption Bill is clear that all failing schools must become academies and local authorities, along with governing bodies, are under a duty to facilitate the conversion. The latest draft of the Schools Causing Concern guidance, which is currently out for consultation, makes clear that local authorities have an important role in working with Regional School Commissioners to ensure the rapid and effective transferof failing schools to sponsor-led academy trusts.

Local authorities therefore have an important role to play in education and this commitment has not been withdrawn.

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, whether they have plans to require that the boards of Clinical Commissioning Groups cannot enter into contracts with companies in which one or more of their board members has a financial interest.

Lord Prior of Brampton

We do not have any such plans.

However, in all circumstances a clinical commissioning group must manage any actual or perceived conflicts in a way that is transparent, fair, and protects the integrity of their decision making.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are taking any action against the West London Mental Health NHS Trust for allegedly barring Dr Stuart Lorimer from commenting on his being placed on The Independent on Sunday’s Rainbow List; and if so, what.

Lord Prior of Brampton

We are assured by the NHS Trust Development Authority that the West London Mental Health NHS Trust has not sought to prevent Dr Stuart Lorimer or any other member of staff from speaking about the Independent on Sunday’s Rainbow List and the recognition of Dr Lorimer’s work with the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community. We understand the Trust has congratulated Dr Lorimer on being recognised for his work with the LGBT community.

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 in (1) sponsored academies, and (2) maintained schools, take a GCSE in (a) a qualifying language, and (b) a qualifying humanities subject.

Earl of Courtown

The percentage of pupils who took a GCSE in a qualifying language or humanities subject in 2013/14 is given below:

	Percentage of pupils taking a qualifying subject in:
	Languages	Humanities
Sponsored academies	38.9	54.1
LA maintained mainstream schools	49.4	64.5

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the awarding of the second phase of the National PET-CT contract for England will be delayed pending publication of the investigationcommissioned by NHS England into the circumstances leading up to the termination of the contract between Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group and UnitingCare Partnership to deliver urgent care for the over-65s and adult community services.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England advises that there is no direct relationship or clinical interdependency between positron emission tomography–computed tomography (PET-CT) and urgent care services, and therefore the investigation of the termination of the contract between Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group and UnitingCare Partnership has no influence on the PET-CT procurement timescales.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much has been spent by Commissioning Support Units (CSUs) on external management consultancies since they were established; and how much of that was specifically related to contracts CSUs had with the NHS Commissioning Board.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Commissioning Support Units (CSUs) were formally established in April 2013. As at December 2015, CSUs paid out £81 million on consultancy support. Total spend has been reducing year on year as CSUs develop their own internal capacity, with 2015/16 to date spend at £8.4 million.

It is not possible to accurately apportion this to specific contracts with NHS England.