Tag: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-04-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what mitigating actions they propose to take in the light of the equality analysis undertaken under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 showing that certain features of the new contract for doctors in training will have an adverse impact on women who take maternity leave.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The contract published on 31 March is a huge step forward for achieving fairness for all trainee doctors. For the first time junior doctors will be paid and rewarded solely on the basis of their own hard work and achievement and pay progression will be linked to level of training rather than arbitrarily to time served.

All junior doctors should have the same terms and conditions – a level playing field – which is ultimately what employers and the British Medical Association (BMA) want and everyone deserves.

When the Secretary of State published the Equality Analysis on the new contract for doctors and dentists in training in the NHS (“Doctors”) on the 31 March 2016 on the GOV.UK website he made it clear that, as a result of considering the Equality Analysis, in accordance with his duties and obligations, he had asked for a number of changes to the draft contract to address specific issues for certain groups with protected characteristics. This has been done and the contract has been duly amended. These changes included changes that benefited staff who work part time. The new contract is not discriminatory it ensures that all junior doctors receive equal pay for work of equal value. The BMA’s own lawyers have advised that nothing in the new contract is discriminatory. Nevertheless the equality duty is an ongoing duty and it is intended that monitoring will continue after the introduction of the new contract in accordance with the public sector equality duty in the Equality Act 2010.

A copy of the Equality Analysis is attached.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-04-25.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they will take to ensure that Clinical Commissioning Groups in the West Midlands abide by the guidance issued by the Royal College of Surgeons and accredited by NICE in their consultation on procedures of low clinical value”.”

Lord Prior of Brampton

It is for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to determine how to use the resources available to meet the needs of their patients, taking account of national clinical guidance.

NHS England advises that CCGs across the West Midlands are jointly developing a policy on procedures of low clinical value. The CCGs have stated their decisions will consider all relevant national standards and take into account all proper and authoritative guidance. NHS England is ensuring an equality impact assessment will be undertaken and will be notified when this is completed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-05-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the volume of advice given by community pharmacists to patients that is not covered by a commissioned services contract.

Lord Prior of Brampton

As part of the essential services within the National Health Service community pharmacy contractual framework, all community pharmacies are expected to provide advice in respect to dispensed medicines, support for self-care, prescription linked healthy life style advice and signposting to others where the pharmacy cannot itself provide support. The volume of advice given by community pharmacists to patients that is not covered by a commissioned services contract has not been assessed.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of Health Education England’s demand-led approach to the assessment of the number of consultant posts needed in highly specialist fields such as clinical pharmacology.

Lord Prior of Brampton

It is Health Education England’s responsibility to ensure that there is sufficient future supply of staff, including those needed in specialist fields, to meet the workforce requirements of the English health system.

The Workforce Plan is built upon the needs of local employers, providers, commissioners and other stakeholders who, as members of its Local Education Training Boards (LETBs), shape the thirteen local plans.

The Workforce Plan is predominately an aggregate of the local LETB plans, but the final national plan is only agreed with the advice and input of its clinical advisory groups and Patients’ Advisory Forum, as well as the Royal Colleges and other stakeholders.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-07-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people are employed by NHS England as (1) audiologists, (2) cardiac physiologists, (3) gastrointestinal physiologists, (4) neurophysiologists, (5) respiratory physiologists, and (6) sleep physiologists.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England (legally known as the NHS Commissioning Board) does not employ any individuals with the job titles specified.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the performance of Basildon and Brentwood Clinical Commissioning Group in ensuring that mental health services are adequately funded.

Lord Prior of Brampton

No such assessment has been made by this Department. NHS England advises that Basildon and Brentwood Clinical Commissioning Group is focused on achieving the best outcomes for its patients within the available funding. It continues to work towards parity of esteem for mental health, focussing on the implementation of the national strategy, The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, while endeavouring to ensure that all services it commissions for individuals with mental health needs are based on local intelligence supported by the local Joint Strategic Needs Assessment. A copy of The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health is attached.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with other EU member states concerning the impact on NHS patients of the introduction of the European Professional Card for healthcare professionals.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The aim of the European Professional Card (EPC) is to simplify and streamline the recognition of professional qualifications process for the applicant. Improving the freedom of movement of professionals will give the National Health Service greater access to a range of skills to the benefit of patients.

For health and care professions, the EPC will be introduced for nurses, pharmacists and physiotherapists in 2016. It will not be introduced for doctors until 2018 at the earliest. The EPC will be introduced through an Implementing Act.

The Department was involved in extensive negotiations with the European Commission and other Member States during the development of the Implementing Act and was successful in achieving a number of positive changes including increasing access to translations of documents, and ensuring that authorities can challenge the issuance of an EPC in another Member State under ‘justifiable circumstances’, which will be an important patient safety mechanism. We will continue to work with the health and care regulators and the Commission during the implementation process to mitigate any risks.

The United Kingdom was also successful in receiving a commitment from the Commission that they will undertake an early review to ensure that any issues are resolved before the EPC is rolled out to any additional professions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-11-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency can license the drug bevacizumab in the treatment of age-related macular degeneration in the absence of an application by the company that holds the patent.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), an executive agency of the Department of Health, is responsible for the licensing of medicines. The MHRA is only able to assess and grant a licence for a particular use of a medicine once an application has been made and supporting data have been submitted to demonstrate that the quality, safety and efficacy of the medicine are satisfactory for the intended use.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-12-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust deals effectively with the issues of racial discrimination and harassment identified by the Care Quality Commission.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The NHS Trust Development Authority (TDA) is monitoring and working closely with Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust to support the Trust to address these issues.

We are advised by the TDA that the Trust’s Race Equality Workforce Engagement Strategy involves multiple work streams led by area specific engagement groups to address specific issues and challenges across all areas and levels of the Trust. It was launched at the joint Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Network and Trust conference in October 2014.

A programme board was established and the first meeting was in February 2015. Programme board meetings are co-chaired by the Chief Executive and the Chair of the BME Network in order to provide oversight, performance management and governance of the race equality action plans developed by the various engagement groups.

We are assured by the TDA that the Trust followed procedures correctly in appointing the Chairman of the Trust to hear a right of appeal from nine BME members of staff against the decision of Henrietta Hill QC.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-12-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many of the Clinical Commissioning Groups in England and Wales have prevented access to dermatology specials for their patients on the grounds of cost in the last five years.

Lord Prior of Brampton

This information is not collected centrally.