Tag: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

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 2015-10-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will review the current performance of the NHS 111 service and take steps in order to ensure that more qualified nurses are used to handle calls from the public.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Government has seen successes with the NHS 111 service since its launch, with over a million calls offered to the NHS 111 service in August, of which 93.6% were answered within 60 seconds.

The Government expects all NHS 111 centres to be appropriately staffed to offer people safe care and advice and treatment at all times and has asked NHS England for assurances that the NHS 111 service is doing all it can to help patients. Furthermore the Care Quality Commission has announced it will inspect and rate NHS 111 services by September 2016 to give additional assurances that minimum levels of quality are attained.

New Commissioning Standards for Integrated Urgent Care were published last week by NHS England. Developed jointly with commissioners and providers, the Commissioning Standards will support the transformation of urgent care services; introducing the clinical hub employing a broader range of clinical skills, direct booking into general practitioner appointments, improved clinical governance and staff development amongst other developments. Commissioners will now complete their plans to achieve the Commissioning Standards. A copy is attached.

The commissioning of NHS 111 services is led by local Clinical Commissioning Groups and the safety and effectiveness of NHS 111 services are subject to constant review by local commissioners, monitoring performance and investigating complaints and clinical incidents through existing clinical governance arrangements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-10-26.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many patients waited at least 12 hours in Accident and Emergency in 2014–5, and in each year since 2005.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The information is not collected in the format requested. Information on the number of patients waiting more than 12 hours from decision to admit to admission in accident and emergency (A&E) departments in 2011-12 to 2014-15 is shown in the table below. The first full year for which data is available is 2011-12 as data was not collected prior to August 2010.

Year	Number of patients spending more than 12 hours from decision to admit to admission in A&E departments
2011-12	123
2012-13	170
2013-14	240
2014-15	1,239

Source: Annual A&E Activity and Emergency Admissions statistics, NHS and independent sector organisations in England

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-10-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the safety of the NHS 111 service in the East Midlands.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The commissioning of NHS 111 services is led by local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). The safety and effectiveness of NHS 111 services are subject to constant review by commissioners, who monitor performance and investigate complaints and clinical incidents through existing clinical governance arrangements. In addition the services are subject to inspection by the Care Quality Commission.

NHS England advises that it has asked local CCGs to conduct a full investigation into recent serious allegations about the NHS 111 service in the East Midlands. This investigation is being coordinated by North Derbyshire CCG, and NHS England will continue to maintain oversight of progress. The investigation report is due at the beginning of December.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-10-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what guidance they and the NHS 111 service give to qualified nurses about the prioritisation of complex cases and more routine calls, in the light of the targets set for that service.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Government has seen successes with the NHS 111 service since its launch, with over a million calls offered to the NHS 111 service in August, of which 93.6% were answered within 60 seconds.

The Government expects all NHS 111 centres to be appropriately staffed to offer people safe care and advice and treatment at all times and has asked NHS England for assurances that the NHS 111 service is doing all it can to help patients. Furthermore the Care Quality Commission has announced it will inspect and rate NHS 111 services by September 2016 to give additional assurances that minimum levels of quality are attained.

New Commissioning Standards for Integrated Urgent Care were published last week by NHS England. Developed jointly with commissioners and providers, the Commissioning Standards will support the transformation of urgent care services; introducing the clinical hub employing a broader range of clinical skills, direct booking into general practitioner appointments, improved clinical governance and staff development amongst other developments. Commissioners will now complete their plans to achieve the Commissioning Standards. A copy is attached.

The commissioning of NHS 111 services is led by local Clinical Commissioning Groups and the safety and effectiveness of NHS 111 services are subject to constant review by local commissioners, monitoring performance and investigating complaints and clinical incidents through existing clinical governance arrangements.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-10-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what response they plan to make to the recent article published in the Journal of Public Health reporting on the costs and benefits of health checks for 40 to 74 year olds.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Public Health England (PHE) provided a response to Capewell et al’s article on NHS Health Check, which appeared in the same issue of the Journal of Public Health.PHE’s Chief Executive also responded in letters published in the Guardian and the British Medical Journal (BMJ), and through a special e-bulletin to NHS Health Check stakeholders. Copies of the article and responses have been placed in the Library.