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 the NHS of the predicted loss of 35 per cent of current clinical pharmacologist consultant posts through retirements in the next decade and the reduction in the number of training grade clinical pharmacologist posts, as set out in the report by the British Pharmacological Society, A Prescription for the NHS: Recognising the value of clinical pharmacology and therapeutics.

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 2016-05-23.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the decision to delay inquiring into wider governance issues at the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and the role that the Trust is being asked to play in helping the re-configuration of services in Staffordshire are connected, and if so, how.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS Improvement advises that Verita’s report Independent review of the handling by The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust of concerns raised by and related to Mrs Haynes-Kirkbright was undertaken and published independently of Government and of any role the Trust played in the reconfiguration of services in Staffordshire. The review did not relate in any way to the reconfiguration.

The content and timing of the review into wider concerns about governance at the Trust will not be affected in any way by the Staffordshire reconfiguration.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the scope of the Cost Effectiveness Methodology for Immunisation Programmes and Procurements working group has shifted from its original purpose, and if so, why.

Lord Prior of Brampton

No, the Terms of Reference have not changed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-09-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the closure of accident and emergency services at Burnley Hospital.

Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

No such assessments have been made. The provision of accident and emergency (A&E) services at the Royal Blackburn Hospital is a matter for the local National Health Service. The NHS in East Lancashire has established an A&E delivery board to oversee system performance and the effective delivery of urgent and emergency care locally.

Ministers consult weekly with NHS Improvement and the Care Quality Commission about A&E performance.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the latest date by which they need to amend secondary legislation to change the NHS tariff objection mechanism in order for such changes to operate for the setting of the 2016–17 tariff.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The objection mechanism is part of the provisions relating to statutory consultation by Monitor on proposals for a new or revised national tariff. We anticipate that Monitor will start statutory consultation on 2016-17 national tariff proposals in January. Accordingly any regulations making amended provision for the objection mechanism before that consultation starts would need to be made and brought into force no later than January 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they have made in meeting their target of collecting and sequencing 100,000 human genomes by 2017.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Almost 10,000 people have been involved in the 100,000 Genomes Project so far,with more joining through the NHS Genomic Medicine Centres each day.The Project will sequence 100,000 whole genomes from around 70,000 people.Cancer patients have their genome and the genome of their cancer sequenced. Rare disease patients have their genome sequenced as do two of their blood relatives.

As at 12 October 5,234 whole genomes had been sequenced and added to the data centre.Substantial progress has been made across all aims of the project including the establishment of 11 NHS Genomics Medicine Centres who are actively recruiting participants and the first rare disease patients being diagnosed.

Regular updates on the 100,000 Genomes Project including the total number of genomes sequenced are published on Genomics England’s website:

www.genomicsengland.co.uk

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people have so far been involved since recruitment into the 100,000 Genomes Project began.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Almost 10,000 people have been involved in the 100,000 Genomes Project so far,with more joining through the NHS Genomic Medicine Centres each day.The Project will sequence 100,000 whole genomes from around 70,000 people.Cancer patients have their genome and the genome of their cancer sequenced. Rare disease patients have their genome sequenced as do two of their blood relatives.

As at 12 October 5,234 whole genomes had been sequenced and added to the data centre.Substantial progress has been made across all aims of the project including the establishment of 11 NHS Genomics Medicine Centres who are actively recruiting participants and the first rare disease patients being diagnosed.

Regular updates on the 100,000 Genomes Project including the total number of genomes sequenced are published on Genomics England’s website:

www.genomicsengland.co.uk

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will report on progress with the 100,000 Genomes Project.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Almost 10,000 people have been involved in the 100,000 Genomes Project so far,with more joining through the NHS Genomic Medicine Centres each day.The Project will sequence 100,000 whole genomes from around 70,000 people.Cancer patients have their genome and the genome of their cancer sequenced. Rare disease patients have their genome sequenced as do two of their blood relatives.

As at 12 October 5,234 whole genomes had been sequenced and added to the data centre.Substantial progress has been made across all aims of the project including the establishment of 11 NHS Genomics Medicine Centres who are actively recruiting participants and the first rare disease patients being diagnosed.

Regular updates on the 100,000 Genomes Project including the total number of genomes sequenced are published on Genomics England’s website:

www.genomicsengland.co.uk

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-10-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many general practitioner practices that received funding to open at weekends and in the evening have cut back out-of-hours work due to (1) a lack of demand; and (2) a shortage of GPs; and by how much those practices have reduced their opening.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Schemes within the Prime Minister’s GP Access Fund are trialling innovative and improved general practitioner access. This includes longer opening hours – such as evening and weekend hours – but also different ways of accessing services, for example telephone and video consultations and increased use of skill mix. £175 million (including £25 million sourced from the £1 billion Infrastructure Fund) has been invested in 57 schemes over two waves, meaning that over 18 million patients (a third of the country) will have benefitted from improved access and transformational change at local level by March 2016.

The Wave One pilots have, in some cases, adjusted their approach. It is right for pilots to have done this to fit with what is found to work best for the local population.

Of the 20 Wave One pilots that initially offered extended access:

‒ 12 pilots have maintained or increased their extended access from initial mobilisation;

‒ 5 pilots have reduced their extended access by an average of 6 hours per week per scheme; and

‒ robust data was not supplied in time for three pilots, so an assessment of extended access variation cannot be made at this time.

Schemes noted that in order to meet local needs and preferences, they adjusted opening hours and redirected resources towards the end of the pilot, once the pattern of local demand was better understood. The reasons for reduction in extended access varied according to locality. They included lower than expected demand from patients, and clinical/non-clinical staff availability. Furthermore, after the process of due diligence, there was a difference for some pilots between bid contract and committed hours.

Clinical commissioning groups are looking at the evidence from the pilots necessary to secure sustainable provision which has proved beneficial for patients, local services and the profession.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will respond to the Herbal Medicines and Practitioners Working Group report on the regulation of herbal practitioners published in March.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Government response to the Report on the Regulation of Herbal Medicines and Practitioners will be published by the end of 2015.