Tag: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-09-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why people who have reached the age of 75 are not automatically invited for a bowel screening to identify symptoms of bowel cancer.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy and supports implementation based on the best available evidence.

Bowel cancer screening by Faecal Occult Blood testing for men and women aged 50-74 was recommended by the UK NSC in July 2003. Following this recommendation, the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme in England initially invited men and women aged 60-69 years old as the programme was rolled out across the country. This has now been extended to men and women aged up to 74, as recommended in the Cancer Reform Strategy (2007). The programme offers screening up to the age of 74 based on the original English¹ and Danish² trials along with evidence published in 2010 (Cairns et al, 2010) which recommended that surveillance seizes at the age of 75.

No assessment has been made regarding automatically inviting those over 75 years for bowel screening. Men and women aged above the eligible age limit have been able to self-refer for screening every two years since the programme began, and so far over 150,000 have done so.

¹Hardcastle JD, Chamberlain JO, Robinson MH, Moss SM, Amar SS, Balfour TW, James PD, Mangham CM. Randomised controlled trial of faecal-occult-blood screening for colorectal cancer.

Lancet. 1996:348(9040);1472-7

2 Kronborg O, Fenger C, Olsen J, Jorgensen OD, Sondergaard O. Randomised study of screening for colorectal cancer with faecal-occult-blood test.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-01-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will issue guidance to the National Health Service on best practice for footcare management.

Earl Howe

Foot care services are commissioned locally by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), working with local partners and are based on the need of the local population, resources available and evidence based practice. These commissioning decisions are informed by the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment and the local Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

Within NHS England, the National Clinical Director for Rehabilitation and Recovery in the Community and the Chief Allied Health Professions Officer are leading work to improve adult rehabilitation services including collection and dissemination of best practice.

Footcare services for older people, published by the Department in 2009, highlighted five potential models of safe and effective foot care service provision. This includes working in partnership across the health and social care spectrum and may involve training others e.g. within nursing homes or home care agencies to carry out simple foot care. Other models help empower patients to self-care where it is possible and safe to do so.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Clinical Guidelines 119 (on inpatient management of diabetic foot problems) and 10 (on Type 2 diabetes foot problems) offer guidance on best practice for foot care management in diabetes. These guidelines are being updated as one document – Diabetic Foot Problems, which is currently out to consultation.

It is not possible to distinguish in Hospital Episode Statistics between “major” and “minor” amputations.

The Health and Social Care Information Centre has calculated the England average rate of amputation per 100,000 population and highlighted the CCGs of residence having rates more than 33% higher than the national average. There are 25 such CCGs which are identified in the attached table. This is not a count of people as the same person may have had more than one episode of care within the same time period.

We do not have information on a comparison of rates of amputation with other European Union member states.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-09-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether not automatically inviting those aged 75 or over for a bowel screening test complies with their duties under the Equalities Act 2010.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy and supports implementation based on the best available evidence.

Bowel cancer screening by Faecal Occult Blood testing for men and women aged 50-74 was recommended by the UK NSC in July 2003. Following this recommendation, the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme in England initially invited men and women aged 60-69 years old as the programme was rolled out across the country. This has now been extended to men and women aged up to 74, as recommended in the Cancer Reform Strategy (2007). The programme offers screening up to the age of 74 based on the original English¹ and Danish² trials along with evidence published in 2010 (Cairns et al, 2010) which recommended that surveillance seizes at the age of 75.

No assessment has been made regarding automatically inviting those over 75 years for bowel screening. Men and women aged above the eligible age limit have been able to self-refer for screening every two years since the programme began, and so far over 150,000 have done so.

¹Hardcastle JD, Chamberlain JO, Robinson MH, Moss SM, Amar SS, Balfour TW, James PD, Mangham CM. Randomised controlled trial of faecal-occult-blood screening for colorectal cancer.

Lancet. 1996:348(9040);1472-7

²Kronborg O, Fenger C, Olsen J, Jorgensen OD, Sondergaard O. Randomised study of screening for colorectal cancer with faecal-occult-blood test.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-02-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to introduce a Strategic Clinical Network for musculoskeletal disorders, as recommended by the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance.

Earl Howe

NHS England’s National Clinical Director for musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, Peter Kay, is currently working in partnership with the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance (ARMA), to develop new MSK clinical networks across England.

The work ARMA has done to date has been very successful in capturing examples of best practice in MSK care across England, bringing together health professionals and commissioners and building a strong consensus on the way forward for models of care for MSK patients across the entire MSK community. Work is ongoing in this area and NHS England and ARMA are in dialogue about the nature of such support.

NHS England is undertaking a review of the role, purpose and function of the sub-regional infrastructure that it funds, which is focussed on supporting commissioners and providers to improve the quality of services including Strategic Clinical Networks (SCN), Clinical Senates and Academic Health Science Networks. The purpose of the review is to understand how the best value can be secured from the investment in these functions, in support of commissioners and providers in improving quality. This review is ongoing and is expected to reach its conclusions by the end of March.

Regarding plans to introduce MSK networks as part of the SCN programme, NHS England has made clear that as priorities change, or should the work of one of the initial SCNS conclude, it will identify new conditions or patient groups that would benefit from an SCN approach.

The provision of fracture liaison services (FLS) and falls services is a matter for local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). NHS England advises that it is aware that provision of good FLS is not uniform across the country and it continues to work with CCGs to support them to develop appropriate local FLS services. It also advises that the FLS model recommended by the International Osteoporosis Foundation and the National Osteoporosis society is recognised as best practice and is being promoted.

In addition to this, the guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Falls: assessment and prevention of falls in older people sets out best practice for clinicians on the management of patients aged 65 and over who are susceptible to falls.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-02-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to undertake a comprehensive, cross-government strategy and programme for health and work, as recommended by the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance.

Earl Howe

The Government currently does not have plans to undertake a comprehensive cross-Government strategy and programme for health and work, as recommended by the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-02-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps will be taken by NHS England and other national health bodies to encourage the local commissioning of fracture liaison services, in the light of the advice issued by NHS England that the Fracture Liaison Services model represents best practice.

Earl Howe

NHS England’s National Clinical Director for musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, Peter Kay, is currently working in partnership with the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance (ARMA), to develop new MSK clinical networks across England.

The work ARMA has done to date has been very successful in capturing examples of best practice in MSK care across England, bringing together health professionals and commissioners and building a strong consensus on the way forward for models of care for MSK patients across the entire MSK community. Work is ongoing in this area and NHS England and ARMA are in dialogue about the nature of such support.

NHS England is undertaking a review of the role, purpose and function of the sub-regional infrastructure that it funds, which is focussed on supporting commissioners and providers to improve the quality of services including Strategic Clinical Networks (SCN), Clinical Senates and Academic Health Science Networks. The purpose of the review is to understand how the best value can be secured from the investment in these functions, in support of commissioners and providers in improving quality. This review is ongoing and is expected to reach its conclusions by the end of March.

Regarding plans to introduce MSK networks as part of the SCN programme, NHS England has made clear that as priorities change, or should the work of one of the initial SCNS conclude, it will identify new conditions or patient groups that would benefit from an SCN approach.

The provision of fracture liaison services (FLS) and falls services is a matter for local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). NHS England advises that it is aware that provision of good FLS is not uniform across the country and it continues to work with CCGs to support them to develop appropriate local FLS services. It also advises that the FLS model recommended by the International Osteoporosis Foundation and the National Osteoporosis society is recognised as best practice and is being promoted.

In addition to this, the guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Falls: assessment and prevention of falls in older people sets out best practice for clinicians on the management of patients aged 65 and over who are susceptible to falls.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-02-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the amount of musculoskeletal training in the general practitioner curriculum, whether they will they publish a workforce development strategy for healthcare professionals, including general practitioners and specialist practitioners in musculoskeletal disorders.

Earl Howe

The content and standard of medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC), which is an independent statutory body. It has the general function of promoting high standards of education and co-ordinating all stages of education to ensure that medical students and newly qualified doctors are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes essential for professional practice.

Health Education England (HEE) will work with bodies that set curricula such as the GMC and the Royal College of General Practitioners to seek to ensure general practice training meets the needs of patients.

In addition, HEE has established an independent Primary Care Workforce Commission which is chaired by Professor Martin Roland of the University of Cambridge. The Commission will identify models of primary care that will meet the needs of the future National Health Service including greater emphasis on community, primary and integrated services. It will focus on patient and population need; emerging models of care to respond to the population need; and maximising new skill sets and education and training.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-10-05.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when both Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority will publish the financial performance data for the first quarter of 2015–16 for NHS foundation trusts and NHS trusts.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority published the financial performance data for the first quarter of 2015-16 on Friday 9 October.

The information can be accessed as follows:

– Foundation Trusts, a copy of the report issued by Monitor is attached; and

– NHS Trusts, NHS Trust Development Authority has released the report on its website only which can be accessed at:

http://www.ntda.nhs.uk/blog/2015/10/09/nhs-trusts-financial-position-for-q1-of-201516/

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2014-06-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the proportion of accident and emergency attendances caused by accidents in the home.

Earl Howe

This information is not available centrally.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2014-06-16.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they have taken to address transgender patient discrimination in the National Health Service.

Earl Howe

We expect people with transgender issues to have the same access to National Health Service treatment, including mental health services, as anybody else in the population. Mental Health has been a priority for this Government for several years now. We made this commitment explicit in the Health and Social Care Act 2012 which, for the first time, creates equal status for mental and physical health across Government and for the NHS and social care.

Since April 2013, gender identity services have been commissioned by NHS England. NHS England will continue to work with the transgendered community, clinical experts and stakeholders through the clinical reference group for gender identity services, to produce a single and consistent policy for the whole of England.

In order to ensure equitable access to services, an England-wide Interim Protocol was consulted on, developed and became operational on 1 November 2013. The Protocol is based on the previously published and well received Scottish Protocol. The Protocol relies on the publication of the Inter-Collegiate “Good practice guidelines for the treatment of adults with gender dysphoria” published at the end of October 2013. A fully consulted policy document and service specifications will be published during 2014.

In addition, NHS England has commissioned a review of transgendered patients’ access to the NHS. This review has considered all aspects of access to NHS services and is currently being finalised in readiness for publishing.