Tag: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2014-06-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the reason for, and what action they are taking to address, the deterioration in ambulance 999 response rates.

Earl Howe

The following table shows performance against the response time standards for all ambulance trusts in England in the last two financial years.

Table: Monthly performance of ambulance trusts in England for category A calls, 2012-13 and 2013-14

Year	Month	Of all Category A calls, proportion responded to within 8 minutes	Of all Red 1 calls, proportion responded to within 8 minutes	Of all Red 2 calls, proportion responded to within 8 minutes	Of all Category A calls resulting in an ambulance arriving, proportion within 19 minutes
2012-13	April	76.2%	–	–	96.7%
2012-13	May	74.8%	–	–	96.3%
2012-13	June	–	75.6%	77.5%	96.6%
2012-13	July	–	75.3%	77.4%	96.4%
2012-13	August	–	75.1%	78.1%	96.5%
2012-13	September	–	75.1%	75.9%	95.9%
2012-13	October	–	74.9%	76.5%	96.2%
2012-13	November	–	73.2%	76.0%	96.1%
2012-13	December	–	70.4%	70.8%	94.6%
2012-13	January	–	73.5%	75.8%	95.8%
2012-13	February	–	74.1%	75.3%	95.9%
2012-13	March	–	73.4%	73.8%	95.4%
2012-13	Full year	75.5%	74.0%	75.6%	96.0%
2013-14	April	–	75.4%	76.0%	96.4%
2013-14	May	–	77.9%	77.8%	96.9%
2013-14	June	–	77.4%	77.1%	96.7%
2013-14	July	–	75.5%	74.0%	95.8%
2013-14	August	–	77.0%	75.3%	96.2%
2013-14	September	–	75.1%	73.8%	95.9%
2013-14	October	–	74.6%	73.6%	96.1%
2013-14	November	–	74.1%	73.0%	95.9%
2013-14	December	–	72.8%	71.7%	95.4%
2013-14	January	–	76.4%	76.3%	96.4%
2013-14	February	–	75.2%	74.0%	96.0%
2013-14	March	–	76.2%	74.7%	96.1%
2013-14	Full year	–	75.6%	74.8%	96.1%

Source: NHS England, ambulance quality indicators

Notes:

1. Ambulance service response times were split in June 2012 in to the most time critical (Red 1) and serious but less time critical (Red 2).

2. Category A Red 1 calls are the most time critical and cover cardiac arrest patients who are not breathing and do not have a pulse, and other severe conditions.

3. Category Red 2 calls are serious but less immediately time critical and cover conditions such as stroke and fits, and a new clock start will allow call handlers to get more information about patients.

4. Category A19 is the total number of Category A calls (Red 1 and Red 2) which resulted in a fully equipped ambulance vehicle (car or ambulance) able to transport the patient in a clinically safe manner arriving at the scene within 19 minutes of the request being made.

The Government is aware of the increasing demand on urgent and emergency care services. The Urgent and Emergency Care Review is currently considering whole system change to the delivery of urgent and emergency care, including new models of delivery of care for ambulance services. The first phase of the review was published last November, and we expect NHS England to be publishing further reports later this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2014-06-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking with regard to those Clinical Commissioning Groups that have not funded Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services for deaf people.

Earl Howe

The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme is now the responsibility of individual clinical commissioning groups (CCGs); however over £400 million is being invested over the spending review period to make a choice of psychological therapies available for those who need them in all parts of England.

Section 20 of the Equality Act 2010 requires service providers and CCGs to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ so that disabled people are not placed at a ‘substantial disadvantage’ compared to non-disabled people, which would include in the provision of psychological therapies to deaf people.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2014-06-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the cost of the special administration process in relation to Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust.

Earl Howe

The appointment of Trust Special Administrators (TSAs) to Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust in April 2013 was made by Monitor. The TSAs’ final proposals were accepted by Monitor in January 2014, and by the Secretary of State in February 2014.

In an announcement on 13 March 2014, Monitor stated that the costs of the process to date had been £7,250,000, with an additional £250,000 incurred by the team of administrators in expenses.

Following the Secretary of State’s acceptance of the proposals, the TSAs have remained in post to continue with the day to day management of the Trust and to work on implementing the proposals.

In the announcement Monitor anticipated that the overall cost of the TSA contract for the lifetime of the project would be between £12 million and £15 million.

Monitor’s announcement can be found on its website at:

www.gov.uk/government/news/mid-staffs-monitor-announces-next-steps

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2014-06-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government why funding for the selective dorsal rhizotomy procedure was withdrawn by NHS England in the case of Jake Foster who suffers from Leigh’s disease.

Earl Howe

Since 1 April 2013, NHS England has been responsible for commissioning specialised services. As a procedure, Selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) falls within this remit.

SDR is not typically considered as a treatment for patients with Leigh’s Disease. For this reason, NHS England has not to date considered developing or publishing a policy on the use of SDR for this condition.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2014-06-04.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to improve support for children and adults with dyspraxia, a form of developmental co-ordination disorder.

Earl Howe

It is for local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to assess the needs of the local populations they serve. CCGs work with their local providers to gain an understanding of the nature of local provision, and the part it should play in their future commissioning plans.

The Children and Families Act has introduced new arrangements for supporting young people with a special educational need and disability, including dyspraxia, and their families. A single assessment involving professionals and commissioners, and the child’s family, will identify the care needs for the child or young person (from ages 0 to 25) to inform an individual Education, Health and Care Plan focusing on outcomes and the integrated services to deliver them.

The Government is committed to ensuring all children and young people should be supported to achieve their best, regardless of their disability or circumstances. The new special educational needs and disability (SEND) Code of Practice due to come into force in September, sets out clear guidance for educational settings on the process for appropriate identifying, assessing and securing further support for children with SEND which can include those with dyspraxia. Through the Code we are ensuring all educational settings have arrangements in place for monitoring the progress of all pupils and responding quickly to their needs.

Chapter 6 of the draft Code of Practice makes specific reference to dyspraxia amongst examples of conditions that educational settings should be aware of when planning SEND provisions.