Tag: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-07-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the National Audit Office investigation into the collapse of the Uniting Care Partnership Contract in Cambridge and Peterborough, whether they plan to dismantle the Strategic Projects Team.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Department welcomes the National Audit Office (NAO) report. Decisions about the Strategic Projects Team (SPT) are, however, for NHS England. Following an internal review and the NAO report, NHS England identified concerns about the work of the SPT. As a result, the SPT will close and all its ongoing commitments will be reviewed with a view to bringing them to a conclusion.

NHS Improvement advises that it also welcomes the NAO report and is working closely with NHS England and the Department to consider assurance processes for such complex transactions. NHS Improvement further advises that its focus since May has been liaison with the NAO on its report and joint consideration with NHS England of the assurance issues raised.

NHS England confirms that the NAO investigation supports the findings of its previously published independent review. Before the NAO investigation, NHS England had already commissioned a follow-up review focusing on the role of external advisors, the effectiveness of the Gateway review process, and the role of the clinical commissioning group leadership and governing body. This work continues and NHS England expects to publish findings later this summer.

More widely, NHS England has been undertaking assessments of current and planned novel contracts and is developing an assurance framework for contracts of this sort. This is being informed by the findings of the Uniting Care reviews.

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 scale of trolley waits in the accident and emergency department of the Royal Blackburn Hospital and the consequent safety of patients.

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 2015-10-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they have ensured that the National Health Service has fully absorbed the lessons of the Public Accounts Committee report identifying significant weaknesses in central government’s capacity to monitor and enforce contracts with large private companies.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Department is addressing the recommendations set out in the Public Accounts Committee Report. Through our normal accountability arrangements we have sought assurance from our arm’s length bodies (ALBs), including NHS England, that they have the necessary organisational architecture in place to support good contract management and will continually strive to improve by applying best practice. The Department is building a contract management function which will seek to advise ALBs on how to apply effective contract management.

Each ALB will be responsible for determining its next steps. Each ALB will need to provide the necessary assurances that it is operating effectively and that it has the requisite capability and capacity to support effective contract management of significant amounts of public money.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-11-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the future role of NHS Foundation Trusts in the NHS.

Lord Prior of Brampton

We will continue to discuss the role of foundation trusts (FTs) in the National Health Service with the leaders of NHS Improvement as the organisation moves to a more aligned approach to the regulation and oversight of FTs and NHS trusts.

The clinical and economic sustainability of all trusts is of paramount importance, and NHS Improvement will continue to support NHS providers to determine the most appropriate means of securing their long-term future.

The NHS Trust Development Authority is continuing to refer organisations to Monitor for FT authorisation decisions. No decisions have yet been made about how this activity will be undertaken by NHS Improvement from 1 April 2016.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the additional costs to the NHS of the introduction of the single state pension in April 2016, which will remove the national insurance rebate currently received by NHS employers offering final salary schemes.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Spending Review has announced that National Health Service funding will rise by £3.8 billion in real terms in 2016-17 and by £8 billion in real terms by 2020-21, compared to 2015-16. It is estimated that changes to the state pension, from April 2016, will cost the NHS £1.1 billion.

This funding will enable the NHS to meet a range of cost pressures, including increased costs for NHS employers of the introduction of the single state pension.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-12-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish implementation plans for the rollout of the system of medical examiners in the NHS now that the Spending Review has been published.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Following the Spending Review, further work on the reforms to death certification and the introduction of medical examiners will be subject to confirmation of spending priorities through the normal business planning cycle. We will provide an update on the implementation plans and timetables as soon as we are able.

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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to ensure that, in the implementation of the NHS Supply Chain generic project plans for a national formulary for wound care, innovative small companies are not at a disadvantage in bidding for contracts.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Innovation is welcomed as part of this process and the clinical specifications may support smaller companies who demonstrate their capability to meet the requirements. One advantage of the NHS Supply Chain venture for smaller companies is that it can act as a single point of entry into the National Health Service and lower the ‘cost of sales’.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect the investigation commissioned by NHS England into the circumstances leading up to the termination of the contract between Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group and UnitingCare Partnership to deliver urgent care for the over-65s and adult community services to be completed.

Lord Prior of Brampton

NHS England advises that it has commissioned David Stout OBE to carry out an independent review of the contract between Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group and UnitingCare Partnership. The terms of reference are to establish, from a commissioner perspective, the key facts and root causes behind the termination of the contract in December 2015 and to draw out recommendations and lessons to be learned. This will include a review of documentation and discussion with staff members.

Relevant individuals will be contacted during the course of the review to inform the findings. NHS England is also setting up a web page which will include an email address where comments and responses can be submitted. This will enable the public to contribute.

The review is expected to start in January and to be completed in February 2016. NHS England plans to publish the review when complete.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-01-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 6 January (HL4745), on what evidence the forecast in Health Education England’s (HEE) commissioning and investment plan for 2016–17 of a rise in podiatry workforce demand of 1.5 per cent between 2015 and 2020 is based; and why HEE decided to reduce the number of commissioned education and training courses in podiatry in 2016–17 by 9.7 per cent compared to 2015–16.

Lord Prior of Brampton

National Health Service future workforce demand is based on a comprehensive collection of NHS provider forecasts taken up by Health Education England (HEE) and discussed both locally and nationally with commissioners and professional leaders as to likely direction of travel.

In order to afford the expansion of priority areas such as adult nurse, paramedic and mental health training numbers, HEE has taken a risk assessment based approach to deciding on where to focus commissions for training places in 2016/17.

The HEE commissioning and investment plan – 2016/17 includes a forecast increase in the level of podiatry commissions of 36.4% by 2020.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2016-02-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of students at university who are prescribed medical treatment for mental health issues.

Lord Prior of Brampton

We have made no assessment of the number of students at university who are prescribed medical treatment for mental health issues as this information is not collected centrally.