Tag: Ms Margaret Ritchie

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Margaret Ritchie on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the possible effect of reductions in accident and emergency opening hours on public health and medical treatment standards.

Jane Ellison

Changes to front line health services are a matter for local National Health Service commissioners and providers.

Any significant service change should take account of guidance published by NHS England on 29 October 2015: Planning, assuring and delivering service change for patients. This reflects the objective in the mandate from the Government to NHS England to ensure that significant changes to services meet four tests: (i) strong public and patient engagement; (ii) consistency with current and prospective need for patient choice; (iii) a clear clinical evidence base; and (iv) support for proposals from clinical commissioners.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Margaret Ritchie on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking with the College of Emergency Medicine to help attract middle-grade and senior doctors to local hospitals.

Ben Gummer

Health Education England is working with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine to ensure they have a skilled, trained and motivated workforce in urgent and emergency care. This has included recruiting an additional 75 trainee emergency medicine doctors commissioned per year in 2014-2016, recruiting and appointing 29 international doctors in 2015 and supporting development of the multi-professional workforce.

National Health Service organisations are best placed to determine the size and skill mix of the workforce they need to deliver safe care and how, through local campaigns, they attract middle-grade and senior doctors to local hospitals.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Margaret Ritchie on 2015-11-25.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Barnett consequentials are for Northern Ireland of the measures announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

Greg Hands

The Northern Ireland Executive’s block grant allocations for the Spending Review period were set out at the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015. The allocations were calculated by the application of the Barnett Formula to UK government departmental settlements in the normal way.

Further information regarding the Barnett Formula can be found in HM Treasury’s ‘Statement of Funding Policy’.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Margaret Ritchie on 2015-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether she has had discussions with Volkswagen and Renault car manufacturers regarding the recall of cars in Northern Ireland aged one to five years for refitting new computer and brake systems; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Ben Wallace

Northern Ireland Office Ministers have had no discussions with Volkswagen and Renault car manufacturers regarding the recall of cars in Northern Ireland.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Margaret Ritchie on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with Volkswagen and Renault on the recall of cars in Northern Ireland aged one to five years for refitting new computer and brake systems; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry

My Rt hon Friends the Secretaries of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and Transport have jointly engaged in an exchange of correspondence with Paul Willis, Head of Volkswagen (VW) UK on VW’s plans for addressing consumer concerns over the fitting of defeat devices fitted to VW branded vehicles in the UK (including Northern Ireland). Both Ministers have urged VW UK to complete the refit/redress process as quickly as possible.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Margaret Ritchie on 2015-10-13.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Minister for Finance in the Republic of Ireland; and what subjects were raised at those discussions.

Mr David Gauke

Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As has been the practice adopted by previous administrations it is not Government policy to normally release details of such meetings.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Margaret Ritchie on 2015-10-13.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Ministers for Finance and Foreign Affairs in the Republic of Ireland; and what subjects were raised at those discussions.

Mr David Gauke

Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As has been the practice adopted by previous administrations it is not Government policy to normally release details of such meetings.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Margaret Ritchie on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to establish a database of people suffering from secondary breast cancer; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison

Public Health England is responsible for collecting cancer data to support national cancer registration in England, and recognises the importance of collecting data on recurrent breast cancer. At present pilot work in acute trusts has improved the reporting for breast cancer recurrence and metastasis totheNational CancerRegistration Service,but the data is not complete. Further work is being scoped by NHS England and Public Health England based on the recommendation in the recent Independent Cancer Taskforce report to establish robust surveillance systems to collect this data on all cancers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ms Margaret Ritchie on 2014-06-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when his Department plans to begin negotiations with Novartis on the procurement of the vaccine for meningitis B as part of the primary infant immunisation schedule.

Jane Ellison

The Government is taking the necessary steps to ensure this procurement is properly conducted.

We are committed to introducing this vaccine in line with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s recommendation, subject to the vaccine being available at a cost-effective price.