Tag: Nadine Dorries

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nadine Dorries on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will take steps to expand the investigatory powers of the Office of the Public Guardian to better protect elderly and vulnerable people in cases in which power of attorney is abused; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Hughes

The Government is committed to protecting elderly and vulnerable people, and to ensuring that anyone responsible for abuse is dealt with appropriately.

The Public Guardian has power to investigate cases where concerns are raised about the actions of a person acting under a power of attorney, and to apply to the Court to revoke the power of attorney where necessary to prevent abuse. The Public Guardian will refer cases to health and care authorities, who can act under statutory safeguarding powers to protect an individual who may be at risk, and to the police if he suspects a criminal offence has been committed.

We are currently considering whether the Public Guardian needs additional powers to strengthen his role in safeguarding elderly and vulnerable people, including the power to continue an investigation after a power of attorney or court order has been revoked or disclaimed. This would require changes to primary legislation.

Data on prosecutions for fraud, or for ill-treatment and neglect under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, do not specify whether the allegation relates to a person acting under a power of attorney. The Government’s response to the House of Lords Select Committee’s report on the Mental Capacity Act includes a commitment to review the use of the criminal offence under s44 of the Act.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nadine Dorries on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he will take to introduce safeguards to power of attorney to better protect elderly and vulnerable people from abuses of that power.

Simon Hughes

The Government is committed to protecting elderly and vulnerable people, and to ensuring that anyone responsible for abuse is dealt with appropriately.

The Public Guardian has power to investigate cases where concerns are raised about the actions of a person acting under a power of attorney, and to apply to the Court to revoke the power of attorney where necessary to prevent abuse. The Public Guardian will refer cases to health and care authorities, who can act under statutory safeguarding powers to protect an individual who may be at risk, and to the police if he suspects a criminal offence has been committed.

We are currently considering whether the Public Guardian needs additional powers to strengthen his role in safeguarding elderly and vulnerable people, including the power to continue an investigation after a power of attorney or court order has been revoked or disclaimed. This would require changes to primary legislation.

Data on prosecutions for fraud, or for ill-treatment and neglect under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, do not specify whether the allegation relates to a person acting under a power of attorney. The Government’s response to the House of Lords Select Committee’s report on the Mental Capacity Act includes a commitment to review the use of the criminal offence under s44 of the Act.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nadine Dorries on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many successful prosecutions for abuse of power of attorney were brought forward in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Hughes

The Government is committed to protecting elderly and vulnerable people, and to ensuring that anyone responsible for abuse is dealt with appropriately.

The Public Guardian has power to investigate cases where concerns are raised about the actions of a person acting under a power of attorney, and to apply to the Court to revoke the power of attorney where necessary to prevent abuse. The Public Guardian will refer cases to health and care authorities, who can act under statutory safeguarding powers to protect an individual who may be at risk, and to the police if he suspects a criminal offence has been committed.

We are currently considering whether the Public Guardian needs additional powers to strengthen his role in safeguarding elderly and vulnerable people, including the power to continue an investigation after a power of attorney or court order has been revoked or disclaimed. This would require changes to primary legislation.

Data on prosecutions for fraud, or for ill-treatment and neglect under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, do not specify whether the allegation relates to a person acting under a power of attorney. The Government’s response to the House of Lords Select Committee’s report on the Mental Capacity Act includes a commitment to review the use of the criminal offence under s44 of the Act.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nadine Dorries on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the Government has spent on prostate cancer research in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Dr Daniel Poulter

The following figures provide an annualised estimate of Government funding for prostate cancer research, provided by the National Cancer Research Institute Cancer Research Database 2009 to 2013.

	2009 £	2010 £	2011 £	2012 £	2013 £
Prostate Cancer	7,895,544	7,158,048	7,095,581	9,484,685	8,276,039

These figures include only direct spend on prostate cancer research, or spend which directly supports prostate cancer research; it does not include fundamental research that could have implications for prostate cancer in the longer term.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nadine Dorries on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure the same standard of care across the country for those diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Jane Ellison

To help reduce regional variations, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is increasingly incorporating information from accreditation and peer review programmes into its assessments of National Health Service trusts’ services, including the National Cancer Peer Review Programme. The CQC also intends to use data from the national clinical audit which is being developed for prostate cancer. In addition, national statistics on waiting times experienced by patients with suspected and diagnosed cancers continue to be collected, monitored and published in order to improve equity of access to cancer services and to contribute to an improvement in survival rates.

The results of the latest national Cancer Patient Experience Survey (CPES) from 2013 show that, whilst variations between trusts still exist, the overall range of variation for many indicators has narrowed. For example, in 2010 the proportion of patients saying that they had been given the name of a Clinical Nurse Specialist ranged from 92% in the highest performing trust to 59% in the poorest performing trust (33 points); by 2013 this had reduced to 97% to 76% (21 points).

NHS Improving Quality (NHS IQ) will be doing a suite of work across all surveys to understand what the barriers are to implementing change and to showcase best practice where real improvements can be demonstrated.

NHS England is working with NHS IQ to develop better ways of using the CPES data within the NHS in order to maximise the impact of the survey, to be able to work with successful and struggling organisations to spread best practice for example.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nadine Dorries on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will include prostate cancer in the next Be Clear on Cancer awareness campaign; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison

Be Clear on Cancercampaigns are tested at a local and regional level, before a decision is taken on whether to run them nationally throughout England.

Public Health England is actively considering potential local pilot activity specifically targeting prostate cancer within Black African-Caribbean men, due to their significantly increased risk of developing prostate cancer.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nadine Dorries on 2014-06-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will strengthen levels of protection of elderly and vulnerable people by allowing the Office of the Public Guardian to investigate abuses of power of attorney in cases where these powers have been revoked.

Simon Hughes

The Government is committed to protecting elderly and vulnerable people, and to ensuring that anyone responsible for abuse is dealt with appropriately.

The Public Guardian has power to investigate cases where concerns are raised about the actions of a person acting under a power of attorney, and to apply to the Court to revoke the power of attorney where necessary to prevent abuse. The Public Guardian will refer cases to health and care authorities, who can act under statutory safeguarding powers to protect an individual who may be at risk, and to the police if he suspects a criminal offence has been committed.

We are currently considering whether the Public Guardian needs additional powers to strengthen his role in safeguarding elderly and vulnerable people, including the power to continue an investigation after a power of attorney or court order has been revoked or disclaimed. This would require changes to primary legislation.

Data on prosecutions for fraud, or for ill-treatment and neglect under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, do not specify whether the allegation relates to a person acting under a power of attorney. The Government’s response to the House of Lords Select Committee’s report on the Mental Capacity Act includes a commitment to review the use of the criminal offence under s44 of the Act.