The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with medical organisations on using DNA tests to help in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.
Jane Ellison
We are not aware of any discussions with medical organisations on using DNA tests to help in the diagnosis, and treatment, of breast cancer.
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 Justin Madders on 2016-10-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the likely effect of proposed changes to pharmacy funding on the provision of supplementary hours beyond the core NHS contract.
David Mowat
The Government’s proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond, on which we have consulted, are being considered against the public sector equality duty, the family test and the relevant duties of my Rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health, under the National Health Service Act 2006.
Our assessments include consideration of the potential impacts on the adequate provision of NHS pharmaceutical services, including the supply of medicines, access to NHS pharmaceutical services, supplementary hours, non-commissioned services, individuals with protected characteristics, impacts on other NHS services, health inequalities, individuals with restricted mobility and access to healthcare for deprived communities.
An impact assessment will be completed to inform final decisions and published in due course.
Our proposals are about improving services for patients and the public and securing efficiencies and savings. We believe these efficiencies can be made within community pharmacy without compromising the quality of services or public access to them.
Our aim is to ensure that those community pharmacies upon which people depend continue to thrive. We are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared with others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.
We want a clinically focussed community pharmacy service that is better integrated with primary care and public health in line with the Five Year Forward View. This will help relieve the pressure on general practitioners and accident and emergency departments, ensure better use of medicines and better patient outcomes, and contribute to delivering seven day health and care services.
The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England, Dr Keith Ridge has commissioned an independent review of community pharmacy clinical services. The review is being led by Richard Murray, Director of Policy at The King’s Fund. The final recommendations will be considered as part of the development of clinical and cost effective patient care by pharmacists and their teams.
NHS England is also setting up a Pharmacy Integration Fund to support the development of clinical pharmacy practice in a wider range of primary care settings, resulting in a more integrated and effective NHS primary care patient pathway.
The rollout of the additional 1,500 clinical pharmacists announced by NHS England will help to ease current pressures in general practice by working with patients who have long term conditions and others with multiple medications. Having a pharmacist on site will mean that patients who receive care from their general practice will be able to benefit from the expertise in medicines that these pharmacists provide.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-29.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect on advanced nurse practitioners of proposed adjustments of GPs working hours.
Ben Gummer
An advanced nurse practitioner is generally accepted to be a registered nurse who has acquired the expert knowledge base, complex decision-making skills and clinical competencies for expanded practice, the characteristics of which are shaped by the context of practice. A Master’s Degree is recommended for entry level to an Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANPs) role. This role is not defined by the Nursing Midwifery Council or the Department.
Today ANPs work in a variety of health care settings and in a number of different roles, which range from a nurse consultant managing a specialist service in a hospital to being a nurse partner within a general practice.
Information on how many ANPs are employed by the National Health Service in each region of the United Kingdom in each of the last five years is not held by the Department.
We have made it clear that we are not planning to impose a ‘one size fits all model’ for our plan to provide a seven-day NHS. It will be for local commissioners and providers to decide how best to deliver seven day services in hospitals and for them to work with their Local Education and Training Boards to develop workforce plans to support this.
Although not explicitly mentioned in NHS England’s Five Year Forward view, ANPs are part of the solution to addressing the health and well-being gap; care and quality gap; and funding gap. For example, ANPs are involved in the new care models such as in Derbyshire. The Derbyshire Vanguard site will develop a prevention team made up of health and care professionals including general practitioners (GPs), ANPs, mental health nurses, extended care support and therapy support.
Seven day access does not mean that every GP must work every day or that all practices must open at evenings and weekends. Through schemes such as the Prime Minister’s GP Access Fund, practices are encouraged to collaborate together in delivering more convenient and accessible services for patients in the evenings and weekends through multiple methods including innovative use of technology, working together at scale, and better use of skill mix to both improve patient care and release GP capacity.
The recent independent evaluation of the first wave of the PM’s GP Access Fund reported that “evidence to date suggests that the strategy of making more use of nursing staff, particularly Advance Nurse Practitioners (ANPs), is resulting in benefits including released GP capacity…”
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Lansley on 2015-11-19.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much money has been (1) provided, and (2) committed through to 2018–19, from the LIBOR fines to support the Imperial War Museum’s educational work; and how that money has been disbursed or allocated by the museum.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe
Thanks to my noble friend’s work in this area, and the Chancellor’s commitment to use fines paid by banks for good causes, £8 million has been committed from the LIBOR funds to support the Imperial War Museum’s education work over the period 2015-2019. The Museum has allocatedaround£2 million for each year of this period and a total of £1.3m has been invested so far in 2015-2016 on ongoing education work. This includes support to the First World War Centenary learning programme with over 3,500 member organisations from more than 50 different countries including universities, museums, schools, libraries, archives, operas, orchestras and local community organisations.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-12-17.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidents of jury (a) intimidation and (b) tampering were recorded in each of the last five years.
Mr Shailesh Vara
The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maria Eagle on 2016-01-27.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when his Department plans to publish the UK Digital Strategy.
Mr Edward Vaizey
We plan to publish the Digital Strategy in early 2016. The Minister for the Digital Economy launched a public call for ideas on 29 December. We are now analysing these responses, and we continue to work closely with Whitehall departments on the Strategy.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Anderson on 2016-02-24.
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of supporting the deployment of ultra-super critical coal fired power stations similar to those planned by China and Germany; and if she will make a statement.
Andrea Leadsom
I have made no such assessment. Any new coal plant must demonstrate carbon capture and storage on at least 300 MW of its proposed generating capacity and comply with the Emissions Performance Standard.
Coal fired power stations without abatement are not consistent with meeting our decarbonisation objectives. This is why the Government has committed to consulting on phasing out unabated coal by 2025 and to restricting the amount of coal generation in 2023.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gloria De Piero on 2016-03-15.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to prevent reductions in bonuses, shifts and bank holiday pay for employees before the implementation of the national living wage.
Nick Boles
The National Living Wage represents a significant step up for the lowest paid in society. On current forecasts, a full-time minimum wage worker will earn almost £4,200 more per year by 2020 compared to the current minimum wage. It is for individual businesses to decide exactly how to respond to the introduction of the National Living Wage, appropriate to their circumstances. But any changes to contractual pay should be discussed and agreed with workers in advance.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Norman Lamb on 2016-04-20.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the new junior doctors’ contract on elective weekend care.
Ben Gummer
The Department does not routinely collect this information. However NHS Employers conducted a survey of employers in January 2016, which asked what percentage of junior doctors worked 1 in 4 weekends or more frequently. The data returned reflected a snapshot (rather than the last six months).
Based on a response from 14 employers in England, 40% worked more frequently than 1 in 4 Saturdays.
Our manifesto commitment, which was translated into the mandate that shaped the contract negotiation, was for the National Health Service to standardise urgent and emergency care, it is not about elective care. It is true that some hospitals do elective work at weekends. That is part of the trust’s local decision-making and it is right for the hospital to make that decision.