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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    David Amess – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by David Amess on 2016-03-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the findings of the Annual Report of the National Clinical Audit for Rheumatoid and Early Inflammatory Arthritis, published on 22 January 2016, on timely access to patient education, what steps he is taking to provide patients with rheumatoid and early inflammatory arthritis self-education and self-management tools.

    Jane Ellison

    National Clinical Audits are commissioned and managed on behalf of NHS England by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP). Audits help drive improvement by providing local trusts with individual benchmarked reports on their performance against a range of measures, feeding back comparative findings to help participants identify necessary improvements for patients

    The first annual report of the national clinical audit of rheumatoid and early inflammatory arthritis was published on 22 January 2016. The report identifies that although most services offer prompt educational support and agree targets for treatment with their patients, performance against criteria for referral and assessment could be improved. Since the audit, HQIP has reported that a number of trusts have successfully reconfigured their services in order to improve patient care. More information can be found at the following link:

    www.hqip.org.uk/national-programmes/a-z-of-nca/arthritis-rheumatoid-and-early-inflammatory

    To help clinicians to identify the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and make prompt referrals to specialists, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published Rheumatoid arthritis: The management of rheumatoid arthritis in adults, in 2009. This best practice guideline sets out the signs and symptoms of the disease and emphasises the need for early diagnosis with urgent referral to a specialist rheumatologist on suspicion of RA. For those diagnosed with the condition, the guidance also recommends they should be offered the opportunity to take part in educational activities, including self-management programmes.

    The NICE RA quality standard (QS), published in 2013, is based on the NICE guideline, and one of the seven quality statements recommends that people with suspected RA are assessed in a rheumatology service within three weeks of referral. However, whilst providers and commissioners must have regard to these standards in planning and delivering services, they do not provide a comprehensive service specification and are not mandatory.

    Regarding the establishment of early arthritis clinics, the configuration of services, including decisions to such arthritis clinics, is a matter for the local National Health Service.

    The latest monthly workforce statistics published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre showed that, as of November 2015, there were 563 full time equivalent rheumatology consultants employed in the NHS. This is an increase of 119 (26.8%) since May 2010. The recruitment and retention of staff is matter for local NHS services.

  • Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-04-08.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with HM Chief Inspector of Schools about the performance of free schools.

    Edward Timpson

    The Secretary of State meets with Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools regularly to discuss a wide range of issues including the performance of free schools.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-05-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the target response times are for ambulances responding to C1 and C2 incidents.

    Jane Ellison

    Category C1 and category C2 are terms used by London Ambulance Service to describe the first two categories of green calls.

    Green calls are lower acuity calls where there is still a need for an ambulance, but in slower time scales than life-threatening or more urgent calls. They are usually split into four categories and the response times for these are agreed and set locally.

    Data on green call performance is not centrally held.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-06-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress he has made since the Anti-Corruption Summit of 12 May 2016 on implementing the Government’s plan to establish central registers of beneficial ownership in the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.

    James Duddridge

    Agreement has been reached with all the relevant Overseas Territories, and with the Isle of Man and Jersey on the establishment of central registers or similarly effective systems. These arrangements will give UK law enforcement and tax authorities quick and unrestricted access to beneficial ownership information on corporate and legal entities incorporated in these Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. This is a significant step forward in our ability to fight criminal activity. The signing of a similar arrangement with Guernsey is expected shortly, following their recent general election and formation of a new government.

    Requests from UK law enforcement will be processed within 24 hours and quicker in urgent cases. The new arrangements must be in place by June 2017, but relevant Government Departments and law enforcement authorities are working with the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies to ensure some changes are made immediately.

  • Andrew Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Andrew Turner – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Turner on 2016-09-09.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what functions are planned to become the responsibility of the proposed Solent combined authority; what estimate he has made of the costs of each of those functions in the next (a) 12 months, (b) five years and (c) 30 years; and if he will publish all information that his Department holds on those proposed functions.

    Andrew Percy

    The proposals for a Solent Combined Authority have been developed by local leaders and partners in the Solent and leaders in the Solent have been undertaking a consultation to inform their proposals and gather the views of local people. Following that it will be for the local authorities to decide if they wish to propose forming a Combined Authority.

    Ministers and officials have held discussions with Solent partners on what additional powers and funding could be devolved to the local area, as we have with local areas up and down the country. These discussions have not as yet reached a conclusion although I expect that if a Solent Combined Authority is proposed to government a devolution deal could be rapidly concluded.

  • Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-18.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to lay the Office for Road and Rail’s first Highways England Monitor before the House when it is complete.

    Andrew Jones

    In accordance with the Infrastructure Act, all reports published by the Office for Rail and Road in relation to their Highways Monitor function will be laid in the House before being released to the public. The first annual report will be laid in the House in summer 2016.

  • Gordon Marsden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Gordon Marsden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Gordon Marsden on 2015-12-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what consultations he or officials in his Department have had with (a) further education college representatives, (b) further education providers and (c) sector skills councils about the structures on board composition of the proposed Institute for Apprenticeships announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

    Nick Boles

    The creation of the Institute for Apprenticeships has been informed by feedback from employers and employer groups such as the CBI, as well as organisations working alongside our employer-led trailblazers to develop new apprenticeship standards. This includes representatives of training providers and sector skills councils.

    The chair and board members of the Institute will be appointed though a public appointments process in 2016.

  • Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Douglas Carswell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Douglas Carswell on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what use is made of correspondence from GPs in undertaking personal independence payments assessments.

    Justin Tomlinson

    Atos and Capita Healthcare Professionals and DWP Decision Makers give full consideration to all information provided by GPs when assessing Personal Independence Payment claimants.

  • Nick Clegg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Nick Clegg – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nick Clegg on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidelines have been issued to GP practices on the safe ratio of patients to doctors in GP practices.

    Alistair Burt

    NHS England is statutorily accountable for ensuring that patients have access to a general practitioner (GP) practice. In the event of a practice closure, NHS England will assess the need for a replacement provider before dispersing a list when a GP surgery closes. A decision to disperse a list will be made on the basis that there is capacity in neighbouring practices to absorb the additional patient numbers.

    To assess GP service provision in an area, NHS England works with the Care Quality Commission and local clinical commissioning groups. The Primary Care Outcomes Framework is published nationally and is derived from data submitted by individual practices on service levels and outcomes alongside national patient survey data on patient satisfaction. In terms of overall strategy, the provision of primary care will be part of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) which is published in each local authority area and reported through the local Health & Well-being Board. The JSNA will identify any gaps and risks in the provision of primary care to the local population which, in turn, will then inform commissioning strategies for that area.

    There is no national guidance on the ratio of patients to doctors in GP practices. In recent years, the development of the wider primary care teams (with nurses, healthcare assistants, pharmacists and therapists) means that a focus on the ratio of patients to doctors has less meaning than in previous years. The national workforce survey allows NHS England to benchmark individual practices in terms of the staffing to patient ratio.

  • Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Greg Mulholland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2016-03-14.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with police authorities on tackling stone theft.

    Karen Bradley

    Stone theft has a detrimental effect on towns and communities across England and Wales. The impact of these crimes includes both the economic cost to the victim, but there are also wider costs to the community, for example where schools, churches or heritage items are targeted by criminals.

    We have received no recent representations from local authorities on this issue, nor have we had recent discussions with the police on stone theft specifically. However, the police are working with Historic England, the Crown Prosecution Service and others to share intelligence and shape good practice in tackling and preventing heritage crime, such as stone theft.

    We would encourage all victims of stone theft, whether individuals or organisations, to report instances of these crimes to their local police, so that the crimes can be properly recorded and investigated. The local response is a matter for individual chief officers of police and Police and Crime Commissioners, taking into account the specific local issues and demands that they face.

    We are satisfied that the existing legislation provides the police and courts with sufficient powers to respond to stone theft.