Tag: Parliamentary Question

Heidi Alexander – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Heidi Alexander on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which hospitals he has visited in an official capacity in 2015-16 to date; and what the date of each such visit was.

Jane Ellison

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has undertaken the following visits to hospitals services in an official capacity since January 2015.

15 January 2015	Mr Jeremy Hunt	Hospital	Luton and Dunstable University Hospital	Luton
29 January 2015	Mr Jeremy Hunt	Hospital	Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust	King’s Lynn
5 February 2015	Mr Jeremy Hunt	Hospital	Colchester Hospital	Colchester
5 February 2015	Mr Jeremy Hunt	Hospital	Queen’s Hospital, Barking, Havering, and Redbridge	Romford
12 February 2015	Mr Jeremy Hunt	Hospital	Hereford County Hospital	Hereford
6 March 2015	Mr Jeremy Hunt	Hospital	Princess Alexandra Hospital	Harlow
6 March 2015	Mr Jeremy Hunt	Hospital	Lister Hospital	Stevenage
20 March 2015	Mr Jeremy Hunt	Hospital	Dover Hopsital	Dover
12 June 2015	Mr Jeremy Hunt	Hospital	Papworth Hospital Cambridge	Cambridge Midlands and East
26 June 2015	Mr Jeremy Hunt	Hospital	Tameside Hospital	Manchester North
17 July 2015	Mr Jeremy Hunt	Hospital	National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery- University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	London
23 July 2015	Mr Jeremy Hunt	Hospital	Royal Free	London
23 July 2015	Mr Jeremy Hunt	Hospital	Whipps Cross Hospital	London
30 July 2015	Mr Jeremy Hunt	Hospital	Royal London	London
9 September 2015	Mr Jeremy Hunt	Hospital	St Thomas Hospital	London
12 November 2015	Mr Jeremy Hunt	Hospital	St Thomas Hospital	London

01/01/2023

Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-12-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they last made representations to the government of Turkey about freedom of expression and information, as provided for by the European Convention on Human Rights, and with what result.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We continue to monitor specific cases and regularly underline the importance of freedom of expression and all fundamental freedoms as part of our broader dialogue with the Turkish government. Our Ambassador to Turkey highlighted his concerns about the number of journalists detained in Turkey, including Mr Dündar and Mr Gül, in his public blog released on International Human Rights day. We welcomed the EU Commission’s Annual Progress Report on Turkey, released on 10 November, which highlighted the need for further reforms from Turkey in these and other areas. Freedom of expression must be respected and all media outlets must be allowed to report freely without intimidation.

01/01/2023
Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-01-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that mental health services take account of the experiences and needs of women (a) in general and (b) who have experienced extensive abuse.

Alistair Burt

The focus of our mental health service transformation is supporting increased equitable access to high quality care for all people. Local health economies consider the local populations needs, including access to services, when they commission and provide services and support.

The Prime Minister recently announced a £290 million investment over the next five years to 2020/21 in perinatal mental health services. This builds on the initial investment announced in the March 2015 Budget, making a total investment from 2015/16 to 2020/21 of £365 million. The settlement is expected to enable NHS England to build capacity and capability in perinatal mental health services, with the aim of increasing access to The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence-concordant care for women in all areas of England by 2020/21.

We know that vulnerable women can experience abuse and that abuse can also increase vulnerability. It can take many years, if at all, for women to disclose that they have been sexually or otherwise abused, whether as adults or children. The Department is exploring how enquiries can be routinely made of patients using a number of services such as substance misuse, adult mental health and sexual health clinics to help with early identification and support for women to get the services that they need, much earlier.

Health care professionals are in a unique position to identify abuse and to intervene early with women to direct them to the most appropriate statutory and non-statutory services for support.

Focussing health professionals on better identification and actions that will break the cycle of violence, means that health care staff can then enable those affected to access the therapeutic support they need, including counselling.

01/01/2023
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness McIntosh of Pickering on 2016-02-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to process the claims under the basic payments scheme of farmers who are still awaiting mapping and registration before the close of the application period this year.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

As of 22 February the Rural Payments Agency had paid just under 71,000 farmers some £1.11 billion and is working hard to pay the remainder promptly. All those farm businesses registered on the Rural Payments service in 2015 remain registered for 2016 though they are advised to check their details and update them where necessary. We will communicate with those with outstanding queries to help them through the 2016 application window which opens in early March 2016 and closes at midnight on 16 May 2016.

01/01/2023
Christopher Pincher – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Pincher on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support the Government is providing to enable developing countries to harness mobile phone technology.

Mr Nick Hurd

Our partnership with mobile phone operator group, the GSMA, has used mobile technology to improve the reach, delivery and affordability of basic energy, water and sanitation services for 1.3 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, and many of our other programmes in health, education and other sectors use mobile technology.

01/01/2023
Lord Alton of Liverpool – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool on 2016-04-12.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of (1) the freedom to receive information inside North Korea, and (2) the number of South Korean and US radio broadcasters that tailor and transmit programming to North Korean citizens.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea found that North Korean citizens are denied the right to access information from independent sources and all media is heavily censored. There are a number of US and South Korean broadcasters that are currently transmitting programming into North Korea, or have recently, including Voice of America and Korean Broadcasting System Korea Global Radio.

01/01/2023
Oliver Colvile – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Oliver Colvile on 2016-05-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential effect that the proposals in the Education excellence everywhere White Paper, Cm 9230, will have on (a) Church of England and (b) Roman Catholic schools.

Edward Timpson

We value the important and longstanding role played by the Church of England and Catholic Church in our education system. Around 1,200 Church schools have already become academies. The White Paper is clear that Church schools’ role and their religious character will be protected as more become academies. We continue to work closely with the National Society and Catholic Education Service and recently published Memoranda of Understanding to provide a strong basis for our ongoing relationship with Church schools and their dioceses.

01/01/2023
Henry Smith – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Henry Smith on 2016-06-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey 2015 on the proportion of blood cancer patients who visited their GP more than twice before being referred to secondary care for diagnosis; and what support and guidance his Department has provided to GPs to enable them to identify the symptoms of blood cancer.

Jane Ellison

It is important that people with cancer have the best possible experience throughout their cancer pathway and are treated with dignity and respect.

The independent Cancer Taskforce published its report Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes – A Strategy for England 2015-2020 in July 2015, and identified a key priority of establishing patient experience as being on a par with clinical effectiveness and safety. In May 2016 the National Cancer Transformation Board published Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes: Taking the Strategy Forward outlining the detailed steps being taken to make this a reality.

In September 2015, the Government announced that by 2020, the 280,000 people diagnosed with cancer every year will benefit from a tailored recovery package. The packages will be individually designed to help each person, including those with blood cancer, live well beyond cancer. In April 2016 NHS England published guidance for commissioners on commissioning and implementing the recovery package effectively.

In order to continue to support general practitioners (GPs) to identify patients whose symptoms may indicate cancer and urgently refer them as appropriate, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published an updated suspected cancer referral guideline in June 2015. The guideline includes new recommendations for haematological cancers. NICE noted that more lives could be saved each year in England if GPs followed the new guideline, which encourages GPs to think of cancer sooner and lower the referral threshold. Following publication of the updated guideline, the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) has worked in collaboration with Cancer Research UK (CRUK) on a programme of regional update events for GPs to promote the new guideline. RCGP and CRUK have also worked to develop three summary referral guidelines for GPs to enable them to adopt the guideline. These are available at:

www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/learning-and-development-tools/nice-cancer-referral-guidelines

“

01/01/2023
Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2016-09-14.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest assessment of the human rights situation in Zimbabwe.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The British Government’s view is that the human rights situation in Zimbabwe has worsened in recent weeks. We have been particularly concerned by police violence in response to recent protests and demonstrations. As set out in the EU Statement of 30 August, the freedom to demonstrate and present petitions is enshrined in the Zimbabwean constitution, along with other fundamental human rights and freedoms, including freedom of expression, assembly and association.

This Government made a 2015 manifesto commitment to stand up for the rule of law and human rights in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe remains one of the 30 UK Human Rights Priority Countries, where we monitor and report regularly on human rights and support programmes designed to make abuses less likely. We regularly call, both bilaterally and in partnership with others, for an end to human rights abuses and the restoration of internationally accepted standards.

01/01/2023
Philip Davies – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2015-11-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve mental health support and services for looked-after children.

Alistair Burt

Future in Mind, the previous Government’s report on the work of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Taskforce, established a clear and powerful consensus for change across the whole system, including health, social care and education. This Government is driving forward the transformation of children and young people’s mental health services to improve access and make services more widely available across the country so that, where possible, children can access high-quality support locally.

This transformation programme, backed by additional investment of £1.4 billion allocated over the next five years, will deliver a step change in the way children and young people’s mental health services are commissioned and delivered. Emphasis will be placed on prevention and early intervention, building care around the needs of children, young people and their families, including the most vulnerable, such as those who are looked-after and adopted.

Clinical commissioning groups, covering all areas in the country, have submitted Transformation Plans for children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing developed with local partners which are currently being assured by NHS England.

A national programme of work will support local areas. This will include the extension and expansion of the use of evidence-based interventions, tacking stigma, improving data and information to inform greater transparency and accountability and developing a specialist and stronger workforce.

01/01/2023