Tag: Paula Sherriff

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-05-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a minimum unit price for alcohol.

Karen Bradley

An impact assessment of a minimum unit price for alcohol was published before a consultation on the Government’s Alcohol Strategy proposals in 2012.

The consultation raised questions concerning possible unintended consequences of minimum unit pricing, such as the impact on responsible drinkers on low incomes. The Government continues to monitor the research being carried out by the University of Sheffield and others on the potential effects.

The Government has also noted the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union on the proposed introduction of minimum unit pricing in Scotland and will continue to monitor the legal proceedings.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-07-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information his Department holds on the number of occasions on which bailiffs have seized operational equipment from private providers of NHS services; what the details are of each such occasion; and what steps his Department takes to prevent this happening.

Mr Philip Dunne

The Department does not hold this information. The National Health Service body commissioning a service from the private sector should ensure that adequate safeguards are in place to ensure access to essential operational equipment in the event of one of its suppliers getting into financial difficulties.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2016-10-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many passports have been confiscated from Syrian citizens by UK officials in 2016 on the basis of being stolen.

Mr Robert Goodwill

This information is not collated centrally. To collate this date would incur disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2015-10-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to encourage clinically commissioning groups to share best practice in improving diabetes care outcomes.

Jane Ellison

The Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) Outcomes Indicator Set provides clear, comparative information for CCGs, Health and Wellbeing Boards, local authorities, patients and the public about the quality of health services commissioned by CCGs and the associated health outcomes. Through publicly sharing this information, CCGs and general practitioner practices can see where they stand in comparison with their peers and take action where improvement is needed.

NHS England has also recently agreed to extend the roll out of its Right Care programme to all CCGs over the next four years. This will ensure that, where local diabetes services and outcomes are poorer compared to demographic peers, suitable improvement programmes will be implemented, with the learning shared across all CCGs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2015-10-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps the Government has taken to improve care and support for people with breast cancer.

Jane Ellison

The independent Cancer Taskforce’s report, Achieving World-Class Cancer Outcomes: A Strategy for England 2015-2020, recommends improvements across the cancer pathway with the aim of improving survival rates, including for people with breast cancer.

We are working with the National Health Service, charities and patient groups to deliver it. To support delivery of the strategy, NHS England has appointed Cally Palmer as NHS National Cancer Director. Whilst continuing in her current position at the Royal Marsden, she will lead the implementation of the strategy, alongside work to test new models of care at the Royal Marsden and University College London Hospitals in partnership with Manchester Cancer.

Improving Outcomes in Breast Cancer, published by the Department in 1996 and updated by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (now known as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)) in 2002, sets out best practice evidence based guidance on the diagnosis, treatment and care of women with breast cancer. The guidance is complimented by clinical guidelines on Breast cancer (early and locally advanced) and Breast cancer (advanced) published by NICE in 2009, and Familial breast cancer published in June 2013.

NICE has also published a quality standard for breast cancer which is designed to drive and measure priority quality improvements in a breast cancer care. This is currently being updated.

In addition, NHS England has a Breast Cancer Clinical Reference Group, which is administratively supported by the charities Breast Cancer Now and Breast Cancer Care. It has produced evidence based service guidance to support commissioners of breast cancer services, which is in the process of review internally.

The results of the 2014 Cancer Patient Experience survey show improvements in many areas. 89% of all patients reported that their care was either excellent or very good, and breast cancer patients on the whole reported a more positive experience than for many other cancer patients, with 93% reporting having been given the name of a Clinical Nurse Specialist.

On 13 September, based on the recommendations of the independent Cancer Taskforce report, we announced a number of measures to improve diagnosis, treatment and aftercare of people with cancer. This included a commitment 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 live well beyond cancer, including things such as physical activity programmes, psychological support and practical advice about returning to work.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paula Sherriff on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to ensure that the recommendations in the publication entitled Achieving world-class cancer outcomes: a strategy for England 2015-2020 by the Independent Cancer Taskforce are implemented.

Jane Ellison

NHS England is currently working with partners across the health system to determine how best to take forward the recommendations to improve cancer outcomes set out in the new five-year strategy of the Independent Cancer Taskforce.

As part of putting in place a governance structure for delivery of the strategy, NHS England has appointed Cally Palmer as NHS National Cancer Director. She will lead the implementation of the strategy, as well as new cancer vanguards using outcomes-based commissioning to redesign care and patient experience.

The Independent Cancer Taskforce’s report outlines that earlier diagnosis could contribute to saving a further 11,000 lives per year.

Our commitment that by 2020, National Health Service patients will be given a definitive cancer diagnosis or the all clear within 28 days of being referred by a general practitioner, means that patients, particularly those with harder to diagnose cancers, will be diagnosed faster.