Tag: Roger Godsiff

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of (a) the total NHS staff budget, (b) spending on doctors and (c) spending on nurses was spent on agency staff in each of the last five years.

Alistair Burt

The information requested is not held centrally. The annual National Health Service budget does not specifically identify for a budget for staff costs. While the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts record the total amounts spent on agency staff from 2013-14, these data do not permit the proportion spent on doctors or nurses to be calculated.

2013-14 was the first year for which the Department collected financial data from NHS trusts and foundation trusts in respect of net temporary and agency staffing costs.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government plans to take to ensure that sufficient doctors and nurses are trained in the UK to maintain safe staffing levels in the NHS.

Ben Gummer

The Government has established Health Education England (HEE) as the body responsible for workforce planning and the commissioning of education and training for the National Health Service and public health system with a budget of £4.9 billion.

The number of nurse training places has increased by 14% over the past three years, with currently over 50,000 nurses in training as at 31 March 2015.

HEE is forecasting that, based on their current training plans, there will be 23,121 more nurses available to work in the NHS by 2019 compared to 2014.

There are currently near record numbers of nurses and midwives in post in the NHS in England. The latest available figures from June 2015 show a total of 317,595 nurses and midwives in post.

Since May 2010, the number of doctors in the NHS has increased by 8,574 to just under 104,000.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what training is available to (a) full-time carers and (b) full time carers caring for an adult with dementia.

Alistair Burt

Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities have a responsibility to support carers in a number of ways. Local authorities will be required to undertake carers’ assessments, based on the appearance of a need for support. An assessment must establish the impact of caring on the carer, and the outcomes they wish to achieve, including engaging in work, education, training or recreation. For the first time, local authorities have a duty to meet carers’ eligible needs for support: this may include access to training to support them in their caring role or support to maintain employment where this is a desired outcome.

Through the Care Act 2014 local authorities are required to provide information and advice and universal preventative services for carers. Local authorities can also support the person in understanding other types of support available to them for example to seek to promote access to appropriate employment, education or training, which can be an effective way of maintaining independence.

In May 2014, NHS England published an action plan NHS England’s Commitment to Carers, which includes a series of commitments around 8 priorities, among which are raising the profile of carers. The Department of Health has also made available additional funding of £400 million to the National Health Service between 2011 and 2015 to enable carers to take a break from their caring responsibilities to sustain them in their caring role. The carers’ breaks funding of £130 million for 2015 – 16 will also be in the Better Care Fund.

In February 2015 the Government launched a joint Department of Health, Government Equality Office and Department for Work and Pensions investment of £1.6 million in pilots in nine local authority areas to explore ways in which people can be supported to combine work and care.

We also fund the Carers Direct service which includes web-based information and advice for all carers through NHS Choices, as well as a telephone helpline service through which carers can be signposted to information. Carers Direct includes training materials that build on the Caring with Confidence programme – a time-limited national programme funded by the Department of Health to support the development of carer training, which closed in September 2010.

On July 2015 my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State (Mr Jeremy Hunt) announced that the Government will develop a new carers’ strategy that looks at the best of international practice and examines what more we can do to support existing carers and new carers. This will include consideration how best to support carers to maintain employment and of the training requirements of carers and whether current measures are fully meeting these.

Specifically regarding carers of people with dementia, the Department of Health contributed to the funding of the Alzheimer’s Society’s ‘Dementia Guide’, designed to help guide people with dementia and their carers through their journey with dementia. The Guide provides useful information for carers, following a diagnosis of dementia, and includes advice to help people understand a diagnosis of dementia to enable them to live well with the condition.

With Department of Health funding, the Royal College of General Practitioners has developed a Dementia Roadmap that can be accessed by families and carers. It is a web based platform that provides high quality information about the dementia journey alongside local information about services, support groups and care pathways, primarily to assist primary care staff to more effectively support people with dementia, their families and carers.

The Department is supporting the Dementia Action Alliance’s Carers Call to Action and the establishment of a Life Story Network for family carers of people with dementia. The Department provided funding of £30,000 to the Life Story Network during 2014/15 to support the establishment of a new involvement network for family carers of people with dementia, which is being established as part of the legacy of the Dementia Action Alliance’s Carers Call to Action.

NHS England’s 2015/16 Dementia Enhanced Service encourages GP practices to increase the health and wellbeing support offered to carers of patients diagnosed with dementia.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department plans to tender for additional proton beam therapy treatment providers.

Jane Ellison

The decision to commission services from additional proton beam therapy (PBT) centres would likely be triggered by an existing supplier no longer being able to deliver services and/or NHS England having capacity requirements that could not be met by the existing providers.

In the event NHS England required additional PBT providers, these would be selected through a procurement exercise.

There is currently no indication that NHS England will need to seek additional providers but it will, of course, keep this position under review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what forecasts his Department has made of the proportion of NHS (a) nurses and (b) doctors that will be recruited from agencies in each of the next five years.

Ben Gummer

The information requested is not held by the Department.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-10-14.

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Prime Minister’s speech in Singapore of 28 July 2015, when he plans to initiate the consultation into making property ownership by foreign companies more transparent; what format he plans for that consultation to take; who he plans to invite to participate in that consultation; and when he plans for it to be concluded.

Matthew Hancock

The consultation on making property ownership by foreign companies more transparent will be launched in the near future. The format and scope will be decided on shortly. The

consultation will allow stakeholders sufficient time to provide a considered response.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will ensure that at least 1,000 Syrian children are brought to settle in the UK before Christmas 2015.

Richard Harrington

Scaling up the system in a way that protects the interests of all concerned, including local communities, will take a little bit of time. It will take several months to reach full capacity. However, on 19 October, I set out our intention to welcome 1,000 Syrian refugees (adults and children) before Christmas. This is the ambition that the Home Office are working towards and we will report on it after Christmas.

We are not expecting the refugees arriving in the first months of the scheme to include unaccompanied children.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-02-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the oral evidence to the Health Committee of Dame Fiona Caldicott, 21 January 2015 to Question 705, what assessment he has made of whether patients who opt out of the care.data scheme will be excluded from NHS services such as bowel screening and e-referrals.

Dr Daniel Poulter

The process for objecting (‘opting out’) will be communicated during the care.data pathfinder stage and will apply to the use of identifiable general practitioner data for purposes beyond direct care. The care.data Programme team is working closely with clinical commissioning group pathfinder practices to ensure that it is understood that the opt-out should not impact upon the sharing of information for direct care.

The care.data Programme team is working closely with the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), NHS England and the Department in relation to ‘type 2 objections’. Appropriate communications will be agreed before starting communication activity in pathfinder areas.

For those people who have made an existing ‘type 2 objection’, the HSCIC is committed to ensuring no patient suffers any adverse impact on their direct care through an inappropriate implementation of an objection. This means that information flows to support services such as cancer screening, electronic prescriptions and e-referrals are currently flowing and will continue to do so.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2014-07-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to restrict the use of antibiotics on farms to the treatment of sick animals.

George Eustice

The EU Veterinary Medicinal Products Directive is the core legislation which sets out the framework for controls on veterinary medicines, including veterinary antibiotics, within EU Member States. The European Commission is expected to publish proposals for the revision of the EU legislative framework later this year.

The Government’s position is that any changes to the EU legislation, including changes to controls on veterinary antibiotics, should be evidence based and take into account the potential impact on animal health and welfare.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2015-02-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to his Department’s leaflet Better information means better care, published January 2014, and the oral evidence to the Health Committee of Dame Fiona Caldicott, 21 January 2015 to Question 705, what steps he is taking to ensure that if patients choose to opt out of care.data this will not have any adverse effect on (a) bowel screening, (b) e-referrals and (c) other services.

Dr Daniel Poulter

The process for objecting (‘opting out’) will be communicated during the care.data pathfinder stage and will apply to the use of identifiable general practitioner data for purposes beyond direct care. The care.data Programme team is working closely with clinical commissioning group pathfinder practices to ensure that it is understood that the opt-out should not impact upon the sharing of information for direct care.

The care.data Programme team is working closely with the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), NHS England and the Department in relation to ‘type 2 objections’. Appropriate communications will be agreed before starting communication activity in pathfinder areas.

For those people who have made an existing ‘type 2 objection’, the HSCIC is committed to ensuring no patient suffers any adverse impact on their direct care through an inappropriate implementation of an objection. This means that information flows to support services such as cancer screening, electronic prescriptions and e-referrals are currently flowing and will continue to do so.