Tag: Royston Smith

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to improve the quality of end of life (a) care and (b) provision in the NHS in England.

Ben Gummer

The Government is committed to making improvements in the quality of care people experience at the end of life.

In 2014, we set out five priorities for care of the dying person which should underpin the care being delivered to all dying people. The priorities for care state that an individual plan of care, which includes food and drink, symptom control and psychological, social and spiritual support, is agreed, co-ordinated and delivered with compassion.

The priorities also set out the critical importance of compassion, respect and dignity in delivering care to dying people and the implications, for staff, commissioners and providers, when making decisions about how end of life care services will meet the needs of local people. The new approach to care, based on these fundamental principles, is being used by clinicians across the country.

The Government’s forthcoming response to the independent Review of Choice in End of Life Care will set out further actions we are taking to achieve high quality, personalised end of life care.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will issue guidance to schools and teachers on not using terminology that describes as failures children who do not reach the national standard grade under reforms to Key Stage 1.

Nick Gibb

No child under any circumstance should be described as a ‘failure’ in relation to their achievements at the end of Key Stage 1 (KS1). We expect teachers not to use such vocabulary.

The standards for reporting children’s achievements at the end of KS1 have been carefully developed to avoid any negative connotations or suggestions of failure.

Children who are assessed as not ‘working at the expected standard’ at the end of KS1 should either be awarded the ‘working towards the expected standard’, or working at the ‘foundations for the expected standard’.

Teachers of Key Stage 1 pupils are required to provide a report to parents before the end of the summer term, covering the pupil’s achievements, general progress and attendance record.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress has been made on devolving local transport schemes to local enterprise partnerships (LEP); and if he will assess the effect of such policies on the work of the Solent LEP in developing Southampton’s infrastructure.

Andrew Jones

Funding for major local transport schemes is devolved as part of the Local Growth Fund to which the Department is contributing over £7billion. It is for LEPs to determine the priority projects in their areas. I understand that schemes that Solent LEP is undertaking in Southampton include the Cross Solent Connectivity Project, junction improvements near the Western Docks, and the recently completed Station Quarter scheme.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to provide information to pharmacies on proposed changes to the community pharmacy sector.

Alistair Burt

Community pharmacy is a vital part of the National Health Service and can play an even greater role. In the Spending Review, the Government re-affirmed the need for the NHS to deliver £22 billion in efficiency savings by 2020/21 as set out in the NHS’s own plan, the Five Year Forward View. Community pharmacy is a core part of NHS primary care and has an important contribution to make as the NHS rises to these challenges. The Government believes efficiencies can be made 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 and so we are consulting on the introduction of a Pharmacy Access Scheme, which will provide more NHS funds to certain pharmacies compared to others, considering factors such as location and the health needs of the local population.

The Government’s vision is for a more efficient, modern system that will free up pharmacists to spend more time delivering clinical and public health services to the benefit of patients and the public.

We have been in detailed discussions with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) since December 2015 regarding the Government’s proposals for community pharmacy in 2016/17 and beyond, including the proposal for a Pharmacy Access Scheme. In parallel, we also want to hear views on our proposals from across the sector and from patient groups. We published our open letter to the PSNC on 17 December 2015 and on 27 January 2016 we published a set of slides setting out the proposals with a foreword by the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer.

We announced on 16 March 2016 that the consultation period was to be extended to allow more time to develop the proposed changes with the PSNC and others. It will now close on 24 May 2016.

Once we have carefully considered the outcomes from the consultation, we are looking to communicate final decisions as soon as possible, so that pharmacy contractors are fully informed some months before the funding reduction starts from October 2016.

The role of the general practice pharmacist is distinct from the role of the pharmacist in a community setting. However, they are synergistic. Pharmacists working in general practice will, in the main, work with patients who have long term conditions to support them with their medicines and self-management of their condition by helping with the development and review of individual care plans. These patients will not generally be those with minor illnesses which can be treated by seeing a pharmacist in a community setting and for whom community pharmacy will remain the first, and most appropriate, option.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-24.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2016 to Question 30272, what account he has made of the effect on economic growth of the recent reduction in fuel duty.

Damian Hinds

The Government took into account a wide number of factors when considering the impact of freezing fuel duty at Budget 2016, including the impact on growth. HMRC/HM Treasury analysis published in 2014 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/analysis-of-the-dynamic-effects-of-fuel-duty-reductions

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average cost is per patient attending a GP’s surgery in Southampton.

Alistair Burt

The requested information is not collected.

NHS England advises that general practitioners (GPs) are funded per head of population to deliver GP medical services. The Southampton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) will be commissioning primary care on behalf of NHS England from 1 April 2016 and NHS England confirms across the CCG’s forecast population this funding is £124 per head of population.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-04-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether concessionary travel passes are available for drivers prevented from driving whilst their medical condition is being assessed.

Andrew Jones

The national disabled person’s concessionary travel pass is evidence based. Assessment of a person’s eligibility for a disabled person’s bus pass is conducted by local Travel Concession Authorities. Unless they deem the applicant to be automatically eligible, a pass will not be granted until evidence has been provided and where necessary an assessment has been completed. The Government issues guidance to assist them in doing this.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps law enforcement agencies can take to ensure that community resolution agreements are honoured.

Mike Penning

A community resolution is a voluntary agreement between the victim and offender to a low level crime where the offender has admitted responsibility and as such is unenforceable.

If an officer has concerns at the outset that the offender may not comply an alternative course of action should be taken.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps is he taking to make a career in general practice more attractive to medical graduates.

Alistair Burt

The ‘General Practice Forward View’, published by NHS England in April 2016, sets out actions to double growth in the general practitioner (GP) workforce. This includes work by Health Education England (HEE) to increase the number of medical school graduates choosing general practice. HEE is working with the Medical Schools Council, higher education institutions, the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the British Medical Association’s General Practitioners Committee to increase the profile of general practice in medical schools. A working group, chaired by Professor Valerie Wass OBE, will publish recommendations in summer 2016.

HEE and the RCGP will continue to develop the current recruitment campaign to raise the profile of general practice as a career. The campaign showcases the variety of different opportunities and the flexibility of the specialty, as well as the central role that GPs play in the community and their patients’ care. HEE has recruited and trained 35 campaign ambassadors and advocates to support and promote national and regional activities including attendance at recruitment events and through social media.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Royston Smith on 2016-06-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which five health conditions required the greatest (a) financial and (b) time commitment from GP services in the last five years.

Alistair Burt

The requested information is not held.