Asked by: Lord Harrington of Watford (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the cost measured by (a) GP appointments and time and (b) cost of product of issuing prescriptions to people who receive help with prescription costs for emollients such as toothpaste, moisturising lotion and shampoo and conditioner.
Answered by Dan Poulter
Data are not centrally collected on the cost measured by (a) general practitioner appointments and time and (b) the cost of product of issuing prescriptions to people who have received help with prescription costs for emollients such as toothpaste, moisturising lotion and shampoo and conditioner.
Asked by: Lord Harrington of Watford (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with bodies that represent pharmacists, GPs and other stakeholders on prescription direction; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Freeman
All patients are free to choose whichever pharmacy they wish to receive their dispensed medicines and other National Health Service pharmaceutical services. We deprecate any action which seeks unduly to influence patients towards, or away from, choosing a particular pharmacy.
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, Pharmacy Voice and the British Medical Association issued a joint statement in October 2013 calling on general practitioners to avoid activities which are against good practice. A copy can be found at the following link:
http://psnc.org.uk/contract-it/pharmacy-regulation/direction-of-prescriptions/
Officials at the Department have met pharmacists’ representatives to discuss the direction of prescriptions on several occasions to hear their concerns. NHS England is currently reviewing the evidence and is meeting pharmacists’ and medical representatives this month to consider the position and what further action may be appropriate.
Asked by: Lord Harrington of Watford (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish his Department's impact assessment relating to the consultation into standardised tobacco packaging in a wider range of languages.
Answered by Jane Ellison
It is not Government practice to translate Impact Assessments. The consultation document itself was translated into several languages to raise awareness and to facilitate the response from a wide range of relevant stakeholders.
Asked by: Lord Harrington of Watford (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support his Department is giving to clinical commissioning groups to process retrospective continuing care claims.
Answered by Norman Lamb
NHS England is aware of the issues regarding the management by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) of these cases. NHS England is developing a plan to identify CCGs where further support may be required, including the development of local action plans. The Department will continue to work closely with NHS England to understand and support the progress of these cases and to seek assurance that they are being dealt with as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Lord Harrington of Watford (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress clinical commissioning groups have made in (a) processing retrospective continuing care claims and (b) the payment of compensation to affected families.
Answered by Norman Lamb
NHS England is aware of the issues regarding the management by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) of these cases. NHS England is developing a plan to identify CCGs where further support may be required, including the development of local action plans. The Department will continue to work closely with NHS England to understand and support the progress of these cases and to seek assurance that they are being dealt with as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Lord Harrington of Watford (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what contingency plans he has in place to deal with an outbreak of Ebola virus in the UK.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The National Health Service has plans in place to deal with patients with infectious diseases as part of its core business. This includes plans to manage patients in line with infection control procedures, and where necessary in highly specialist infectious diseases facilities.A patient with Ebola virus infection would be cared for in the national High Level Isolation Unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London. In the unlikely event of an outbreak involving more than two people, specialist staff at this unit are trained and prepared to look after patients safely in an isolation ward, which would be dedicated for this purpose.
In the UK, the procedures outlined in the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens guidelines, “The Management of Hazard Group 4 viral haemorrhagic fevers and similar human infectious diseases of high consequence”, are followed for any suspected case.
Public Health England has assessed the risk of importation of Ebola in the UK as very low. It is extremely unlikely that an outbreak of Ebola would occur in the UK even if there was to be an imported case, as there are factors operating in West Africa which would not be seen in the UK.
Asked by: Lord Harrington of Watford (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve support for carers.
Answered by Norman Lamb
Carers are central to the Government's reform of social care and support, with significant improvements in the Care Act which extends carers rights to an assessment which will be based on the appearance of a need for support. For the first time, local authorities will be required to meet carers' eligible needs for support.
We have provided £400 million to the National Health Service over four years from 2011 for carers to have breaks from their caring responsibilities. For 2015-16, the carers' breaks funding will be in the Better Care Fund.
We have also provided more than £2 million in recent years to the professional bodies such as the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Royal College of Nursing, Carers UK and the Carers Trust to develop initiatives to raise early awareness of carers among healthcare professionals and to help identify and support carers. We have committed more than £1 million in 2014–15 to enable these organisations to build on this work and to develop new initiatives.
We set out our vision for transforming primary care in Transforming Primary Care: Safe, proactive, personalised care for those who need it most. It recognises the importance of involving and supporting carers and sets out a clear expectation for general practitioners to identify carers as a matter of course.
Carers are also central to the work that NHS England is leading to improve the quality of life of people with long term conditions. Their action plan, NHS England's Commitment to Carers includes a series of commitments around eight priorities, including raising the profile of carers.
Asked by: Lord Harrington of Watford (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support, advice, guidance and funding his Department makes available for children and adults diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Our overall aim is for all people with diabetes to have the right support to manage their condition, with access to specialist care when they need it. To help deliver this, NHS England has set out in “Action for Diabetes” how it will support improvements in outcomes for people with diabetes, focussing on earlier diagnosis of all diabetes, and support for people to manage their diabetes and so improve their quality of life.
In addition, NHS England has recently piloted a sample service specification for the management of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes based on the NICE Quality Standard for Diabetes with a number of clinical commissioning groups. This is a tool that commissioners can choose to use to deliver high quality care and offers a model for commissioning integrated care for those with diabetes. It highlights the specific care needs for those with Type 1 diabetes where they differ from those with Type 2 diabetes.
Also, the Department's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) makes a significant contribution to global research on Type 1 diabetes, in particular through its world-class research infrastructure. The NIHR Clinical Research Network is currently recruiting to 32 studies in Type 1 diabetes, in addition to 58 studies relevant to both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Expenditure by the NIHR on research on Type 1 diabetes through research programmes, research centres and units, and research training awards rose from £1.8 million in 2011-12 to an estimated £2.8 million in 2013-14.