Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the British Medical Association report Building the Future: Getting IT Right, published on 5 December 2022; in particular, the finding that "nearly 76 per cent of doctors ranked 'interoperability of systems' as a 'significant barrier' to digital transformation"; and what assessment they have made of whether the absence of a consistent child identifier prevents the interoperability of IT systems for protecting children's health and care.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
An assessment on interoperability has been made across several areas through the Digital Maturity Assessment, providing greater understanding of individual organisational-level capability and enabling focus on national efforts to support levelling up those organisations at a lower level of maturity.
Every child born in England is issued a National Health Service number at birth which stays with them throughout their life. The NHS number acts as a unique patient identifier and is used to share information within electronic healthcare records. This contributes to improved health outcomes for children by ensuring that health professionals identify patients correctly and have access to information to inform the delivery of appropriate care.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham of 14 February (HL5163), whether they will undertake a comparison of the impact of the UK's rebate rates in the voluntary scheme for branded medicines with the more favourable rebates in other European countries, given their declared ambitions for the UK life sciences sector.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have no plans to undertake such a comparison. Differences in the structure of medicine pricing policies and systems make direct comparisons of payment percentages or rebates with other countries difficult and potentially misleading.
The Government is open to ideas about how a successor to the voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access should operate from 2024 onwards. We will be considering a range of factors and will work with industry to consider learning from approaches in the United Kingdom and internationally, to agree a mutually beneficial successor that supports better patient outcomes; ensures the sustainability of National Health Service spend on branded medicines; and enables a strong UK life sciences industry.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to measure the effectiveness of (1) NHS England's plan to fund art, music or gardening classes instead of prescribing antidepressants, announced on 2 March, and (2) the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence's draft guidance, issued on 1 March, approving the use of digitally enabled therapies for patients with depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and body dysmorphia disorders.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to the roll out of social prescribing and associated activities, including arts, music and gardening across the National Health Service in England. Social Prescribing Link Workers (SPLWs) work with people to understand ‘what matters to them’ then to connect them to agencies for practical, emotional and social support and to community groups and activities. Where individuals consent, SPLWs capture wellbeing outcomes before and after engagement with the social prescribing service as routine practice, using standardised outcomes measures such as Office for National Statistics Four. There is growing evidence on the role that activities, whether they be creative, activity- or nature-based, improve people’s health and wellbeing. The role of SPLW is also being evaluated by the National Institute for Health and Care Research to determine how access, engagement and outcomes vary by delivery model, geography and population characteristics over time.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Guidance has been released for guided Digital Cognitive Behavioural Therapy tools for children and young people with symptoms of low mood and anxiety. The technologies in these categories are being evaluated by NICE as part of their Early Value Assessment, which covers both clinical and cost effectiveness.
For NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression services, a key characteristic is the routing collection of clinical outcome measures and monitoring activity. NHS England’s Digitally Enabled Therapies (DETs) Assessment Criteria enables DETs to be reviewed for suitability for use in NHS Talking Therapies Services.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that staff in the adult social care sector (1) are all paid at above the legal minimum wage, and (2) have their pay brought in line with staff undertaking similar roles in the NHS.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
All businesses irrespective of their size or business sector are responsible for paying the correct National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage to their staff.
If any care worker is concerned that they are being underpaid, we strongly urge them to call the the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) helpline for free, impartial and confidential advice about their rights and entitlements. Acas officers will pass on cases to HM Revenue & Customs for further consideration where appropriate.
The Department has no plans to align the pay progression of adult social care workers to National Health Service pay scales.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether budgets for adult social care for 2023–23 and 2023–24 were adjusted to take account of (1) increased energy and fuel costs, and (2) the need to make greater use of agency staff due to high vacancy rates.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local authorities are responsible for setting budgets for adult social care. They are best placed to assess local resources and need. The funding we have made available gives them the flexibility to do so in their local budgets.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the number of vacant posts in the adult social care sector from their current high level.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are running a national recruitment campaign until 31 March 2023 to encourage more people to consider a rewarding role in care. In February 2022, we made care workers eligible for the Health and Care Visa and added them to the Shortage Occupation list.
We are making available £15 million in 2023/24 to help local areas establish support arrangements for international recruitment and improve workforce capacity in adult social care. In addition, the £500 million adult social care discharge fund announced last September can be used by local authorities for the recruitment and retention of the social care workforce.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the report by The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry False economy? How NHS medicine procurement threatens the UK’s Life Sciences growth engine, published on 23 February, that the continued current high rebate rates under the voluntary and statutory schemes for branded medicines during the next five years would mean foregoing £50 billion in GDP and £17.9 billion in tax revenues as a result of lost research and development investment; and what are their estimates of the value of the potential lost investment in this sector.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department carefully considers all evidence in the public domain on matters relating to the growth and competitiveness of the United Kingdom’s life science sector, including the recent report by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. This occurs in combination with broad engagement with individual companies, the National Health Service and with charities and patient representatives and will continue moving forward as part of the delivery of the Government’s Life Science Vision.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 7 February (HL5233), what assessment they have made of the reports by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (1) False economy? How NHS medicine procurement threatens the UK’s Life Sciences growth engine, published on 23 February, and (2) At the crossroads: how a new UK medicines deal can deliver for patients, the NHS and the economy, published on 1 March; and what assessment they have made of the findings of those reports that the present NHS medicine procurement system threatens the growth of the UK Life Sciences sector.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department carefully considers all evidence in the public domain on matters relating to the growth and competitiveness of the United Kingdom’s life science sector, including the recent report by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. This occurs in combination with broad engagement with individual companies, the National Health Service and with charities and patient representatives and will continue moving forward as part of the delivery of the Government’s Life Science Vision.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 6 February (HL5236), when they will publish their final impact assessment on changes to the Statutory Scheme for Branded Medicines.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government published its final impact assessment of updates to the statutory scheme on 2 March 2023. A copy of the impact assessment is attached.
Asked by: Lord Warner (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the sustainability of a market cap model as used in the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of our preparations to negotiate with the pharmaceutical industry a mutually beneficial successor scheme to the current Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access (VPAS), the Government is considering all relevant issues such as the use of a cap on allowed sales.
In the December 2022 consultation on the impact of changes to the Statutory Scheme for Branded Medicines, which included an associated Impact Assessment, we consulted on the scheme’s methodology which is based around ensuring we continue to control growth at a rate of 1.1% and maintain broad commercial equivalence with VPAS. The Department has received materials from the pharmaceutical industry, Trade Associations and from individual companies about a wide range of issues relevant to both the Voluntary and Statutory Schemes for branded medicines pricing. We will be considering this evidence over the coming weeks, and will publish our response alongside the final Impact Assessment.
With regard to increasing medicine spend, the Secretary of State met with industry Trade Associations in 2022 and was clear that, whilst we cannot agree any change to the current scheme, the Government is open to ideas about how a successor to VPAS should operate from 2024 onwards and that we will work with industry to agree a successor scheme that supports better patient outcomes, ensures the sustainability of National Health Service spend on branded medicines, and enables a strong United Kingdom life sciences industry.