Asked by: Lord Willis of Knaresborough (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government who is responsible for implementing the Code of Practice for the international recruitment of health and social care personnel in England; and what steps they are taking to enforce the Code with individual sponsoring organisations.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Code of Practice for the International Recruitment of Health and Social Care Personnel, which is available in an online format only, applies to all organisations engaged in the recruitment and employment of international health and care staff. It is non-statutory guidance with no legislative enforcement powers.
Asked by: Lord Willis of Knaresborough (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to replace aging radiotherapy treatment machines to enable cancer patients to benefit from technological advances in equipment; and what is their timetable for any such plans.
Answered by Lord Kamall
As part of the 2020 Spending Review, £32 million was made available to support the replacement of 17 linear accelerators (LINACs) over 10 years old, which will be delivered by 31 March 2022. This is in addition to £160 million invested from 2016 to 2018 which enabled the replacement or upgrade of over 80 LINACs.
As set out in the NHS Long Term Plan, changes will be made to the current radiotherapy payment system to incentivise the adoption of evidence-based best practice care and enable the appropriate replacement of equipment.
Asked by: Lord Willis of Knaresborough (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many fully registered (1) radiographers, and (2) medical physicists, were working in the NHS in each year from 2016 to 2021; and what steps are they taking to increase the number of such professionals over the next five years.
Answered by Lord Kamall
NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) workforce statistics. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups, but not staff working in primary care or in general practice surgeries, local authorities or other providers. The following table shows the number of full time equivalent (FTE) professionally qualified HCHS radiographers and medical physicists working in National Health Service trusts as at September each year and the latest available data in August 2021.
Radiographers Medical Physicists
September
2016 16,307 2,819
September
2017 16,884 2,809
September
2018 17,398 2,928
September
2019 17,965 2,975
September
2020 18,555 3,153
August 2021 18,573 3,212
Diagnostic radiography and therapeutic radiography are two of the seven priority professions identified in Health Educations England’s (HEE) Cancer Workforce Plan. HEE has trained more
than 560 radiographers in image interpretation and reporting and is now targeting an additional 150 for 2021/22. Since September 2020 all eligible radiography students can access a new, non-repayable training grant of at least £5,000 per academic year plus a specialist subject payment of £1,000 per academic year.
HEE’s National School of Healthcare Science commissions the Scientist Training Programme (STP) and the Higher Specialist Scientific Training (HSST) programmes for clinical scientists and consultant clinical scientists who will work in the domain of medical physics. Since 2016, 596 medical physicists have been trained via the STP and HSST programmes.
Asked by: Lord Willis of Knaresborough (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend (1) to launch, and (2) to chair, a partnership forum on behalf of the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities; and if so, who will be the members of that forum.
Answered by Lord Kamall
On the 1 October the Department launched the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities to work in partnership with national and local Government, the National Health Service, the voluntary sector, industry and the wider public health system to improve health outcomes and disparities. We are currently in the process of establishing governance and advisory structures to engage wider partners and stakeholders across the public health system. Further information will be made available in due course.
Asked by: Lord Willis of Knaresborough (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities will receive a separate funding allocation from HM Treasury; and if so, whether that will be for the next three years.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The settlement announced by the Chancellor on 27 October 2021 delivers significant investment in public health measures, including funding a Start for Life offer for families and a continuation of the £100 million announced at the Spending Review 2020 to help people achieve and maintain a healthy weight. The settlement also maintains the Public Health Grant in real terms over the Spending Review period.
The Spending Review confirms the overall settlement available for the Department of Health and Social Care’s non-National Health Service budgets for three years – 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025. Spending plans for 2022/2023 and beyond and full details on funding allocations towards public health budgets will be subject to a detailed financial planning exercise and finalised in due course.
In response to the Dame Carol Black recommendations from the Independent Review of drugs, we take the challenge of illegal drug misuse seriously, and the Government will set out further action in the coming months.
Asked by: Lord Willis of Knaresborough (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of physical activity in tackling health (1) improvement, and (2) disparities.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Department, under the guidance of Chief Medical Officer (CMO), has assessed the role of physical activity in improving health and tackling disparities, and has laid this out in the revised 2019 CMO guidelines for physical activity.
Physical activity can contribute to managing and reducing the risk of chronic conditions, including some cancers, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and depression. Physical activity can also help maintain a healthy weight and support weight loss when combined with a dietary intervention.
There are inequalities in physical activity, for example people living with disabilities or long-term health conditions, and so universal and targeted action can support these groups get more active.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities is committed to enabling a systems approach to improve physical activity levels. This includes promoting the CMO guidelines for physical activity, and the national framework for action on physical activity ‘Everybody active, every day’.
Asked by: Lord Willis of Knaresborough (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what the staffing compliment for the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities will be; and what percentage of staff will transfer from Public Health England.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Office of Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) was established on 1 October. Around 930 staff have moved into OHID from Public Health England (PHE) – the majority of PHE’s health improvement functions, together with around 300 staff working on Public Health in the Department of Health and Social Care. Around three quarters of staff in OHID are from Public Health England. Work is now being taken forward in the light of the Spending Review settlement to confirm the future budget and staffing levels for OHID.
Asked by: Lord Willis of Knaresborough (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government why the initial priorities for the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities do not include (1) mental health, or (2) physical activity.
Answered by Lord Kamall
The Office of Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) aims to systematically tackle the top preventable risk factors for poor health, improving the public’s health and narrowing health inequalities. We have not set out a comprehensive list of policies that OHID will cover, but both public mental health and physical activity are within OHID’s remit. OHID and the wider Department of Health and Social Care will work collaboratively with the rest of government, the healthcare system, local government and wider partners to build evidence and drive forward action to prevent ill health and address disparities.
Asked by: Lord Willis of Knaresborough (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the importance of home parcel deliveries during the last 18 months to the health and well-being of the UK; what conclusions, if any, they have drawn from any such assessment; and what plans they have to further regulate home parcel deliveries to protect the public interest.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises the important role that postal services have played in helping to mitigate the impact of coronavirus on individuals, families and businesses throughout the country. We remain committed to ensuring the universal postal service, through the universal service obligation, remains affordable and accessible to all users.
Ofcom, as the UK’s designated independent regulator of postal services, is carrying out a review of the future regulatory framework for post which it aims to complete in 2022. As part of this review, Ofcom is considering whether extra consumer protections may be required and has sought views on the future regulation of the parcel delivery market. A Call for Inputs was launched on 11 March 2021 and closed on 20 May 2021. Ofcom intends to publish a full consultation on the future regulation of postal services later this year.
Asked by: Lord Willis of Knaresborough (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to promote consumer confidence in buying online; and what assessment they have made of the performance of delivery companies in this regard.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Through the Consumer Right Act 2015 and other legislation, the Government ensures that consumers have specified rights when shopping online. Furthermore, the Government is consulting on measures to boost these online rights further, including proposals to prevent consumers being misled by fake reviews and preventing online exploitation of consumer behaviour.
Ofcom is the UK’s independent regulator of postal services. It monitors competition and consumer protection in the sector. Ofcom is currently conducting a review of postal regulation so that it remains relevant and fit for purpose in the light of market changes. It intends to publish a consultation later this year before concluding the review next year.