Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he last met representatives of the charity Breathe Easy to discuss the diagnosis and treatment of lung disease; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Steve Brine
I have not met with representatives of the Breathe Easy support network.
However NHS England is continuing to work with clinicians, professional organisations and third sector organisations, including the British Lung Foundation and Asthma UK, to improve outcomes for patients suffering from common lung diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia and asthma.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of trends in hospital admissions due to alcohol in the last 10 years; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce such admissions.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Public Health England (PHE) published it’s alcohol evidence review, in December 2016, which included data on alcohol related hospital admissions.
There are a range of actions underway to tackle alcohol harm, and which are aimed to prevent alcohol-related hospital admissions. These include:
- a new national programme to incentivise screening and provide appropriate interventions to all in patients in National Health Service hospitals is being rolled out over the next two years;
- many Sustainability and Transformation Plan footprint areas have used PHE’s menu of preventative interventions to guide their decisions on local action to reduce alcohol harm and hospital admissions; and
- more widely, PHE’s One You campaign includes tools to help those people who want to reduce their consumption of alcohol, and the NHS health check continues to promote interventions to reduce harm and offer alcohol treatment for people who need help to recover from dependence.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the trends in the level of performance figures for the East Midlands Ambulance Service; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Philip Dunne
NHS England publishes the number of Category A Red One and Red Two calls responded to within eight minutes and the number of ambulances arriving at the scene within 19 minutes for a Category A call. The data are available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ambulance-quality-indicators/
NHS England is exploring whether changes to the way that the ambulance service responds to calls could help improve patient outcomes and help services better manage demand. We expect NHS England will make recommendations in spring 2017.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has for a national rollout of the enhanced health in care homes vanguard scheme; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Mowat
By 2020, it is envisaged that more than 50% of the country will be covered by the new care models, one of which is the enhanced health in care homes (EHCH) model. The new care models programme has recently published the enhanced health in care homes framework, which sets out both the emerging care model, and the best practice, that others can implement to significantly improve the outcomes of service users.
The Five Year Forward View partners will work with providers and commissioners in a number of ways to help spread elements of the EHCH care model as effectively as possible. The partners are already spreading this model through supporting its adoption in existing vanguards, as well as through the 2016/17 planning process, Sustainability and Transformation Plans, and through trade associations and providers.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the performance of the Care Quality Commission in monitoring GP surgeries; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Mowat
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is responsible for assessing whether providers are meeting the fundamental standards.
The Department monitors CQC’s financial and operational performance and risks at a general and strategic level through regular formal accountability meetings.
It does not assess CQC’s inspection or monitoring of specific providers.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the difference between available funding and the cost of providing NHS services in (a) Nottingham City, (b) Nottingham West, (c) Nottingham North and East and (d) Rushcliffe clinical commissioning groups.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The Department has made no estimate of the size of the financial deficit of Nottingham City, Nottingham West, Nottingham North and East and Rushcliffe Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) in 2021. NHS England advises that the four CCGs are forecasting an overall surplus for the 2016-17 financial year.
Every health and care system in England is producing a multi-year Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP), showing how local services will evolve and become sustainable over the next five years – ultimately delivering the Five Year Forward View vision of better health, better patient care and improved National Health Service efficiency.
The national health and care bodies expect the Nottinghamshire STP to articulate clearly the scale of the future financial challenge at STP level and how local commissioners and providers plan to respond. The overall financial challenge articulated in the STP will include consideration of the resources required by the NHS in Nottinghamshire, and the resources likely to be allocated in future years.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the forecast size of the financial deficit of (a) Nottingham City, (b) Nottingham West, (c) Nottingham North and East and (d) Rushcliffe Clinical Commissioning Group in 2021.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The Department has made no estimate of the size of the financial deficit of Nottingham City, Nottingham West, Nottingham North and East and Rushcliffe Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) in 2021. NHS England advises that the four CCGs are forecasting an overall surplus for the 2016-17 financial year.
Every health and care system in England is producing a multi-year Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP), showing how local services will evolve and become sustainable over the next five years – ultimately delivering the Five Year Forward View vision of better health, better patient care and improved National Health Service efficiency.
The national health and care bodies expect the Nottinghamshire STP to articulate clearly the scale of the future financial challenge at STP level and how local commissioners and providers plan to respond. The overall financial challenge articulated in the STP will include consideration of the resources required by the NHS in Nottinghamshire, and the resources likely to be allocated in future years.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to publish the sustainability and transformation plan for Nottinghamshire.
Answered by David Mowat
Local areas will submit their plans to the national health and care bodies for review in October, with further public engagement and consultation taking place from this point.
We expect that most areas will take a version of their Sustainability and Transformation Plan to their organisation’s public board meeting for discussion between late October and the end of the year. We would also expect that most areas will publish their plans, for more formal engagement, during this period, building on the engagement they have already done to shape thinking. No changes to the services people currently receive will be made without local engagement and, where required, consultation.
NHS England, with other national health and care bodies, released guidance to the local areas developing Sustainability and Transformation Plans entitled ‘Engaging local people’ in September 2016 which can be found on their website.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the availability of fertility treatments under each clinical commissioning group in England.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The level of provision of infertility treatment, as for all health services they commission, is decided by local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and will take into account the needs of the population overall. The CCG’s decisions are underpinned by clinical insight and knowledge of local healthcare needs. As such, provision of services will vary in response to local needs.
NHS England expects that all those involved in commissioning infertility treatment services to be fully aware of the importance of having regard to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) fertility guidelines. CCGs have a legal duty to have regard to NICE guidelines.
Following a meeting with Fertility Fairness in December 2015, officials from the Department and NHS England are considering options for addressing variation in the prices that CCGs are currently paying for in vitro fertilisation treatment.
Asked by: Lord Coaker (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department has issued to clinical commissioning groups on the provision and availability of fertility treatments.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The level of provision of infertility treatment, as for all health services they commission, is decided by local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and will take into account the needs of the population overall. The CCG’s decisions are underpinned by clinical insight and knowledge of local healthcare needs. As such, provision of services will vary in response to local needs.
NHS England expects that all those involved in commissioning infertility treatment services to be fully aware of the importance of having regard to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) fertility guidelines. CCGs have a legal duty to have regard to NICE guidelines.
Following a meeting with Fertility Fairness in December 2015, officials from the Department and NHS England are considering options for addressing variation in the prices that CCGs are currently paying for in vitro fertilisation treatment.