Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of potential merits of the NHS offering micro suction treatments to improve hearing (a) in addition to and (b) instead of syringing; what information his Department holds on the number of people whose impaired hearing is not improved by syringing; whether the NHS has plans to introduce micro suction as part of NHS Long-Term Plan; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The management of ear wax removal is a decision that is taken at a local level by each clinical commissioning group informed by relevant clinical guidelines. The Department does not collect data on the impact of not syringing on hearing impairment. There are no plans to introduce micro suction as part of the NHS Long Term Plan.
To support local practice the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline ‘NG98 on Hearing loss in adults: assessment and management’, was published in June 2018.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to include the effects on health of air pollution in the (a) Prevention Green Paper, (b) Environment Bill and (c) Road to Zero strategy.
Answered by Steve Brine
Air pollution is one of the greatest environmental threats to health. The Department’s prevention paper published in November 2018 sets out our ambition to improve air quality and is available at the following link:
The Department has been closely involved in the development of the Government’s plans to improve air quality, such as the Environment Bill and Road to Zero strategy, in addition to the recently published clean air strategy, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/clean-air-strategy-2019
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the outcome of his Department's consultation entitled Calorie labelling for food and drink served outside of the home; and what the timetable is for implementing the recommendations from that consultation.
Answered by Steve Brine
We will publish the results of the consultation on mandating calorie labelling in the out-of-home sector and set out the timetable for further action later this year.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the letter entitled, Patient safety: letter to independent healthcare providers, published by his Department on 8 May 2018, what steps his Department is taking to improve patient safety in the private sector.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 all providers of regulated activities, including National Health Service and independent providers, have to register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and meet a set of fundamental standards of safety and quality below which care should never fall.
The Government recognises the useful role of the independent sector in adding capacity, promoting innovation and offering patient choice.
The CQC raised important patient safety concerns in its ‘State of Care in Independent Acute Hospitals’ report, which the former Secretary of State (Rt. hon. Jeremy Hunt MP) committed to address in his letter of 8 May 2018 to chief executives of independent healthcare providers.
The CQC continues to work with independent health care providers to improve the quality of care and safety including the Independent Healthcare Providers Network, formerly NHS Partners, and the Private Health Information Network.
In addition, in its response to the Joint Committee on the Draft Health Service Safety Investigations Bill, the Government agreed to consult on extending the remit of the new body to investigate independently-funded health care.
The CQC has now completed its programme of comprehensive inspections for all independent acute hospitals in England.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to meet the zero per cent prevalence increase target for obesity and diabetes by 2025, recommended by the World Health Organisation in its report: Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs 2013-2020.
Answered by Steve Brine
We published the second chapter of our world-leading childhood obesity plan in June 2018. This builds on the real progress we have made since the publication of chapter one in 2016, particularly in reformulation of the products our children eat and drink most. Chapter two sets a bold ambition to halve childhood obesity by 2030 and significantly reduce the gap in obesity between children from the most and least deprived areas by 2030. We have reiterated this ambition in our vision document ‘Prevention is better than cure’ published in November 2018.
Many of the key measures in both chapters of our childhood obesity plan will have an impact on tackling obesity across all age groups. These include the soft drinks industry levy, sugar reduction and wider calorie reformulation programme, restricting promotions and calorie labelling in restaurants which will improve our eating habits and reduce the amount of sugar we consume.
‘Healthier You: The NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme’ started in 2016 and has reported that 280,763 individuals at risk of developing type 2 have been referred into the service and 123,249 individuals have now had an initial assessment. In 2018/19 the Programme achieved full national roll out, with services now available to people in every sustainability and transformation partnership in England, making England the first country in the world to achieve full geographical coverage.
It was recently announced that NHS England intends to double the capacity of Programme to up to 200,000 people per annum by 2023/24. NHS England is incorporating the ability to deliver digital prevention services alongside face to face services to expand the range of options for supporting people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report entitled, Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs 2013-2020, published by the World Health Organisation; and if he will make statement.
Answered by Steve Brine
The Government supports the World Health Organization’s (WHO) ‘Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs 2013-2020’ and has implemented a range of policies which contribute to reducing and controlling non-communicable diseases (NCDs). These include policies to reduce smoking; promote healthy diets; tackle misuse of alcohol; and encourage physical exercise. All of these policies are well-aligned with the WHO’s recommended actions on NCDs.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients have received (a) a tier 3 and (b) a tier 4 weight management service in each (i) region and (ii) Clinical Commissioning Group area in each of the last five calendar years.
Answered by Steve Brine
The requested information is not held centrally. No assessment has been made of the effect on patients of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) decommissioning tier 3 and tier 4 weight management services. CCGs have a statutory responsibility to commission services which meet the healthcare needs of their local population.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which Clinical Commissioning Groups commission (a) a multidisciplinary tier 3 and (b) a tier 4 weight management service.
Answered by Steve Brine
The requested information is not held centrally. No assessment has been made of the effect on patients of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) decommissioning tier 3 and tier 4 weight management services. CCGs have a statutory responsibility to commission services which meet the healthcare needs of their local population.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) tier 3 and (b) tier 4 weight management services have been decommissioned in each (i) region and (ii) Clinical Commissioning Group area in each of the last five calendar years.
Answered by Steve Brine
The requested information is not held centrally. No assessment has been made of the effect on patients of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) decommissioning tier 3 and tier 4 weight management services. CCGs have a statutory responsibility to commission services which meet the healthcare needs of their local population.
Asked by: Andrew Selous (Conservative - South West Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase access to pulmonary rehabilitation.
Answered by Steve Brine
Pulmonary rehabilitation is one of the most effective treatments for chronic lung disease. Respiratory care is one of the focuses of the National Health Service long-term plan currently in development and new guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence are due to be published in December.
The Department supports the NHS to increase access to pulmonary rehabilitation and improve the quality of care for people with long-term respiratory conditions through the following actions:
- a national roll out of the RightCare programme by NHS England which directs clinical commissioning groups to offer pulmonary rehabilitation as part of an optimal pathway for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients;
- the COPD best practice tariff encourages NHS providers to refer patients for pulmonary rehabilitation as a financial incentive; and
- a pulmonary rehabilitation service accreditation programme run by the Royal College of Physicians.