Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of hospital trusts in England have 10 per cent or more of their beds allocated to private patients.
Answered by Will Quince
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people were recruited into National Institute for Health and Care Research supported phase 1 and 2 trials for (a) dementia, (b) cancer, (c) stroke and (d) coronary heart disease in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by James Morris
A table showing the number of participants recruited into phase 1 and 2 trials supported by the National Institute for Health and Social Care Research’s Clinical Research Network for dementia, cancer, stroke and coronary heart disease, including atherothrombosis and prevention of coronary artery disease, in each of the last 10 years is attached.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many times NHS England has met with representatives of dementia organisations since August 2021.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Since August 2021, NHS England has met with dementia organisations on 19 occasions and held 44 meetings or webinars with dementia networks and stakeholders in England. In addition to planned meetings and events, NHS England has engaged with the Alzheimer’s Society, Alzheimer’s Research UK and others on an ad hoc basis. NHS England has endorsed the Alzheimer’s Society’s revised dementia guide and delivered a joint webinar on the integration of dementia services.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GP appointments there were per full time equivalent GP in (a) England and (b) each of the 7 NHS regions in each year since 2015 to date.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
This data is not available in the format requested.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average number of patients registered per full-time equivalent GP is in (a) England and (b) each of the NHS regions in each year from 2015 to 25 April 2022.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The attached table shows the median average number of registered patients per full time equivalent (FTE) general practitioner (GP) in England and each National Health Service region in each year from September 2015 to September 2021. Data for 25 April 2022 is not held.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what long-term workforce plan he has in place to increase (a) full time equivalent GPs of all contract types, (b) practice nurses and (c) other primary care clinical staff.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department is working with NHS England and NHS Improvement, Health Education England and the profession to increase the general practice workforce in England. This includes measures to increase recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession and encourage them to return to practice. In December 2021, there were an additional 1,672 full time equivalent doctors in general practice compared to December 2019.
The Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) enables Primary Care Networks to employ a range of roles for 100% reimbursement of salary and on-costs. Through the GP Contract framework, NHS England and NHS Improvement have committed to review the effectiveness of the ARRS by 2023. We are currently on schedule to increase the number of registered nurses by 50,000, with nursing numbers 29,000 higher in January 2022 compared to September 2019. This commitment will be achieved through increased domestic and international recruitment and improved retention.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
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 the ability of patients in (a) Oldham, (b) Greater Manchester and (c) the North West to access NHS dental services in the context of the funding available to deliver NHS dental services relative to patient population.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The North West was allocated £7,310,000 from the additional £50 million recently secured for National Health Service dental services in 2021/22. NHS England set regional budgets based on weighted 2020/21 baseline payments. NHS regional teams are now working with local providers to commission additional activity to improve access for patients in the North West, including Oldham and Greater Manchester.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the experience of inequalities in adult social care need by ethnicity; and what plans his Department has to tackle that matter.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
No assessment has been made. The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC’s) new strategy contains a core ambition to tackle inequalities in health and care, which includes regulating to advance equality and protect people’s human rights. As part of CQC’s commitment to drive improvement in quality, CQC expects services and local systems to address inequalities in access, experiences, and outcomes. Local authorities have a duty under the Care Act to prevent needs of the local population deteriorating.
We are committed to publishing a Health Disparities White Paper later this year which will set out a series of impactful measures to address health disparities and their causes, including those linked to geography, deprivation and ethnicity.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to address inequalities in unmet adult social care need by (a) age, (b) gender, (c) ethnicity and (d) geography.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The white paper ‘People at the Heart of Care’, published on 1 December 2021, includes an enhanced assurance framework, data collections and additional funding to address inequalities by identifying and sharing good practice by local authorities and responding where standards are not being met.
Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan the care and support needs of their populations. The Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to shape their local markets to ensure a diverse range of quality, person-centred, sustainable care and support services are provided. Local authorities assess whether an individual is eligible for financial support to meet their care needs. Where individuals are not eligible for financial support, local authorities may assist them to make arrangements for care. From October 2023, we will enable more people who fund their own care in care homes to request their local authority to arrange care on their behalf.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to reconsider the funding formulae for local authorities’ social care, service planning and preventative strategies to take into account inequalities in the need for and experience of adult social care.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
On 7 September 2021 the Government announced £5.4 billion over three years for adult social care. This includes over £3.6 billion to reform the social care charging system and enable all local authorities to move towards paying providers a fair rate for care. These changes will remove unpredictable care costs and provide support to those who are currently not eligible for financial support with their care needs. Work is ongoing to consider the most appropriate approach for distributing this funding.
We are committed to ensuring that wider funding allocations for councils are based on an up-to-date assessment of their needs and resources. We will work closely with local partners to review challenges and opportunities before consulting on any potential funding reform.