Asked by: Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to recover costs from overseas patients and their insurers for NHS treatment.
Answered by Alistair Burt
National Health Service hospitals have a legal duty to make representations and recover funds from those overseas visitors who are not exempt from charge for their hospital treatment; this should be from the patient directly or via their insurance company.
The Department’s Visitor and Migrant National Health Service Cost Recovery Programme aims to ensure that the NHS receives a fair contribution for the cost of healthcare it provides to non-United Kingdom residents and improve the amount of costs recovered from them or their home countries, to ensure the NHS is sustainable.
Since the launch of its implementation plan in July 2014 the Cost Recovery Programme has achieved much progress including:
- the launch of the European Health Insurance Card reporting incentive scheme in October 2014 to improve the reporting of EHIC details of visitors and students from the European Economic Area (EEA) who access NHS care, for which the UK is entitled to reimbursement;
- updated Charging Regulations from April 2015, reducing the number of exemption from charge categories for non-residents and realigning the Regulations to the principle that the NHS is a residency-based healthcare system;
- requiring chargeable patients from outside the EEA to be charged at 150% of national tariff, in tandem with the launch of a risk sharing arrangement with commissioners, thereby encouraging providers to both identify and recover costs from these patients to access the extra funding available; and
- the introduction of the health surcharge in April 2015 which now means nearly all individuals who require a visa to remain in the UK for more than six month’s pay an annual surcharge as a contribution towards their healthcare costs.
Furthermore, those with outstanding debts to the NHS of £1,000 or more and who are subject to immigration control can, since 2011, have applications for new visas or extensions of stay refused because of that debt, to encourage them to pay it.
Asked by: Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what services NHS England commissions to support women and girls who have suffered female genital mutilation.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) services are the commissioning responsibility of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and are often provided linked to maternity services. FGM services are not commissioned by NHS England at a national level.
The commissioning of such services by CCGs is being developed, and can now be informed by the publication of national statistics by the Health and Social Care Information Centre. For the first time these show how many patients are treated who have FGM, with data published about local areas.
The Department recently published FGM guidance for commissioners setting out the elements of a successful and safe service. The aim of the document is to highlight what commissioners might want to consider when developing a new FGM service and it can be used by any healthcare commissioners, clinical commissioning groups, area teams and service development leads.
There are details of 14 FGM clinics across England published on the NHS Choices website at:
Asked by: Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many non-UK nationals accessed NHS services in England in (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14; how many such nationals were charged for those services in each of those years; and how much revenue the NHS raised from those charges in each of those years.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Department does not hold this information.
Asked by: Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress he has made on implementation of the provisions of the Health and Social Care (Safety and Quality) Act 2015.
Answered by Ben Gummer
The intention of this Act is to improve patient safety and the quality of care through three measures; reducing harm in care, continuity of information and the objectives of professional regulation. Progress varies on each of the measures.
Section 1 of the Act makes clear that the requirements for registration with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) must secure that services cause no avoidable harm to patients and service users. The Fundamental Standards which include the new registration requirements for the CQC, came into force on 1 April 2015, and contain a requirement on safety. A failure to meet Regulation 12 of these standards will be an offence; therefore this standard meets the duty on the Secretary of State as set out in section 1 of the Act.
Sections 2 to 4 of the Act impose duties on providers and commissioners of health and adult social care services in England to share information, and to use consistent identifiers, where this is likely to facilitate the provision to the individual of health services or adult social care, and is in the individual’s best interests.
Regulations will be made to provide that the prescribed consistent identifier is the NHS Number, and to dis-apply the duties to share information, and to use consistent identifiers, from certain bodies. Regulations will be laid later this year.
Guidance will be made available to affected bodies to help them to comply with the duties.
Section 5 of the Act and the Schedule seek to give an overarching objective of public protection to the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care and seven professional regulators; the General Chiropractic Council, General Dental Council, General Optical Council, General Osteopathic Council, Health and Care Professions Council, Nursing and Midwifery Council and the General Pharmaceutical Council. This objective is based on the proposals set out by the Law Commissions in their review published in April 2014.
The commencement of the objectives for the Professional Standards Authority and these professional regulators will be implemented following discussions with those bodies which will take place shortly.
Asked by: Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what (a) public dividend capital and (b) other non-tariff payments have been made to the Mid-Stafforshire NHS Foundation Trust in (i) 2009-10, (ii) 2010-11, (iii) 2011-12, (iv) 2012-13, (v) 2013-14 and (vi) 2014-15 to date.
Answered by Dan Poulter
The Department holds records of the total capital allocated to the respective recipient bodies as a result of the transfer of Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust services but does not have details of the breakdown by individual hospital site.
The capital provided to date is as follows:
The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust | £12,109,000 |
University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust | £12,153,000 |
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust | £4,000,000 |
Grand Total | £28,262,000 |
Revenue funding provided to date is set out in the following table:
University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust
| £32,420,000 |
The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust | £5,480,000 |
Grand Total | £37,900,000 |
The amount of public dividend capital issued to the Trust by the Department is as follows:
2009/10 | £214,000 |
2010/11 | £0 |
2011/12 | £21,000,000 |
2012/13 | £21,385,000 |
2013/14 | £30,397,000 |
2014/15 | £64,425,000 |
The Department does not hold central records of non-tariff payments made by local commissioning bodies to NHS providers.
The work of the trust special administrators (TSAs) to secure safe and sustainable services at Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust cost Monitor almost £19.5 million, including VAT, over 18 months.
The first phase of trust special administration cost £9 million, including expenses and VAT. During this phase there was a team of up to 30 members of staff who carried out three core tasks - to help to run the Trust, to design the future of services provided at Stafford and Cannock hospitals, and to run a large public consultation involving thousands of responses and a series of public meetings.
The second phase cost £10.5 million, including expenses and VAT. We are informed by Monitor that this second phase included a team of up to 50 people, which was required to continue to help run the hospital and implement the TSA’s recommendations.
We are also informed by Monitor that trust special administration at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust amounted to the rounded figure of 10,900 person-days for teams working on both phases of the process.
In the table below, expenses incurred during the TSA process are split by the two phases of the TSA and totals are also provided. These expenses include:
(a) accommodation;
(b) travel (car, taxi and train);
(c) subsistence; and
(d) other expenses incurred; and what other costs to the TSA were incurred
Breakdown of expenses, these exclude VAT:
TSA1 | TSA2 | Total | |
Accommodation | £82,242.89 | £170,622.67 | £252,865.56 |
Travel | £144,122.38 | £226,600.29 | £370,722.67 |
Subsistence | £16,171.73 | £43,176.88 | £59,348.61 |
Other (incidentals such as printing, room hire and meeting refreshments) | £1,939.11 | £3052.73 | £4991.84 |
Total | £244,476.11 | £443,452.57 | £687,928.68 |
Asked by: Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many consultants have been employed by the Trust Special Administration (TSA) of the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust since its inception; how many person-days they have worked; what (a) accommodation, (b) travel, (c) subsistence and (d) other expenses they have incurred; and what other costs to the TSA they have incurred.
Answered by Dan Poulter
The Department holds records of the total capital allocated to the respective recipient bodies as a result of the transfer of Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust services but does not have details of the breakdown by individual hospital site.
The capital provided to date is as follows:
The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust | £12,109,000 |
University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust | £12,153,000 |
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust | £4,000,000 |
Grand Total | £28,262,000 |
Revenue funding provided to date is set out in the following table:
University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust | £32,420,000 |
The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust | £5,480,000 |
Grand Total | £37,900,000 |
The amount of public dividend capital issued to the Trust by the Department is as follows:
2009/10 | £214,000 |
2010/11 | £0 |
2011/12 | £21,000,000 |
2012/13 | £21,385,000 |
2013/14 | £30,397,000 |
2014/15 | £64,425,000 |
The Department does not hold central records of non-tariff payments made by local commissioning bodies to NHS providers.
The work of the trust special administrators (TSAs) to secure safe and sustainable services at Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust cost Monitor almost £19.5 million, including VAT, over 18 months.
The first phase of trust special administration cost £9 million, including expenses and VAT. During this phase there was a team of up to 30 members of staff who carried out three core tasks - to help to run the Trust, to design the future of services provided at Stafford and Cannock hospitals, and to run a large public consultation involving thousands of responses and a series of public meetings.
The second phase cost £10.5 million, including expenses and VAT. We are informed by Monitor that this second phase included a team of up to 50 people, which was required to continue to help run the hospital and implement the TSA’s recommendations.
We are also informed by Monitor that trust special administration at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust amounted to the rounded figure of 10,900 person-days for teams working on both phases of the process.
In the table below, expenses incurred during the TSA process are split by the two phases of the TSA and totals are also provided. These expenses include:
(a) accommodation;
(b) travel (car, taxi and train);
(c) subsistence; and
(d) other expenses incurred; and what other costs to the TSA were incurred
Breakdown of expenses, these exclude VAT:
TSA1 | TSA2 | Total | |
Accommodation | £82,242.89 | £170,622.67 | £252,865.56 |
Travel | £144,122.38 | £226,600.29 | £370,722.67 |
Subsistence | £16,171.73 | £43,176.88 | £59,348.61 |
Other (incidentals such as printing, room hire and meeting refreshments) | £1,939.11 | £3052.73 | £4991.84 |
Total | £244,476.11 | £443,452.57 | £687,928.68 |
Asked by: Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department has provided to implement the recommendations of the Trust Special Administration of Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust on (a) capital investment in Stafford Hospital, (b) capital investment in Royal Stoke University Hospital, (c) capital investment in Cannock Hospital, (d) capital investment in New Cross Hospital, (e) other capital investment, (f) revenue support for the University Hospitals of the North Midlands NHS Trust, (g) revenue support for the Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals Trust and (h) other revenue support.
Answered by Dan Poulter
The Department holds records of the total capital allocated to the respective recipient bodies as a result of the transfer of Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust services but does not have details of the breakdown by individual hospital site.
The capital provided to date is as follows:
The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust | £12,109,000 |
University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust | £12,153,000 |
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust | £4,000,000 |
Grand Total | £28,262,000 |
Revenue funding provided to date is set out in the following table:
University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust | £32,420,000 |
The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust | £5,480,000 |
Grand Total | £37,900,000 |
The amount of public dividend capital issued to the Trust by the Department is as follows:
2009/10 | £214,000 |
2010/11 | £0 |
2011/12 | £21,000,000 |
2012/13 | £21,385,000 |
2013/14 | £30,397,000 |
2014/15 | £64,425,000 |
The Department does not hold central records of non-tariff payments made by local commissioning bodies to NHS providers.
The work of the trust special administrators (TSAs) to secure safe and sustainable services at Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust cost Monitor almost £19.5 million, including VAT, over 18 months.
The first phase of trust special administration cost £9 million, including expenses and VAT. During this phase there was a team of up to 30 members of staff who carried out three core tasks - to help to run the Trust, to design the future of services provided at Stafford and Cannock hospitals, and to run a large public consultation involving thousands of responses and a series of public meetings.
The second phase cost £10.5 million, including expenses and VAT. We are informed by Monitor that this second phase included a team of up to 50 people, which was required to continue to help run the hospital and implement the TSA’s recommendations.
We are also informed by Monitor that trust special administration at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust amounted to the rounded figure of 10,900 person-days for teams working on both phases of the process.
In the table below, expenses incurred during the TSA process are split by the two phases of the TSA and totals are also provided. These expenses include:
(a) accommodation;
(b) travel (car, taxi and train);
(c) subsistence; and
(d) other expenses incurred; and what other costs to the TSA were incurred
Breakdown of expenses, these exclude VAT:
TSA1 | TSA2 | Total | |
Accommodation | £82,242.89 | £170,622.67 | £252,865.56 |
Travel | £144,122.38 | £226,600.29 | £370,722.67 |
Subsistence | £16,171.73 | £43,176.88 | £59,348.61 |
Other (incidentals such as printing, room hire and meeting refreshments) | £1,939.11 | £3052.73 | £4991.84 |
Total | £244,476.11 | £443,452.57 | £687,928.68 |
Asked by: Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on conducting tests identified by the Human Fertility and Embryology Authority as critical before the implementation of mitochondrial transfer regulations.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The Human Fertility and Embryology Authority has said that “The further experiments that the panel has recommended could take place before or after the techniques are made lawful”, and this is endorsed by the Expert Panel. Good progress is being made on the experiments and the scientists involved hope to provide an update shortly.
Asked by: Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps he has taken to improve the support provided to carers; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Norman Lamb
We have ensured that carers are central to our proposals for care and support reform. The provisions in the Care Act focus on the carer in their own right. For the first time, local authorities have a duty to meet carers’ eligible support needs and to consider the impact of their caring responsibilities when undertaking an assessment.
We have also ensured that young carers and parent carers of disabled children are supported. Through the provisions of the Children and Families Act, their assessments will be on the same footing as adults caring for adults.
We have provided £400 million to the National Health Service over four years from 2011 for carers to have breaks from their caring responsibilities. The 2015-16 tranche of this funding (£130 million) will be part of the Better Care Fund.
On 30 October 2014, the Government published an updated action plan for the national Carers Strategy, setting out progress since 2010 and priorities for the next two years through to 2016.
Carers are also central to the work that NHS England is leading to improve the quality of life of people with long term conditions. Their action plan NHS England’s Commitment to Carers includes a series of commitments around eight priorities, including raising the profile of carers.
Asked by: Jeremy Lefroy (Conservative - Stafford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much non-NHS providers of NHS funded services have paid to the Treasury towards the cost of the previous training of clinical staff whom they employ in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12, (d) 2012-13 and (e) 2013-14.
Answered by Dan Poulter
Non-NHS providers do not make a direct contribution to the cost of training clinical staff.