Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of offering one-off payments to dentists that agree to work in under-served areas on the morale of other dentists.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We want to encourage all professionals to commit more of their time to National Health Service work, and to work in areas of the country with low provision of NHS dental care. That is why we are introducing Golden Hellos, as set out in our plan to reform and recover NHS dentistry. A golden hello of £20,000 will be offered per dentist, for a total of up to 240 dentists. The Golden Hellos will support practices in areas where recruitment is particularly challenging and make a real difference to those patients needing dental care.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to improve NHS England's handling of complaints made by (a) staff, (b) patients and (c) carers.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
On complaints made by patients and carers, we have worked closely with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on their work to develop the NHS Complaint Standards. These standards set out how National Health Service organisations that handle NHS complaints, such as NHS England, should approach complaint handling to ensure they are handled and resolved effectively.
On complaints made by staff, NHS England has published information about how people can speak to NHS England’s Freedom to Speak Up Team. Whilst there is a network of over 1,000 local Freedom to Speak Up Guardians across healthcare in England to support staff in speaking up, the information published by NHS England makes it clear that staff across the NHS can speak up to NHS England about anything that gets in the way of patient care, or affects their working life. My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care speaks regularly to NHS England about its performance, responsibilities, and activity, including complaints.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is she taking to address defensive culture in the handling of NHS complaints.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We have worked closely with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on their work to develop the NHS Complaint Standards, which set out how organisations providing services in the National Health Service should approach complaint handling. The standards place a strong focus on several aspects of complaint handling to avoid defensiveness, including emphasising the importance of actively listening and demonstrating a clear understanding of what the main issues are for the complainant, as well as the outcomes they seek, being thorough and fair, and identifying suitable ways to put things right for people.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she is taking steps to ensure that people with low agency have an opportunity to raise concerns and complaints within the NHS; and what recent discussions she has had with NHS leaders on this matter.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
There is a range of support available for people who may need help when making a complaint. This includes the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS), which is available in most hospitals. The PALS offers confidential advice, support, and information to help resolve concerns or problems, as well as information about the National Health Service complaints procedure, including how to get independent help. Support is also available from the Independent Complaints Advocacy Service. Advocates can provide a range of support, such as help writing a complaint letter, and attending meetings with complainants. People can get advice from a complaints advocate at any stage of the process, so it is never too late to ask for help.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of trends in the level of (a) complaints and (b) litigation claims against the NHS; and what steps she is taking to support the resolution of those complaints.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
There are a range of factors that affect trends in the level of complaints and litigation claims against the National Health Service, that go beyond the Department’s policies. On complaints, factors that affect trends include things like how well NHS organisations resolve concerns before they escalate to written complaints, and how well publicised and accessible their complaints handling processes are. To support effective resolution of complaints, we have worked closely with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on their work to develop the NHS Complaint Standards, which set out how organisations providing services in the NHS should approach complaint handling to ensure they are handled and resolved effectively.
NHS Resolution (NHSR) manages clinical negligence and other claims against the NHS in England. NHSR is committed to helping the NHS learn from claims. It is working directly with providers of healthcare services, alongside other national and local bodies working on patient safety, to share learning and best practice across the NHS, to drive safety improvement. In 2022, NHSR published a new three-year strategy which extends and enhances its focus on prevention, learning, and early intervention following incidents of harm. NHSR is committed to improving the claims process, including innovative approaches to dispute resolution. This work includes a number of pilots exploring various dispute resolution techniques which can result in faster resolution and reduced legal costs for both sides.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that the IT systems used by (a) GPs and (b) community pharmacists enable the provision of one set of patient records.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Delivery plan for recovering access to primary care announced plans to significantly improve the digital infrastructure between general practices (GPs) and community pharmacies. This will see GPs and community pharmacies viewing and contributing to a single patient record via their respective IT systems. For example, the functionality to update the GP patient record will see pharmacy consultation outcomes arriving directly into the GP’s workflow for review and action, which will be rolled out in April and May 2024. The functionality to view all required information from the GP patient record from within the community pharmacy clinical system, will be rolled out in summer.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the timeline for meeting cancer screening uptake targets for (a) breast, (b) cervical, (c) bowel and (d) prostate cancer.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving uptake in all screening programmes, including for breast, bowel, and cervical screening. There is no national screening programme for prostate cancer. The improvement in cancer screening programmes is not predicated on a specific timeline, but is focusing on targeting specific groups where uptake is low.
NHS England has developed a national improvement plan in collaboration with key stakeholders to improve uptake within the breast screening programme. This plan will encompass a series of evaluative projects, which are expected to report in April 2024
A range of improvements and innovations have been brought in to help improve uptake in the NHS Cervical Screening Programme. For example, appointments are being made available during evenings and weekends, and in some areas cervical screening appointments can be made in any primary care setting, rather than just at one’s own general practice.
In addition, we are also working to test the effectiveness of human papillomavirus infection self-sampling as a primary cervical screening option, with individuals taking their own cervical screening sample. The findings from this evaluation will be used to inform a UK National Screening Committee recommendation, and it is expected that self-sampling could lead to an increase in uptake as it will reduce some of the barriers that prevent people from attending a screening.
Uptake in the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme is currently above the achievable threshold of 60%, between 1 July and 30 September 2023 it was 67.4%, and therefore the focus for this screening programme is on gradually reducing the age of the eligible cohort from 60 years old down to 50 years old, to increase to numbers eligible for this programme.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to increase the uptake of screening for (a) breast, (b) cervical, (c) bowel and (d) prostate cancer.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving uptake in all screening programmes, including for breast, bowel, and cervical screening. There is no national screening programme for prostate cancer. The improvement in cancer screening programmes is not predicated on a specific timeline, but is focusing on targeting specific groups where uptake is low.
NHS England has developed a national improvement plan in collaboration with key stakeholders to improve uptake within the breast screening programme. This plan will encompass a series of evaluative projects, which are expected to report in April 2024
A range of improvements and innovations have been brought in to help improve uptake in the NHS Cervical Screening Programme. For example, appointments are being made available during evenings and weekends, and in some areas cervical screening appointments can be made in any primary care setting, rather than just at one’s own general practice.
In addition, we are also working to test the effectiveness of human papillomavirus infection self-sampling as a primary cervical screening option, with individuals taking their own cervical screening sample. The findings from this evaluation will be used to inform a UK National Screening Committee recommendation, and it is expected that self-sampling could lead to an increase in uptake as it will reduce some of the barriers that prevent people from attending a screening.
Uptake in the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme is currently above the achievable threshold of 60%, between 1 July and 30 September 2023 it was 67.4%, and therefore the focus for this screening programme is on gradually reducing the age of the eligible cohort from 60 years old down to 50 years old, to increase to numbers eligible for this programme.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions she has had with the General Medical Council on (a) regulating (i) physician and (ii) anaesthesia associates and (b) ensuring that increased use of these roles in hospitals does not impact (A) the professional competence of other healthcare professionals and (B) patient safety.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has been working closely with the General Medical Council (GMC) since 2019, on the regulation of Anaesthesia Associates (AAs) and Physician Associates (PAs). Regulation with the GMC will provide set standards of practice, education, and training for AAs and PAs, as well as requirements around continual professional development (CPD) and conduct. Regulation with the GMC will mean that individual AAs and PAs can be held to account if serious concerns are raised.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan commits to growing these roles alongside recruiting and training more doctors, nurses, and allied health and other professionals. NHS England is working with partners, including the GMC, royal colleges, trade unions, doctors, and medical associate professional groups to develop comprehensive curricula, core capability frameworks, standards for CPD, assessment and appraisal, and supervision guidance for AAs and PAs, ensuring the roles are expanded safely and effectively.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she is having with professional bodies on ensuring that the public have a clear understanding of (a) professional titles and (b) the services they can expect from the holders of such titles.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the responsibility of professionals and their employers to ensure professional titles are used appropriately, and are not misleading to patients. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines set out that all healthcare professionals directly involved in a patient's care should introduce themselves and explain to the patient: who is responsible for their clinical care and treatment; the roles and responsibilities of the different members of the healthcare team; and the communication about their care that takes place between members of the healthcare team.
Professions that are regulated in statute have titles that are protected by law, and professionals must be registered with a statutory regulator to use them. It is an offence for a person to use a title they are not legally permitted to use, or to otherwise hold themselves out to be a regulated professional.