Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8 November 2021 to Question 67098 on Coronavirus: Vaccination, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of NHS England including records of covid-19 booster vaccinations in the NHS App in the context of the requirement by Israel and Austria of proof of a booster vaccination for specific travellers to those countries.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The NHS COVID Pass can now be used to demonstrate proof of a booster or third dose for outbound international travel and this is available through the NHS App and NHS.UK. Booster vaccinations are not required for domestic certification in England.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress he has made on implementing the recommendations of the Taskforce on Innovation, Growth and Regulatory Reform relevant to his Department.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department has been working closely with the Cabinet Office Brexit Opportunities Unit to take forward the relevant recommendations set out in the Taskforce on Innovation Growth and Regulatory Reform report. Following announcements made earlier in the autumn, we continue to engage with officials and arm’s length bodies on these proposals. Further details on the announcements is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/brexit-opportunities-regulatory-reforms
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
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 potential effect of the NHS 111 service on trends in the level of patient numbers attending A&E departments in NHS hospitals.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
No such assessment has been made. NHS England and NHS Improvement have advised that the proportion of NHS 111 callers referred to emergency departments has remained stable at approximately 11% since August.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
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 effectiveness of the NHS 111 service at (a) identifying and (b) recommending patients who can be treated in primary care settings instead of A&E departments.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
No such assessment has been made. NHS England and NHS Improvement advise that NHS 111 seeks to recommend the best service for patients needs. This is based on the assessment of the stated symptoms either by NHS Pathways or by a clinician. Wherever possible, recommendation to an emergency department is avoided if another suitable service is available, including referral to primary care settings.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with the Chancellor on the Exchequer of the adequacy of the level of taxation on GPs pensions.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department continues to have a regular discussion with HM Treasury on a range of issues relating to the NHS Pension Scheme.
The NHS Pension Scheme provides generous retirement benefits for National Health Service staff. Members who reach the £1.073 million lifetime allowance for tax-free saving will have accrued an annual pension of approximately £46,000 per year and tax-free lump sum of £139,000. This provides considerable financial security in retirement.
We are committed to ensuring that NHS staff do not find themselves reducing their work commitments due to the interaction between their pay, their pension and the relevant tax regime. The two thresholds which the tapered annual allowance applies to were each raised by £90,000 from 6 April 2020. Therefore no-one with a threshold income below £200,000 is affected by the tapered annual allowance. An estimated 96% of general practitioners are now out of scope of the tapered annual allowance based on their NHS earnings.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) treatments, (b) diagnostic tests and (c) operations undertaken by the NHS in each year since 2010.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Data on the number of treatments and operations undertaken by the National Health Service is not available in the format requested. The following table shows the number of diagnostic tests conducted in year since 2010.
2010 | 14,871,766 |
2011 | 15,596,624 |
2012 | 16,716,609 |
2013 | 17,615,951 |
2014 | 18,777,918 |
2015 | 19,985,469 |
2016 | 20,999,112 |
2017 | 21,842,681 |
2018 | 22,616,427 |
2019 | 23,619,514 |
2020 | 18,252,314 |
Source: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/diagnostics-waiting-times-and-activity/
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on reform of the tax rules related to GPs’ pensions.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department continues to have regular discussions with HM Treasury relating to the NHS Pension Scheme. The Scheme provides generous retirement benefits for National Health Service staff after a lifetime of service. Members who reach the £1.073 million lifetime allowance for tax-free saving will have built up an annual pension of approximately £46,000 per year and tax-free lump sum of approximately £139,000. This provides considerable financial security in retirement.
We are committed to ensuring that NHS staff do not find themselves reducing their work commitments due to the interaction between their pay, their pension and the relevant tax regime. The two thresholds above which the tapered annual allowance applies were each raised by £90,000 from 6 April 2020. This means that no-one with a threshold income below £200,000 is affected by the tapered annual allowance. An estimated 96% of general practitioners are now out of scope of the tapered annual allowance based on their NHS earnings.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
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 increase the rate of retention of female GPs.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We are encouraging general practitioners (GPs) to stay in the workforce for longer by addressing the reasons why doctors leave the profession and encouraging them to return to practice. Although these are open to GPs of all genders, those aimed at encouraging better flexible working may be particularly beneficial for female GPs, who may be more at risk of leaving the profession due to caring responsibilities. This includes the GP Retention Scheme, which provides enhanced flexibility and a package of financial and educational support to help GPs who might otherwise leave the workforce.
Funding and support has also been made available for local Primary Care Flexible Staff Pools, to increase capacity in general practice and create a new offer for local GPs wanting to work flexibly. For GPs, pools can offer the flexibility of a locum role with increased job security and the benefits of a salaried position.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
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 increase the rate of retention of GPs.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We are working with NHS England and NHS Improvement, Health Education England and the profession to increase recruitment, address the reasons why doctors leave the profession, and encourage them to return to practice.
The updated GP Contract Framework announced a number of new retention schemes alongside continued support for existing schemes for the general practice workforce. These include the GP Retention Scheme, the International Induction Programme, the Return to Practice Programme, the Fellowship Programme, the New to Partnership Payment and Supporting Mentors Scheme.
Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
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 support the recruitment and training of more GPs.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We have increased the number of general practitioner (GP) training places, with 4,000 trainees accepting a place this year, from 2,671 in 2014. To support training for GPs and a more balanced distribution of trainee capacity across the National Health Service, the proportion of time GP trainees spend in general practice during training will rise from 18 to 24 months.
The Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme is aimed at attracting doctors to train as GPs in hard to recruit areas. The Scheme offers a £20,000 salary supplement to attract trainee GPs to work in areas of the country where training places have been unfilled for a number of years. Additional investment has seen the number of places on the Scheme expand to 500 in 2021/22 and this will increase to at least 800 in 2022/23.