Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding was provided to the Food Standards Agency’s National Food Crime Unit in each of the last five years.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) works to prevent, detect and investigate fraud within our food system. The NFCU was initially established as an intelligence function in 2015 following recommendations made to Government in the Elliott Review, conducted in the aftermath of the horse meat incident in 2013. An independent review into the NFCU in 2018 recommended that the NFCU expand to provide an investigative capability.
The following table shows the funding provided to the NFCU from 2018 to 2023.
Year | Funding |
2018/19 | £3.2 million |
2019/20 | £5.6 million |
2020/21 | £4.6 million |
2021/22 | £4.7 million |
2022/23 | £5.0 million |
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
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 adequacy of the budgetary settlement by the NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board for hospices.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made. The Government and NHS England recognises the importance of palliative and end of life care for patients and those important to them. Palliative and end of life care, including hospice care, is commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs) in response to the needs of their local population. Any assessment would therefore be made at a local level.
With increasing costs and pressures and operational planning requirements from NHS England to reduce overspends, Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB has had to prioritise and focus funding on maintaining core services in the National Health Service.
As part of this review of spending, a decision has been made to not financially uplift the funding to voluntary sector contracts in Lancashire and South Cumbria, and this includes hospices. The ICB has not cut its funding to the hospices and recognises the essential work they do to support local communities. However, the ICB has not at this stage in the year been able to allocate any inflationary uplift to the contracts.
Discussions are ongoing and there are plans for the ICB to meet with the Lancashire and South Cumbria hospice leaders to discuss further.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to increase the amount of baby formula procured by (a) the NHS and (b) other public services from UK-based businesses.
Answered by Will Quince
There are no specific plans to increase the amount of baby milk procured by the National Health Service and other public services from businesses based in the United Kingdom. All procurement opportunities are advertised and open to UK businesses.
All procurement within the NHS and other public services are conducted within the rules of the Government’s Public Contracts Regulations 2015, which stipulates that all suppliers are treated fairly and equally in the procurement process. The NHS and other public services account for a relatively small proportion of the supply of infant formula within the UK, with most of the supply through retail outlets.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
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 merits of requiring the Office for National Statistics to continue to publish covid-19 data.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The COVID-19 Infection Survey has provided vital information to inform critical Government decisions across the United Kingdom. This has shaped the response to the pandemic and made a great difference to our understanding of COVID-19.
As we have transitioned into Living with COVID-19 the approach to COVID-19 surveillance is being actively reviewed to ensure it is proportionate, cost effective and considered alongside how we monitor a range of other infectious diseases that present a similar threat.
The UK Health Security Agency will continue to publish regular reports on COVID-19 which will contribute to our situational awareness, these include our weekly surveillance reports, which provide data on infection rates and hospitalisation numbers. We also maintain the ability to track the latest variants through our genomics capabilities which assess the risks posed by different strains of the virus.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
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 potential merits of providing a radiotherapy unit at Westmorland General Hospital.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made. NHS England is the accountable commissioner for radiotherapy services.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which organisations have been involved in independently verifying the NHS workforce forecasts in the upcoming long-term workforce plan.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government has committed to publishing the long term workforce plan. This will include projections for the number of doctors, nurses and other professionals that will be needed in 5, 10 and 15 years’ time. This plan is due to be published shortly and this will include further details on verification.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many linear accelerator (LINAC) machines in operation across all NHS Trusts are beyond their recommended 10-year lifespan.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As of 31 March 2022, the number of linear accelerators aged 10 years old and over was approximately 20 out of a total of 268 machines in the National Health Service.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many linear accelerator (LINAC) machines are in operation across all NHS Trusts.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As of 31 March 2022, the number of linear accelerators aged 10 years old and over was approximately 20 out of a total of 268 machines in the National Health Service.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 21 June 2022 to Question 16924 on Breast Cancer: Screening, what steps he is taking to incentivise Community Diagnostic Centres to offer of diagnostic mammography services.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
£2.3 billion was awarded at the Spending Review in 2021 to transform diagnostic services over the next three years. Most of this will help increase the number of Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) up to 160 by March 2025, expanding and protecting elective planned diagnostic services. The remainder of the funding will increase capacity for imaging, endoscopy as well as lung and mammography screening, and improve digital diagnostics. Integrated care systems are responsible for ensuring their patients have adequate access to diagnostic mammography services according to local need.
NHS England has asked all CDCs in geographies with high cancer backlogs to prioritise capacity within imaging and endoscopy to accelerate diagnosis for people currently awaiting diagnostic treatment within the 62 day backlog. Remaining CDC revenue funding is being prioritised for this purpose.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his oral statement of 9 January 2023 on NHS winter pressures, Official Report, column 287, what interventions using artificial intelligence his Department is considering for wider implementation.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department is funding the Artificial Intelligence in Health and Care Award, which is accelerating the testing and evaluation some of the most promising artificial intelligence (AI) technologies that can support clinicians in diagnosis, monitoring disease and managing health conditions at home.
The Award has provided more than £100 million to 77 AI technologies which are live in 53 hospitals in the United Kingdom.
The Department has also provided £800,000 to Health Data Research UK (HDR UK) to fund 16 data-driven projects, including ‘machine-learning’, to pin-point and overcome pressures in the health care system.
The HDR UK projects are due to start early this year and will share their findings later in the year.
The Department is also piloting operational efficiency and workforce productivity tools that can help significantly reduce elective care waiting lists, which will also help to relieve some of the pressures caused by winter. The tools have been developed as part of the NHS National Data Platform. During the proof-of-concept stage, they helped Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust achieve a 46% reduction in their inpatient waiting list, improved theatre utilisation by 6% and re-prioritised more than 2,000 patients.
This proof-of-concept has since transitioned to a pilot and the tools are now being tested in 27 trusts. The pilot will report its finding in March 2023.