Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) estates and (b) facilities related incidents related to (i) non-critical and (ii) critical infrastructure risk occurred in (A) all hospitals and (B) hospitals containing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in the last 12 months.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the annual budget for the NHS England Frontline Digitisation programme was (a) when that programme was established and (b) at the start of financial year (i) 2022-23, (ii) 2023-24 and (iii) 2024-25.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an estimate of the cost to the public purse of awarding a pay rise to NHS junior doctors of (a) 5%, (b) 10%, (c) 15%, (d) 20%, (e) 25%, (f) 30% and (g) 35%.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The below table shows the estimated costs of various average pay rises for junior doctors above the existing 2023/24 pay scales which included an average pay rise of 8.8% :
Average pay rise | Estimated cost in 2024/25 |
5% | £400,000,000 |
10% | £900,000,000 |
15% | £1,300,000,000 |
20% | £1,700,000,000 |
25% | £2,100,000,000 |
30% | £2,600,000,000 |
35% | £3,000,000,000 |
These are estimates of the expected costs if the pay rise were given in 2024/25. They cover recurrent increases to the substantive pay bill, including employer national insurance and pension contributions, as well as knock-on impacts such as agency price increases. The exact cost will vary depending on the workforce size and composition.
These estimates do not take into account any wider considerations of the impact on wider National Health Service and public sector pay.
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
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 number and proportion of prescriptions that were written by pharmacists in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service does not currently commission prescribing services from community pharmacists but pharmacists working in other NHS settings, including general practices, can prescribe on the NHS.
The following table show the total number of items prescribed, the number of items prescribed by a pharmacist, and the percentage this equates to in terms of overall prescribing in England, in each of the last five years:
Year | Total number of items | Items prescribed by a pharmacist | Percentage of items prescribed by a pharmacist |
2019 | 1,118,845,270 | 22,089,868 | 1.97% |
2020 | 1,122,769,640 | 30,824,967 | 2.75% |
2021 | 1,128,633,578 | 36,145,631 | 3.20% |
2022 | 1,162,723,444 | 40,701,768 | 3.50% |
2023 | 1,203,435,207 | 45,713,123 | 3.80% |
Source: NHS Business Services Authority
The number of pharmacists that are independent prescribers is increasing. From 2026 all newly qualified pharmacists will be prescribers and we are upskilling the current workforce. NHS England are piloting services with varying models to evaluate how this could work in future clinical services in community pharmacy. In future, prescribing in community pharmacy has the potential to unlock more clinical services in community pharmacy, taking further pressure off general practice.
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason there was an increase in death rates among 20-44 year olds in 2023 from 2019.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities provides recent estimates of excess mortality in England by age group. Estimates for 20 to 44 year olds are not available, but data are published for those aged 25 to 49. These show that in 2023, deaths in this age group were 3% lower than expected. The number of expected deaths is based on the trend in mortality rates for this age group in the 5 years before 2023. This baseline excludes periods with particularly high numbers of deaths from COVID-19.
This estimate for excess mortality in 2023 reflects, in part, an increase in mortality for this age group over the preceding 5 years. However, official estimates of mortality rates for this age group have not been published. The Office for National Statistics have also not yet released final mortality data or mid-year population estimates for 2023.
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many community diagnostic centres are providing bone density scans.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As of May 2024, 19 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) are providing bone density scans, also known as DEXA scans. A total of 35 CDCs are planning to provide these scans in 2024/25.