Asked by: Andrew Smith (Labour - Oxford East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will introduce a bill to reform the regulation of healthcare professionals; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Ben Gummer
This Government is grateful for the work of the Law Commissions of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in reviewing the regulation of health and (in England) social care professionals.
The Law Commissions made 125 recommendations to reform the existing complex and burdensome regulatory system. The joint four UK country response to the Law Commissions was published on 29 January 2015 which accepted wholly or in part the vast majority of its recommendations.
The Department is currently reviewing how best to take forward the work of the Law Commissions. We hope to be able to provide an update on this work soon.
Asked by: Andrew Smith (Labour - Oxford East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what measures he plans to include in the forthcoming Order under section 60 of the Health Act 1999 to amend the legislation governing the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
Answered by Ben Gummer
The Section 60 Order will remove statutory midwifery supervision from the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (NMC’s) governing legislation.
The Department is also in discussions with the NMC on what other reforms may be achieved through the Order.
The Order will be subject to a full public consultation early next year.
Asked by: Andrew Smith (Labour - Oxford East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many NHS (a) standalone midwife-led units, (b) midwife-led units situated alongside consultant-led units and (c) consultant-led maternity units there are in each region of England; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Ben Gummer
Information on the number of standalone midwife-led units, midwife-led units situated alongside consultant-led units and consultant-led maternity units in each region of England is set out in the table below:
Standalone midwife-led units | Midwife-led units situated alongside consultant-led units | Consultant-led maternity units | |
North West, Lancashire, Cheshire, Merseyside | 4 | 12 | 20 |
Cumbria, North East of England and Yorkshire and the Humber | 8 | 8 | 24 |
NHS Midlands and East. | 14 | 37 | 44 |
South East Coast and Wessex | 8 | 12 | 16 |
South | 18 | 10 | 18 |
London | 3 | 22 | 25 |
Women can expect a range of choices over place of birth. As set out in the NHS Choice Framework for 2015/16, these choices include giving birth at home with the support of a midwife, in a midwifery facility with the support of a midwife, or in any available hospital with the support of a maternity team. Choices will depend on what is best for the woman and her baby, as well as what is available locally.
Asked by: Andrew Smith (Labour - Oxford East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many midwives per 1,000 births there were in each region of England in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Ben Gummer
The number of midwives per 1,000 births (live and stillborn combined) has grown from 29.7 in 2004 to 32.6 in 2014. The table attached provides the available detail by region as collected by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.
Asked by: Andrew Smith (Labour - Oxford East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of total NHS expenditure spending on maternity services represented in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Ben Gummer
Not all of the information requested is collected centrally. Data for primary care trusts (PCTs) secondary healthcare commissioning spend on maternity services for the years 2005/06 to 2012/13 is shown in the tables below. Maternity services may also be commissioned in primary care environments. However, it is not possible to separately identify the amount of primary care expenditure on maternity services from the statutory accounting data collected by the Department.
Table 1: 2005/06 to 2007/08. NHS expenditure figures on a pre-Clear Line of Sight resource budgeting basis.
Year | Maternity services commissioned by PCTs 2005/06 to 2012/13 | Spend on maternity services as % of NHS revenue expenditure |
2005/06 | 1.67 | 2.25% |
2006/07 | 1.62 | 2.06% |
2007/08 | 1.79 | 2.07% |
Source: NHS (England) Summarised Account (2005/06 to 2010/11)
Table 2: 2008/09 to 2012/13. NHS expenditure figures on an aligned basis following the HM Treasury’s Clear Line of Sight programme.
Year | Maternity services commissioned by PCTs 2005/06 to 2012/13 |
| |
2008/09 | 1.97 | 2.25% | |
2009/10 | 2.41 | 2.55% | |
2010/11 | 2.53 | 2.60% | |
2011/12 | 2.62 | 2.61% | |
2012/13 | 2.58 | 2.52% |
Source: NHS (England) Summarised Account (2005/06 to 2010/11) and the Department of Health Annual Report and Accounts (2011/12 and 2012/13).
Notes:
Following the abolition of PCTs and strategic health authorities at 31 March 2013, NHS England became responsible for the commissioning of healthcare in England via the network of individual clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). The Department does not collect data on maternity services spend by CCGs.
NHS England has published expenditure on ‘maternity and reproductive health’ services commissioned by CCGs for 2013/14, which was estimated to be £2.8 billion (4% of total CCG expenditure). CCG spend represents a proportion of overall NHS expenditure on maternity services. NHS England also commissions some services that were previously included within PCT estimates, such as antenatal screening services. NHS England is currently reviewing the data on direct commissioning expenditure and plans to publish this when finalised.
Asked by: Andrew Smith (Labour - Oxford East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the NHS has spent on maternity services in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Ben Gummer
Not all of the information requested is collected centrally. Data for primary care trusts (PCTs) secondary healthcare commissioning spend on maternity services for the years 2005/06 to 2012/13 is shown in the tables below. Maternity services may also be commissioned in primary care environments. However, it is not possible to separately identify the amount of primary care expenditure on maternity services from the statutory accounting data collected by the Department.
Table 1: 2005/06 to 2007/08. NHS expenditure figures on a pre-Clear Line of Sight resource budgeting basis.
Year | Maternity services commissioned by PCTs 2005/06 to 2012/13 | Spend on maternity services as % of NHS revenue expenditure |
2005/06 | 1.67 | 2.25% |
2006/07 | 1.62 | 2.06% |
2007/08 | 1.79 | 2.07% |
Source: NHS (England) Summarised Account (2005/06 to 2010/11)
Table 2: 2008/09 to 2012/13. NHS expenditure figures on an aligned basis following the HM Treasury’s Clear Line of Sight programme.
Year | Maternity services commissioned by PCTs 2005/06 to 2012/13 |
| |
2008/09 | 1.97 | 2.25% | |
2009/10 | 2.41 | 2.55% | |
2010/11 | 2.53 | 2.60% | |
2011/12 | 2.62 | 2.61% | |
2012/13 | 2.58 | 2.52% |
Source: NHS (England) Summarised Account (2005/06 to 2010/11) and the Department of Health Annual Report and Accounts (2011/12 and 2012/13).
Notes:
Following the abolition of PCTs and strategic health authorities at 31 March 2013, NHS England became responsible for the commissioning of healthcare in England via the network of individual clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). The Department does not collect data on maternity services spend by CCGs.
NHS England has published expenditure on ‘maternity and reproductive health’ services commissioned by CCGs for 2013/14, which was estimated to be £2.8 billion (4% of total CCG expenditure). CCG spend represents a proportion of overall NHS expenditure on maternity services. NHS England also commissions some services that were previously included within PCT estimates, such as antenatal screening services. NHS England is currently reviewing the data on direct commissioning expenditure and plans to publish this when finalised.
Asked by: Andrew Smith (Labour - Oxford East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the potential of minimum unit pricing of 50 pence per unit of alcohol to improve liver disease health outcomes in England.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The 2015-16 remit letter from the Department of Health asked Public Health England to review the evidence and provide advice on the public health impacts of alcohol and possible evidence-based solutions.
Asked by: Andrew Smith (Labour - Oxford East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects Public Health England's Evidence into Action review of the evidence on reducing sugar consumption to be published.
Answered by Jane Ellison
There are no plans to introduce a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks. However all taxes are kept under review, with decisions being a matter for the Chancellor as part of the Budget process.
Public Health England's (PHE) report Sugar Reduction: The evidence for action was published on the GOV.UK website on 22 October. We continue to work very closely with PHE and this evidence is integral to our ongoing policy development. We will publish our childhood obesity strategy in the new year.
Sugar Reduction: The evidence for action is available at:
Asked by: Andrew Smith (Labour - Oxford East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the potential of introducing tax on sugar-sweetened drinks to improve liver disease health outcomes in England.
Answered by Jane Ellison
There are no plans to introduce a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks. However all taxes are kept under review, with decisions being a matter for the Chancellor as part of the Budget process.
Public Health England's (PHE) report Sugar Reduction: The evidence for action was published on the GOV.UK website on 22 October. We continue to work very closely with PHE and this evidence is integral to our ongoing policy development. We will publish our childhood obesity strategy in the new year.
Sugar Reduction: The evidence for action is available at: