Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
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 for recruitment and retention of agreeing a long-term strategy to improve pay in real terms for the workforces covered by (a) the Dentists and Doctors Pay Review Body and (b) the NHS Pay Review Body.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no current plans to make these specific assessments. The Government is committed to a credible, independent Pay Review Body (PRB) process as the right mechanism to recommend annual pay increases for most public sector staff. In her statement on the public finances on 29 July 2024, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer confirmed that the Government wished to continue to use the PRB process.
The role of the NHS Pay Review Body and the Dentists and Doctors Pay Review Body is to make recommendations to the Prime Minister and ministers on the annual pay award for National Health Service staff and other related matters within their remit. They act independently of the Government.
The PRBs lay out in their reports the reasoning for their recommended awards based on their terms of reference. In reaching their recommendations, the review bodies have regard to recruitment and retention and are required to take careful account of the economic and other evidence submitted by the Government, trades unions, representatives of NHS employers, and others.
The Government is not bound by PRB recommendations, and it's for my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to decide how to respond to the recommendations of PRBs for the NHS in England.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of agreeing a long-term strategy with the (a) Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration and (b) NHS Pay Review Body to help improve pay in the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no current plans to make these specific assessments. The Government is committed to a credible, independent Pay Review Body (PRB) process as the right mechanism to recommend annual pay increases for most public sector staff. In her statement on the public finances on 29 July 2024, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer confirmed that the Government wished to continue to use the PRB process.
The role of the NHS Pay Review Body and the Dentists and Doctors Pay Review Body is to make recommendations to the Prime Minister and ministers on the annual pay award for National Health Service staff and other related matters within their remit. They act independently of the Government.
The PRBs lay out in their reports the reasoning for their recommended awards based on their terms of reference. In reaching their recommendations, the review bodies have regard to recruitment and retention and are required to take careful account of the economic and other evidence submitted by the Government, trades unions, representatives of NHS employers, and others.
The Government is not bound by PRB recommendations, and it's for my Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to decide how to respond to the recommendations of PRBs for the NHS in England.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the potential impact of the pay awards made through the (a) Dentists and Doctors Pay Review Body and (b) NHS Pay Review Body processes on the real terms value of wages in each year since 2010.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The table attached shows the estimated average increases to basic pay, where these were based on pay review body recommendations for members of the Hospital and Community Health Sector workforce in England, as well as the average consumer price index inflation for each year since 2010/11.
In 2011/12 and 2012/13, the pay review bodies were stood down. Between 2013/14 and 2017/18, the pay review bodies reported, but headline recommendations were determined by public sector pay policy.
As independent contractors, it is for general practice partners to determine uplifts in pay for themselves and their employees. As dental practices are similarly private businesses, it falls to them to set employee pay and conditions.
Each year, the Government sets out the funds available to the Department, and in reaching their conclusions, pay review bodies take careful account of economic and other evidence submitted by employers, the Government, unions, and others.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
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 implications for his Department's policies of trends in levels of confidence of workforce unions in public health sector pay review body processes.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This specific assessment has not been made. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has met regularly with unions to help rebuild the relationship between the Government and National Health Service staff.
Whilst we will continue to use the Pay Review Bodies to set pay, we have listened to union concerns about the process, which is why we have committed to remitting in July this year, with an ambition to announce and implement uplifts as early as possible in 2026/27.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
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 implications for his Department's polices of the request of workforce unions for the establishment of direct pay negotiations in the health sector.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Pay Review Body (PRB) process is the established mechanism for determining pay uplifts in the public sector. PRBs carefully consider evidence submitted to them from a range of stakeholders, including the Government and trade unions.
The Government is committed to a credible, independent PRB process as the way to set pay for National Health Service staff in England, and there are no plans to replace the process with direct negotiations.
However, we have listened to union concerns about the process, which is why we committed to improving the timeline this year and will look to build on that by remitting the PRBs to begin the next pay round in July, putting us on track to announce pay awards as early as possible in 2026/27.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
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 impact of the real terms value of wages set by Government pay awards in the (a) Dentists and Doctors Pay Review Body and (b) NHS Pay Review Body for 2025-26 on trends in the levels of (i) recruitment and (ii) retention of public sector workforce staff.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This specific assessment has not been made. Pay is an important factor in the National Health Service being able to continue to attract and reward talented staff. Pay review bodies are required to take careful account of the economic and financial evidence submitted by the Government, trades unions, representatives of NHS employers, and others to reach their recommendations on pay.
When considering evidence in order to make pay recommendations, the Dentists and Doctors Pay Review Body and the NHS Pay Review Body pay due regard to many factors, including the potential impact of pay on staff recruitment and retention, as a core component of the terms of reference for pay review bodies.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of paramedic prescribers.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department remains committed to exploring the extension of medicine responsibilities for non-medical professionals, where it is safe and appropriate to do so. This will support the aim that patients are cared for, and treated by, the most appropriate healthcare professional to meet their needs.
Many regulated healthcare professionals have already received extended medicine responsibilities and prescribing rights, and the Department is committed to assessing the impact that these changes have had on patient care. No specific assessment of the impact of the Misuse of Drugs (England, Wales, and Scotland) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulation 2023 has been made so far. The Department is progressing with work to better understand the uptake of current medicine responsibilities, including prescribing responsibilities, for professions such as paramedics.
There is a process in place for making changes to prescribing responsibilities to ensure proposals are safe and beneficial for patients. The Department is carefully considering proposals for the extension of such responsibilities to a range of healthcare professionals, and will review outstanding requests as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
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 impact of The Misuse of Drugs (England, Wales, and Scotland) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulation 2023 on patient care.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department remains committed to exploring the extension of medicine responsibilities for non-medical professionals, where it is safe and appropriate to do so. This will support the aim that patients are cared for, and treated by, the most appropriate healthcare professional to meet their needs.
Many regulated healthcare professionals have already received extended medicine responsibilities and prescribing rights, and the Department is committed to assessing the impact that these changes have had on patient care. No specific assessment of the impact of the Misuse of Drugs (England, Wales, and Scotland) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulation 2023 has been made so far. The Department is progressing with work to better understand the uptake of current medicine responsibilities, including prescribing responsibilities, for professions such as paramedics.
There is a process in place for making changes to prescribing responsibilities to ensure proposals are safe and beneficial for patients. The Department is carefully considering proposals for the extension of such responsibilities to a range of healthcare professionals, and will review outstanding requests as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
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 assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to expand prescribing rights for controlled drugs by paramedic prescribers.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department remains committed to exploring the extension of medicine responsibilities for non-medical professionals, where it is safe and appropriate to do so. This will support the aim that patients are cared for, and treated by, the most appropriate healthcare professional to meet their needs.
Many regulated healthcare professionals have already received extended medicine responsibilities and prescribing rights, and the Department is committed to assessing the impact that these changes have had on patient care. No specific assessment of the impact of the Misuse of Drugs (England, Wales, and Scotland) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulation 2023 has been made so far. The Department is progressing with work to better understand the uptake of current medicine responsibilities, including prescribing responsibilities, for professions such as paramedics.
There is a process in place for making changes to prescribing responsibilities to ensure proposals are safe and beneficial for patients. The Department is carefully considering proposals for the extension of such responsibilities to a range of healthcare professionals, and will review outstanding requests as quickly as possible.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time is for (a) children and (b) adults to have an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder assessment in Middlesbrough & Thornaby East constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is, at present, no single, established dataset that can be used to monitor waiting times for the assessment and diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) nationally or for individual organisations or geographies in England. Although the data requested is not held centrally, it may be held locally by individual National Health Service trusts or commissioners.
We are supporting a taskforce that NHS England has established to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The taskforce is bringing together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD, including timely access to services and support.
In conjunction with the taskforce, NHS England has carried out detailed work to develop a data improvement plan, understand the provider and commissioning landscape, and capture examples from integrated care boards who are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services.