Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of people diagnosed with an eating disorder in (a) South Tees NHS Trust, (b) the North East and (c) England.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The information is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the proportion of people (a) under and (b) over 19 years old with an eating disorder who receive NICE guideline approved treatment within four weeks.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The information is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the non-availability of Lithyronine on the NHS on patients who have previously being prescribed that drug.
Answered by Steve Brine
NHS England’s consultation on draft guidance for clinical commissioning groups on a range of items that should not routinely be prescribed in primary care ended on 21 October.
We would not want to pre-empt any outcome following NHS England’s analysis of the responses it has received. However, we are assured that as part of issuing the final guidance, careful consideration will be given by NHS England to the responses to the consultation, both to ensure that particular groups of people are not disproportionately affected and that principles of best practice on clinical prescribing are adhered to – including guidance on the usage of liothyronine.
Further information can be found at the following link:
https://www.engage.england.nhs.uk/consultation/items-routinely-prescribed/
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on the price of medication sold online by third parties.
Answered by Steve Brine
The Government is assessing the potential implications of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union across the medicines supply chain. While we cannot pre-judge the outcome of the negotiations, our aim is to ensure that patients in the UK and across the EU will continue to be able to access the best and most innovative medicines and be assured that their safety is protected through the strongest regulatory framework and sharing of data.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure Lithyronine sold by third parties meets legal requirements and its safe sale for patients to use.
Answered by Steve Brine
Liothyronine is a licensed medicine used for the treatment of hypothyroidism, an underactive thyroid gland. Licensed medicines must meet standards of safety, quality and efficacy. Each batch of medicine must be tested before release for sale. The manufacturer, importer and distributors must also be licensed. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the United Kingdom competent authority for medicines, license medicines, their manufacture, importation and distribution and conduct inspections of sites of operation for compliance with good practice standards.
Prescribers may, on their own personal responsibility, also prescribe an unlicensed medicine to meet the special clinical needs of their individual patient where those needs cannot be met by an available licensed medicine. Manufacturers, importers and distributors of unlicensed medicine are also licensed and inspected by MHRA. Importers must notify MHRA of the intention to import an unlicensed medicine. These notifications are assessed by MHRA for known safety or quality issues and objections to import may be raised if prohibitive issues are identified. Unlicensed Liothyronine has been manufactured and imported for UK patients.
A prescriber or patient that suspects that their medicine is defective or is causing a side effect may report this to MHRA through the Yellow Card Scheme for reporting suspected Adverse Drug Reactions from across the whole UK and includes all medicines.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to prohibit smoking on the grounds of hospitals, health centres and other NHS buildings in England.
Answered by Steve Brine
The Department supports the implementation of smokefree policies across all hospitals in England. The Government published the Tobacco Control Plan on 18 July 2017, which outlines the ambition of achieving a smokefree National Health Service estate by 2020. There are no plans for new legislation.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
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 effect of the closure of Marske Medical Centre on the costs of travel for patients who must travel further to access GP services.
Answered by Steve Brine
South Tees Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) made the decision to close Marske Medical Practice after four unsuccessful attempts find a new provider for the service. The practice therefore closed on 30 June 2017. The CCG continues to support patients following the closure and the great majority of them have re-registered with nearby practices, which have increased staffing levels to manage demand.
At this stage the CCG has not assessed travel costs for patients who may need to travel further to see their general practitioner.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the commissioning process for primary medical care services under circumstances where no prospective providers come forward.
Answered by Steve Brine
NHS England has a statutory responsibility to ensure that all patients have access to high-quality primary medical care services and enters into contractual arrangements with a range of general practitioner providers to secure those services for the population of England.
The commissioning process to secure services includes, where necessary, approaches to stimulate the provider market. These include engaging with patients and the public, and hosting provider events, working with professional representative groups and other key stakeholders. Options available to commissioners include:
- Procurement through an Alternative Provider Medical Services contract, which allow the widest range of providers to bid for delivery;
- Re-procurement through General Medical Services or Personal Medical Services contracts, which are contracts that can only be held by general practitioners or wider members of the National Health Service family; and
- List dispersal in the case of generally small practices where there is reasonable provision from neighbouring practices.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the closure of Marske Medical Centre on waiting times for primary medical care services at neighbouring practices.
Answered by Steve Brine
NHS England is in close contact with the local practices who are registering patients from Marske Medical Practice and have been asked to identify if there are any concerns or issues with capacity since the closure of Marske Medical Centre. The majority of practices are reporting no impact on appointment availability. In some cases, practices have taken on additional clinical staff to manage the increased workload.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of introduction of QALYS into the appraisal of highly specialised technologies (HST); and if he will take steps to ensure that future HST drugs for ultra-rare diseases are not denied reimbursement.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The changes to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s Highly Specialised Technologies methods are intended to introduce a fairer, more transparent framework for the evaluation of technologies for very rare diseases that will enable truly transformative new drugs for patients to be made available where companies are willing to set prices that fairly reflect the added benefit they bring.