Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent representations his Department has received on the General Dental Council's annual retention fee.
Answered by Dan Poulter
Since 1 July 2014, the Department has received a number of representations regarding the General Dental Council’s (GDC) proposed increase to the annual retention fee. As at 22 October 2014, these representations included seven items of correspondence: one from the Chair of the GDC, one from the British Dental Association and five from Members of Parliament. The Department has received three related Parliamentary Questions and has responded to an e-petition opposing an increase in the GDC’s annual retention fee.
On 3 September 2014, I met with the GDC where, amongst other things, concerns about the proposal fee rise were discussed.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken in respect of paediatric audiology services which do not meet the standards set out in the quality assurance newborn hearing screening programme.
Answered by Dan Poulter
Between September 2012 and March 2013 the NHS Newborn Hearing Screening Programme (NHSP) provided each individual hearing screening programme with an individual detailed quality assurance (QA) report and action plan. These QA reports are available directly from the screening programmes or via the NHSP website at
http://hearing.screening.nhs.uk/qualityassurance
It is up to local NHS paediatric services as to how they implement these action plans.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking in respect of audiology services that have not been accredited to provide paediatric audiology services under the Improving Quality in Physiological Services programme.
Answered by Dan Poulter
NHS England have stated that the Improving Quality in Physiological Services programme run jointly by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service and Royal College of Physicians is raising the profile of accreditation schemes for physiological diagnostic services. A mapping exercise is underway to identify those services which are accredited or working towards accreditation which is an integral improvement step on the pathway to full accreditation. To date, audiology services are making good progress towards accreditation.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his future policy towards the National Cancer Peer Review programme is.
Answered by Jane Ellison
NHS England is currently reviewing the National Cancer Peer Review programme with a view to considering how its success might be extended into other new areas of specialised commissioning. Regardless of the outcome of this review, cancer peer review will continue to play a critical part of any broader peer review programme that the NHS may look to introduce.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
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 ensure that regulations regarding invasive cosmetic procedures provide the same level of protection as those concerning cosmetic surgery.
Answered by Dan Poulter
On 24 April 2013, the independent Review of the Regulation of Cosmetic Interventions, chaired by Sir Bruce Keogh, was published. A copy has already been placed in the Library.
The Government Response to the Review of the Regulation of Cosmetic Interventions was published on 13 February. A copy of the response has already been placed in the Library. We fully accept the principles of the Keogh review and the overwhelming majority of the recommendations. The response looks to protect the public through clear standards, better training and robust qualifications, and explores how far supervision from regulated professionals might support self-regulation of the sector.
Officials are working with key delivery partners such as the Royal College of Surgeons who have set up an inter-specialty committee to ensure standards for cosmetic surgery and they are working with the General Medical Council on a code of ethical conduct. Health Education England (HEE) is leading on a review of training and qualifications for providers of non-surgical cosmetic interventions and those required to be responsible prescribers. On 11 September, HEE published a phase 1 report Review of qualifications required for delivery of non-surgical cosmetic interventions. A copy of the report is attached. Work is also underway on a pilot breast implant registry to reassure women that if problems arise they can be contacted, kept informed and called in for treatment if necessary.
As part of this programme of work to ensure proper training and oversight of both non-surgical and surgical cosmetic interventions, we are looking at the need for legislation to ensure public protection and will consider bringing forward proposals.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to (a) support cervical Screening Awareness Week and (b) promote awareness by other means of the importance of cervical cancer screening for cervical abnormalities and cancer; and if he will make it his policy to set a target of 85 per cent for screening uptake.
Answered by Jane Ellison
We welcome the Demos report Behind the screen: “Revealing the true cost of cervical cancer…”, which we have discussed in detail with Public Health England (PHE). On the specific recommendations in the report:
- it is NHS Cervical Screening Programme policy that general practitioners should offer ‘on the spot' cervical screening tests to women during other appointments, as long as they are overdue. In 2012-13, more than 500,000 were taken without an immediate invitation;
- on awareness campaigns, PHE is looking at a number of other cancers for potential local pilot tests within the Be Clear on Cancer programme, and a decision will be made later in the summer;
- a strategy on using celebrities or religious leaders to improve coverage would need to be tied in with any overall marketing campaign, but previous experience shows that this only has a short term effect and needs frequent repetition. The publicity around Jade Goody, diagnosis, illness and subsequent death, brought in many under-screened women, but this dissipated within months following Jade's death at the end of March 2009; and
- PHE has funded research on the effects of mother/daughter relationships on uptake of screening and vaccination, including in lower socio-economic groups. PHE would be very happy to discuss this with Demos and Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust.
We know that for a number of reasons coverage rates amongst women have fallen slightly over the last decade, as highlighted further in the report, and a considerable amount of work is underway to tackle this decline. The third annual report of our Cancer Outcomes Strategy said that a priority for 2014-15 will be to improve screening uptake amongst disadvantaged groups. PHE is undertaking analysis on local screening programmes with poor coverage, and will work with them to develop action plans to increase coverage in their local areas.
Specifically on younger women, the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme has commissioned a £1 million study to determine which interventions are effective at increasing screening uptake amongst women who are receiving their first invitation from the programme. We also know that coverage rates are lower in certain communities. NHS Cancer Screening Programmes have worked with Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust to host two events looking at challenges to screening uptake among black and minority ethnic communities, and a third event is due to be held in Birmingham in July 2014. NHS Cancer Screening Programmes has also funded an award winning Lesbian and Gay Foundation's Are You Ready for Your Screen Test? campaign targeting lesbian and bisexual women to raise awareness about the need to attend for regular cervical screening tests.
Regarding costs discussed in the report, we will ensure that the report is sent to colleagues in NHS England who are responsible for commissioning the cervical screening service. The report will also be discussed at the next meeting of the Advisory Committee on Cervical Screening in the autumn.
Acceptable and achievable standards for cervical screening coverage rates are being discussed as part of the update of the cervical screening service specification attached to the NHS public health functions agreement: Public health functions to be exercised by NHS England (Section 7a agreement) for 2015-16.
We are fully supportive of Cervical Screening Awareness Week (CSA Week) and the work Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust does, who I met recently.
I wrote to all Members of Parliament on 11 June to draw their attention to CSA Week, update them on national and local screening statistics and ask for their support in promoting take-up of screening. In addition, the Department and PHE promoted CSA Week on social media.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to implement the recommendations of the Demos report, Behind the Screen, to increase uptake of cervical screening.
Answered by Jane Ellison
We welcome the Demos report Behind the screen: “Revealing the true cost of cervical cancer…”, which we have discussed in detail with Public Health England (PHE). On the specific recommendations in the report:
- it is NHS Cervical Screening Programme policy that general practitioners should offer ‘on the spot' cervical screening tests to women during other appointments, as long as they are overdue. In 2012-13, more than 500,000 were taken without an immediate invitation;
- on awareness campaigns, PHE is looking at a number of other cancers for potential local pilot tests within the Be Clear on Cancer programme, and a decision will be made later in the summer;
- a strategy on using celebrities or religious leaders to improve coverage would need to be tied in with any overall marketing campaign, but previous experience shows that this only has a short term effect and needs frequent repetition. The publicity around Jade Goody, diagnosis, illness and subsequent death, brought in many under-screened women, but this dissipated within months following Jade's death at the end of March 2009; and
- PHE has funded research on the effects of mother/daughter relationships on uptake of screening and vaccination, including in lower socio-economic groups. PHE would be very happy to discuss this with Demos and Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust.
We know that for a number of reasons coverage rates amongst women have fallen slightly over the last decade, as highlighted further in the report, and a considerable amount of work is underway to tackle this decline. The third annual report of our Cancer Outcomes Strategy said that a priority for 2014-15 will be to improve screening uptake amongst disadvantaged groups. PHE is undertaking analysis on local screening programmes with poor coverage, and will work with them to develop action plans to increase coverage in their local areas.
Specifically on younger women, the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme has commissioned a £1 million study to determine which interventions are effective at increasing screening uptake amongst women who are receiving their first invitation from the programme. We also know that coverage rates are lower in certain communities. NHS Cancer Screening Programmes have worked with Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust to host two events looking at challenges to screening uptake among black and minority ethnic communities, and a third event is due to be held in Birmingham in July 2014. NHS Cancer Screening Programmes has also funded an award winning Lesbian and Gay Foundation's Are You Ready for Your Screen Test? campaign targeting lesbian and bisexual women to raise awareness about the need to attend for regular cervical screening tests.
Regarding costs discussed in the report, we will ensure that the report is sent to colleagues in NHS England who are responsible for commissioning the cervical screening service. The report will also be discussed at the next meeting of the Advisory Committee on Cervical Screening in the autumn.
Acceptable and achievable standards for cervical screening coverage rates are being discussed as part of the update of the cervical screening service specification attached to the NHS public health functions agreement: Public health functions to be exercised by NHS England (Section 7a agreement) for 2015-16.
We are fully supportive of Cervical Screening Awareness Week (CSA Week) and the work Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust does, who I met recently.
I wrote to all Members of Parliament on 11 June to draw their attention to CSA Week, update them on national and local screening statistics and ask for their support in promoting take-up of screening. In addition, the Department and PHE promoted CSA Week on social media.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the conclusions of the Demos report, Behind the Screen on (a) the decline in screening rates for all age groups and (b) the costs to both the NHS and individual women of screening uptake levels.
Answered by Jane Ellison
We welcome the Demos report Behind the screen: “Revealing the true cost of cervical cancer…”, which we have discussed in detail with Public Health England (PHE). On the specific recommendations in the report:
- it is NHS Cervical Screening Programme policy that general practitioners should offer ‘on the spot' cervical screening tests to women during other appointments, as long as they are overdue. In 2012-13, more than 500,000 were taken without an immediate invitation;
- on awareness campaigns, PHE is looking at a number of other cancers for potential local pilot tests within the Be Clear on Cancer programme, and a decision will be made later in the summer;
- a strategy on using celebrities or religious leaders to improve coverage would need to be tied in with any overall marketing campaign, but previous experience shows that this only has a short term effect and needs frequent repetition. The publicity around Jade Goody, diagnosis, illness and subsequent death, brought in many under-screened women, but this dissipated within months following Jade's death at the end of March 2009; and
- PHE has funded research on the effects of mother/daughter relationships on uptake of screening and vaccination, including in lower socio-economic groups. PHE would be very happy to discuss this with Demos and Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust.
We know that for a number of reasons coverage rates amongst women have fallen slightly over the last decade, as highlighted further in the report, and a considerable amount of work is underway to tackle this decline. The third annual report of our Cancer Outcomes Strategy said that a priority for 2014-15 will be to improve screening uptake amongst disadvantaged groups. PHE is undertaking analysis on local screening programmes with poor coverage, and will work with them to develop action plans to increase coverage in their local areas.
Specifically on younger women, the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme has commissioned a £1 million study to determine which interventions are effective at increasing screening uptake amongst women who are receiving their first invitation from the programme. We also know that coverage rates are lower in certain communities. NHS Cancer Screening Programmes have worked with Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust to host two events looking at challenges to screening uptake among black and minority ethnic communities, and a third event is due to be held in Birmingham in July 2014. NHS Cancer Screening Programmes has also funded an award winning Lesbian and Gay Foundation's Are You Ready for Your Screen Test? campaign targeting lesbian and bisexual women to raise awareness about the need to attend for regular cervical screening tests.
Regarding costs discussed in the report, we will ensure that the report is sent to colleagues in NHS England who are responsible for commissioning the cervical screening service. The report will also be discussed at the next meeting of the Advisory Committee on Cervical Screening in the autumn.
Acceptable and achievable standards for cervical screening coverage rates are being discussed as part of the update of the cervical screening service specification attached to the NHS public health functions agreement: Public health functions to be exercised by NHS England (Section 7a agreement) for 2015-16.
We are fully supportive of Cervical Screening Awareness Week (CSA Week) and the work Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust does, who I met recently.
I wrote to all Members of Parliament on 11 June to draw their attention to CSA Week, update them on national and local screening statistics and ask for their support in promoting take-up of screening. In addition, the Department and PHE promoted CSA Week on social media.
Asked by: Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will bring forward proposals for regulations to ensure that ME and chronic fatigue syndrome are included in all pre- and post-registration training of (a) GPs and (b) other healthcare professionals.
Answered by Norman Lamb
In 2007, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) produced the clinical guidance, Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (or encephalopathy): Diagnosis and management of CFS/ME in adults and children. This guidance set out best practice on the diagnosis, treatment care and support of children and adults with CFS/ME. Information on CFS/ME diagnosis and treatment can also be accessed via the NHS Evidence and NICE Clinical Knowledge summaries websites.
The content and standard of healthcare professional training is the responsibility of regulators, such as the General Medical Council, which are independent statutory bodies. They have the general function of promoting high standards of education, working with the Royal Colleges, and co-ordinating all stages of education to ensure that students and newly qualified professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes essential for professional practice.
The Government has mandated Health Education England (HEE) to provide national leadership on education, training and workforce development in the National Health Service. HEE is responsible for ensuring that the future workforce has the right numbers, skills, values and behaviours to meet patients' needs today and tomorrow, and will work with stakeholders to influence training curricula as appropriate.