Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
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 on industrial relations and service provision of the 3.5 percent pay increase recommendation to the NHS Pay Review Body for 2023-24, set out the department's evidence document of 21 February 2023.
Answered by Will Quince
The Government hugely values our National Health Service staff and as set out in the NHS Public Review Body (NHSPRB) evidence for 2023/24, have committed to give them a pay rise in the next financial year. In July 2022 the Government accepted in full the NHSPRB recommendations for 2022/23 and backdated all pay uplifts to 1 April 2022.
We recognise that global economic headwinds are putting household budgets under additional pressure this year. The Government will talk to all unions who are willing to discuss what is fair and reasonable recognising the vital role public sector workers play but also the wider economic pressures facing the United Kingdom.
Ultimately, the Pay Review Bodies will consider the evidence submitted by Government alongside other evidence and base their recommendations on several factors including the economic context, cost of living, recruitment and retention, morale, and motivation of NHS staff.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2022 to Question 102899 on Medical Equipment: Energy, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of National Health Services specialised services' financial rebates for energy costs.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Department does not have plans to assess the adequacy of NHS England specialised services’ financial rebates for energy costs at this time.
However, certain specialised National Health Services, such as home haemodialysis, do include the provision of financial support to offset increased energy costs faced by patients using medical equipment at home. NHS England has uplifted tariff prices by +4.1% this year to account for inflationary costs and to support NHS Trusts in uplifting their local reimbursement tariffs for patients. Home Oxygen Suppliers also reimburse patients for the cost of electricity required to run oxygen concentrator devices in patients’ homes and reimbursements are currently in line with regional averages. Cost is passed onto Integrated Care Boards as part of contractual arrangements.
In addition, the Government’s cost of living support package further delivers £15 billion worth of support measures to assist the most vulnerable with rising energy costs.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to take steps to review the (a) number and (b) accessibility of public access automated external defibrillators.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
No specific assessment has been made. The Government has agreed to provide funding of £1 million to design a grant scheme for the expansion of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) that expands the number and accessibility of publicly supported access to defibrillators.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment has his department made of the adequacy of the (a) number and (b) accessibility of public access automated external defibrillators.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
No specific assessment has been made. The Government has agreed to provide funding of £1 million to design a grant scheme for the expansion of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) that expands the number and accessibility of publicly supported access to defibrillators.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the dates were of each of (a) his and (b) his predecessor's meetings with (i) Royal College of Nursing, (ii) UNISON, (iii) GMB and (iv) Unite to discuss pay in the NHS since the publication of the 35th report of the NHS Pay Review Body.
Answered by Will Quince
Ministerial meetings are published on GOV.UK at the following link:
A full list of ministerial meetings from October to December 2022 will be published at the same link in due course.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of deaths that have been caused by ambulance service delays, broken down by ambulance service trust, in each year since 2010 for which figures are available.
Answered by Will Quince
The information is not collected in the format requested.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many serious incidents of avoidable harm due to ambulance service delays there were in each ambulance service trust in each year since 2010.
Answered by Will Quince
The information is not collected in the format requested.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
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 estimate with Cabinet colleagues of the trend in the number of people who have eaten food past its use-by-date due to the cost of food.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
The independent Food Standards Agency has published a monthly Consumer Insights Tracker survey since April 2020, which is available at the following link:
https://www.food.gov.uk/research/behaviour-and-perception/consumer-insights-tracker
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
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 estimate with Cabinet colleagues of the trend in the number of people who have eaten cold food due to the cost of cooking hot food.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
The independent Food Standards Agency has published a monthly Consumer Insights Tracker survey since April 2020, which is available at the following link:
https://www.food.gov.uk/research/behaviour-and-perception/consumer-insights-tracker
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
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 estimate with Cabinet colleagues of the trend in the number of people who have skipped meals due to the cost of food.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
The independent Food Standards Agency has published a monthly Consumer Insights Tracker survey since April 2020, which is available at the following link:
https://www.food.gov.uk/research/behaviour-and-perception/consumer-insights-tracker