Asked by: Chloe Smith (Conservative - Norwich North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients with hearing loss (a) in each age group, (b) who (i) were and (ii) were not eligible for free prescriptions and (c) treated by each of the Any Qualified provider suppliers in Norfolk were treated by (A) Norwich, (B) South Norfolk and (c) North Norfolk Clinical Commissioning Group in each of the last three years.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Chloe Smith (Conservative - Norwich North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the oral reply by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Quality of 17 November 2015, Official Report, column 519, what specific support has been provided to Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals Trust for winter 2015-16; what the financial value of that support is; and what the value is of the total of such support to all hospitals.
Answered by Jane Ellison
£400 million in resilience money has been invested in the National Health Service for winter 2015/16. Of this £400 million North Norfolk, South Norfolk, West Norfolk and Norwich clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) received £4.8 million of resilience money in their baseline, however it is not possible to give a specific figure for Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals Trust. Learning from previous years, we have put this money into the CCG baseline for 2015/16 so that the National Health Service can plan effectively at local level for the long-term and take earlier action to tackle the symptoms of seasonal pressures.
As part of the best practice guidance from the Safer, Faster, Better report (April 2015), all System Resilience Groups are implementing eight high impact interventions. These focus on short term priorities needed to improve flow through the system and reduce pressure on emergency departments.
Asked by: Chloe Smith (Conservative - Norwich North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when NHS England will conclude its preparations for making new hepatitis C drugs available for treating people with cirrhosis of the liver.
Answered by George Freeman
NHS England has advised that it is considering extending the current interim commissioning policy for Sofosbuvir plus ledipasvir (Harvoni) and another direct acting antiviral combination therapy for selected patients with cirrhosis associated with Hepatitis C.
NHS England has completed the evidence review and finalised its draft proposals. In doing so, it has engaged with clinical and patient stakeholders from the national lead Clinical Reference Group. NHS England has advised that the aim is that interim commissioning policies will be in place by the first half of 2015.
Asked by: Chloe Smith (Conservative - Norwich North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how he plans to implement parity of esteem between physical and mental health services (a) financially and (b) otherwise.
Answered by Norman Lamb
The Government’s commitment to parity of esteem has been made explicit in legislation, as well as the NHS Constitution.
We have extended the legal right to choice in mental health so people with mental health problems will have the same choice for their care as they do for their physical health.
We estimate that funding for mental health has increased by approximately £302 million in 2014-15, total mental health spending rose from £11.362 billion in 2013-14 with £11.664 billion planned in 2014-15.
The Department and NHS England continue to work together to ensure that there are consistent messages to commissioners and providers about the importance of delivering parity of esteem for mental health service users.
Monitor and NHS England are responsible for setting the national tariff arrangements and are working together to develop a national payment system for mental health which promotes improving outcomes and recovery.
Currently, prices for mental health services are agreed locally. However, mental health clusters have been developed as the currencies underpinning payment for mental health services.
Local commissioners and mental health providers are encouraged to use the clusters as the basis for reaching financial settlements and we know that some health economies are already using clusters as the basis for payment for mental health services.
Public Health England has also made a commitment to addressing parity of esteem which includes working to promote good mental health and preventing mental health problems.
In our new five-year plan for mental health, Achieving Better Access to Mental Health Services by 2020, we identified £40 million additional spending this year and freed up a further £80 million for 2015-16. This will, for the first time ever, enable the setting of access and waiting time standards in mental health services and includes new targets to make sure that, by 2016, at least 50% of young people referred for early intervention in psychosis services will start treatment within two weeks.
There has been sustained investment in mental health over the course of this parliament. We have invested £400 million in Improving Access to Psychological Therapy (IAPT) for adults and £54 million over the four year period from 2011-2015 in the children and young people’s IAPT programme to transform child and adolescent mental health services.
We will also be investing £30m a year over the next five years in England to improve services for young people with mental health problems. This will place particular emphasis on eating disorders.
We have invested £2 million in nine street triage pilots where police and mental health professionals work together to support people in mental health crisis access safe, appropriate care and we have committed £25 million in 2014-15 to commission 10 trial sites delivering on a new standard service specification for liaison and diversion services in England.
Asked by: Chloe Smith (Conservative - Norwich North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what budget was allocated to mental health (a) in England and (b) to Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust in each of the last five years; and what budget is expected for 2014-15.
Answered by Norman Lamb
The aggregate expenditure on mental health disorders by primary care trust (PCT), for financial years 2008-09 to 2012-13 is set out below.
Financial Year | Expenditure (£ billion) |
2008-09 | 9.79 |
2009-10 | 10.61 |
2010-11 | 10.96 |
2011-12 | 11.16 |
2012-13 | 11.28 |
Source: NHS England Programme Budget Data
Aggregate PCT expenditure is not yet available for 2013-14. However, NHS England advises that total mental health spending in 2013-14 was £11.362 billion with an estimated £11.664 billion planned in 2014-15, an increase of £302 million.
Foundation Trust budget information is not held centrally.
The table below shows mental health spend for Norfolk and Suffolk Primary Care Trusts, for the years 2008-09 to 2012-13.
Financial Year | Norfolk (£ million) | Suffolk (£ million) |
2008-09 | 138 | 90 |
2009-10 | 143 | 98 |
2010-11 | 147 | 98 |
2011-12 | 189 | 100 |
2012-13 | 150 | 100 |
Source: NHS England Programme Budget Data
Asked by: Chloe Smith (Conservative - Norwich North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress he has made on introducing tariffs on mental health services.
Answered by Norman Lamb
Monitor and NHS England are responsible for setting the overall national payment system arrangements. However, payment for mental health services are agreed locally and underpinned by mental health clusters. These clusters help commissioners and provider agree costs by setting out the resources required to deliver mental health care.
Monitor and NHS England published the national payment system arrangements for 2015-16 for statutory consultation on 26 November. The payment systems arrangements for 2015-16 give a clear signal to the mental health sector to implement local payment models which support recovery and outcomes and reflect the needs of local communities. To support this move Monitor plans to revise its guidance to be clearer on how mental health services should be paid for and has published example payment models for mental health services.
Monitor has published its long-term pricing strategy for the development of the national tariff and is working with partners to develop further the payment system for mental health.