Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
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 February 2023to Question 140109 on Department of Health and Social Care: Procurement, whether previous allegations of improper data usage are taken into account before awarding public contracts that allow private companies access to sensitive patient data.
Answered by Will Quince
Allegations of previous improper data usage are not specified in Regulation 57 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, under either the mandatory or discretionary supplier exclusion grounds under which a supplier must or can be excluded from Government procurements. However, on discretionary grounds, bidders are required to confirm there has been no grave professional misconduct which renders its integrity questionable, which includes a breach of contract which amounts to wrongful intent or gross negligence.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to begin construction work for the modernisation of A&E services in Shropshire.
Answered by Will Quince
If approved nationally, plans will see the creation of a dedicated planned care site at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford and an emergency care site at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, supported with an enhanced accident and emergency Local in Telford.
The Hospitals Transformation Programme remains on track, with the intention for the Trust to submit the Outline Business Case for national assurance during summer 2023.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Retained EU Law Bill, whether he plans to review the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 to (a) support e-cigarettes as a reduced harm alternative to cigarettes and (b) regulate non-nicotine containing e-liquids.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
Through the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, the Government is currently reviewing which retained European Union (EU) law should be repealed, reformed or preserved. The Government continues to work with a range of stakeholders to ensure that any such reforms maintain current standards in patient safety and public health.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution of 9 March by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Official Report, column 186WH, whether tobacco control measures in the Major Conditions Strategy will be in addition to the Tobacco Control Plan.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
In the coming weeks, the Government will unveil a set of proposals to realise the Smokefree 2030 ambition and respond to the recommendations in the Khan Review. This will be separate to the Major Conditions Strategy.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether other alternative providers were considered before extending Palantir’s NHS Covid Data Contract.
Answered by Will Quince
NHS England extended the COVID-19 Data Platform contract until 11 June 2023 to support the procurement for the Federated Data Platform and Associated Services (FDP-AS) contract.
The contract was executed through the Crown Commercial Service’s G-Cloud framework and included an option for the extension. No other suppliers were considered as this extension with the incumbent supplier is a key enabler to support the open procurement, launched on 10 January 2023, for the FDP-AS contract. This new contract will replace the current COVID-19 Data Platform provided by Palantir. It is anticipated that the contract will be awarded in the autumn of 2023.
The FDP-AS contract is being procured via an open competition, in line with Public Contracts Regulations 2015. The competition is open to all suppliers and abides by all the core principles of the regulations including transparency, non-discrimination, equal treatment and proportionality. These principles apply to all suppliers who decide to bid for the Federated Data Platform and Associated Services contract and any supplier organisation can respond to the advertised contract notice and download the associated tender documents.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
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 effect of successful delivery of the Hospitals Transformation Programme on the recruitment of a dedicated paediatric emergency medicine consultant for Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.
Answered by Will Quince
The ‘Transforming the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Princess Royal Hospital: Strategic Outline Case’ considers impacts on key workforce challenges, including current difficulties recruiting essential medical, nursing and Allied Health Profession clinical roles within the emergency departments.
The Trust expects the new Hospitals Transformation Programme, which will deliver a new clinical model developed and designed with clinicians, to enable strengthened working between emergency, trauma, neonatal and paediatric care, offering a more attractive recruitment and training offer for many clinical specialties, including Paediatric Emergency Consultants.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidelines and grounds for exclusion from bidding for public procurement contracts his Department has in place which relate to a company's prior conduct or other specific situations.
Answered by Will Quince
Regulation 57 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 includes a range of mandatory and discretionary supplier exclusion grounds under which “a supplier must or can be excluded from government procurements”. Authorities must exclude bidders when it has been verified or it is known that the bidder has been found guilty of specific crimes under United Kingdom law e.g. bribery or fraud. Other parts of Regulation 57 allow, but do not call for, authorities to exclude bidders in certain circumstances. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/102/regulation/57/made
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the process is for referring a child in secondary school education for support from their local mental health team.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Children in secondary school education can access a range of children and young people’s mental health services, including new education-based Mental Health Support Teams where these have been implemented. Referral to these services can be through a number of routes including by parents or carers, teachers, school nurses, special educational needs co-ordinators, general practitioners or from another National Health Service service. Children being supported by social services or the youth offending team can be referred by their key worker for an appointment with someone in specialist children and young people’s mental health services. In many areas, children and young people can also self-refer to their local children and young people’s mental health services. Support is also available that children and young people can access without having to ask for a referral, including the Every Mind Matters and NHS websites and urgent mental health helplines that anyone can call.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether, in the context of the recent increase in cases of Strep A, he expects that the Hospitals Transformation Programme will offer facilities at both Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Telford Hospital to assess acutely unwell children.
Answered by Will Quince
As outlined in ‘Transforming the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Princess Royal Hospital: Strategic Outline Case’, both hospital sites will provide the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of acutely unwell children, supported by triage and referral processes offered by NHS 111 and within Primary Care. Most children with illnesses such as Strep A infections will be cared for in the community and in primary care, with facilities available across Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin for those who may become critically unwell and require more urgent, specialist treatment.
Asked by: Daniel Kawczynski (Conservative - Shrewsbury and Atcham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it is his policy to extend the provision of free personal protective equipment for eligible health and social care providers beyond 1 April 2023.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department will update providers once a decision has been taken on extending the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) for COVID-19 free of charge beyond the end of March 2023. Providers should continue to procure PPE for non-COVID-19 purposes through the usual channels.