Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the finding that long NHS waiting times are leading to patient harm of the Public Accounts Committee’s June 2019 report NHS waiting times for elective and cancer treatment, what assessment his Department has made of the variation in waiting times for pancreatic cancer treatment across England.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
Clinical priority remains the main determinant of when a patient should be treated.
NHS England will shortly be introducing a Faster Diagnostic Standard of 28 days for all cancer patients, including those with pancreatic cancer. Trusts should continue to treat patients more quickly where there is a strong clinical need.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Cuban-trained (a) doctors and (b) nurses are employed by the NHS.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
NHS Digital publishes hospital and community health services workforce statistics for NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in England.
NHS Digital workforce statistics reports on the nationality of doctors and nurses in English NHS trusts and CCGs. As at December 2018 there were 14 members of NHS staff of Cuban nationality (headcount), including a total of six doctors, nurses and health visitors and midwives. Nationality data is self-reported and may reflect cultural heritage rather than country of birth. We do not know whether these workers received their medical training in Cuba or not.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what research the Government has commissioned on the non-thermal effects of wireless radiation on human health.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
The Department has supported research in relation to concerns that there might be adverse effects from exposure to the low levels of radiofrequency radiation, or radio waves, from mobile phones and base stations.
The independently managed Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research (MTHR) programme ran from 2001 until 2012 and funded 31 projects, leading to over 60 publications. Information about the MTHR programme and the studies it supported can be found at the following link:
https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/*/http://www.mthr.org.uk/
MTHR research has considered symptoms in relation to the skin and the eyes. None of the research supported by MTHR has demonstrated that biological or adverse health effects are produced by radiofrequency exposure from mobile phones or base stations.
The Department continues to support research on exposure to radio waves, including the ongoing Cohort Study of Mobile Phone Use and Health (COSMOS) and the Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phone studies (SCAMP) at Imperial College London. Information about these studies can be found at the following links:
http://www.thecosmosproject.org/
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what research the Government has commissioned on the potential effect of non-ionising electromagnetic radiation on people's health and in particular on (a) the eye and (b) skin.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
The Department has supported research in relation to concerns that there might be adverse effects from exposure to the low levels of radiofrequency radiation, or radio waves, from mobile phones and base stations.
The independently managed Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research (MTHR) programme ran from 2001 until 2012 and funded 31 projects, leading to over 60 publications. Information about the MTHR programme and the studies it supported can be found at the following link:
https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/*/http://www.mthr.org.uk/
MTHR research has considered symptoms in relation to the skin and the eyes. None of the research supported by MTHR has demonstrated that biological or adverse health effects are produced by radiofrequency exposure from mobile phones or base stations.
The Department continues to support research on exposure to radio waves, including the ongoing Cohort Study of Mobile Phone Use and Health (COSMOS) and the Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phone studies (SCAMP) at Imperial College London. Information about these studies can be found at the following links:
http://www.thecosmosproject.org/
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department plans to publish on protecting people who suffer from electro-hypersensitivity from the effects of 5G.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
Public Health England (PHE) advises that the guidelines of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) should be adopted for limiting exposure to radio waves, and there is no convincing evidence that adverse health effects can result if these guidelines are complied with.
Carefully designed studies have been performed in the United Kingdom and around the world to investigate whether the health symptoms some people experience and attribute to exposure to radio waves within the ICNIRP guideline levels are indeed caused by exposure. The studies are detailed in the 2012 report from the independent Advisory Group on Non-ionising Radiation, available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/radiofrequency-electromagnetic-fields-health-effects
PHE continues to monitor the evidence on this topic.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GP practices consist of (a) one, (b) two, (c) three to five, (d) six to ten, (d) 11-15, (e) 16 - 20 and (f) more than 20 GPs in each Clinical Commissioning Group area.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
The data requested is available in the attached table.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GPs have been (a) permanently employed and (b) employed as locums for a continuous period of more than six months in each Clinical Commissioning Group area.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
The data requested is available in the attached table.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of the removal of bursaries for undergraduate nurses on the level of nursing places filled in each institution that provides such places.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The education funding reforms, which came into force in 2017, unlocked the cap which constrained the number of pre-registration nursing, midwifery and allied health profession training places allowing more students to gain access to nurse degree training courses.
Health Education Institutes (HEIs) are autonomous private institutions and are responsible for setting the number of training places they offer. It is for HEIs to work as part of their local health economy to secure training places.
The Department does not hold information on the level of pre-registration undergraduate nursing places filled at individual HEIs, compared with the number of places they made available in the given period.
The Office for Students publishes annual data on the number of entrants onto pre-registration nursing undergraduate nursing courses broken down by individual HEIs. Higher Education Students Early Statistics have published the 2018/19 data, which is available at the following link:
The Department monitors student recruitment at a national level. The latest published data from the University and Colleges Admissions Service from February 2019 shows that there has been a 4.5% increase in applicants to nursing or midwifery courses at English universities when compared to this time last year in 2018. However, we know that there is further work to do with the education and healthcare sector to ensure that students continue to apply for these places.
The NHS Long Term Plan set out the next step in our mission to make the National Health Service a world class employer and deliver the nursing workforce the NHS needs. To deliver on these commitments the NHS has published on 3 June 2019 an interim People Plan that sets out the action we will take now and over the long term to meet the challenges of nursing supply, including nursing undergraduate supply.
We recognise, however, that there is more to do which is why the NHS will publish a final People Plan soon after the conclusion of the Spending Review.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on the provision of detailed information to businesses, schools and other public institutions on food allergen advice.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
As a non-Ministerial Government Department responsible for food safety and authenticity, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has worked extensively on the provision of food allergy advice for food businesses.
The FSA has worked with industry on best practice guidance and is updating the allergen section in Safer Food Better Business packs to ensure all information is consistent with the most up-to-date knowledge. Additionally, as part of the Easy to Ask campaign, the FSA worked very closely with a wide range of food businesses.
After a joint public consultation with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the FSA has recently recommended to Ministers full ingredient listing for food offered prepacked for direct sale. Any changes will necessitate working on guidance with industry so that businesses are clear on their responsibilities. Further work on allergy awareness is also planned.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to tackle the threat of cancer from acrylamide in (a) food and (b) tobacco smoke.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
Since the mid-2000s, when acrylamide was first highlighted as a food safety concern, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has worked with industry and European counterparts to mitigate the risks of acrylamide to consumers. It has developed a Code of Practice for food businesses; provided local authorities with guidance to ensure business compliance; and worked with catering establishments to reduce acrylamide formation during food preparation.
The FSA continues to take an active role in European Union/United Kingdom negotiations to develop a process for setting regulatory limits for acrylamide in certain products such as those intended for infants and young children.
The EU does not include acrylamide in its list of priority additives contained in cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco that are subject to enhanced reporting obligations under the EU Tobacco Products Directive (2014/40/EU).
The best way to reduce the risk from tobacco smoke is to reduce smoking. The UK is a world leader in tobacco control, with a comprehensive programme to reduce smoking prevalence, including fiscal measures, a ban on all forms of advertising and promotion, smoke free mass media campaigns, action to tackle illegal tobacco and evidence-based support for smokers to quit.
In recent years, adult smoking prevalence has been declining at an accelerated rate and the government is working with partners across the healthcare system towards the achievement of a smoke free generation.