Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with professional bodies representing GPs and general practice staff on improving clinical knowledge and training for call handlers at the national 119 and 111 services.
Answered by Edward Argar
No recent discussions have taken place.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, who is responsible for monitoring the levels of demand placed on general practitioners and their teams; and what checks are in place to help ensure that extra-contractual reporting and other activities do not compromise the provision of safe patient care.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
Local systems and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for monitoring and responding to demands placed on general practitioners and their teams. The GP Contract states that each practice is required to provide primary medical services to meet the reasonable needs of their registered patients. General practices are independent businesses whose services are contracted by National Health Service commissioners. A practice may choose to provide extra-contractual services which are permitted under the terms of their contract.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what mechanisms are in place to help ensure that safe levels of workload are deployed in general practice.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The GP Contract states that each practice is required to provide primary medical services to meet the reasonable needs of their registered patients. As self-employed contractors to the National Health Service, practices determine the appropriate workforce to match the workload, including the number and range of health professionals. There is no recommendation for the number of patients assigned to a general practitioner. This can be affected by various factors, including rurality and patient demographics. As part of the 2020/21 GP Contract, we have committed to a review of bureaucracy in general practice which is ongoing.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the (a) average, (b) largest and (c) smallest patient list size per full time employed GP working in general practice under (i) General Medical Service and (ii) Alternative Provider Medical Services contracts in (A) Brent, (B) London and (C) England for each year since 2010.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The information requested is not held centrally. Patient lists are held by practices rather than individual general practitioners (GPs). It is for practices to determine patient allocation appropriate to its workforce. Information on list size per GP and contract type is not collected.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how frequently the Government conducts regular analyses of workforce pressures and trends within (a) healthcare, (b) primary care and (c) general practice; and whether those analyses are published.
Answered by Edward Argar
There are a number of regular workforce data publications on pressures and trends in healthcare, primary care and general practice. These include workforce size in hospitals, general practice, dentistry and primary care networks and data on turnover and sickness absence of hospital staff published by NHS Digital, including COVID-19 related sickness absence. The results of the annual National Health Service staff survey are published by NHS England.
In July 2021, the Department commissioned Health Education England to review long term strategic trends for the health workforce and regulated professionals in the social care workforce. In addition, the Department recently commissioned NHS England to develop a workforce strategy, which will set out its conclusions in due course.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to take steps to support general practice to help meet the health needs of Afghan refugees.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
In response to the relocation of individuals and families from Afghanistan, the Government has provided up to £600 per person to support immediate and primary healthcare needs while in temporary bridging hotels. NHS England and NHS Improvement’s expectations of local commissioners include permanent general practitioner registration and health assessments to identify and manage immediate health and care requirements. Funding has been provided for additional capacity to mitigate the impact on access to general practice.
The initial health assessment should address any trauma and safeguarding concerns, mental health needs, women’s and children’s health, long-term conditions, vaccinations, areas of public health concern such as tuberculosis screening and ensure pathways to other services as required. Once in long term local authority accommodation, a further £2,600 per person is provided to the National Health Service, which will be administered by clinical commissioning groups.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
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 amount and proportion of the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme disbursed for items other than the recruitment and employment of additional healthcare professionals in (a) London and (b) England in each year since that scheme's introduction.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) is designed to reimburse the salaries and on-costs of roles included in the Scheme. Under the 2019 contract agreement, NHS England and NHS Improvement contribute to the cost of the specific new clinical roles within Primary Care Networks (PCNs) over the period of the contract. Initially the funding provided 70% of ongoing salary costs plus on-costs for three roles - clinical pharmacists, physician associates and first-contact physiotherapists, with community paramedics recruited from 2021/22 and full funding for social prescribing link worker roles during the contract period.
Updated contracts for 2020/21 and 2021/2022 set out increases in the scale of the new roles. NHS England and NHS Improvement now reimburse 100% of salary and on-costs for range of additional roles and the number of staff funded under the scheme will increase to 26,000 by 2023/24. On average, each PCN will have approximately 20 full time equivalent staff by 2023/24 funded through the ARRS.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of reviewing how to determine a GPs patient list size as safe when assessing and developing general practice policy.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
No recent assessment has been made. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) monitor general practitioner practices’ compliance with contractual requirements and any risks to patient safety and service provision. If a practice considers that it cannot safely take on any more patients, it may close its patient list, provided this is approved by the CCG.
NHS England and NHS Improvement provide guidance for commissioners and practices on managing patient lists in the ‘Primary Medical Care Policy and Guidance Manual’. The Manual is published annually and an update is currently being prepared for publication.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timetable is for the (a) conclusion and (b) sharing of conclusions with hon. Members of the review of leadership in health and social care being led by General Sir Gordon Messenger.
Answered by Edward Argar
The Health and Social Care Leadership Review, announced in October 2021, review remains on schedule to conclude in spring 2022 and is expected to be published thereafter.
Asked by: Dawn Butler (Labour - Brent East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many medical intervention policies are based on Body Mass Index.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The information requested is not collected centrally. We would expect clinical commissioning groups to base their policies on relevant National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines, published research and appropriate good practice.