Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
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 assessment of the implications for his policies of the number and proportion of patients diagnosed with glioblastoma who had received whole genome sequencing of their tumours before the end of 2022.
Answered by Will Quince
NHS England, supported by a Genomics Clinical Reference Group and Test Evaluation Working Groups, continually review the National Genomic Test Directory to keep pace with scientific and technological advances, while delivering value for money for the National Health Service. This review will include the genomic testing offer for patients with a suspected glioblastoma diagnosis, as per the eligibility criteria outlined in the National Genomic Test Directory.
A robust, evidence-based process and policy is in place to ensure testing continues to be available for all patients for whom it would be of clinical benefit. The policy is available at the following link:
The performance of the NHS Genomic Medicine Service is monitored quarterly through an assurance framework, which ensures all seven NHS Genomic Laboratory Hubs are operating to national quality standards. This identifies and minimises any potential variation and ensures consistent delivery of the criteria outlined in the National Genomic Test Directory.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Minister of Health and Secondary Care’s oral contribution of 9 March 2023, Official Report, column 509, on Brain Tumour Research Funding, if he will provide a breakdown of the £33.9 million spent on brain cancer research in the last five years.
Answered by Will Quince
The information is shown in the attached tables.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
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 potential merits of introducing regulations for the professional use of the title psychologist.
Answered by Will Quince
In the United Kingdom, practitioner psychologists are already subject to statutory regulation by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), and HCPC’s legislation protects nine designated psychologist professional titles in law. This means that anyone not registered with the HCPC as a practitioner psychologist who uses one of these designated titles may be breaking the law and could be prosecuted.
The Government keeps the professions subject to statutory regulation under review and recently published a consultation, ‘Healthcare regulation: deciding when statutory regulation is appropriate’. The consultation ran from 6 January to 31 March 2022 and sought views on the criteria that should be used to determine when statutory regulation of a healthcare profession is appropriate.
Officials are currently analysing the responses to this consultation and the Government will publish its response in due course.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the letter dated 10 November 2022 from Andrew Cox, Senior Coroner for the coroner area of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, to the Secretary of State setting out matters revealed by inquests giving rise to concern and requesting a response by 10 January 2023, for what reason his Department has not responded to that correspondence.
Answered by Will Quince
We replied to Andrew Cox on 4 April 2023.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of including the partners of immunocompromised people in the vaccination programme in spring 2023.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
In February 2023, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) provided advice for the spring 2023 COVID-19 vaccination programme. As a precautionary measure, the JCVI advised a spring booster dose for the most vulnerable in the population, as a proportionate response, those over the age of 75 years, residents in a care home for older adults and those over five years old who are immunosuppressed. These groups were chosen as they continue to be at highest risk of severe COVID-19.
The JCVI advice for the spring 2023 COVID-19 booster vaccination programme is consistent with that for the spring 2022 COVID-19 booster programme which also did not include household contacts of immunosuppressed individuals.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
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 staff vacancies in the care sector that resulted from policy on vaccination status; and what steps he is taking to encourage staff to return to the profession.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made.
We launched our new domestic national recruitment Made with Care campaign on 2 November 2022, highlighting the extraordinary work that care workers do to attract both former care workers and new entrants into the sector.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Health and Care Act 2022, what steps the Government plans to take to drive innovation within the NHS.
Answered by James Morris
The Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC) works with leaders from the life sciences sector to increase innovation within the National Health Service. The AAC aims to ensure that innovation is accelerated and available to clinicians and patients and that the sector in the United Kingdom benefits patients, industry and the economy.
Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) are commissioned by the AAC to support the NHS to address health and care challenges. The AHSNs work with industry to obtain evidence of the benefits of new products and support early implementation in the NHS.
The Department continues to work with the NHS and the AAC to ensure that best practice in enabling innovation is communicated to integrated care boards and to support AHSNs’ engagement to increase the adoption of innovation adoption.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to ensure that a dedicated Chief Innovation Officer is appointed into every Integrated care system.
Answered by James Morris
The Health and Care Act 2022 requires integrated care boards to consider the necessary skills, knowledge and experience required in its membership, including in its duty to promote innovation.
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether plans to promote innovation within Integrated care systems will include the development of an innovation strategy within every ICS.
Answered by James Morris
The Health and Care Act 2022 places a legal duty on integrated care boards (ICBs) to promote innovation and set out how this will be achieved in forward planning and annual reports. In addition, ICB chief executives and chairs are accountable for fostering a culture of innovation.
Innovation has been embedded in the National Health Service’s implementation guidance for the development of integrated care systems (ICSs). The Department is currently exploring how innovation can be included in statutory guidance, including for integrated care strategies. The Department is also working with the NHS, the Accelerated Access Collaborative and Academic Health Science Networks to ensure that priorities for innovation over one to three years are agreed with ICSs.