Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has had recent discussions with (a) NHS Trusts and (b) Integrated Care Boards in Halton constituency on commissioning duties for radiotherapy treatment services.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not had any direct discussions with NHS trusts or integrated care boards (ICBs) on the delegation of commissioning duties for radiotherapy treatment services from NHS England to ICBs across the Halton constituency.
NHS England’s National Moderation Panel will determine how many ICBs will take on responsibility for specialised commissioning in October 2023. Following this moderation process, recommendations will be taken to the NHS England Board for final decisions in December 2023, before new arrangements go live from April 2024.
This process will consider the delegation of radiotherapy commissioning for ICBs across England including across the Halton constituency.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress his Department has made on increasing rates of early diagnosis for breast cancer.
Answered by Will Quince
Improving early diagnosis of cancer, including breast cancer, remains a priority. We are working towards the NHS Long Term Plan ambition of diagnosing 75% of stageable cancers at stage 1 and 2 by 2028. The latest published data shows this was 52% from January to December 2020. Achieving this will mean that, from 2028, 55,000 more people each year will survive their cancer for at least five years after diagnosis.
The Government has also expanded the Breast Screening programme, with an additional £10 million funding for 28 new breast screening units and nearly 60 life-saving upgrades to services in the areas where they are most needed.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take further steps to increase levels of uptake in the breast cancer screening programme.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department has invested £10 million into the NHS Breast Screening Programme for 28 new breast screening units targeted at areas where they are needed most. This will provide extra capacity for services to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, boost uptake of screening in areas where attendance is low, and tackle health disparities.
Further steps to remove barriers to attending breast screening include promoting the use of text message alerts to remind women of upcoming appointments. National Health Service breast screening providers are also being encouraged to work with their partners to bring together work to make sure as many people as possible can access breast screening services.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
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 make breast cancer screening more (a) accessible and (b) convenient.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department has invested £10 million into the NHS Breast Screening Programme for 28 new breast screening units targeted at areas where they are needed most. This will provide extra capacity for services to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, boost uptake of screening in areas where attendance is low, and tackle health disparities.
Further steps to remove barriers to attending breast screening include promoting the use of text message alerts to remind women of upcoming appointments. National Health Service breast screening providers are also being encouraged to work with their partners to bring together work to make sure as many people as possible can access breast screening services.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of cancer patients of St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust who received an urgent referral received their first treatment within 62 days of that referral in (a) March and (b) April 2023.
Answered by Will Quince
The following tables set out the number and proportion of patients who received treatment within 62 days of an urgent general practitioner referral at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in March 2023 and April 2023.
St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust | ||
Month | Number of Patients treated within 62 days | 62-day standard performance |
March 2023 | 89.5 | 79% |
April 2023 | 83.5 | 82% |
Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | ||
Month | Number of Patients treated within 62 days | 62-day standard performance |
March 2023 | 24.5 | 50.5% |
April 2023 | 20.5 | 48.2% |
Note: Partial numbers are patients that have received treatment across two different National Health Service trusts.
Cancer waiting time standard statistics are published on the NHS England website, and are available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of cancer patients of Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust who received an urgent referral received their first treatment within 62 days of that referral in (a) March and (b) April 2023.
Answered by Will Quince
The following tables set out the number and proportion of patients who received treatment within 62 days of an urgent general practitioner referral at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in March 2023 and April 2023.
St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust | ||
Month | Number of Patients treated within 62 days | 62-day standard performance |
March 2023 | 89.5 | 79% |
April 2023 | 83.5 | 82% |
Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | ||
Month | Number of Patients treated within 62 days | 62-day standard performance |
March 2023 | 24.5 | 50.5% |
April 2023 | 20.5 | 48.2% |
Note: Partial numbers are patients that have received treatment across two different National Health Service trusts.
Cancer waiting time standard statistics are published on the NHS England website, and are available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of dentist practices in the Borough of Halton are taking on new adult NHS patients.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
National Health Service dental practice profiles at NHS.UK show whether practices are currently accepting new patients. This information is available at the following link:
https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GPs retired before the age of 65 in the Borough of Halton in each year since 2015.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The data requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time is for patients attending the Widnes Urgent Treatment centre in each month since January 2023.
Answered by Will Quince
The information requested is not held centrally. Average median waiting time data is only held at National Health Service trust level and is for all accident and emergency (A&E) service types, including type 1 major A&E services and Urgent Treatment Centres.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
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 implications for his policies of the Advice on influenza vaccinations for 2023-24 issued by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation in November 2022 on funding influenza vaccinations for people aged between 50 and 64 years.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Department is guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on the approach to the seasonal flu vaccination programme in England. Details about the flu vaccination programme for 2023/24, including which groups will be eligible for a free vaccine and the vaccines that will be reimbursable to National Health Service providers, were published on 25 May 2023. The groups eligible for a free flu vaccine for the 2023 to 2024 season include those aged 65 years and over and those aged six months to under 65 years in clinical risk groups.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, eligibility for the influenza programme was temporarily extended to include all adults aged between 50 and 64 years of age to protect the population from the potential threat of cocirculation of COVID-19 and influenza and alleviate pressure on the NHS. In the JCVI’s advice for the 2023/24 programme published in November 2022, it stated that whilst there would be a health benefit in vaccinating low risk 50-64 year olds, it is uncertain whether this would be cost effective and that the overall priority should be to extend the childhood programme in secondary schools as this would be more cost effective and likely to have a greater impact on morbidity and mortality compared with vaccinating 50-64 year olds. An expansion to secondary school-aged children is being considered and should this be confirmed, further details will be set out in due course.
The Department has not conducted its own modelling on the potential impact of providing free vaccinations to people aged 50-64 on NHS resource utilisation in the 2023-24 winter period but is guided by JCVI advice on cost-effectiveness. Anyone who is clinically at-risk is still entitled to a flu vaccination this year – it is only healthy 50–64-year-olds who are no longer eligible. The expansion of the seasonal flu programme to include low-risk 50–64-year-olds was a temporary measure to ensure more people were protected from a potential threat of co-circulation of COVID-19 and the flu virus and the department also sought to reduce pressure on the NHS. As we have now transitioned to living with COVID-19 with a firmly established vaccination programme in place to protect the most vulnerable, temporary expansions to the flu programme are no longer required.
The Department does not expect to reconsider this decision but will continue to be guided by JCVI advice on this matter.