Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health of 15 March 2017, Official Report, column 144WH, if the proposed creation of super-hubs in rural areas means the closure of local practice buildings to be replaced with new larger buildings.
Answered by David Mowat
Hubs are not about surgery closures — that has never been this Government's policy intention and we are supporting general practice with a 14% real terms increase in funding. Many general practices are already working together to support larger populations and in the future there will be even more opportunities for collaboration so that practices can work at scale when necessary, while maintaining their location within communities and relationships with patients.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of closing Clacton Hospital's Minor Injuries Unit on GP provisioning in North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group.
Answered by Philip Dunne
These are matters for the local National Health Service. No such assessments have therefore been made by the Department.
All service changes should be based on clear evidence that they will deliver better outcomes for patients. It is right that these decisions are led by local clinicians, who best understand the healthcare needs of their local populations, and in consultation with local people.
Changes must meet the four tests for service change: they must have support from general practitioner commissioners, be based on clinical evidence, demonstrate public and patient engagement, and consider patient choice.
We understand that North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is currently consulting local people on the future provision of local urgent care services.
The CCG has liaised with the local Service Resilience Operational Group to assess the impact of all the potential options.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of closing Clacton Hospital's Minor Injuries Unit on accident and emergency provision at Colchester General Hospital.
Answered by Philip Dunne
These are matters for the local National Health Service. No such assessments have therefore been made by the Department.
All service changes should be based on clear evidence that they will deliver better outcomes for patients. It is right that these decisions are led by local clinicians, who best understand the healthcare needs of their local populations, and in consultation with local people.
Changes must meet the four tests for service change: they must have support from general practitioner commissioners, be based on clinical evidence, demonstrate public and patient engagement, and consider patient choice.
We understand that North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is currently consulting local people on the future provision of local urgent care services.
The CCG has liaised with the local Service Resilience Operational Group to assess the impact of all the potential options.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of GP coverage in North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group.
Answered by David Mowat
NHS England is responsible for the provision of primary medical services in England. As such, NHS England ensures that patients in all areas have access to general practitioner (GP) services.
Improvement in primary care access is needed in North East Essex. North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) plans new hubs to accommodate teams of health professionals such as GPs, nurse practitioners, mental health nurses, occupational therapists and social care professionals.
High street pharmacists would also support local people to self-care. In addition, the CCG plans greater use of technology for remote consultations between clinicians and patients , where appropriate.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his policy is on the retention of GP practices in areas with an elderly demographic.
Answered by David Mowat
The Department does not have a specific policy on the retention of general practitioner (GP) practices in areas with an elderly demographic.
NHS England is responsible for the provision of primary medical services in England. As such, it is for NHS England to ensure that patients in all areas have access to GP services. To assess GP service provision in an area, NHS England works with the Care Quality Commission and local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), using data from information sources such as the GP Patient survey and the primary care web tool.
In terms of overall strategy, the provision of primary care will be part of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) which is published in each local authority area and reported through the local Health and Well-being Board. The JSNA will identify any gaps and risks in the provision of primary care to the local population which, in turn, will then inform commissioning strategies for that area.
GP Practices as independent contractors are responsible for ensuring that the practice clinical workforce is fit for purpose and able to meet the reasonable needs of population. Where practices are struggling to maintain a clinical workforce with the necessary skillmix, they can seek support from NHS England and their local CCGs. The Department is investing £40 million over four years targeted at supporting practice resilience.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost was to the public purse of the NHS European Office in the 2015-16 fiscal year.
Answered by David Mowat
The Department does not hold this information as the NHS European Office is part of the NHS Confederation, an independent membership body for all organisations that commission and provide NHS service in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The NHS Confederation is a registered charity whose income is generated through membership subscriptions, conferences and events and the rewards of grants and contracts.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what financial assistance his Department has provided to the Cavendish Coalition of NHS Employers.
Answered by Philip Dunne
Under its contract with them, the Department funds NHS Employers to support trusts across the National Health Service in England on pay contract negotiations, staff terms and conditions of service and a wide range of advice, guidance and good practice on NHS workforce issues. The Department has not commissioned any work or provided financial support to NHS Employers in relation to the activities of the Cavendish Coalition.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that the East of England Ambulance Service improves its response to fluctuations in seasonal demand.
Answered by Philip Dunne
NHS Improvement (NHSI) has been working with East of England Ambulance Service to ensure that its winter plans are robust, with the appropriate level of resource necessary to provide a safe service and cope with the increase in demand. That includes the use of private ambulance services as appropriate.
NHSI has also worked alongside NHS England to ensure that additional funding has been made available from commissioners, as part of a Remedial Action Plan, to secure additional capacity to cope with the increased demand.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the efficacy of special measures at Colchester General Hospital.
Answered by Philip Dunne
Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust has been receiving support from NHS Improvement to address specific issues at the Trust since entering Special Measures in November 2013.
In April 2016, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and NHS Improvement agreed that partnership arrangements with Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust would be put in place to support improvement. The Chair and Chief Executive of Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust have assumed a dual role across both Trusts and have key staff working across the two organisations. Recent actions include the development of a Trust Turnaround programme (the ‘Every Patient Every Day’ programme). A multi-stakeholder Programme Oversight Committee, chaired by NHS Improvement and including the CQC has been established from July 2016, to monitor progress against an agreed set of Key Performance Indicators.
Efficacy of the support arrangements will be assessed by the CQC when it re-inspects in due course.
Asked by: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to (a) modify and (b) remove the 75 per cent target for Red 1 ambulance calls.
Answered by Ben Gummer
In spring 2015, National Medical Director of NHS England Sir Bruce Keogh carried out a review of key National Health Service waiting time measures to ensure they make sense for patients and are operationally well-designed. Following this review and pilots being carried out as part of NHS England’s Ambulance Response Programme, the results will be considered in due course.