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Written Question
Health Insurance: Foreign Nationals
Friday 24th February 2017

Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the number of non-EU nationals using NHS services who had valid travel medical insurance in the last 12 months.

Answered by Philip Dunne

In 2015/16 income identified from overseas visitors and migrants using the National Health Service was £289 million of which £69 million was from directly chargeable patients, many of whom are non-European Union nationals. Non-EU nationals who have left the country with NHS debts of more than £500 outstanding for two months can be refused permission to re-enter the country unless they repay the debt.

We do not collect data from NHS trusts or foundation trusts at a clinical specialty level about the cost to the NHS of providing care to non-EU nationals.

Since April 2015 almost all individuals who require a visa to remain in the United Kingdom for more than six months are required to pay a health surcharge. Those who visit the UK for less than six months are usually directly chargeable for any NHS hospital treatment they access and are advised to have travel insurance to cover any charges.

The Government has no current plans to make valid travel medical insurance a requirement for all persons applying for a UK visit visa. As such, we have not estimated the number of people and proportion of visitors to the UK who may be in possession of valid travel insurance in the last 12 months, nor the numbers of visitors who may have used their insurance to pay for NHS services, nor the amounts recovered by NHS trusts or foundation trusts from insurance companies for services provided to visitors.

The Department has not made an assessment of the effect of the Schengen area travel visa insurance scheme on the level of health tourism in the UK.


Written Question
Health Insurance: Foreign Nationals
Friday 24th February 2017

Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the number and proportion of visitors to the UK in possession of valid travel medical insurance in the last 12 months.

Answered by Philip Dunne

In 2015/16 income identified from overseas visitors and migrants using the National Health Service was £289 million of which £69 million was from directly chargeable patients, many of whom are non-European Union nationals. Non-EU nationals who have left the country with NHS debts of more than £500 outstanding for two months can be refused permission to re-enter the country unless they repay the debt.

We do not collect data from NHS trusts or foundation trusts at a clinical specialty level about the cost to the NHS of providing care to non-EU nationals.

Since April 2015 almost all individuals who require a visa to remain in the United Kingdom for more than six months are required to pay a health surcharge. Those who visit the UK for less than six months are usually directly chargeable for any NHS hospital treatment they access and are advised to have travel insurance to cover any charges.

The Government has no current plans to make valid travel medical insurance a requirement for all persons applying for a UK visit visa. As such, we have not estimated the number of people and proportion of visitors to the UK who may be in possession of valid travel insurance in the last 12 months, nor the numbers of visitors who may have used their insurance to pay for NHS services, nor the amounts recovered by NHS trusts or foundation trusts from insurance companies for services provided to visitors.

The Department has not made an assessment of the effect of the Schengen area travel visa insurance scheme on the level of health tourism in the UK.


Written Question
Stem Cells: Transplant Surgery
Tuesday 18th October 2016

Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people have had stem cell transplantation procedures interrupted in England in each of the last five years.

Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford

Stem treatments may be discontinued due to a range of clinical reasons or patient choice. NHS England does not hold information on the number of patients that start but do not complete this form of treatment.


Written Question
Stem Cells: Transplant Surgery
Tuesday 18th October 2016

Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost per patient is of carrying out stem cell transplantation.

Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford

Costs associated with stem cell transplants can vary widely depending on the specific clinical circumstances.


Written Question
Stem Cells: Transplant Surgery
Tuesday 18th October 2016

Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his Department's policy is on the interruption of stem cell transplantation.

Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford

The decision to perform a stem cell transplant will be made by specialist clinicians in discussion with the patient based on the potential benefits and risks of this form of treatment. Treatments may be discontinued for clinical reasons or in accordance with the wishes of the patient.


Written Question
Dementia: Home Care Services
Monday 18th April 2016

Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with clinical commissioning groups on the provision of support to people with mild to moderate dementia to allow them to remain in their own homes as long as possible.

Answered by Jane Ellison

Whilst we are not aware of such specific discussions, dementia is a key priority for the Government. On 6 March 2016, we launched the Implementation Plan to support the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2020. The Implementation Plan sets out the actions partners, including clinical commissioning groups, will take to ensure commitments in the PM Challenge 2020 are delivered. A key commitment in the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia 2020 is to support people with dementia to be able to live longer in their own homes.

The publication ‘Dementia & Homecare: Driving Quality & Innovation’ published as part of the Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia provides clear, practical ideas and suggestions to further dementia care in the community. Driving improvements in homecare will not only help ensure people stay independent for longer but will also support our ambition for people to receive meaningful care following a diagnosis of dementia.

As part of the Implementation Plan, the Department will work with the Life Story Network to focus on older people and people with dementia who live in social housing to ensure they are supported to live in their homes for longer with a greater focus on independent living.

NHS England is fully supportive of enabling people with dementia to live at home independently for as long as they want to do so. NHS England’s well-pathway for dementia includes streams on both living well and supporting well.


Written Question
Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust
Monday 18th April 2016

Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many (a) doctors and (b) nurses have been recruited by Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust in each of the last 10 years.

Answered by Ben Gummer

The information requested is not available in the format requested.

The Health and Social Care Information Centre advises the available data is based on all nurses and doctors who are paid through the NHS Electronic Staff Record (ESR) and complete ESR data of the quality required is only available from 2009.

Such information as is available is in the following table.

Numbers of new Joiners in the 12 month period from 30 September Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust

2009-2010

2010-2011

2011-2012

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

NHS Hospital & Community Health Service (HCHS) Doctors

122

134

131

141

171

160

Nurses and health visitors

129

146

82

152

212

139

Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre, HCHS workforce statistics.

Notes:

  1. Turnover data is based on headcount.
  2. These joiners are to Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust and to the HCHS Doctors and Nurse & health visitor staff groups.
  3. Data is based on all nurses and doctors who are paid through the NHS ESR.
  4. Complete ESR data of the quality required is only available from 2009, which is why we provided the data for the past 6 instead of 10 years.
  5. These figures include junior doctors.
  6. Following a public consultation in 2015, categorisation of trusts and staff groups has changed therefore restricting comparability with previous publications.

Written Question
Social Services: Kent
Friday 15th April 2016

Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the proportion of people receiving social care in (a) Dartford and (b) Kent who are entitled to public funding to support that care.

Answered by Alistair Burt

The Department does not hold this information in the format requested.

Data collected by the Health and Social Care Information Centre indicates that in 2014/15 there were 4,175 local authority supported long term residential and nursing care users aged 65 years and over supported by Kent County Council. This data is not available for the individual district councils in Kent, of which Dartford is one.

The data can be found at:

http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB18663

An internal estimate carried out by the Department in 2012/13 estimated that 48% of people aged 65 and over in residential and nursing care in Kent were receiving local authority support at that time.


Written Question
Dementia: Care Homes
Friday 15th April 2016

Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of specialist dementia (a) residential and (b) nursing home places in Kent.

Answered by Alistair Burt

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. The CQC has provided the following information:

Active care home locations with the Dementia Service User Band in the Kent local authority

Type of home

Number of beds

Number of locations

Nursing home

3,663

62

Residential home

4,229

136

Grand Total

7,892

198

Source: CQC database at 11 April 2016


Written Question
Dental Services: Dartford
Friday 15th April 2016

Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what information he holds on the number of dentists in Dartford able to accept new NHS patients.

Answered by Alistair Burt

This is a matter for the local National Health Service.

NHS England advises that out of 12 dental surgeries in Dartford, there are six surgeries that are currently accepting new NHS patients.