Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Government plans to update UK Infection Prevention and Control guidance to reflect the scientific consensus that (a) covid-19 and (b) other respiratory pathogens are airborne; and what steps he is taking to ensure enforceable indoor air quality standards in healthcare settings.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Infection Prevention and Control Manual (NIPCM) for England, published by NHS England, whilst not pathogen specific, provides overarching infection prevention and control principles that should be used to inform clinical judgement/practice. The NIPCM for England is regularly updated in response to changing epidemiology, or scientific evidence, feedback from frontline healthcare staff, and system need.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) advice on the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus notes that SARS-CoV-2 is primarily transmitted between individuals through infectious respiratory particles, droplet and aerosol, with transmission risk being highest when in close proximity to an infectious individual, particularly within two metres. Being in poorly ventilated indoor spaces, particularly for an extended period of time, also increases the risk of becoming infected. Further information on UKHSA advice is available at the following link:
Published guidance on ventilation in healthcare settings includes the Health Technical Memorandum 03-01: Specialised ventilation for healthcare premises, the NHS Estates Technical Bulletin (NETB 2023/01A): application of HEPA filter devices for air cleaning in healthcare spaces: guidance and standards, and the NHS Estates Technical Bulletin (NETB 2023/01B): application of ultraviolet (UVC) devices for air cleaning in occupied healthcare spaces: guidance and standards, with further information on all three documents available, respectively, at the following three links:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/specialised-ventilation-for-healthcare-buildings/
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to work with (a) the NHS and (b) other (i) stakeholders and (ii) charities to increase awareness of ovarian cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England does not hold comprehensive national data on cancers diagnosed through non-specific symptom (NSS) pathways since their roll out began. The data set records the number of gynaecological cancers diagnosed through NSS pathways but does not specify how many of these were ovarian cancer cases specifically. In the latest evaluation report on the programme, covering data until January 2024, there were 55 patients diagnosed with gynaecological cancers.
NHS England runs Help Us Help You campaigns to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms and address barriers to acting on them, to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner (GP).
NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, also publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including ovarian cancer. This information can be found on the NHS website, in an online only format.
It is a priority for the Government to support the NHS to diagnose cancer, including ovarian cancer, as quickly as possible, to treat it faster, and improve outcomes. This is supported by NHS England’s key ambition on cancer to meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard, which sets a target of 28 days from urgent referral by a GP or screening programme to patients being told that they have cancer, or that cancer is ruled out.
The recently announced National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and aftercare. This will include improving levels of early diagnosis across England.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help tackle regional variation in the levels of early diagnosis of ovarian cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England does not hold comprehensive national data on cancers diagnosed through non-specific symptom (NSS) pathways since their roll out began. The data set records the number of gynaecological cancers diagnosed through NSS pathways but does not specify how many of these were ovarian cancer cases specifically. In the latest evaluation report on the programme, covering data until January 2024, there were 55 patients diagnosed with gynaecological cancers.
NHS England runs Help Us Help You campaigns to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms and address barriers to acting on them, to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner (GP).
NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, also publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including ovarian cancer. This information can be found on the NHS website, in an online only format.
It is a priority for the Government to support the NHS to diagnose cancer, including ovarian cancer, as quickly as possible, to treat it faster, and improve outcomes. This is supported by NHS England’s key ambition on cancer to meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard, which sets a target of 28 days from urgent referral by a GP or screening programme to patients being told that they have cancer, or that cancer is ruled out.
The recently announced National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and aftercare. This will include improving levels of early diagnosis across England.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help shorten the diagnostic pathway for ovarian cancer.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England does not hold comprehensive national data on cancers diagnosed through non-specific symptom (NSS) pathways since their roll out began. The data set records the number of gynaecological cancers diagnosed through NSS pathways but does not specify how many of these were ovarian cancer cases specifically. In the latest evaluation report on the programme, covering data until January 2024, there were 55 patients diagnosed with gynaecological cancers.
NHS England runs Help Us Help You campaigns to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms and address barriers to acting on them, to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner (GP).
NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, also publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including ovarian cancer. This information can be found on the NHS website, in an online only format.
It is a priority for the Government to support the NHS to diagnose cancer, including ovarian cancer, as quickly as possible, to treat it faster, and improve outcomes. This is supported by NHS England’s key ambition on cancer to meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard, which sets a target of 28 days from urgent referral by a GP or screening programme to patients being told that they have cancer, or that cancer is ruled out.
The recently announced National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and aftercare. This will include improving levels of early diagnosis across England.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer through the non-specific symptoms pathway.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England does not hold comprehensive national data on cancers diagnosed through non-specific symptom (NSS) pathways since their roll out began. The data set records the number of gynaecological cancers diagnosed through NSS pathways but does not specify how many of these were ovarian cancer cases specifically. In the latest evaluation report on the programme, covering data until January 2024, there were 55 patients diagnosed with gynaecological cancers.
NHS England runs Help Us Help You campaigns to increase knowledge of cancer symptoms and address barriers to acting on them, to encourage people to come forward as soon as possible to see their general practitioner (GP).
NHS England and other National Health Service organisations, nationally and locally, also publish information on the signs and symptoms of many different types of cancer, including ovarian cancer. This information can be found on the NHS website, in an online only format.
It is a priority for the Government to support the NHS to diagnose cancer, including ovarian cancer, as quickly as possible, to treat it faster, and improve outcomes. This is supported by NHS England’s key ambition on cancer to meet the Faster Diagnosis Standard, which sets a target of 28 days from urgent referral by a GP or screening programme to patients being told that they have cancer, or that cancer is ruled out.
The recently announced National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and aftercare. This will include improving levels of early diagnosis across England.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Prostate Cancer Research report, Socio-economic Impact of Prostate Cancer Screening, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of the macroeconomic modelling on the benefits of prostate cancer screening.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK National Screening Committee currently does not recommend prostate cancer screening because the evidence suggests that it does more harm than good. The committee is currently reviewing the evidence for both population wide screening and targeted prostate cancer screening. If the UK National Screening Committee makes a positive recommendation regarding screening for prostate cancer, an impact assessment will be produced using the HM Treasury Green Book methodology, which considers wider social and economic impacts.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
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 impact of the increase to employers' National Insurance contributions on hospices.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We have taken necessary decisions at the Autumn Budget, which enabled a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department.
In December, we announced a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices and an additional £26 million revenue funding for children’s hospices. The biggest investment in a generation for hospices.
The employer National Insurance contribution rise will be implemented in April 2025 and the Department will set out further details on allocation of funding for hospices in England for next year in due course, including through the NHS planning guidance.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of potential barriers to reducing endoscopy waiting lists in (a) Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care System and (b) Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust.
Answered by Will Quince
£2.3 billion was awarded at the 2021 Spending Review to transform diagnostic services over the next three years to increase diagnostic capacity, including for endoscopy services. This funding will also increase the number of community diagnostic centres (CDCs) up to 160 by March 2025, including a number delivering endoscopy services.
In 2022/23, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care System (ICS) spent a total of £24,790,510 on all diagnostic services. Of this, £5,179,888 (21%), was spent on diagnostic endoscopy procedures at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust.
Cutting National Health Service waiting lists, including for endoscopy services, is one of the Government’s top priorities. This is a shared ambition amongst ICSs, including Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICS. Priorities are set locally through joint strategic needs assessments as part of joint forward plans across the ICS and partnering NHS trusts.
In October 2021, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICS opened West Berkshire Community Hospital CDC. West Berkshire Community Hospital CDC has since delivered 4,492 additional endoscopy tests closer to people’s homes, supporting earlier access to endoscopy procedures. Additional endoscopy capacity from new CDCs within the ICS will also start to come onstream later this year. This includes North Bedfordshire CDC (Whitehouse Health Centre), which will be located in the Buckingham constituency. Endoscopy services at these CDCs may be offered to the Buckingham population where convenient, to improve their access to diagnostic care.
The Government has not made a recent assessment of the barriers to reducing endoscopy waiting lists in the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICS. It is the responsibility of individual ICSs to work with NHS England to understand local barriers to delivering the required diagnostics services, including endoscopy, and to implement appropriate waiting list solutions based on local need.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care System's diagnostic funding was spent on diagnostic endoscopy procedures in Buckinghamshire NHS Healthcare Trust in 2022-23.
Answered by Will Quince
£2.3 billion was awarded at the 2021 Spending Review to transform diagnostic services over the next three years to increase diagnostic capacity, including for endoscopy services. This funding will also increase the number of community diagnostic centres (CDCs) up to 160 by March 2025, including a number delivering endoscopy services.
In 2022/23, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care System (ICS) spent a total of £24,790,510 on all diagnostic services. Of this, £5,179,888 (21%), was spent on diagnostic endoscopy procedures at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust.
Cutting National Health Service waiting lists, including for endoscopy services, is one of the Government’s top priorities. This is a shared ambition amongst ICSs, including Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICS. Priorities are set locally through joint strategic needs assessments as part of joint forward plans across the ICS and partnering NHS trusts.
In October 2021, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICS opened West Berkshire Community Hospital CDC. West Berkshire Community Hospital CDC has since delivered 4,492 additional endoscopy tests closer to people’s homes, supporting earlier access to endoscopy procedures. Additional endoscopy capacity from new CDCs within the ICS will also start to come onstream later this year. This includes North Bedfordshire CDC (Whitehouse Health Centre), which will be located in the Buckingham constituency. Endoscopy services at these CDCs may be offered to the Buckingham population where convenient, to improve their access to diagnostic care.
The Government has not made a recent assessment of the barriers to reducing endoscopy waiting lists in the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICS. It is the responsibility of individual ICSs to work with NHS England to understand local barriers to delivering the required diagnostics services, including endoscopy, and to implement appropriate waiting list solutions based on local need.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care System plans to take to increase capacity levels for endoscopy procedures for patients in Buckingham constituency.
Answered by Will Quince
£2.3 billion was awarded at the 2021 Spending Review to transform diagnostic services over the next three years to increase diagnostic capacity, including for endoscopy services. This funding will also increase the number of community diagnostic centres (CDCs) up to 160 by March 2025, including a number delivering endoscopy services.
In 2022/23, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care System (ICS) spent a total of £24,790,510 on all diagnostic services. Of this, £5,179,888 (21%), was spent on diagnostic endoscopy procedures at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust.
Cutting National Health Service waiting lists, including for endoscopy services, is one of the Government’s top priorities. This is a shared ambition amongst ICSs, including Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICS. Priorities are set locally through joint strategic needs assessments as part of joint forward plans across the ICS and partnering NHS trusts.
In October 2021, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICS opened West Berkshire Community Hospital CDC. West Berkshire Community Hospital CDC has since delivered 4,492 additional endoscopy tests closer to people’s homes, supporting earlier access to endoscopy procedures. Additional endoscopy capacity from new CDCs within the ICS will also start to come onstream later this year. This includes North Bedfordshire CDC (Whitehouse Health Centre), which will be located in the Buckingham constituency. Endoscopy services at these CDCs may be offered to the Buckingham population where convenient, to improve their access to diagnostic care.
The Government has not made a recent assessment of the barriers to reducing endoscopy waiting lists in the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICS. It is the responsibility of individual ICSs to work with NHS England to understand local barriers to delivering the required diagnostics services, including endoscopy, and to implement appropriate waiting list solutions based on local need.