Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
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 reduce the waiting time for patients with Ehlers–Danlos syndromes to see a specialist.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Services for patients with Ehlers–Danlos syndromes (EDS) are provided at a local and national level. NHS England commissions services for patients, adults and children, with EDS from specialist rheumatology centres. A Complex EDS service for adults and children is being delivered at two centres in England, London North West University Healthcare Trust and Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust. The two expert centres ensure that a correct diagnosis of EDS has been made and investigate complex cases of EDS. Some patients may also be seen in more local rheumatology services, which are commissioned by clinical commissioning groups.
From October 2018, the National Genomic Test Directory has been in place and specifies the genomic tests that will be commissioned directly by NHS England and the patients who will be eligible to access this testing for diagnostic purposes. EDS with a likely monogenic cause is included in the National Test Directory.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
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 improve the diagnosis time for patients with Ehlers–Danlos syndrome.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes (EDS) are a group of rare inherited connected tissue disorders, affecting around one in 20,000 people. EDS can go undiagnosed, or misdiagnosed, for many years.
Building upon the success of the 100,000 Genomes Project, in which EDS was included as part of the rare disease arm, the NHS Genomics Medicine Service (GMS) was launched in October 2018. The GMS brings together existing clinical genetics services and new genomic laboratory infrastructure to provide consistent and equitable access to genomic medicine.
The National Genomic Test Directory which underpins the GMS was updated in March 2019 and specifies which genomic tests are commissioned by the National Health Service in England, the technology by which they are available, and the patients who will be eligible to access a test. EDS with a likely monogenic cause is included in the National Test Directory.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which organisations will have responsibility for ensuring that NHS providers comply with security standards following the decommissioning of NHS Protect's security management functions.
Answered by Philip Dunne
From April 2017, the functions of NHS Protect have changed. Work is underway to create a new special health authority, called the NHS Counter Fraud Authority. The focus of the new organisation will be exclusively on tackling fraud, bribery and corruption across the National Health Service and the wider health group. The new authority will not have a remit for security management work.
Employers in the NHS are responsible for assessing risks to staff and addressing those risks. Any abuse of NHS staff is unacceptable and should not be tolerated. Any form of abuse should be reported and trusts should have no hesitation in involving the police. Comprehensive and detailed guidance is available to NHS employers to assist them in assessing and managing the risks accordingly and involving the police where appropriate. A separate NHS national alert system is therefore unnecessary.
The standards for security management work are imposed through the relevant clauses of the standard commissioning contract between commissioners and providers. It is commissioners’ responsibility to ensure that security management standards are met in accordance with the contract. NHS England is responsible for the standard commissioning contract and the clauses within it.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will commission a national alert system on security-related issues and individuals who may post a significant present or potential threat to NHS staff, NHS service providers and NHS property assets.
Answered by Philip Dunne
From April 2017, the functions of NHS Protect have changed. Work is underway to create a new special health authority, called the NHS Counter Fraud Authority. The focus of the new organisation will be exclusively on tackling fraud, bribery and corruption across the National Health Service and the wider health group. The new authority will not have a remit for security management work.
Employers in the NHS are responsible for assessing risks to staff and addressing those risks. Any abuse of NHS staff is unacceptable and should not be tolerated. Any form of abuse should be reported and trusts should have no hesitation in involving the police. Comprehensive and detailed guidance is available to NHS employers to assist them in assessing and managing the risks accordingly and involving the police where appropriate. A separate NHS national alert system is therefore unnecessary.
The standards for security management work are imposed through the relevant clauses of the standard commissioning contract between commissioners and providers. It is commissioners’ responsibility to ensure that security management standards are met in accordance with the contract. NHS England is responsible for the standard commissioning contract and the clauses within it.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many Yorkshire Ambulance Service paramedic call-outs were delayed in each of the last five years due to the required police assistance not being available.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The information requested is not collected centrally.
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of accident and emergency patients were treated within four hours in (a) Calderdale Royal Hospital, (b) Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust and (c) England in each of the last five years.
Answered by Philip Dunne
The percentage of accident and emergency (A&E) patients who were admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours of arrival in Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust and in England, is shown in the table below.
Data are available at trust, but not individual site level.
Percentage of patients admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours of arrival at A&E | ||
| Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust | England |
2011-12 | 96.1% | 96.6% |
2012-13 | 95.4% | 95.9% |
2013-14 | 95.4% | 95.7% |
2014-15 | 94.5% | 93.6% |
2015-16 | 93.9% | 91.9% |
Source: A&E Attendance and Emergency Admissions, NHS England
Note: Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust includes Calderdale Royal Hospital and Huddersfield Royal Infirmary
Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the savings to be made as a result of the new Primary Care Services England contract; and in what areas those savings are expected to arise.
Answered by David Mowat
The savings from the 2015 outsourcing of Primary Care Support Services are expected to be 40% over previous costs during the lifetime of the contract. These savings are delivered primarily through economies of scale that derive from delivery of the services from national centres as opposed to local offices, and efficiency savings derived from investment in new IT systems to streamline work processes.