Asked by: Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people were waiting 52 weeks or more for (a) hip and (b) replacement surgery in the Somerset NHS Foundation Trust in each month between February 2020 and September 2022.
Answered by Will Quince
Hospital Episode Statistics is a database containing details of all admissions, accident and emergency attendances and outpatient appointments at National Health Service hospitals. Initially this data is collected during a patient's time at hospital as part of the Commissioning Data Set. However, the data that is requested in this question is not available in the format requested. Waiting time data at trust level is not available by specific condition/treatment.
Asked by: Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much capital funding has been allocated to Somerset NHS Foundation Trust since 2019.
Answered by Will Quince
Somerset NHS Foundation Trust was formed in April 2020 from a merger between Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust. The following table shows what the trust has been allocated with the following capital from national programmes since the 2019/20 financial year.
2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
£120,000 | £27,200,000 | £35,900,000 | £19,400,000 | £23,400,000 | £25,500,000 |
Note: These allocations are correct as of 23 February 2023 but future allocations are subject to change. It is also worth noting that these allocations will differ from actual expenditure.
In addition to national programmes, Somerset Integrated Care Board, of which Somerset NHS Foundation Trust is a partner trust, was allocated £90 million in operational capital for the SR21 period 2021/22 to 2024/25.
Somerset NHS Foundation Trust has been allocated approximately £70 million within their operational capital envelope for the past three financial years, 2020/21 to 2022/23.
2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 |
£22,300,000 | £24,500,000 | £23,600,000 |
Asked by: Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the NHS procures any meat products from (a) JBS SA or (b) the UK subsidiaries of that company.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department does not hold any contracts with JBS SA or any of its subsidiaries. The NHS Supply Chain is the largest supplier of clinical and non-clinical products and consumables to the National Health Service. While NHS Supply Chain’s framework contracts do not include JBS SA, one meat product is offered through a United Kingdom based distributor, Marillo Foods, which is a supplier on one framework contract.
Asked by: Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to reports of JBS SA's involvement in illegal deforestation of the Amazon and allegations of practices of modern day slavery, if his Department will review any contracts awarded to this firm and its subsidiaries.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department does not hold any contracts with JBS SA or any of its subsidiaries. The NHS Supply Chain is the largest supplier of clinical and non-clinical products and consumables to the National Health Service. While NHS Supply Chain’s framework contracts do not include JBS SA, one meat product is offered through a United Kingdom based distributor, Marillo Foods, which is a supplier on one framework contract.
Asked by: Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
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 ensure that JBS, the Brazilian meat processing company, complies with food safety standards in its UK subsidiaries.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
All wholesale processors of food of animal origin within the United Kingdom are required to be approved under retained European hygiene regulations. This requires the establishment to undergo an onsite assessment to establish the premises are suitable and to present evidence of the efficacy of its Food Safety Management Systems to enable approval to be granted. When approval has been granted all establishments remain subject to official controls which include periodic audits as well as unannounced inspections, the frequency determined by compliance and risk. In the case of approved slaughterhouses there will also be the daily presence of Official Veterinarians to observe compliance with hygiene and animal welfare requirements.
If non-compliances are observed there is an enforcement hierarchy which includes verbal or written advice, formal enforcement, which can include suspension of production, right through to prosecution. Local authorities and the Food Standards Agency also have a responsibility to withdraw or suspend approval when evidence is found of major non-compliances which the business is unable to rectify.