Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the cost of missed GP and hospital appointments in (a) England and (b) each clinical commissioning group in each year since 2010.
Answered by Philip Dunne
Information on the number and cost of missed general practice appointments in England is not held centrally.
Information on the number of first and subsequent consultant-led hospital outpatient appointments that the patient did not attend is shown in the following table for England and in the attached table for National Health Service commissioning organisations.
Table: Number of first and subsequent consultant-led hospital outpatient appointments that the patient did not attend, England, 2010-11 to 2015-16
Year | Number of did not attends (millions) |
2010-11 | 5.7 |
2011-12 | 5.5 |
2012-13 | 5.5 |
2013-14 | 5.5 |
2014-15 | 5.7 |
2015-16 | 5.8 |
Source: NHS England, quarterly activity return, published on the NHS England website at http://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/hospital-activity/quarterly-hospital-activity/
Information on the cost of missed hospital appointments is not collected centrally. However, the most recently published data from the Department’s annual collection of reference costs from NHS trusts and foundation trusts estimated the national average unit cost of a consultant-led outpatient attendance at £132 in 2014-15. Multiplying the number of missed appointments by this figure would give an upper estimate of their costs, because NHS organisations can and do plan for an anticipated level of missed appointments.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the number of missed GP and hospital appointments in (a) England and (b) each clinical commissioning group in each year since 2010.
Answered by Philip Dunne
Information on the number and cost of missed general practice appointments in England is not held centrally.
Information on the number of first and subsequent consultant-led hospital outpatient appointments that the patient did not attend is shown in the following table for England and in the attached table for National Health Service commissioning organisations.
Table: Number of first and subsequent consultant-led hospital outpatient appointments that the patient did not attend, England, 2010-11 to 2015-16
Year | Number of did not attends (millions) |
2010-11 | 5.7 |
2011-12 | 5.5 |
2012-13 | 5.5 |
2013-14 | 5.5 |
2014-15 | 5.7 |
2015-16 | 5.8 |
Source: NHS England, quarterly activity return, published on the NHS England website at http://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/hospital-activity/quarterly-hospital-activity/
Information on the cost of missed hospital appointments is not collected centrally. However, the most recently published data from the Department’s annual collection of reference costs from NHS trusts and foundation trusts estimated the national average unit cost of a consultant-led outpatient attendance at £132 in 2014-15. Multiplying the number of missed appointments by this figure would give an upper estimate of their costs, because NHS organisations can and do plan for an anticipated level of missed appointments.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Life Sciences of 18 April 2016, Official Report, column 262WH, what progress he has made in convening a task and finish working group for brain tumour research; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Freeman
The Department of Health Task and Finish Working Group on Brain Tumour Research is bringing together clinicians, charities and officials to discuss how, working together with research funding partners, we can address the need to increase the level and impact of research into this devastating disease.
The Working Group will be chaired by Professor Chris Whitty, the Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser, and will report directly to me. I anticipate that the Working Group will need to meet in person three times before completing its tasks by September 2017.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to increase the representation on the boards of NHS England, Monitor and other relevant health bodies at local, regional and national levels of people with a background in the mental health services; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Freeman
Non-executive appointments to the boards of the Department’s arm’s length bodies, including NHS England and Monitor, are advertised widely and open to all in line with the requirements of the Commissioner for Public appointments. The application process is open to candidates with a background in mental health services.
Applications are treated equally and appointments are made on merit. There are board members of arm’s length bodies appointed through this process that have a mental health services background.
Non-executive appointments to National Health Service trusts are made by the NHS Trust Development Authority and are also regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
Candidates are appointed on merit where they can add the best value to the needs of the individual board, ensuring that the board contains a balance of experience and skills in different areas, which can include mental health services.
Executive board appointments are made by the organisations themselves.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made on tackling Crohn's disease.
Answered by George Freeman
Information is not collected centrally on the number of people prescribed medicines or the medical condition being treated.
Some data is available for the administration of vedolizumab however this data does not correspond to patient numbers nor can it be linked to the treatment of specific diseases. Some information on cost is also available but this is the cost of the medicines at NHS list price and not necessarily the price that hospitals paid.
In guidance published in August 2015, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) advised that vedolizumab is the recommended treatment for adults with moderate to severe Crohn’s disease if a type of treatment called a tumour necrosis factor alpha inhibitor is not suitable or has not worked well enough. NICE also recommend vedolizumab as a possible treatment for adults with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis in separate guidance published on 5 June 2015.
In both cases, people should be able to have vedolizumab until it stops working, or surgery is needed, or for 12 months after starting it, whichever is shorter. Their condition should be assessed 12 months after they started taking vedolizumab. If they still have symptoms but it is clear that the treatment is helping, they can continue to have the drug. If they no longer have symptoms, treatment can be stopped, and later restarted if their symptoms return. Drugs recommended by NICE should be available on the NHS within three months of the technology appraisal guidance being issued.
NICE has set out best practice in the diagnosis, treatment care and support of patients with Crohn’s diseases and ulcerative colitis in its guidance Crohn’s Disease Management in Adults, Children and Young People in October 2012, and Ulcerative Colitis Management in Adults, Children and Young People , published in June 2013. Treatment for both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis is largely directed at symptom relief to improve quality of life, rather than cure. Management options include drug therapy, dietary and lifestyle advice and, in severe or chronic active disease, surgery.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the role of pharmacies in reducing the demand on GP services.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Pharmacy already plays a vital role in supporting the health of people in their local communities, providing high quality care and support, improving people’s health and reducing health inequalities. As we move to more integrated care, there is real potential for pharmacists and their teams to play an even greater role in the future, particularly in keeping people healthy, supporting those with long term conditions and helping make sure patients and the National Health Service get the best use from medicines.
NHS England in its Five Year Forward View stated that there should be far greater use of pharmacists: in prevention of ill health; support for healthy living; support to self-care for minor ailments and long term conditions medication review in care homes; and as part of more integrated local care models. For example, many community pharmacists are being commissioned to provide seasonal flu vaccinations, helping to reduce pressure on general practitioners (GPs).
My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State in his speech on the new deal for general practice outlined how some GP practices are helping to deliver seven day care by better use of pharmacists. This will be enabled further by pharmacists having access to a patient’s summary care record. £7.5 million of the primary care infrastructure fund for this year will be used to support community pharmacists with training and appropriate tools.