Asked by: James Murray (Labour (Co-op) - Ealing North)
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 support registered nurses in London with (a) the cost of (i) housing and (ii) transport and (b) other costs of living.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the responsibility of individual employers to consider the overall reward package for their staff, including any travel and accommodation benefits.
The Agenda for Change (AfC) contract on which nurses are employed includes an additional allowance if staff work in and around London. The High Cost Area Supplement provides an additional 20% of basic salary for working in inner London and 15% in outer London. This means the starting basic pay for a nurse will be nearly £30,000 in inner London and over £28,600 in outer London and pay will be over £36,700 for nurses with at least four years’ experience in inner London and over £35,000 in outer London.
The AfC contract also includes the flexibilities for employers locally to use Recruitment and Retention Premia of up to 30% of basic pay if there is a particular need.
The Homes for NHS Staff Policy aims to improve access to affordable housing for staff employed within the National Health Service by securing an offer of first refusal on affordable homes developed on land owned or being disposed by NHS estate owners. NHS trusts in London, as employing organisations, have also developed additional accommodation offers and partnerships to respond to the requirements of their staff including rental model partnerships with housing providers where appropriate.
We are aware of the Royal College of Nursing’s report, we are working with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and are exploring options for the next Public-Sector Land programme and key worker accommodation. This includes how we might help tackle the NHS staff housing challenge and encourage the building of more homes, including an affordable housing contribution, in developments on public land.
Asked by: James Murray (Labour (Co-op) - Ealing North)
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 merits of introducing travel and housing subsidies in order to retain and attract more registered nurses to London.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the responsibility of individual employers to consider the overall reward package for their staff, including any travel and accommodation benefits.
The Agenda for Change (AfC) contract on which nurses are employed includes an additional allowance if staff work in and around London. The High Cost Area Supplement provides an additional 20% of basic salary for working in inner London and 15% in outer London. This means the starting basic pay for a nurse will be nearly £30,000 in inner London and over £28,600 in outer London and pay will be over £36,700 for nurses with at least four years’ experience in inner London and over £35,000 in outer London.
The AfC contract also includes the flexibilities for employers locally to use Recruitment and Retention Premia of up to 30% of basic pay if there is a particular need.
The Homes for NHS Staff Policy aims to improve access to affordable housing for staff employed within the National Health Service by securing an offer of first refusal on affordable homes developed on land owned or being disposed by NHS estate owners. NHS trusts in London, as employing organisations, have also developed additional accommodation offers and partnerships to respond to the requirements of their staff including rental model partnerships with housing providers where appropriate.
We are aware of the Royal College of Nursing’s report, we are working with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and are exploring options for the next Public-Sector Land programme and key worker accommodation. This includes how we might help tackle the NHS staff housing challenge and encourage the building of more homes, including an affordable housing contribution, in developments on public land.
Asked by: James Murray (Labour (Co-op) - Ealing North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what stakeholder engagement his Department undertook on legislative proposals to support the NHS Long Term Plan.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government’s priority is to support the National Health Service to improve patient outcomes by delivering the Long Term Plan.
Last year, NHS England and NHS Improvement carried out an engagement process before making recommendations to the Government for legislative change. We are currently considering the NHS’s recommendations thoroughly and will bring forward detailed proposals shortly.
Asked by: James Murray (Labour (Co-op) - Ealing North)
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 trends in the level of domiciliary for dental care in (a) Ealing North constituency and (b) England.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
NHS England is responsible for commissioning primary care dental services, including domiciliary care. Domiciliary care may be delivered by any dentist holding a contract to deliver general dental services or it may be specifically commissioned by NHS England locally as an additional service. NHS England is working very closely with stakeholders, inclusive of the Care Quality Commission and Healthwatch, to ensure that patients receive the appropriate care within the appropriate setting.
Where such services have been specifically commissioned any concerns about delivery should be raised with NHS England. NHS England has a duty to provide services to meet local need, including domiciliary services so any perceived gaps in service should also be raised with NHS England.
Asked by: James Murray (Labour (Co-op) - Ealing North)
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 increase access to domiciliary dental care for older people in (a) Ealing North constituency and (b) England.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
NHS England is responsible for commissioning primary care dental services, including domiciliary care. Domiciliary care may be delivered by any dentist holding a contract to deliver general dental services or it may be specifically commissioned by NHS England locally as an additional service. NHS England is working very closely with stakeholders, inclusive of the Care Quality Commission and Healthwatch, to ensure that patients receive the appropriate care within the appropriate setting.
Where such services have been specifically commissioned any concerns about delivery should be raised with NHS England. NHS England has a duty to provide services to meet local need, including domiciliary services so any perceived gaps in service should also be raised with NHS England.
Asked by: James Murray (Labour (Co-op) - Ealing North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the Starting Well programme on improving children’s dental attendance in the Borough of Ealing.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to improving access to dental services and improving the oral health of children. NHS England is responsible for commissioning dental services to meet the needs of the local population.
The Starting Well Programme is due to end on 31 March 2020. A final evaluation will be undertaken at the end of the scheme.
Asked by: James Murray (Labour (Co-op) - Ealing North)
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 the factors that prevent children from accessing NHS dental services.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to improving access to National Health Service dental services and improving the oral health of children in England. The Government continues to carefully consider the barriers that children, particularly those most at risk, have in accessing NHS dental services.
NHS England is responsible for commissioning primary dental services according to local need.
NHS England is also supporting children to access NHS dental services with outreach schemes such as Starting Well run by NHS England targeting children in 13 high needs areas not yet in touch with a dentist.
Asked by: James Murray (Labour (Co-op) - Ealing North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, will he take steps to ensure that health clinics in England are funded to test for (a) mycoplasma genitalium and (b) trichomoniasis.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government provides funding to local authorities for public health services, including sexual health services, through the public health grant. It is for local authorities to determine how the public health grant is allocated in their local areas to meet their needs. Sexual health service providers should ensure commissioned services are in line with current national guidance, standards of training and care and quality indicators. British Association for Sexual Health and HIV guidelines recommend testing for mycoplasma genitalium and trichomonas vaginalis where clinically indicated. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.bashh.org/media/4429/bashh-standards-for-sti-management-2019.pdf
The Department has made no estimate of the cost of treating antibiotic resistant gonorrhoea and treating strains of gonorrhoea that are not resistant to commonly used antimicrobials.
Asked by: James Murray (Labour (Co-op) - Ealing North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost of (a) successfully treating antibiotic resistant gonorrhoea and (b) treating strains of gonorrhoea that are not resistant to commonly used antimicrobials.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government provides funding to local authorities for public health services, including sexual health services, through the public health grant. It is for local authorities to determine how the public health grant is allocated in their local areas to meet their needs. Sexual health service providers should ensure commissioned services are in line with current national guidance, standards of training and care and quality indicators. British Association for Sexual Health and HIV guidelines recommend testing for mycoplasma genitalium and trichomonas vaginalis where clinically indicated. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.bashh.org/media/4429/bashh-standards-for-sti-management-2019.pdf
The Department has made no estimate of the cost of treating antibiotic resistant gonorrhoea and treating strains of gonorrhoea that are not resistant to commonly used antimicrobials.
Asked by: James Murray (Labour (Co-op) - Ealing North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding he will make available for community pharmacies in each financial year from 2019-20 to 2023-24.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In July 2019, we set out our landmark five-year Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) deal to deliver an expanded role for community pharmacy. This outlined our ambition for community pharmacies to be fully integrated in to the National Health Service, support patients get the best from their medicines and provide advice to the public to help them stay healthy for longer. The deal commits £2.592 billion per year to community pharmacy from 2019-20 to 2023-24. This amounts to almost £13 billion across the 5 years.
We are reprioritising funding, moving to a more service based contractual framework. Through increased capacity and efficiency from modern dispensing methods, better utilising the skills of pharmacists, decommissioning Medicines Use Reviews, and phasing out the establishment payment, we have the opportunity to redistribute funding to support more services which are fairly remunerated. These changes will not only provide value for money but also support pharmacies in making this transformation.
A more detailed breakdown of the funding can be found in the CPCF at the following link: