Asked by: Jo Cox (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to support carers assisting people with mental health conditions.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Government recognises the invaluable contribution made by unpaid carers including those who care for people with mental health conditions and the importance of supporting them in their caring roles.
That is why we continue to support implementation of the improved rights for carers enshrined in the Care Act 2014. The Department has provided £104 million of funding to local authorities for these rights in 2015/16, which include an extended right to assessment and, for the first time, a duty on local authorities to meet carers’ eligible needs for support.
We have also made an additional £400 million available to the National Health Service between 2011 and 2015 to provide carers with breaks from their caring responsibilities to sustain them in their caring role. The equivalent annual allocation of £130 million for carers breaks is now included in the Better Care Fund.
In May 2014, NHS England published its action plan NHS England - Commitment to carers, it includes a series of commitments around eight priorities, which include raising the profile of carers, including young carers.
The Department is leading on the development of a new cross-Government National Carers Strategy that will look at what more can be done to support existing and new carers including those who care for people with mental health conditions. To support the development of the strategy we are currently conducting a national call for evidence. We want to engage with a wide range of individuals and organisations with experience of caring, to ensure our evidence reflects the diversity of experience of carers, and those for whom they care. The call for evidence was launched in March and will run until mid-summer 2016.
Asked by: Jo Cox (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to support people with (a) ocular melanoma and (b) other eye conditions with the financial cost of eye tests.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Free National Health Service sight tests are available from primary care optometrists to a wide range of patients. These include people diagnosed with glaucoma or diabetes or who are at risk of glaucoma, children, people aged 60 and over, people registered as sight-impaired or blind or who need complex lenses, and adults on certain income-related benefits or who qualify for full assistance under the NHS Low Income scheme.
No NHS charges apply to patients being treated in a secondary care setting for the investigation or management of an eye condition, which would include individuals with suspected or diagnosed ocular melanoma.
Asked by: Jo Cox (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many ambulances were diverted from hospitals in West Yorkshire to the A&E department at Dewsbury and District Hospital in 2015; and what the reason was for each such diversion.
Answered by Jane Ellison
This information is not collected centrally.
Asked by: Jo Cox (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times the A&E department at Dewsbury and District Hospital was closed in 2015.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Information is not available in the format requested. Information is available at National Health Service trust level only and not by individual hospital site.
NHS England advises that information is collected in the winter daily situation reports from NHS trusts about whether there was an unplanned, unilateral closure of an accident and emergency department to admissions without consultation, which occurred without agreement from neighbouring NHS trusts or from the ambulance trust.
Published figures are available covering the periods 1 January 2015 to 27 March 2015 and 5 October 2015 to 31 December 2015. Figures for the remainder of 2015 are not held centrally. Published figures can be found using the following link.
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/winter-daily-sitreps/
Asked by: Jo Cox (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many times the A&E department at Pinderfields General Hospital was closed in 2015.
Answered by Jane Ellison
Information is not available in the format requested. Information is available at National Health Service trust level only and not by individual hospital site.
NHS England advises that information is collected in the winter daily situation reports from NHS trusts about whether there was an unplanned, unilateral closure of an accident and emergency department to admissions without consultation, which occurred without agreement from neighbouring NHS trusts or from the ambulance trust.
Published figures are available covering the periods 1 January 2015 to 27 March 2015 and 5 October 2015 to 31 December 2015. Figures for the remainder of 2015 are not held centrally. Published figures can be found using the following link.
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/winter-daily-sitreps/
Asked by: Jo Cox (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of patients attending each A&E department in the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust were seen within four hours in each of the last three years.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The information is not available in the format requested. Information is available by National Health Service trust and can be found using the following link.
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/winter-daily-sitreps/
Asked by: Jo Cox (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people attended each A&E department within the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust in each of the last three years.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The information is not available in the format requested. Information is available by National Health Service trust and can be found using the following link.
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/winter-daily-sitreps/
Asked by: Jo Cox (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the new contract with junior doctors on recruitment in the NHS.
Answered by Ben Gummer
The independent Doctors and Dentists Review Body (DDRB) made recommendations for the reform of the junior doctor contract as a basis for national level negotiations. The new contract will be introduced from August 2016 and will be included in any evidence we provide to the DDRB for the 2017/18 pay round on the recruitment, retention and motivation of junior doctors.
Junior doctors are the backbone of National Health Service, but their current employment contract lets them down by failing to prevent some from working unsafe hours and not rewarding them fairly. This is why doctors deserve a new contract that will be fairer for doctors, safer for patients and juniors alike, better for training, and will better support a seven day NHS.
The contract will ensure that pay relates more fairly to actual work done; increase basic pay, recognising the professional nature of the role in a seven day NHS: and pay a higher rate for work at the most unsocial times. In addition, flexible pay premia will apply for: general practitioner trainees, to maintain current earning levels; other shortage specialties who would otherwise lose out under the new pay structure; those switching to shortage specialties; clinical academic trainees and public health trainees undertaking PhDs etc; and those undertaking approved academic/other work that benefits the wider NHS and improving patient care.
Asked by: Jo Cox (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of a seven-day elective service in the NHS on the number of hours worked by NHS staff; and if he will publish any such assessment.
Answered by Ben Gummer
The Government’s current plans for ensuring the same quality of care in hospitals on all days of the week are focussed on those with urgent and emergency care needs at weekends and those who are already inpatients. It is for individual health economies to determine if they wish to provide elective care at weekends, for example if they can use more efficiently additional resources that are available to meet urgent and emergency care needs.
Asked by: Jo Cox (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of a seven-day elective service in the NHS on the number of NHS staff available (a) Monday to Friday and (b) on a weekend; and how he estimates staffing levels will change.
Answered by Ben Gummer
The Government’s current plans for ensuring the same quality of care in hospitals on all days of the week are focussed on those with urgent and emergency care needs at weekends and those who are already inpatients. It is for individual health economies to determine if they wish to provide elective care at weekends, for example if they can use more efficiently additional resources that are available to meet urgent and emergency care needs.