Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
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 (a) number and (b) value of contracts his Department has awarded to G4S since July 2013.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Department has held no formal contracts with G4S since July 2013. Records show calloff expenditure of £455 in financial year 2014/15 in relation to security for the World Dementia Conference.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what percentage of people aged over 65 receive some form of social care.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
For local authority funded care, the number of over 65s in long term care at the end of March 2018 was 387,980.
There are also a number of people who receive short term care throughout the year. However, the data we have relates to the total instances of support being given rather than the number of individuals, reflecting that some people will receive multiple packages of care. Counting the number of people would thus misrepresent the volume of service delivered. As such we are not in a position to provide this as a percentage of the population.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what impact assessment his Department has conducted of the effect on people with disabilities of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
No formal impact assessment has been conducted by the Department of the effect on people with disabilities of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union without a deal.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many invoices were sent to NHS patients as a result of proactive data sharing by the Home Office.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The Department of Health and Social Care does not hold information on how many invoices were sent to National Health Service patients as a result of proactive data sharing by the Home Office.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
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 potential effectiveness of planning by (a) clinical commissioning groups and (b) hospitals in England for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The Department is leading the response to the European Union exit across the health and care sector. We are working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement ensure the National Health Service is as prepared as possible in the event of a ‘no deal’ EU exit.
In light of the extension of the Article 50 period to 31 October 2019, we are working with our stakeholders to review the position carefully, before sharing further guidance at the earliest opportunity. The Department, alongside NHS England and NHS Improvement, are ensuring that there is regular communication with frontline NHS organisations and partners, including hospital trusts, about EU exit preparations.
Professor Keith Willett, Strategic Commander for EU Exit at NHS England and NHS Improvement, wrote to clinical commissioning group and trust Chief Executives on 18 April 2019 to update them on the further extension to Article 50, and the actions that now need to be taken locally to continue to prepare for the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU.
NHS England and NHS Improvement are keen to ensure that the EU exit structures and preparations put in place nationally, regionally and locally are adapted for this extension, and have emphasised that organisations should continue to have an EU exit Senior Responsible Officer overseeing plans and preparations.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
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 trends in the number of GPs per 100,000 people in England since 2010.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
The number of general practitioners (GPs) and clinical staff per 100,000 registered patients is available in the table attached for the years 2015-18 (headcount and full-time-equivalent (FTE)). Data is not included prior to 2015. GP locums are excluded as improvements have been made to GP locum recording methodology and figures are not comparable prior to December 2017.
The recently published NHS Long Term Plan made a clear commitment to the future of general practice, with primary and community care set to receive at least £4.5 billion more in real terms a year by 2023/24, meaning spending on these services will grow faster than the rising NHS budget. Since the launch of the Long Term Plan, NHS England and the British Medical Association’s General Practitioners Committee have agreed a five-year GP (General Medical Services) contract framework from 2019/20. The new contract framework will be essential to deliver the ambitions set out in the NHS Long Term Plan through strong general practice services.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2019 to Question 244142 on Cannabis: Medical Treatments, whether his Department defines Naboline as a cannabis imitating rather than cannabis derived product.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
The Department recognises both Nabilone and Sativex as licensed cannabis-based medicines. Neither, however, falls within the scope of the definition of a ‘cannabis-based product for medicinal use’ under the recent change to the law.
Nabilone is a synthetic non-natural cannabinoid that mimics delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). It was issued a marketing authorisation by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), for nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy in patients who have failed to respond adequately to conventional antiemetic treatments, on 14 February 1995. There are no restrictions on its prescribing in the National Health Service.
Sativex (nabiximols) is an oromucosal spray that contains THC and cannabidiol (CBD). It was issued a marketing authorisation by the MHRA, for treatment of spasticity in people with multiple sclerosis who have failed to respond adequately to other anti-spasticity medications, on 16 June 2010. In October 2014, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommended that Sativex is not offered for use on the NHS because it is not a cost-effective treatment. Sativex therefore is not routinely prescribed on the NHS, and can only be prescribed for an individual patient, where local governance and funding arrangements allow for this.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2019 to Question 244142 on Cannabis: Medical Treatments, whether his Department is aware of any instances of (a) CBD and (b) THC being prescribed by the NHS since 1 January 2019.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
The published data shows that the following number of items of Nabilone (a synthetic product which mimics tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)) and Sativex (a product containing natural THC and cannabidiol (CBD)) were dispensed in January and February 2019.
| Number of prescription items | |
| January 2019 | February 2019 |
Nabilone | 44 | 36 |
Sativex | 167 | 159 |
Data, from the NHS Business Services Authority for January and February 2019, suggest that three National Health Service prescriptions were dispensed for unlicensed cannabis-based products for medicinal use in primary care in England during this time. Additionally, the NHS Business Services Authority data report that 10 private prescriptions were dispensed for unlicensed cannabis-based products for medicinal use in January and February 2019.
Unlike NHS primary care where all dispensed prescriptions are processed centrally, this is not the case for secondary care. This information is collected by a third party and not routinely published.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2019 to Question 244142 on Cannabis: Medical Treatments, when (a) Naboline and (b) Savitex were first made available to prescribe on the NHS.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
The Department recognises both Nabilone and Sativex as licensed cannabis-based medicines. Neither, however, falls within the scope of the definition of a ‘cannabis-based product for medicinal use’ under the recent change to the law.
Nabilone is a synthetic non-natural cannabinoid that mimics delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). It was issued a marketing authorisation by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), for nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy in patients who have failed to respond adequately to conventional antiemetic treatments, on 14 February 1995. There are no restrictions on its prescribing in the National Health Service.
Sativex (nabiximols) is an oromucosal spray that contains THC and cannabidiol (CBD). It was issued a marketing authorisation by the MHRA, for treatment of spasticity in people with multiple sclerosis who have failed to respond adequately to other anti-spasticity medications, on 16 June 2010. In October 2014, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommended that Sativex is not offered for use on the NHS because it is not a cost-effective treatment. Sativex therefore is not routinely prescribed on the NHS, and can only be prescribed for an individual patient, where local governance and funding arrangements allow for this.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8 April 2019 to Question 240581 on NHS: Pensions, what level of interest is applied to annual allowance charges paid through the scheme pays facility of the NHS Pension.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The ‘Scheme Pays’ facility allows NHS Pension Scheme members to settle their annual allowance tax charges without needing to find funds upfront. However, HM Revenue and Customs requires that if a defined benefit pension scheme pays an annual allowance charge there must be an adjustment to the benefits the member has accrued. The value of the scheme pays charge, plus interest, is recouped from the value of the member’s pension on retirement. The interest rate for scheme pays charges is set at the scheme discount rate. The discount rate for public service pension schemes is currently consumer price index plus 2.4%, which represents the notional rate of investment return on contribution income.