Asked by: John Robertson (Labour - Glasgow North West)
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 social care budget changes on A&E attendances.
Answered by Norman Lamb
There has been no assessment made of the effect of social care budget changes on accident and emergency (A&E) attendances. However, the Government has legislated to establish the Better Care Fund from 2015-16 to provide better integrated care. One of the conditions of the Better Care Fund is to improve the delivery of health and social care by preventing people reaching crisis point, and to reduce the quantity of non-elective admissions to acute care, which may serve to ease the pressures on A&E departments.
Asked by: John Robertson (Labour - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that consumers are protected from high levels of campylobacter in poultry.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The United Kingdom Food Standards Agency (FSA) is working in partnership with industry to tackle Campylobacter, exploring a range of interventions targeted at different points in the food chain to reduce contamination levels before the meat reaches the consumer. Also, in publishing the quarterly results of its UK-wide microbiological survey of Campylobacter contamination in fresh whole chilled chickens at retail sale, the FSA is maintaining consumer awareness of the issue and encouraging retailer action.
The FSA has provided guidance for consumers on the safety measures that they can take to reduce their risk of spreading and contracting Campylobacter from raw poultry in the home and this featured in its Food Safety Week campaign earlier in the year.
Asked by: John Robertson (Labour - Glasgow North West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much funding his Department has allocated to research into motor neurone disease in each of last 10 years.
Answered by Dan Poulter
Prior to the establishment of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in April 2006, the main part of the Department's total health research expenditure was devolved to and managed by national health service organisations. From April 2006 to March 2009, transitional research funding was allocated to these organisations at reducing levels. The organisations have accounted for their use of the allocations they have received from the Department in an annual research and development report. The reports identify total, aggregated expenditure on national priority areas but do not provide details of spend on research into specific diseases including motor neurone disease (MND).
Expenditure on MND research by the NIHR from 2009-10 through research programmes, research centres and units, and research fellowships is shown in the following table.
£ million
2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 |
0.1 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.5 |
Total spend by the NIHR on MND research is higher than this because expenditure by the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) on this topic cannot be disaggregated from total CRN expenditure.
My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health (Jeremy Hunt) has had no discussions on funding for MND research with the Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing.