Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
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 increase investment in research into rare conditions.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Government supports research into common and rare diseases through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). In 2016 my Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care announced a £816 million investment in the NIHR Biomedical Research Centres, over five years from 1 April 2017, which has been awarded to 20 leading National Health Service and university partnerships across England. Each of the 20 NIHR Biomedical Research Centres hosts the development of new, ground-breaking treatments, diagnostics, prevention and care for patients in a wide range of diseases and has considerable expertise, capacity and activity in research for rare diseases.
The NIHR Clinical Research Network is available to support the set-up and timely delivery of commercial and non-commercial studies and trials in England which would include studies on rare diseases.
Rare diseases patients also benefit from the pioneering research as part of the 100,000 Genomes Project. As of late 2017, over 2,000 researchers in 342 United Kingdom and international institutions were part of Genomics England’s Clinical Interpretation Partnership, which have been set up improve understanding of genomic medicine and its application to healthcare; improve understanding of diseases; and lead the way to developing new diagnostics and treatments.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
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 increase investment in research into trigeminal neuralgia.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Department funds research mainly through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The usual practice of the NIHR and other research funders is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including on trigeminal neuralgia.
Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. The amount of NIHR funding in a disease area therefore depends on the quality and volume of scientific activity.
The NIHR Clinical Research Network is available to support the set-up and timely delivery of commercial and non-commercial studies and trials in England which would include studies on trigeminal neuralgia. The NIHR has previously funded research projects on chronic facial pain as part of the range of NIHR training schemes that support future research leaders and would welcome further applications for training awards based on research on trigeminal neuralgia.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
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 awareness among (a) clinicians and (b) the public of trigeminal neuralgia.
Answered by Steve Brine
General practice is where most patients with trigeminal neuralgia are likely to be first seen and the condition is identified as a key area of clinical knowledge in the Royal College of General Practitioners (GP) Applied Knowledge Test (AKT) content guide. The AKT is a summative assessment of the knowledge base that underpins general practice in the United Kingdom within the context of the National Health Service and is a key part of GPs’ qualifying exams. The AKT content guide can be found at the following link:
www.rcgp.org.uk/training-exams/mrcgp-exams-overview/mrcgp-applied-knowledge-test-akt.aspx
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced an online Clinical Knowledge Summary (CKS) on the diagnosis and treatment of trigeminal neuralgia to support clinicians in the management of the condition. In 2013, NICE also published the clinical guideline ‘Neuropathic pain in adults: pharmacological management in non- specialist settings’ which provides advice to clinicians on the management of conditions such as trigeminal neuralgia. Both the CKS and the guideline, which is also available in a format suitable for patients, can be found at the following links:
cks.nice.org.uk/trigeminal-neuralgia
www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg173
NHS England has also published a commissioning policy for the use of stereotactic radiosurgery in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia. This may be appropriate for some patients where pharmaceutical management does not work or is not tolerated. The commissioning policy can be found at the following link:
www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/d05-p-b.pdf
Finally, NHS Choices provides information for patients and the public on a wide range of conditions, including trigeminal neuralgia. This covers causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. The NHS Choices page can be found at the following link:
www.nhs.uk/conditions/trigeminal-neuralgia/
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's policy is on commissioning research into trigeminal neuralgia.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Department funds research mainly through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The usual practice of the NIHR and other research funders is not to ring-fence funds for expenditure on particular topics. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including on trigeminal neuralgia.
Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. The amount of NIHR funding in a disease area therefore depends on the quality and volume of scientific activity.
The NIHR Clinical Research Network is available to support the set-up and timely delivery of commercial and non-commercial studies and trials in England which would include studies on trigeminal neuralgia. The NIHR has previously funded research projects on chronic facial pain as part of the range of NIHR training schemes that support future research leaders and would welcome further applications for training awards based on research on trigeminal neuralgia.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made under its Childhood Obesity Plan to develop an interactive online tool for schools to help plan opportunities for children to be physically active.
Answered by Steve Brine
The Active School Planner was launched in October 2017. This interactive online tool will help schools identify gaps in the existing opportunities for children to be active and will recommend a number of solutions they can choose, for example after school clubs, initiatives such as the daily mile, creating an active playground or having an active lesson.
The tool is available at:
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much money from the public purse has been available for the provision of NHS services in Swindon in each year since 2010.
Answered by Steve Barclay
Information relating to the revenue funding allocations made to Swindon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) are provided in the following table. Figures are not directly comparable between primary care trusts (PCTs) and CCGs due to changes in geographic cover and commissioning responsibilities.
National Health Service Body | Year | Total Revenue Allocation £000’s |
Swindon PCT1 | 2010-11 | 294,545 |
| 2011-12 | 315,703 |
| 2012-13 | 325,407 |
Swindon CCG2 | 2013-14 | 219,930 |
| 2014-15 | 228,966 |
| 2015-16 | 247,013 |
| 2016-17 | 257,364 |
| 2017-185 | 293,574 |
Notes:
1As a result of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, Swindon PCT ceased to exist as at 31 March 2013 and the commissioning functions of the PCT passed to various organisations (NHS England became responsible for: primary care contracts, secondary care dental, military health, some public health functions and specialist commissioning contracts).
2Swindon CCG allocations from 2013/14 onwards only include Core Allocations.
2015/16 CCG allocations include mid-year adjustments.
2017/18 allocations are as published in 2016 and do not include any subsequent adjustments.
5Swindon CCG became delegated for Primary Care Medical from 1 April 2017, so the Primary Care Medical allocation has been included in the core allocation for 2017/18.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
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 share best practice in providing triage services for patients among hospital trusts.
Answered by Steve Barclay
NHS Improvement, working with NHS England and key stakeholders, have produced a series of publications and learning events supporting trusts to ensure good patient flow in acute care. This includes ‘Good Practice Guide: Focus on Improving Patient Flow’1 and a series of national conferences on patient flow and streaming delivered by Emergency Care Improvement Partnership.
NHS England and NHS Improvement are also jointly leading work to ensure that patients are appropriately triaged at their first point of contact with the National Health Service to ensure that they are treated in the most appropriate healthcare setting. This includes primary care streaming for people attending accident and emergency and triage services for patients being referred by their general practitioner for planned hospital care where there are community health services available to provide their treatment.
Note:
1https://improvement.nhs.uk/resources/good-practice-guide-focus-on-improving-patient-flow/
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospital administrative staff are paid an annual salary of more than £150,000.
Answered by Steve Barclay
There are 308 full time and 25 part time hospital administrative staff paid an annual salary of more than £150,000 pro rata.
These staff are either chief executives and executive directors on the boards of National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts or other very senior managers employed on local contracts, who hold positions that do not require a clinical qualification.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
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 communicate to the public the value of increases in the health budget.
Answered by Steve Barclay
Documents relating to the recent autumn Budget announcement are published online and can be accessed via the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/autumn-budget-2017
NHS England wrote to all trusts on 15 December 2017 informing them of their individual allocation of the additional £337 million winter funding in 2017/18.
NHS England and NHS Improvement will issue revised allocations and guidance to providers and commissioners shortly.