Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of (a) the effectiveness of the family history breast cancer screening service at Barts NHS Health and (b) the impact of the restriction on eligibility for this service for patients over the age of 60.
Answered by Will Quince
The familial history breast cancer screening service at Barts Health NHS Trust follows the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s clinical guidelines for patient eligibility for screening and surveillance, with approximately 85% to 90% attendance from those invited.
The clinic aims to screen people for breast cancer linked to family history from 40 to 60 years old and follows national guidelines on when patients should be discharged from the service. At the age of 60 years old, patients are discharged from the service to the National Health Service breast screening programme, which offers three-yearly screening.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the level of the take up of breast cancer screening services in West Ham constituency in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Will Quince
This information is not collected in the format requested.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance has been provided to NHS bodies on the criteria needed to exempt patients from NHS debt where they have been determined to not be ordinarily resident including (a) which criteria are used to determine if such a patient is destitute and (b) any other criteria.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Guidance to providers of National Health Service-funded secondary care states that where a person cannot support their entitlement to care free of charge, the provider may decide to charge for treatment. In making this decision, the provider should judge each case on its own merits and take any reasonable steps to ascertain a patient's claim that an exemption applies. If charged, the person can subsequently claim reimbursement where there is sufficient evidence to show an entitlement to free treatment at the time it was given.
The guidance also states that any treatment a clinician determines to be immediately necessary or urgent must never be delayed due to charging. Where a charge applies it cannot be waived for any reason. However, the guidance sets out circumstances when providers may write off the charge in the accounts and not pursue the debt, including if the patient is destitute or genuinely without access to funds. The Department works with NHS England to support NHS providers in implementing the Regulations appropriately. The Department and NHS England are producing additional guidance relating to debt and destitution to support relevant bodies dealing with financially vulnerable patients.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it is her policy to allow NHS bodies to invoice a patient for hospital care not excluded from the Charging Regulations prior to evidencing that a patient does not have entitlement to free NHS care.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Guidance to providers of National Health Service-funded secondary care states that where a person cannot support their entitlement to care free of charge, the provider may decide to charge for treatment. In making this decision, the provider should judge each case on its own merits and take any reasonable steps to ascertain a patient's claim that an exemption applies. If charged, the person can subsequently claim reimbursement where there is sufficient evidence to show an entitlement to free treatment at the time it was given.
The guidance also states that any treatment a clinician determines to be immediately necessary or urgent must never be delayed due to charging. Where a charge applies it cannot be waived for any reason. However, the guidance sets out circumstances when providers may write off the charge in the accounts and not pursue the debt, including if the patient is destitute or genuinely without access to funds. The Department works with NHS England to support NHS providers in implementing the Regulations appropriately. The Department and NHS England are producing additional guidance relating to debt and destitution to support relevant bodies dealing with financially vulnerable patients.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an estimate of the average pay of NHS staff working in (a) Newham and (b) Tower Hamlets.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The information requested is not held centrally. For over one million National Health Service non-medical staff, including nurses, paramedics, and midwives, the average basic pay has increased from approximately £31,500 to £32,900 from 2021/22 to 2022/23.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to her Department's guidance, The NHS Choice Framework: what choices are available to me in the NHS?, updated 14 January 2020, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the implementation of her Department's policy on equality of access to a hospital of choice by Barts Health NHS Trust.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
‘The NHS Choice Framework: what choices are available to me in the NHS?’ is currently being updated to reflect changes arising from the Health and Care Act 2022. The updated guidance will be published later this year. The existing Framework remains applicable and is available to commissioners, providers and patients.
All services offered by Barts Health NHS Trust are subject to the Framework and there are local policies for each hospital within the Trust to implement it. The Trust will investigate any complaint received, either directly from a patient or via an intermediary.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps NHS England is taking to remain in contact with patients who have attempted to book procedures via their GP but have been refused as a result of slots not being available at hospitals.
Answered by Will Quince
The information requested is not held centrally. Referrals are made from general practitioners (GPs) using the electronic referral system (eRS). If there is no availability on the eRS for a particular provider, the referrer uses the ‘defer to provider’ function to send the referral to the provider of choice, with an appointment made directly with the patient. There are no restrictions on a GP referring the patient to a particular provider. Following a referral to a hospital, the patient will be contacted when an appointment becomes available and will be managed in order of clinical priority.
Hospitals are required to validate patients on waiting lists at intervals to determine whether it remains appropriate for that patient. NHS England has also developed the ‘My Planned Care’ national patient platform, which is communicated to patients. This contains waiting time information updated weekly at provider and specialty level. In addition, clinical guidelines are developed to enable patients to manage their condition and optimise their health while waiting for treatment. Information is also provided on voluntary sector organisations which can support patients.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will publish the information her Department holds on instances of GPs attempting to book procedures but are refused as a result of slots not being available at hospitals at hospital trusts in England in the last 12 months.
Answered by Will Quince
The information requested is not held centrally. Referrals are made from general practitioners (GPs) using the electronic referral system (eRS). If there is no availability on the eRS for a particular provider, the referrer uses the ‘defer to provider’ function to send the referral to the provider of choice, with an appointment made directly with the patient. There are no restrictions on a GP referring the patient to a particular provider. Following a referral to a hospital, the patient will be contacted when an appointment becomes available and will be managed in order of clinical priority.
Hospitals are required to validate patients on waiting lists at intervals to determine whether it remains appropriate for that patient. NHS England has also developed the ‘My Planned Care’ national patient platform, which is communicated to patients. This contains waiting time information updated weekly at provider and specialty level. In addition, clinical guidelines are developed to enable patients to manage their condition and optimise their health while waiting for treatment. Information is also provided on voluntary sector organisations which can support patients.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
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 the availability of palliative and end of life care in the community.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
During the pandemic, we have made more than £400 million available to palliative and end of life care providers, including hospices. This included funding for community contacts to provide support to those at the end of life being cared for at home.
Palliative and end of life care services are commissioned by integrated care boards to meet the needs of the local population. NHS England has developed seven palliative and end of life care Strategic Clinical Networks, working with commissioners to implement sustainable commissioning models. This includes the development of service specifications and an investment framework which incorporates community services.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
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 ensure all health and care staff are adequately trained to support (a) people who are dying and (b) their families.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Individual National Health Service employers are responsible for ensuring that staff are trained and competent for the role they perform. NHS England has developed training for staff on personalised care planning for those in the last year of life, which can include the individual’s family and others, where appropriate. This allows health and care staff supporting those at the end of life and their loved ones to address any concerns and identify the appropriate services.
To ensure that health and social care workforce, including volunteers, are equipped to deliver personalised care, Health Education England host the End of life care for all e-learning programme, which includes nine modules on improving care for people at the end of life. The e-learning modules are available at the following link:
https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/end-of-life-care/