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 he will make an assessment of the (a) effectiveness and (b) potential impact on patient safety of (i) regulations and (ii) the governance structure for refractive eye surgery.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Secretary of State has no plans to assess the regulations and governance structure for refractive eye surgery.
Doctors performing refractive eye surgery in the United Kingdom must be registered with the General Medical Council (GMC), the independent regulator of all medical doctors practising in the UK.
Providers who carry out refractive eye surgery must also be registered by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. All refractive eye surgery locations are monitored and, where necessary, inspected by CQC.
If CQC become aware of any concerns regarding an individual medical practitioner, then CQC will notify the GMC.
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 he will (a) publish on his Department’s website and (b) place in the House of Commons Library, copies of the Ipsos Public Affairs report, commissioned by his Department, entitled Evaluation of Department of Health Cost Recovery ID Checking Pilot: Final Report, dated December 2017.
Answered by Will Quince
A copy of the Ipsos Public Affairs report, ‘Evaluation of Department of Health Cost Recovery ID Checking Pilot: Final Report’, published in December 2017 is attached. It will not be published on the Department of Health and Social Care section of GOV.UK, but copies can be provided, upon request, from the Department.
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 she will take to help improve the (a) quality of life and (b) life expectancy of people diagnosed with HIV and resident in West Ham constituency; and what steps she is taking to help target her Department’s response to affected communities.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Local government is responsible for commissioning local HIV prevention activities, including those in Newham, which is funded through the Public Health Grant.
In December 2021, we published ‘Towards Zero: the HIV Action Plan for England - 2022 to 2025’ which sets out actions at a national, regional and local level to ensure the most affected communities are targeted.
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 recent estimate her Department has made of the number of cancelled NHS operations in the West Ham constituency in the past 12 months, by (a) borough, (b) ethnicity, (c) age and (d) socio-economic group of the patient.
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, how many (a) perinatal and (b) neonatal deaths there were at Barts Health NHS Trust by (i) each borough served by that Trust, (ii) ethnicity and (iii) socio-economic group in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
No specific assessment has been made. The Government’s national maternity safety ambition aims to halve the 2010 rates of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and brain injuries in babies occurring during or soon after birth, by 2025. Since 2010, the rate of stillbirths has reduced by 19.3%, the rate of neonatal mortality for babies born over 24 weeks gestational age of viability has reduced by 36% and maternal mortality has reduced by 17%.
We have introduced targeted interventions to accelerate progress, such as the Saving Babies Lives Care Bundle and the Brain Injury Reduction Programme. NHS England has also invested £127 million in National Health Service maternity workforce and improving neonatal care. This is in addition to the £95 million investment made in 2021 to fund the establishment of a further 1,200 midwifery and 100 consultant obstetrician posts. NHS England is offering funding and support to trusts to recruit an additional 300 to 500 overseas midwives in the next 12 months.
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 he will make an estimate of the number of diagnostics not available to be ordered for patients in England by their GPs on the basis that the patient is over 60; and whether policy decisions regarding restrictions on diagnostics are the responsibility of (a) NHS England, (b) National Institute for Health and Care Excellence or (c) local commissioning bodies.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
There are no restrictions on diagnostic tests purely based on age. We therefore do not hold this data. Diagnostic tests are accessible to patients based on their clinical circumstances in all settings.
Local commissioning bodies are responsible for designing services, including diagnostics, that meet the needs of their local populations based on an assessment of priorities and taking into account authoritative, evidence-based guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence where available and taking account of NHS England’s Evidence-based Interventions programme.
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 data her Department holds on the prevalence of eating disorders among residents of West Ham constituency by (a) gender, (b) ethnic group and (c) age.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
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 assessment she has made of the (a) retention rate of midwives and (b) the number of vacancies for midwives at Barts Health NHS Trust.
Answered by Will Quince
NHS England retains oversight of local workforce plans and is updated on vacancy rates. However, recruitment and retention is undertaken at trust level.
In 2022, an additional £127 million has been invested in the National Health Service maternity workforce and improving neonatal care, including in West Ham. This is in addition to the £95 million invested in 2021 to fund a further 1,200 midwives and 100 consultant obstetricians. The NHS People Plan focuses on improving the retention of NHS staff by prioritising staff health and wellbeing. In 2022/23, £45 million has been allocated to support the continuation of 40 mental health hubs, the Professional Nurse Advocates programme and expanding the NHS Practitioner Health service.
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 she has made of the implications for her policies of trends in the level of healthy life expectancy by (a) gender and (b) ethnicity in West Ham constituency.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
No specific assessment has been made. ‘Our plan for patients’, published on 22 September, sets out the immediate priorities to support individuals to live healthier lives through ensuring access to health services which prevent ill-health.
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 (a) recent estimate her Department has made of the number of residential care homes that have closed in Newham since 1 January 2020, (b) assessment she makes of the socio-economic circumstances of the residents impacted and (c) if any assessment she has made of the impact on life expectancy of residents moved due to these closures.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Since 1 January 2020, two residential care homes in Newham have been ‘deactivated’. The Care Quality Commission records care homes which have closed as ‘deactivated’, which exclude care homes where the provider continues to operate under a new, separate registration. This could be due to a legal entity change or a change in the provider.
No specific assessment of the socioeconomic circumstances and life expectancy of those affected by closures has been made.