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Written Question
General Practitioners
Thursday 18th January 2024

Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help patients see their preferred doctor at GP surgeries.

Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government recognises the importance of the relationship between patients and their general practitioners (GPs). However, in some cases patients may prefer to see another professional from the wider general practice workforce instead of a specific GP.

All patients must be assigned a named GP, and practices must endeavour to comply with all reasonable requests of patients to see a particular GP or other healthcare professional for an appointment. The 2023/24 GP Contract promotes the use of the Royal College of General Practitioners’ Continuity of Care toolkit via the Quality and Outcomes Framework Quality Improvement module.

We are building a diverse workforce of professionals in general practice teams who play an important role in providing and enabling continuity of care for patients.


Written Question
Abiraterone
Thursday 16th November 2023

Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to take steps to increase access to Abiraterone.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body that provides evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service on whether new licensed medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. The NHS is legally required to fund medicines recommended by NICE, usually within three months of final guidance.

NICE has published guidance recommending abiraterone for the treatment of metastatic hormone-relapsed prostate cancer before chemotherapy is indicated and for castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer previously treated with a docetaxel-containing regimen. NHS England funds abiraterone for these indications of prostate cancer in line with NICE’s recommendations, making it routinely available for the treatment of eligible patients.

Abiraterone is not licensed for the treatment of non-metastatic prostate cancer and has therefore not been appraised by NICE for such use. NHS England is currently considering a clinical policy proposal for abiraterone as a treatment option for patients newly diagnosed with high risk, non-metastatic, hormone-sensitive prostate cancer, or in whom prostate cancer has relapsed after at least 12 months without treatment. This specific policy proposal is due to be discussed later this month, and if supported by a clinical panel it will progress to stakeholder testing by January 2024.


Written Question
Antibiotics: Prescriptions
Thursday 13th July 2023

Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has undertaken research on the impact on patient illness of antibiotic courses prescribed by GPs for (a) five and (b) seven days.

Answered by Will Quince

The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR has funded several studies on the impact of duration of antibiotic courses on patient illness, as well as antimicrobial resistance.

For example, in 2022 we funded the Cellulitis Optimal Antibiotic Treatment (COAT) study investigating whether a short course (five days) of flucloxacillin was non-inferior to a standard course (seven days) in terms of pain over days six to 14, in patients with leg cellulitis in primary care.


Written Question
General Practitioners: Shropshire
Tuesday 16th May 2023

Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)

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 invest in IT systems to (a) improve the productivity and (b) reduce the administrative workload of GP surgeries in (i) Shropshire and (ii) Telford and Wrekin.

Answered by Neil O'Brien

As part of our Delivery plan for recovering access to primary care, published on 9 May, NHS England committed to fund digital tools to make it easier for practices to receive, navigate, assess and respond to requests more efficiently. We are retargeting over £240 million of funding in 2023/24 for new technologies and support offers. These will, for example, make home blood pressure monitoring easier, improve the digital infrastructure between general practice and community pharmacy, and help practices implement digital telephony and a Modern General Practice Access approach.

These should improve productivity by saving time for general practice teams, and reducing unnecessary administrative workload across England, including in Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin.

NHS England ensures that modern, integrated, secure and user-friendly digital systems are available through the GP IT Operating Model, the Digital Care Services catalogue and the GP IT Futures frameworks. This work supports ongoing improvements to procurement processes, a greater choice of nationally accredited digital suppliers and products that meet core standards, requirements and capabilities to ensure GP IT systems continually evolve and advance with minimal impact and disruption to care.


Written Question
Marburg Virus: Disease Control
Tuesday 4th April 2023

Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the health surveillance measures used by his Department to (a) detect cases of Marburg virus disease and (b) prevent people with the disease from entering the UK.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

Testing for Marburg virus disease (MVD) is provided by the UK Health Security Agency’s Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory (RIPL) at Porton Down, including out of hours testing. Any clinician who suspects a possible case of MVD, usually based on clinical symptoms and travel history, should contact the Imported Fever Service (IFS). IFS is a 24/7 helpline, provided by specialist clinicians, who will arrange testing at RIPL as required and who will also advise on immediate clinical management and infection control. Details of IFS are available online at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/imported-fever-service-ifs

The risk of people with MVD entering the United Kingdom has been assessed as being very low based on the available epidemiology and geography of cases overseas. A specialist team undertake daily epidemiological global horizon scanning to identify any new and emerging threats, as well as any changes to existing overseas situations. Any change to information about current MVD outbreaks, or new incidents, will trigger a review of these risk assessments and consideration of additional potential public health interventions required.


Written Question
Cerebral Palsy: Employment
Friday 17th March 2023

Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)

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 support adults with cerebral palsy to remain economically active.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

A range of Government initiatives are supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, including cerebral palsy, to start, stay, and succeed in work. These include:

- Employment Advice in NHS Talking Therapies, which combines psychological treatment and employment support for people with mental health conditions;

- increasing Work Coach support in Jobcentres for people with health conditions receiving Universal Credit or Employment Support Allowance;

- Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres offering advice and expertise on how to help disabled people and people with health conditions into work;

- the Work and Health Programme and Intensive Personalised Employment Support, providing tailored and personalised support for participants;

- access to Work grants towards extra costs of working beyond standard reasonable adjustments;

- Disability Confident encouraging employers to think differently about disability and health, and to take positive action to address the issues employees face in the workplace; and

- the Information and Advice Service providing better integrated and tailored guidance on supporting and managing health and disability in the workplace.


Written Question
Cerebral Palsy: Shropshire
Tuesday 14th March 2023

Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)

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 help improve the quality of care provided to (a) adults and (b) children with cerebral palsy in (a) Shropshire, (b) Telford and (c) Wrekin.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Adult and paediatric cerebral palsy services in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin are commissioned by the local integrated care board (ICB). Whilst there are no specific programmes of work connected to cerebral palsy within the ICB's existing improvement programme, as the ICB updates its Integrated Care System Strategy and Joint Forward Plan, it will be developing its clinical strategies across all patient services, including for cerebral palsy.


Written Question
Cervical Cancer
Thursday 2nd February 2023

Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to publish a (a) plan and (b) timetable for the elimination of cervical cancer.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

In England, we are increasing the uptake of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) target of 90% through dedicated immunisation teams in schools where a 100% offer is made to all school aged children eligible for these vaccinations. Annually, HPV vaccines are promoted to university students as they start the Autumn term, and NHS England are planning a further HPV awareness campaign.

The NHS Cervical Cancer Screening Programme already aligns with the WHO’s target of 70% of women screened using a high-performance test by 35 and 45 years of age. Work is ongoing to improve this beyond the WHO target, through exploration into screening self-sampling via the YouScreen and HPValidate research.

A range of improvements and innovations have been brought in to help improve uptake in the NHS Cervical Screening Programme. For example, in some Primary Care Network areas, appointments can now be made in any Primary Care setting during evenings and on weekends, via integrated sexual health clinics.

There is currently no intention to publish a plan detailing these programmes.


Written Question
Electronic Cigarettes: Health Hazards
Wednesday 1st February 2023

Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will commission further research into the health impacts of e-liquids containing propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin in vaping products.

Answered by Neil O'Brien

The Department is currently considering how best to commission further research into the health impacts of e-liquids, including those containing propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin. In September 2022, we published the last in a series of evidence reviews entitled ‘Nicotine vaping in England’. This can be found at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nicotine-vaping-in-england-2022-evidence-update/nicotine-vaping-in-england-2022-evidence-update-main-findings#:~:text=vaping%20prevalence%20in%20England%20in,0.6%25%20and%200.7%25%20in%202021

This report confirmed that vaping carries only “a small fraction of the risks” of smoking but is not risk free.


Written Question
Evusheld
Monday 16th January 2023

Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of NICE bringing forward proposals to support the introduction of next generation of Evusheld to offer protection against covid-19 for those people for whom traditional covid-19 vaccines offer limited or no protection.

Answered by Will Quince

No assessment has been made.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. NICE’s guidance is developed by experts based on a thorough assessment of the available evidence and through extensive engagement with stakeholders. NICE is only able to appraise medicines in relation to the conditions they have been licensed for. NICE’s technology appraisal process usually takes approximately nine months. The appraisal of Evusheld is underway as a priority and following an agreement with the manufacturer, NICE has already expedited the appraisal of Evusheld by one month and its independent Appraisal Committee will meet on 24 January to consider its draft recommendations.