Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to increase the number of occupational health practitioners.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The Government’s November 2017 Command Paper ‘Improving lives: the future of work, health and disability’ set out a vision for the reform of occupational health and recognised the critical role of occupational health and other related professions in delivering this.
In line with the commitments in the Command Paper, an Occupational Health Expert Group was appointed to support work in this area. This has included looking at the occupational health workforce to ensure sufficient expert capacity is available in the future. Health Education England, through its National School of Occupational Health, has also been involved in this work.
Ministers have announced their intention to consult on measures to improve access to high quality occupational health later this year.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people with Parkinson’s disease accessed Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services; what the average waiting time was for a person with Parkinson’s disease from referral to first appointment; and what the recovery rate was for people with Parkinson’s disease following completion of that treatment in 2016-17.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
This information is not held centrally.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many prescription items were dispensed for free in each exemption category in the last period for which figures are available.
Answered by Steve Brine
The information is not held in the format requested.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the National Institute of Health Research spent on research into mental health interventions for people with Parkinson’s disease who have anxiety and/or depression in each of the five years up to and including 2017.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including Parkinson’s disease and related illness. It is not usual practice to ring-fence funds for particular topics or conditions. 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 following table shows NIHR research into mental health interventions for people with Parkinson’s disease who suffer anxiety and or depression over the last five years is approximately £4.9 million. This includes funding for research projects and clinical trials through the NIHR Clinical Research Network:
Financial Year (FY) 2013/14 | FY 2014/15 | FY 2015/16 | FY 2016/17 | FY 2017/18 | Total |
69,386 | 993,419 | 1,107,936 | 1,392,344 | 1,393,003 | 4,956,090 |
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing recommendation prescriptions to (a) reduce pressure on general practice and (b) ensure patients access appropriate over-the-counter treatments.
Answered by Steve Brine
The Department has made no such assessment.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Cleethorpes)
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 improve signposting to NHS approved apps to (a) support people to manage their own health and (b) provide evidence-based and validated advice.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The NHS Apps Library, launched in April 2017, helps people to make better choices about the digital health and care tools they use to support them in managing their own health and care in a safe and secure way. It now has over 70 apps and tools uploaded. Each of the apps goes through a rigorous and robust validation process that ensures that the apps meet the high standard of quality, safety and effectiveness that people expect from the National Health Service.
The NHS App is currently in development and is due to launch at the end of 2018, gradually rolling out to patients across the United Kingdom from December. This will enable people to have easier access to a range of health and care services as and when they need them. In future iterations of the app, we are looking to promote additional apps or digital services appropriate to an individual’s need, and which have been approved by the NHS Apps Library.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the potential savings to the public purse of directing people to self care for self-treatable conditions.
Answered by Steve Brine
No specific assessment has been made. However, there is a growing body of evidence for the benefits of self-care both in improved patient outcomes and reductions in demand on the National Health Service. ‘Self-care’ covers a broad spectrum of interventions and is defined in different ways in different situations.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report on the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts consultation by NHS Litigation Authority, published in October 2016, what progress has been made in assessing the methodology used to determine contributions setting to the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts from NHS and non-NHS health providers.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The NHS Litigation Authority (NHS LA), known as NHS Resolution since 1 April 2017, handles clinical negligence claims on behalf of National Health Service organisations and independent sector providers of NHS care in England.
NHS Resolution has provided the following response.
Following the consultation on the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts (CNST) in 2016, NHS Resolution has begun work on the findings. Two main areas of research have been whether staffing and activity are an appropriate measure of exposure to risk. NHS Resolution found that, amongst other providers of clinical negligence indemnity cover internationally, activity levels are a key feature of quantitative pricing approaches. An assessment of numbers of types of staff and their experience were more likely to be used in a qualitative review to adjust the price charged to providers of clinical care.
NHS Resolution also looked at maternity-related data sets to refine the approach to exposure so that it reflects indicators of safety. Studies of several available data sets were made, but were not found to be reliable indicators of exposure to risk to inform CNST pricing arrangements. An approach focused on incentivising the delivery of actions considered good practice by the NHS England Maternity Champions, other arm’s length bodies and the Royal Colleges, was developed and implemented from December 2017.
Since the consultation, other adjustments have been made to the CNST pricing methodology with respect to experience and exposure factors, the treatment of older and larger liabilities, and the appropriateness of breaking down the risk pool between smaller groups in line with the consultation response. Research to assess the efficacy of excesses has not been progressed.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report on the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts (CNST) consultation by NHS Litigation Authority, published in October 2016, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that there is no gap in CNST cover when a patient is treated by an independent provider on behalf of the NHS.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The NHS Litigation Authority, known as NHS Resolution from 1 April 2017, handles clinical negligence claims on behalf of National Health Service organisations and independent sector providers of NHS care in England.
NHS Resolution has provided the following response.
Independent providers of NHS healthcare became eligible to join the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts, administered by NHS Resolution on behalf of the Secretary of State, from 1 April 2013 in respect of their NHS work. Membership is not compulsory and providers may still purchase commercial insurance cover against clinical negligence liabilities if they wish to do so. It is the obligation of commissioners to ensure that providers have adequate indemnity or insurance cover.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Cleethorpes)
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 that children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis are transitioned to adult rheumatology care; and what guidance his Department issues to the NHS to ensure the adequacy of that transition.
Answered by Steve Brine
In February 2016, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published guidance on the ‘Transition from children’s to adults’ services for young people using health or social care services’. This includes several recommendations on the overarching principles of transition, transition planning, support for before and after transition and the supporting infrastructure. One of the main focuses of the guidance is ensuring that young people and their carers are involved and supported throughout transition and that the support provided is appropriate to the individual person and their needs.
Further information can be found via the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng43