Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the rail ticketing and settlement agreement, and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Ticketing and Settlement Agreement (TSA) is maintained and managed by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) on behalf of the train operators. It is for the industry to propose changes to the TSA, and for Secretary of State to approve those changes where he is required to do so. The RDG has submitted to the Williams Rail Review its proposals for reform of the fares system, including reform of the TSA, and we are ready to work with the industry to consider how its proposals might work and be tested in the real world.
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many amendments his Department has made to the rail ticketing and settlement agreement since the establishment of that scheme.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Ticketing and Settlement Agreement (TSA) is maintained and managed by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) on behalf of the train operators. It is for the industry to propose changes to the TSA, and for Secretary of State to approve those changes where he is required to do so. The RDG has submitted to the Williams Rail Review its proposals for reform of the fares system, including reform of the TSA, and we are ready to work with the industry to consider how its proposals might work and be tested in the real world.
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 recommendations on page 75 of the Faculty of Pain Medicine published in The Core Standards for Pain Management Services and the recommendations on page 8 of the General Medical Council published in Good practice in prescribing and managing medicines and devices, what assessment he has made of the potential benefit to people with chronic pain of receiving an annual review for their pain management services.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
No specific assessment has been made of the potential benefit to people with chronic pain of receiving an annual review for their pain management services.
Whilst ultimately a matter for local processes and individual clinicians, annual reviews of patients with long term conditions or ongoing medication needs are a routine part of patient care. Annual reviews are also a key feature in guidance on the management of long-term diseases and disorders produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), such as ‘Neuropathic pain in adults’, and in clinical guidance produced by other organisations. NICE is in the process of developing a new clinical guideline ‘Chronic pain: assessment and management’, due for publication in August 2020.
More information about this work can be found at the following link:
www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ng10069
Asked by: Martin Vickers (Conservative - Cleethorpes)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the World Health Organisation on (a) Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Assembly as an observer this year and (b) Taiwan's participation in technical meetings of the World Health Organisation.
Answered by Mark Field
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office continues to support the Department for Health in lobbying for Taiwan’s participation in World Health Organisation (WHO) meetings. Her Majesty's Government is working with likeminded countries to lobby the WHO at official level to issue an invitation to Taiwan to observe the World Health Assembly (WHA) in May. The UK continues to support Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organisations where statehood is not a prerequisite and where Taiwan can make a valuable contribution. The UK believes the WHA and the related technical meetings of the WHO meet these criteria.
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 his Department is taking to support Taiwan's participation in the World Health Assembly as an observer; and whether his Department has encouraged Taiwan to participate in technical meetings of the World Health Organisation.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
The Department continues to support the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on this topic. The Government is working with likeminded countries to lobby the World Health Organization (WHO) at official level to issue an invitation to Taiwan to observe the World Health Assembly (WHA) in May.
The United Kingdom continues to support Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organisations where statehood is not a prerequisite and where Taiwan can make a valuable contribution. The UK believes the WHA and related technical meetings of the WHO meet these criteria.
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 he has made of the savings accrued to the public purse by North Lincolnshire Care Commissioning Group as a result of the implementation of Yorkshire and Humber AHSN’s improved faecal calprotectin pathway for diagnosis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Steve Brine
No estimate has been made. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends faecal calprotectin testing as an option to help doctors distinguish between inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and non-IBDs, such as irritable bowel syndrome.
The NICE IBD Quality Standard states that general practitioners (GP) and GP practices should ensure that testing is offered and clinical commissioning groups should ensure the diagnostic services are in place to support this.
NHS England has produced a consensus guidance document that supports implementation of the NICE guidance. Both the guidance and statement can be found at the following link:
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 he has made of the increase in the number of physiotherapists that will be working in primary care networks over the next three years; and what steps his Department is taking to achieve that increase.
Answered by Steve Brine
The NHS Long Term Plan made a clear commitment to the future of general practice, with primary and community care set to receive at least £4.5 billion more in real terms a year by 2023/24, meaning spending on these services will grow faster than the rising National Health Service budget. Since the launch of the Long Term Plan, NHS England and the British Medical Association’s General Practitioners (GP) Committee have agreed a five-year GP (General Medical Services) contract framework from 2019/20. The new contract framework will be essential to deliver the ambitions set out in the NHS Long Term Plan through strong general practice services.
The contract included funding for the new Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, in Primary Care Networks (PCNs). PCNs will be guaranteed funding for an up to estimated 20,000 additional staff by 2023/24. This funds new roles for which there is both credible supply and demand. The scheme will meet a recurrent 70% of the costs of additional clinical pharmacists, physician associates, first contact physiotherapists, and first contact community paramedics; and 100% of the costs of additional social prescribing link workers.
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 his Department is taking to ensure that general practitioners, nurses and pharmacists are competent in the routine assessment and management of chronic pain.
Answered by Steve Brine
The routine assessment and management of pain is a required competency of all healthcare professionals. Many patients with chronic pain can be successfully supported and managed through routine primary and secondary care pain management services. Approaches to treatment are not all pharmacological; education in self-management techniques to aid symptom control may also be appropriate for some patients.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently developing guidance on the assessment and management of chronic pain aimed at all settings in which National Health Service and local authority commissioned care is provided. The guidance is expected to be published on 19 August 2020. Guidance scope for the NICE clinical guidance document in development can be found via the following link:
www.nice.org.uk/guidance/gid-ng10069/documents/final-scope
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 adequacy of assessment and management of chronic pain by (a) general practitioners, (b) nurses and (c) pharmacists.
Answered by Steve Brine
The routine assessment and management of pain is a required competency of all healthcare professionals. Many patients with chronic pain can be successfully supported and managed through routine primary and secondary care pain management services. Approaches to treatment are not all pharmacological; education in self-management techniques to aid symptom control may also be appropriate for some patients.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently developing guidance on the assessment and management of chronic pain aimed at all settings in which National Health Service and local authority commissioned care is provided. The guidance is expected to be published on 19 August 2020. Guidance scope for the NICE clinical guidance document in development can be found via the following link:
www.nice.org.uk/guidance/gid-ng10069/documents/final-scope
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 patients with (a) psoriasis, (b) atopic dermatitis and (c) hidradenitis suppurativa were seen by a dermatologist in 2018 in (i) Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust and (ii) nationally.
Answered by Steve Brine
No assessment has been made. The commissioning and configuration of dermatology services in England is a local matter. The local National Health Service is best placed to make decisions that ensure services meet the needs of resident populations in the most appropriate way. Health is a devolved matter, and as such, dermatology services in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are a matter for the devolved administrations.
The majority of patients with dermatological disorders are managed in primary and community care. Whilst some patients may be referred for outpatient care, data collection here is not mandated, and is therefore partial and incomplete. Furthermore, the data that is available reports episodes of care, which are not a count of patients, as the same patient may have multiple episodes of care for the same reason.