Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2023 to Question 191296 on patient waiting times for MR-Guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS) treatment for Essential tremor, what assessment his Department made of the adequacy of the capacity of the two MRgFUS treatment centres on reducing wait times for Essential Tremor patients.
Answered by Will Quince
There are two trusts in the National Health Service that support MR-Guided Focussed Ultrasound (MRgFUS) treatment for essential tremor. These are Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust.
Imperial NHS Trust has 12 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners listed within the 2021-22 National Imaging Data Collection. With the addition of new Community Diagnostic Centres across the trust’s network, capacity for MRI will be increased further which should provide support for a reduction in waiting times.
The Walton Centre has five MRI scanners listed within the 2021-22 National Imaging Data Collection.
With this number of MRI scanners, NHS England assesses that there will be sufficient MRI capacity to deliver MRgFUS treatment for local Essential Tremor patients. The Department continues to work with NHS England to support systems to maximise the utilisation of these MRI scanners which should in turn support a reduction in waiting times for services.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress their Department have made on implementing Procurement Policy Note 06/21.
Answered by Will Quince
Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 06/21 introduced selection criteria for major government contracts to support the government’s commitment to achieving Net Zero by 2050; it requires bidding suppliers to provide a Carbon Reduction Plan confirming their commitment to achieving Net Zero by 2050 in the UK. The plan must also set out the environmental management measures they have in place, and those which will be in effect and utilised during the performance of the contract.
The Department has implemented the requirements of the PPN within commercial practices. Procurement leads refer to the PPN and the guidance for all Public Contract Regulation procurements where the contract is £5 million per annum or above (where it is related and proportionate to the contract).
Commercial teams from the Department have attended training and awareness sessions provided by the Cabinet Office and the Department itself.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 value for money of the NHS Federated Data Platform and Associated Services contact awarded to Palantir.
Answered by Will Quince
The Federated Data Platform and Associated Services (FDP-AS) procurement is currently live. It is anticipated that a supplier will be selected in the coming weeks and a contract will be awarded in late September. This procurement process has not concluded, and no contract has been awarded as yet.
NHS England has put in place a new 12-month transition contract with Palantir to support the safe transition and exit from the incumbent supplier to the new FDP-AS supplier when it is awarded and established. Further detail on this contract can be found on Contracts Finder.
This contract notice references the future FDP-AS contract for context, however it should be noted that it is a separate contract and procurement process.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 implications for his policies of the use of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in the construction of buildings operated under its remit.
Answered by Will Quince
Surveys have been conducted to confirm that no Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) is present in the Departmental corporate estate.
National Health Service trusts have conducted extensive building survey works to identify the presence of RAAC in their fabric, using technology to record potential issues and visually identify and log potential risks. There are 22 NHS bodies with RAAC plank construction in the whole or a significant part of their estate. We have allocated a total of £685 million for mitigation works in all the affected trusts up to 2024/25. We are allocating funding annually, based on NHS trust plans and delivery progress. In the last financial year, £210 million was allocated to NHS hospital trusts to manage RAAC issues on their estates.
We have committed to eradicating RAAC from the publicly owned NHS estate by 2035, protecting patient and staff safety in the interim period, with the NHS approaching this on a ‘risk basis’ and prioritising NHS trusts of concern.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many tenders for the NHS Federated Data Platform and Associated Services contract were received by his Department.
Answered by Will Quince
NHS England is procuring the Federated Data Platform via an open competition, in line with Public Contracts Regulations (PCR) 2015. The programme is currently part way through an ongoing procurement process that has yet to conclude and is therefore not in a position to disclose any information relating to the procurement exercise including the number of responses received. The programme is aiming to award the contract to the successful supplier in the autumn.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average patient waiting time for treatment using MR-Guided Focused Ultrasound treatment for essential tremor (a) was in each of the last two years and (b) is as of 27 June 2023.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Department has not assessed the average patient waiting time for Transcranial magnetic resonance guided focused ultrasound (TcMRgFUS) thalamotomy. This is a specialised area of treatment and data on waiting times is not collected by NHS England at this level.
Transcranial magnetic resonance guided focused ultrasound (TcMRgFUS) thalamotomy is recommended for the treatment of medication refractory essential tremor, in patients that are not eligible for deep brain stimulation, within the criteria set out in this policy which is available at the following link:
It is estimated that there will be up to 150 patients that meet the inclusion criteria per annum in England. Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (London) and The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust (Liverpool) provide this treatment in England and can meet the patient demand associated with this treatment in line with the policy set out by NHS England.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many facilities have a MR-Guided Focused Ultrasound treatment for Essential Tremor in the UK as of June 2023.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Department has not assessed the average patient waiting time for Transcranial magnetic resonance guided focused ultrasound (TcMRgFUS) thalamotomy. This is a specialised area of treatment and data on waiting times is not collected by NHS England at this level.
Transcranial magnetic resonance guided focused ultrasound (TcMRgFUS) thalamotomy is recommended for the treatment of medication refractory essential tremor, in patients that are not eligible for deep brain stimulation, within the criteria set out in this policy which is available at the following link:
It is estimated that there will be up to 150 patients that meet the inclusion criteria per annum in England. Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (London) and The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust (Liverpool) provide this treatment in England and can meet the patient demand associated with this treatment in line with the policy set out by NHS England.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
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 reduce waiting times for MR-Guided Focussed Ultrasound for Essential Tremor.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Department has not assessed the average patient waiting time for Transcranial magnetic resonance guided focused ultrasound (TcMRgFUS) thalamotomy. This is a specialised area of treatment and data on waiting times is not collected by NHS England at this level.
Transcranial magnetic resonance guided focused ultrasound (TcMRgFUS) thalamotomy is recommended for the treatment of medication refractory essential tremor, in patients that are not eligible for deep brain stimulation, within the criteria set out in this policy which is available at the following link:
It is estimated that there will be up to 150 patients that meet the inclusion criteria per annum in England. Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (London) and The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust (Liverpool) provide this treatment in England and can meet the patient demand associated with this treatment in line with the policy set out by NHS England.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the value is of each contract with companies under the Swap to stop scheme.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
The national ‘Swap to stop’ scheme is currently in development and more details will be available in due course.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what companies are providing vaping devices for the Swap to stop scheme.
Answered by Neil O'Brien - Shadow Minister (Policy Renewal and Development)
The national ‘Swap to stop’ scheme is currently in development and more details will be available in due course.